Single Parent Families Vs. Two Parent Homes

Stephanie Gonzalez is a 16 year old teenager who grew up and was raised in Chicago by only her mother and older brother. Stephanie has had to persevere through several challenges and obstacles in her life due to the fact that her father left her when she was only an infant. Stephanie was willing to speak out about how her culture needs to relook at the way they view single-parent households in society and how she was deeply affected by the way she grew up (Gonzalez). The percentage of children living with single parents increased substantially in the United States during the second half of the 20th century. Only nine percent of children lived with single parents in the 1960s, while this statistic increased dramatically to 28 percent in 2012. Growing

Twenty-five percent of children are being raised by a single parent, eighty percent of which are single mothers yet only single dads seem to be able to support themselves well.

Juvenile delinquency: an act committed by a minor that violates the penal code of the government with authority over the area in which the act occurs (Bartollas and Schmalleger, 2008) pg.2. In chapter one, we are introduced to what a juvenile delinquent is, and all of the issues that come along with them. This chapter goes on to define adolescents which is “the life interval between childhood and adulthood, and usually the period between the ages of twelve and eighteen.” It is said that “those

“The so-called traditional family, with a male breadwinner and a female who cares for the home, is a thing of the past” (Siegel, Welsh, & Senna, 2003, p. 194). This particular type of family structure can no longer be considered normal. Sex role changes have created a family in which the mother now plays a greater role in society and the economic process. The number of households that have children living with both parents has substantially declined. “Early social science researchers asserted that the “broken home” was the single most important factor in understanding delinquency” (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2011, p. 185). Less than half of the children born today will live continuously with their mother and father throughout their childhood. A disturbed home environment is believed to have a significant impact on delinquency. Family is the contributing unit towards children’s values and attitudes that mark the paths throughout their lives.

For the first five years of my childhood, I was raised in a single parent home. My mother would have to work harder to provide anything that was needed for me and my other siblings. But that changed when my father came back into our lives when I turned six. From that point on our family structure took a drastic change for the better. My mother didn't have to work as long as before, so we were able to see her more often. Having two parents at home caused the quality of our lives become better than it was before when only one parent supported us. For many households, however the reality is that only one parent during their upbringing. This does have a rather big effort on them in the life of the child and the parent who is raising the child. A single parent household harms the parent and the child.

Single parent vs. two parent homes and the effect it has on their child’s viability, intimacy and conflict in their intimate relationships.

The strongest link between parenting and delinquency is the lack of support in the form of neglect, hostility, psychological control and rejection of the child or a combination of these parenting behaviors (Merrin, Hong & Espelage, 2015). The lack of parental involvement leaves children with feelings of worthlessness, confusion and it diminishes their drive to succeed. Chung & Steinberg (2006) note that adolescents who experienced low emotional support and inconsistent discipline from their parents, compared with youths from families characterized by warm interpersonal relationships and consistent discipline, reported having more deviant friends and being involved with more violent and nonviolent delinquent

When looking at a juvenile delinquent and trying to decipher the root of their problems or the origin of their bad behavior, I think it’s significantly important to understand and analyze the environment in which the youth was raised. Sociologists have studied the relationship between parental incarceration and juvenile delinquency and have come to several conclusions discussed through scholarly articles as to why adolescents of incarcerated parents engage in delinquency. A wide variety of theories have been discussed in the various literature reviewed, but this review will focus on three main themes which emerged throughout the literature. These themes are: attachment, family structure and labeling or stigmatization.

A Government Canada article titled “Risk Factors and the Development of Disruptive and Antisocial Behaviour in Children” states that supervision is a key factor in preventing childhood delinquency. Children who experience long time periods without supervision from their parents are more likely to be delinquent. A child with two parents is more likely to receive required parental supervision, and in turn, is less likely to be delinquent. Through the years 2012 to 2016, an average of 1,848,663 Canadian’s marital status was divorced. Following a parental divorce, it is typical for children to have reduced contact with one or both parents. Some children experience maladjustment after divorce due to this lack of contact with their parents. If reduced contact is the cause of child maladjustment, children who experience the death of one or both parents will also experience this inability to react successfully and satisfactorily in their environment. A meta-analysis concluded that children who experienced the death of a parent had more conduct problems and

During the years, single parent families have become a more common thing. This is starting to become a problem, because family dynamics can really influence a child’s life. According to studies it affects not only the child but the parents too.

Research and etiology on the problem behaviors in childhood and adolescence often focus on the role of the family on the development of antisocial behavior. An important factor examined in past studies has been family structure, and this research has shown that youth from single parent families often have higher

A policy brief from the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (IMAPP) found that both the individual risk and overall rates of crime were reduced when parents were married. The brief summarized 23 U.S. studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2005, and determined that areas with high rates of family fragmentation (especially unwed childbearing) tended to have higher rates of crime. In addition, they found evidence that teens raised in single-parent homes were more likely to commit crimes (IMAPP Policy Brief, 2005).

Girls who grew up in stepfamilies were involved in more delinquent behavior compared to girls who lived in in-tact homes. For boys, living in a single parent family greatly increases the chance of delinquent behavior while living in a stepfamily does not. The test also showed that a good relationship with the mom and dad helped lower delinquent activities in girls. For boys, having a good relationship with their dad and lower conflict in the family helped lower delinquent activity.

Traditional families versus single parent families. A traditional family household is a household with two parents, mother and father. A single parent family household is a one parent household a mother, or father. This household is usually occurs when a parent dies, parents divorce, or the parents was never married and separated after having a child together. The question at hand is would a child be more successful and mentally stable in life growing up in a traditional family household, or single parenting household? This has been an intriguing argument for many years. I strongly believe a child in a single parent home could grow up to be just as emotionally stable and also be just as successful as a child who grows up with both parents.

Especially in today’s society, it’s disturbingly common for a child to have to grow up in a single parent household, letting the consequences of this scenario internally destroy the child like a virus. The effects are usually the same, but the frequency of the effects shouldn’t deter the severity. Another misconstrued ideal about single parent households, is whether or not the “statistics” and the “studies” taken on these families is enough to summarize the general population. They aren’t. The same goes for the causes, but on a much more significant scale. The causes and effects of single parent households implied by the studies and statistics are all true, but there’s a much bigger story that can’t be accurately measured or recorded. What the numbers show, are what represent the average. The non-hispanic White race represents the average race, low class to poverty level, and women to gender. But, as can be seconded by most struggling families in this situation, “average” doesn’t describe “real.” There are some things that can’t be taken into account, and those are the things that affect the child the most.