The changes in family values and structure in the United States has helped contribute to juvenile delinquency today. Society needs to recognize problems within the home before trying to find solutions to problems for todays at risk youth in America. Major structural changes inside of the home could adversely affect the raising of juveniles leading to delinquency. Some of the issues I will discuss in my paper are divorce, child abuse, mothers working outside of the home, and single-parent homes. Ineffectively raising a child can cause low
One of the biggest causes of delinquency is the lack of stable family structure. For instance, a child could be hurt, if not receiving passionate love and care from their parents. Those not receiving love from their parents or their guardian as a child will probably act out for attention or start creating bad behavioral habits. I know every family is not a perfect and not every child is fortunate to have their parents in their lives. In this paper there are four objectives that I will talk about the lack of stable
As stated by Bartol and Bartol “Juvenile delinquency is an imprecise, nebulous, social, clinical, and legal label for a wide variety of law- and norm-violating behavior” (2011, Pg 139). The juvenile delinquency term has come to imply disgrace in today's correctional institution. Our government is up hold to procedures and expected to come with a solution to solving the delinquent problem. An underage offender can be labeled a delinquent for breaking any number of laws, ranging from robbery to running away from home, and especially being involved in school violence. The following situations faced by correction officials when dealing with juvenile delinquents will be examined. Three main areas (child development, punishments, and deterrence
Juvenile delinquency is a social issue in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, is when “a violation of the law is committed by a juvenile and is not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Juvenile Delinquency). The juvenile system is different from the adult system in many way and most juvenile delinquents are from the age of ten to the age of seventeen (Juvenile Delinquent). Once the delinquent or anyone is at the age of eighteen, they are considered to be an adult. Therefore, in the justice system they are tried as an adult. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, peer influence, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. Teens are greatly influenced by the interactions and surroundings they are around. Their behaviors can result from the parent and/or their peer influences. Parents play a great role in the child’s life and a teen’s peers also play a strong role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not insight. This research will examine links between the social environment of teens and how it influences the teens actions and behavior which leads them to commit an offense.
“Any form of delinquent behavior is 7.6% points lower among boys living with their biological fathers and is 8.5% points lower among boys who live with stepfathers and have no relationship with their biological fathers” (Cobb-Clark and Tekin, 2013). When it comes to adolescent girls, Cobb-Clark and Tekin (2013) found that if they live with their biological father, they are less likely to be involved in violent behavior, sell drugs and be involved in gangs than adolescent girls without fathers (Cobb-Clark and Tekin, 2013). This is about a 3.6%-point difference between girls with fathers and girls without fathers (Cobb-Clark and Tekin, 2013). In East et al. (2006) research for adolescent girls, it found that if the father left a girl’s life when she was five years old or younger, that child’s rate of teen pregnancy was increased compared to children whose father was absent between the ages of five and thirteen and those whose father was not absent. When adolescent boys were compared to adolescent girls, research done by Cobb-Clark and Tekin ( 2013) showed that adolescent boys engaged in more delinquent behavior than adolescent girls when there is no father figure present. This can carry on into the child’s adult life as
"Children of divorced parents are up to six times more likely to be delinquent than children from intact families” (Curt Alfrey) this statistic shows that delinquency is seen in single-parent homes more than in homes with two parents. Children need guidance from their parents to instill values such as not to use violence when they are frustrated and to the choose the right friends to avoid landing themselves into a gang or other bad situations. This quote from a criminal defense attorney, “Children in intact families tend to receive more supervision and are thus less likely to get into trouble, Alfrey asserts. Moreover, he claims, economic situations sometimes force single-parent families into higher-crime neighborhoods, where school officials and law enforcement may more readily treat the children as delinquents” (Curt Alfrey) demonstrates from someone who has seen first hand the effects of single-parents, can lead to violence in children. Children are often around more crime when they are living in a single-parent household because they have less of an income and are forced into worse neighborhoods. Additionally, this can lead to children picking up on these violent behaviors and can also lead to getting involved with gangs. All of these behaviors are bad for the children and can lead them down the wrong path in life instead of being on the path to success.
Delinquency is a criminal behavior, which is considered outlaw by the Juvenile Justice Law of a state. Examples of these offenses are theft, burglary and assault. Delinquency is considered as a criminal offense when committed by an adult.
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
Parental divorce can result in devastating effects on children. These children suffer tremendous long-term consequences as a result of an event that is not their doing. This paper reviews literature and opinions concerning the long-term effects of divorce on adolescents. The paper outlines four major areas of interest: aggression as a result of parental conflict and the different types associated with boys and girls, depression in the lives of boys and girls in its various forms, the choice boys and girls make to marry or not later in life and the possibility of adolescents expressing parental alienation. The results of this
Travis Hirsch’s research found a correlation between delinquents and nondelinquents when evaluating the relationship with their parents. An interesting observation was the need for parents being physically present was not a critical factor although the argument was that if they were present, they could potentially keep the child from committing a delinquent act. In actuality, non-delinquents look at the potential that their parents know where they are most of the time, and this helps provide a sense of control. (Conklin, pp 163-164) when evaluating the relationship with their parents. An interesting observation was the need for parents being physically present was not a critical factor although the argument was that if they were present,
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
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.
People claim that the only way for children to gain full emotional and behavioral skills is to be raised by both a mother and a father. When a topic such as this one has a broad amount of variables it is impossible to simply link these problems to only having one parent. In the article, “Single-parent families cause juvenile crime”, author Robert L. Maginnis states, “Children from single-parent families are more likely to have behavior
The Journal of Youth and Adolescence manifests that divorce does not damage a child's existence as, "being exposed to conflict within the family in the form of arguments and violence is positively related to feelings of anger and depressed mood among adolescents" (LIRN). The various authors of this complex article attempt to clarify that there is a definite correlation between depression and anger as well as family conflict. The article distinguishes that divorce does not harm children but in actuality provides relief from continuous turmoil and an oppressive environment. This