Single-parent Families And The Impact On Juvenile Delinquency

Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency and Single-Parent Challenges

There were nearly 48,000 juveniles in which were incarcerated on any given day in the United States in 2019. In today’s society, delinquency is almost glorified between adolescents and is seen as being socially acceptable. These young people do not think about how it will affect them later in life, therefore it is essential that the number of juvenile crimes and delinquents gets cut down. Children who are being raised by a single parent are more likely to participate in criminal activity than children who are being raised by both parents. Juvenile delinquency is ultimately a product of a strained relationship between the parent and child. It is also more prevalent in children who grow up without a father figure. Though it may be difficult, there are ways to prevent delinquency among these adolescents.

Parent-Child Relationship and Its Role in Juvenile Behavior

One factor that potentially plays the most significant role in juvenile delinquency is the lack of a relationship between the parent and the child. When there is not a well-established relationship within a family, it tends to be easier for the children to participate in juvenile activities such as smoking, drinking, trespassing, stealing, and even in gang related activities. Many times, single parent families are struggling to provide a good lifestyle for themselves and their children. The adult may be holding more than one job which makes it difficult to spend the necessary amount of time with their child that is needed in order to create a strong bond. It also makes it more difficult for the parent to closely and directly supervise the adolescent in everything they do. It has been seen within many adolescents that when a parent is not closely involved in the child’s life, they tend to act out more in order to the attention they so badly crave from their parent or guardian, whether it be good or bad.

The Impact of Inductive Parenting on Adolescent Self-Efficacy

The lack of inductive parenting is one of many reasons that adolescents engage in delinquent activities. Inductive parenting is a particular parenting style in which clear limits are established and the importance of why behaving in a way that is socially acceptable is discussed and reiterated. A group of scholars at Iowa State University conducted a study on how certain parenting behaviors or styles effects a child’s self-efficacy. When the study was concluded, the authors stated in their results, “Parents' use of inductive parenting techniques and avoidance of harsh parenting behaviors, in turn, contributed to adolescents' self-efficacy” (Whitbeck, L. B., Simons, R. L., Conger, R. D., & Wickrama, K. A. S. (1997, December)). It is crucial for a child to have a high sense of self-efficacy because it leads to having better control over one’s motivation and behaviors in many different environments, which will lead to very little or no acts of delinquency at all.

The Absence of a Father Figure and Its Consequences

In low socioeconomic single parent families, there is usually not a father figure in the adolescent’s life. When the father is not present in a child’s relationship, it conclusively leads to not only hurting the child in an emotional way, but also in a social and psychological means. “…youth may act out in response to the emotional disruption engendered by high levels of familial conflict that can precede and succeed a union dissolution” (Markowitz, A. J., & Ryan, R. M. (2016)). Many children who never have the experience of a father who is present and active in their life often struggle socially in certain ways due to socialization theory. This negatively effects the child through behavior modeling especially within young males. Behavior modeling is exactly what it sounds that it would be – modeling the desired and socially acceptable way of behavior. An absent father is showing the child, especially a male, that it is okay to leave a family and to let them struggle without him. The absence of a father could also cause psychological trauma to the adolescent. Once again, many single parent families struggle economically which could lead to not having food on the table, not having resources needed for school and other activities, and even potentially being homeless. Each of these factors could cause a child psychological trauma which then leads to the child participating in delinquent behavior.