...Delinquency 1 The “Broken Home” or Broken Society A Sociological Study of Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency By Hillary R. Sheehan Advised by Professor Chris Bickel SocS 461, 462 Senior Project Social Science Department College of Liberal Arts CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY Winter, 2010 © 2010 Hillary Sheehan Delinquency 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Research Proposal…………………………………………………………………………3 Annotated Bibliography…………………………………………………………………...5 Outline……………………………………………………………………………………10 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..14 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………15 The “Broken Home”: Truth or Trend……………………………………………15 Statistics on Single-Parent Families and Juvenile Delinquency…………………21 Case Study……………………………………………………………………….23 Theories…………………………………………………………………………..27 Criticisms………………………………………………………………………...32 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….34 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………..36 Delinquency 3 Research Proposal The goal of this research paper is to explore the topic of juvenile delinquency and to analyze the cause of such behavior. The topic of most interest is how the family structure plays a role in delinquent behavior and what can be said about the so called broken home. There is a lot of research in criminal justice that tries to explore the reasons behind people’s behavior and this paper is intending to address youth who have been involved in the system. By exploring this topic I hope to get a better...
Words: 9153 - Pages: 37
...problem of juvenile Delinquency This paper explains that juvenile delinquency, it will make the argument on how to reduce it and bring light to this problem which is fast becoming one of the largest problems facing urban America. It can lead to law-breaking juvenile, which often can lead to adult lives as career criminals. Over the years experts have given us many theories on the causes of juvenile delinquency, including one's economic background, parents level of education and abuse in the home, gangs organizations, repeated neighborhood delinquents, increased availability of weapons and new technology violent games have something to do with the growing of our young people getting in trouble and becoming part of the juvenile delinquent system. However in my opinion the number one cause of juvenile delinquency is the breakdown of families, including lack of parental control over their children. It is ironic in America, in todays age, a person must poses a driver's license to operate a vehicle, a permit to own a gun and even a license to have a pet, but one does not have to have proper training or a license in order to become a parent. Without specialized educational or programs in child development and parenting, many of our future parents will not have a chance at becoming successful parents and worse, many of todays parents are already contributing to the increasing problem of juvenile delinquency simply by not knowing how to raise their children. Being a parent is a major...
Words: 1923 - Pages: 8
...Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency Mary-Katherine Guzofski Liberty University Abstract An adolescent who engages in delinquent behavior is it a high risk of drug use and addiction, quitting school before graduation, future incarceration, and continued criminal behavior lasting into adulthood. Early intervention and prevention methods can divert juveniles from many of the adverse consequences that result from delinquency. Intervention is best done by parents in the home as they are the closest to the adolescent on a daily basis. Quality time and open communication are essential factures in the intervention and prevention of juvenile delinquency. Prevention stems from activities such as positive and interactive school attendance, and community involvement with a faith based church group. All of these methods are keys to prevent or minimize delinquent behavior. . Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency A large number of inmates in adult facilities have been living a delinquent / criminal lifestyle since they were juveniles, therefore it is safe to say that focusing on prevention will produce an overall reduction in crime. Juvenile delinquency is on the rise and this is cause for concern. More serious crimes are being committed by adolescents, and the younger they start the more likely they are to continue their involvement in crime. Whether a juvenile’s delinquent behavior actually begins in childhood, or is a characteristic that develops later on in the teenaged years...
Words: 1770 - Pages: 8
...and Values on Juvenile Delinquency Christina M. Bracey 201240 Fall 2012 CJUS 230-B02 LUO Professor DeBoer Liberty University Online October 12, 2012 Abstract 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 self-control and low self-esteem while increasing the risks of delinquency as well. I will argue that with proper supervision, counseling, and monitoring of the behavior of the juvenile, it is possible that society can help eliminate some of the crimes committed by juvenile delinquents. Thesis The changes in family values and structure in the United States has helped contribute to juvenile delinquency today Introduction Family Structure has changed noticeably in the United States over the past several decades. It refers to various family characteristics that affect relationships and how families function. These characteristics include family size, family disruption, and birth order. High rates of divorce, single-parent housing, the spreading of non-parent families and...
Words: 4022 - Pages: 17
...This document will address the following topics: developmental pathways to juvenile delinquency as it relates to parental influence, family history and family poverty. Additionally this document will address different approaches on preventing juveniles from these issues, especially as it applies to the relationship between minors and their parents and or legal guardian. According to Doggett (2001), something is going on in today’s society as it appears if more and more children are committing delinquent crimes. Based upon my readings, juveniles are committing repetitive crimes because of their family structure. When the juvenile is released from jail and they return home, if their family structure is the same when they left then the same...
Words: 1556 - Pages: 7
...Title: Juvenile delinquency and the relationship to bad parenting Name Institution Juvenile delinquency alludes to solitary illicit conduct showed by youngsters. Adolescents in spite of their age are equipped for carrying out certain violations. The reasons for teenage wrongdoing are numerous and easily proven wrong. In any case, the general public and law upholding bodies comprehend that the obligation of adolescent wrongdoings cannot be pegged altogether on the adolescents. Consequently, it is essential that the general public finds satisfying answers to oversee Juvenile wrongdoing. The advancement of the juvenile court framework was done for guaranteeing that the youngsters were allowed to change and develop into dependable beings in the society. The initial step in determining any issue is to distinguish its reason or inception. Child crime occurs in most cases due to peer pressure, exciting activities, money, respect, urbanization and socio-economic factors. Lack of discipline is also a resultant of child delinquency. The study dwells on the notion that parents should indeed be held responsible for juvenile delinquency. Parents of youngsters are regularly accused of the delinquent conduct of their kids. In a few courts parents are punished for the unsociable behavior of their children. Scholars differ on the sorts of misconduct and childhood measurements that are explored, on how the builds are measured, and on the populaces from which the examples are drawn (Siegel...
Words: 983 - Pages: 4
...Pensacola State College Divorce Linked to Juvenile Delinquency All behavior is first taught or learned at home. A healthy home life with a healthy family which includes parents with a healthy marriage produces children with sociable attitudes and independent mindsets. However, a dysfunctional family with unhealthy habits or broken families with single parent households help produce delinquent children with anti-social personalities and anti-social behaviors.-The Families influence on delinquency According to no- fault divorce the rate of violent crime and burglary is related to the number of single parent households with children aged 12-20. – 1993 Journal of legal studies 2, 19 citing Douglas A. Smith. This study also showed that over 53% of inmates in a state correctional facility had grown up in a household without both parents. Absence of both parents in a home creates a hostile and aggressive home life for children.-Effects of formal and informal social control. Children of divorce parents are more prone to behavioral problems and susceptible to peer pressure because they long to fit in. –Family influence on delinquency. According to a study conducted by Sara McLanahan she found that children without their fathers typically do less well than children whom grow up with both parents.-Families influence on Delinquency Children with no father in the household typically find great difficulty keeping a job, they are much less likely to graduate from high school, and...
Words: 540 - Pages: 3
...Literature Review Family Structural Changes and Juvenile Delinquency To develop a well-formulated theory on family structural changes playing an impact on juvenile delinquency, it is imperative to discern what other information exists surrounding the topic. There are multiple sources that seek to determine what factors influence kids/teens to turn into delinquents, from either a stable, loving home or a place filled with toxic disasters. This study is focused on analyzing how these various factors within a family within a family impact a child's likelihood of experiencing juvenile delinquency, but more specifically how family changes are a factor. My proposed research studies the question by studying individuals, making persons my phenomena. Using the existing studies as a basis of knowledge will provide the framework for a new theory involving the significance of family structural changes. One of the major functions of the family is to protect, teach, and train children so that they become competent, productive adults and if that job is not done properly, then it can be assumed that the family has failed to do its job (Kunz, 2001b). Variable: DIVORCE We first have to look into whether juvenile delinquency is related to divorce. Cynthia Price and Jenifer Kunz created a meta-analysis, involving 72 studies where meta-analysis is the quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to test the pooled data for statistical significance...
Words: 3799 - Pages: 16
...Obviously something is going on in today’s society if more and more children are committing delinquent crimes. Sometimes a researcher has to get to what he or she thinks is the root of the problem to figure out what spawns a certain issue. What provokes a child to become delinquent and what makes the child gravitate so easily towards this lifestyle? It is necessary to explore how family life influences juvenile delinquency. Juveniles are more likely to become juvenile delinquents if there is little structure provided for them in their families. Children who are rejected by their parents, who grow up in homes with considerable conflict, or who are inadequately supervised are at the greatest risk of becoming delinquent. Literature reviews, focused on the relationship between child abuse and juvenile delinquency, indicate that juvenile delinquents are often products of families that consciously or unconsciously neglect their childhood needs. Corporal punishment by parents often leads to overt and aggressive misbehavior. Neglect and extreme punishment can cause children to become rebellious adolescents who use misbehavior to "pay back" the family. Childhood abuse and neglect has been linked to a number of other adolescent problems. Compared with non maltreated matched control groups, abused or neglected children are significantly more likely to engage in violent behavior, become pregnant during adolescence, use drugs, have lower GPAs, and/or experience mental health problems...
Words: 1676 - Pages: 7
...|Adolescence and Delinquency | |I couldn't begin to cover all the possible reasons that may cause an | |adolescent to become a "juvenile delinquent." During my research, I found | |that the term juvenile delinquency is defined a number of ways. Mosby's | |Medical Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary summed up juvenile delinquency | |best with this definition; "resistant antisocial, illegal, or criminal | |behavior by children or adolescents to the degree that it cannot be | |controlled or corrected by the parents, endangers others in the community, | |and becomes the concern of a law enforcement agency"(1994). | |I found that most theories about what causes delinquency in children and | |adolescents originate with families and parenting. Many statistics and | |studies have been conducted comparing the number of youths that had chosen a | |delinquent life style, with single parent households, or parents who were ...
Words: 1662 - Pages: 7
...Early Intervention and Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Evidence from the Chicago Longitudinal Study Carla Robinson Alcorn State University This article discusses the early intervention and juvenile delinquency prevention. The role of an educational intervention and child, family, peer and school level prediction on court reported juvenile delinquency. This paper will discuss the importance of early intervention and schooling factors in reducing delinquency and highlights the benefits of early intervention as one mechanism for delinquency prevention. Child parent centered preschools programs found long term benefits of an early childhood educational intervention on court reported measures of juvenile delinquency. The current strongest family factor associated with delinquency was child abuse and neglect between ages four and eleven. Child maltreatment was associated with juvenile delinquency; other family factors such as parental involvement in schools were not significantly associated with any delinquency outcome. Child maltreatment was associated with both delinquency and drug arrest. It incorporates the system approach because it shows that all systems are linked to juvenile delinquency whether it is good or bad. The family system plays the biggest role as well as the environment. The children have to have a positive relationship between all of the systems for them not to have a predicator that can cause delinquency. The three conclusions that that are in...
Words: 618 - Pages: 3
...Gender and Family Axia College University of Phoenix Juvenile delinquency is of great concern in the United States. In 2007 over 2 million arrests were juveniles. There are two types of juvenile delinquency. The first type of offense is a behavior that would be a criminal violation for an adult. The other offense is called a “status” offense. Status offenses are delinquent actions that do not apply to adults, like running away and truancy. This paper will discuss the impact of gender and family on delinquency and the treatment by gender in the juvenile justice system. Juvenile delinquent behavior is believed to be under-represented due to the limited methods of collecting juvenile crime data. Juvenile arrests accounted for 16 percent of all violent crime arrests (i.e. murder, rape, assault) and 26 percent of all property crime arrests (i.e. burglary, theft, arson) (Puzzanchera, 2009). Other crimes for which juveniles are arrested include simple assault, vandalism, gambling, disorderly conduct, weapons possession, illicit drug/liquor violation (including DUI) and prostitution. It is important to note that a number of misdemeanor crimes go unreported while serious crimes involving injury and/or large economic loss are reported more often. A 1998 U.S. longitudinal study tracking over 6,400 boys for over 20 years found that children who grew up without their biological father in the home were roughly three times more likely to commit a crime that led to incarceration...
Words: 1164 - Pages: 5
...The functioning and use of juvenile programs Name Institution Introduction Juvenile crime affects everyone in society; the perpetrators, witnesses and targets of the crime. Cases of delinquency have been decreasing but they are still too high (Saminsky, 2010 p.1). Juvenile Blueprint Programs aim at promoting the emotional wellbeing, behavior, physical health and education of the youth. There are a variety of blueprint programs for child delinquency some are involved in reforming the delinquent after the crime has taken place and others before. The most effective juvenile blueprint programs are those that prevent the occurrence of child delinquency (Saminsky, 2010 p.2). The following essay talks about the Prevention and early intervention for young offenders. Early intervention to potential juvenile offenders prevents the onset of criminal behaviors as an adult, prevents young lives from being wasted and minimizes the burden of crime on the people of society. Prosecution and reform programs for juvenile offenders cost the taxpayers a lot of money (Saminsky, 2010 p.1). Community based intervention program. Children at Risk (CAR) intervention program which changed its name to Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse Striving Together to Achieving Rewarding Tomorrows (CASASTART) is a community based intervention program (Siegel & Welsh, 2011 p.462). The program was established to assist children with a high risk of delinquency, behavioral problems, substance abuse and gang involvement...
Words: 1040 - Pages: 5
...interrelationship among family structure, patterns of single parent decision making and deviant behavior among adolescents. It reviews family income and non custodial parent involvement. Patterns of family decision making and family structure both have a significant effect on adolescent deviance behavior. Data on the child’s behavior, the child’s life at home, and parental relation with the child are collected through self reports. Understanding the family structure can have an important role in the intervention and prevention of deviant behavior in the child. More parental monitoring was associated with less delinquency in a single parent household. We examine family structure including two parent families, single mother families, single father families, and stepfamilies. This paper addresses the implications of different theories and findings designed to reduce deviance. Single Parent Home Effect on Adolescence Deviant behavior among youth has increased in the United States (Steinberg, 1987). According to the Nature and Meaning of Deviance (2008), Deviant behavior is described as actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including enacted rules and social norms. This paper will examine the social factors associated with deviant behavior among juveniles. It will explore the correlation, if any, between single parent homes and the rise in deviant behavior in juveniles. The two disciplines, Psychology and Sociology...
Words: 2859 - Pages: 12
...Causes of Delinquency and Methods of Prevention Jermaine Thomas CJ 3308 Juvenile Justice University of Houston-Downtown Causes of Delinquency and Methods of Prevention Introduction Juvenile delinquency is a term used to describe illegal acts committed by individuals in society younger than the age in which the government recognizes as him/her as an adult. In America, the general rule of thumb for labeling a person as a juvenile is any person between the age of 10 and 18. However, this does vary slightly from state to state. An act committed by a juvenile can only be considered delinquent if the same act is punishable if it were to be committed by an adult. Other violations of rules such as curfew violations and underage smoking are considered age-restricted violation as opposed to being labeled as a “delinquent act”. Juvenile Delinquency has always been an issue in the criminal justice system. A study done by Sharma, Mishra, & Kumar (2013) found that the average age of juvenile delinquents was 16.20 years of age, and the average age of non-delinquents was 16.5 years of age. Furthermore, of the delinquents, most of their crimes were committed at the age of 14.84 years of age. The creation of the juvenile justice system in 1899 in Chicago was a way of dealing with this growing problem. Since then, the juvenile justice system has been very useful in helping to evaluate, rehabilitate, and if necessary, punish juveniles that commit delinquent acts. However, the issue...
Words: 2056 - Pages: 9
