Family Structure and Delinquency - Essay Example

Society, in fact, places a heavy burden on families as parents are responsible for nurturing their children. Parents must be able to instill in their children the values which will, later on, lead these children to accept and follow the rules dictated by society. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise how family life is strongly related to juvenile delinquency.

Annotated Bibliography
Anonymous. (2004, July 19). Family Life, Delinquency, and Crime: A Policymaker’s
Guide. Texas Youth Commission. Retrieved from
http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/prevention/family_life.html
This paper summarizes the effects of family life on delinquent behavior. According to
this, delinquency, criminality, and other behavior problems can initiate within the family. Researchers from Texas Youth Commission found out that the likelihood of delinquency is dependent on the number of negative family attributes (i.e. marital discord, abuse, parent criminality, etc.) present and that a healthy home environment is the single most important factor necessary to keep children from becoming a delinquent.

Anonymous. (2012). Marriage and Family as Deterrents from Delinquency, Violence, and
Crime. Familyfacts.org. Retrieved from http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/26/marriage-
and-family-as-deterrents-from-delinquency-violence-and-crime
The whole article mainly points out that children raised in intact families are less likely to display delinquent or antisocial behavior and that they are also less likely to be victimized themselves.

Doggett, A. Juvenile Delinquency and Family Structure. Retrieved from
http://facstaff.elon.edu/ajones5/Anika's%20paper.htm
This article attempts to explain the effect of family structure on juvenile delinquency by doing research through the collection of data from a group of children in a predominantly low-income area of the south, conducted by using surveys. Results suggest that family structure indeed plays a role, both negatively and positively, in the development of juvenile delinquency.

Farrington D. P. Family Influences on Delinquency. Retrieved from
http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763760564/60564_CH10_Springer.pdf
Reviews and categorizes family-related factors that influence juvenile delinquency and examines evidence on the links between these factors and delinquency.

Ngale, I. F. (2009). Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency: Correctional Centre
Bamba, Centre Province of Cameron. Internet Journal of Criminology. Retrieved from
http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Ngale_Family_Structure_and_Juvenile
_Delinquency.pdf
The relationship between family and juvenile delinquency was investigated by Ilongo Fritz Ngale by sampling 120 adolescents of the Betamba children’s correctional center using a questionnaire. Results showed that : (1) Juvenile delinquents mostly come from homes in which the parents are married; (2) The moral education of juvenile delinquents is undertaken more by others than their biological parents; (3) Most delinquent children come from the lowest socio-economic stratum of society; (4) About two-thirds of the juvenile delinquents come from homes where 7 persons and above live under the same roof; (5) Most parents of our respondents have low paid jobs which keep them for long periods away from their children.

Simons, L.G., Simons, R.L., Wallace, L.E. (2004). Families, Delinquencies, and Crime:
Linking Society’s Most Basic Institution to Antisocial Behavior. Retrieved from
http://roxbury.net/images/pdfs/FDCWeb.pdf
Studies have shown that adult criminals generally have a history of antisocial behavior during childhood. In the early 1930s and 1950s, Gluecks and McCords claimed that inept parenting plays a vital role in the occurrence of delinquency. The authors of this article further discussed two theories in connection with the topic: (1) The Social Control Theory which proposes that “people's relationships, commitments, values, norms, and beliefs encourage them not to break the law” (en.wikipedia.org), and (2) The Self-control Theory which points out that the “lack of self-control is the main factor behind criminal behavior” (en.wikipedia.org). In summary, it has been concluded that there is, in fact, a limitation of the control perspectives on the relationship between family and delinquency, in general. Read More