Juvenile Delinquency:

How the Family Dynamics Influences Delinquency

By Donald Knuth

For as long as I can remember, we have heard in the media and in newspaper articles
about how detention centers are overcrowded with juvenile delinquents. And one factor that is
always brought up is that a lot of these youths are raised in single family homes. Fagan (1999)
reported that in 1950, for every 100 children born, 12 live in a broken family but, today, for
every 100 children born 60 will live in a broken family. In addition, each year, about one million
children experienced the divorce of their parents and about 1.25 million children are born out of
wedlock.
Juvenile delinquency has become widespread in society today. According to statistics
from 2008, there were 6,318 arrests for every 100,000 youths age 10 to 17 in the resident
population (Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime, 2008). In the Unites States in 2009, juvenile
courts handled an estimated 1.5 million cases that involved juveniles that were charges with
criminal law violation. Delinquency is more prevalent than in the past with 30 percent more
cases handled in 2009 than in 1985 (Knoll & Sickmund, 2012).
The family structure is very important. Due to changes in a variety of family structures,
the U. S .Census Bureau (2009) reported that there were approximately 13.7 million single
parents in the United States, those parents were responsible for raising 21.8 million children
under 18 years of age. Most of single-parent population is made up of woman.
There are many obstacles that a single mother must overcome. One of which would be
economic. Trying to support a child on your own is very challenging. It leads to less time in the
household when working two jobs is needed to make ends meet. Howell states that the United
States Census Bureau (2009) reported that 39% of single parent families live in poverty. Poverty
is a leading cause in juvenile delinquency.

Finding out risk factors is the key in establishing successful programs to combat juvenile
delinquency.
According to the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, the most reliable
indicator of violent crimes in a community is the extension of fatherless families. On the whole a
father offers economic stability and is the first solid role model for boys. This study is going to
include research into the family dynamic and the effect that has on juvenile delinquency and the
relationship between the two.
Review of Literature
Family Structure and Delinquency
In light of the change in the amount of single-family households in the last two decades,
more youths grow up with one parent, usually fatherless. The Father is responsible for economic
stability, household security and to help stressed out mothers. Often, children come home to fend
for themselves because the mother is working two jobs or is a neglectful parent. Neglectful
parenting is a low responsiveness as well as low demandingness and does not monitor a childs
behavior. Their parental expectations are low as well as their parental expressions of warmth.
Looking at other relationships in the home, for example, the casual relationship, that there
may be a genetic trait common among children from divorced families that increase the risk of
delinquency.(Guo, Roettger, & Shih, 2006). Recent research however failed to support this view.
In a study done from Burt,Barnes,McGue,&Lacono(2009), from a sample of 610 adoptive and
biological families, it was found that the experience of divorce and not a common gene, lead to
delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is not hereditary but linked to parental divorce.

Past research has demonstrated that the traditional two family homes experience a far
lower risk of delinquency, than children from other family structures. A recent study that looked
at cohabitating families found that children were much more likely to participate in delinquency
compared to those in biological family households. (Apel&Kaukinen 2008)
Gender of the Child and Juvenile Delinquency
The gender of the child can also impact the parent-child relationship and delinquency. In
a study done by Gove and Crutchfield (1982), male delinquency variables were different from
those that predict female delinquency. Marriage characteristics are important. Such as if the
parents get along or not play an important role for boys. For girls, misbehavior was a strong
variable as well as parental control. Girls that were not interacting with their parents were more
likely to engage in crime because the parents were not monitoring what they were doing.
Supervision is key for girls and delinquency. This is further supported by Jeff Slowikowski
(2010) stating that a major cause of female delinquency is the lack of involvement with the
female childs parents. This is most often due to the female getting involved with an older male
delinquent.

Parental Monitoring and Delinquency

Research shows that a two- parent biological family is less likely to have a juvenile
delinquent due to the higher level of supervision, monitoring and involvement in comparison to
other family types. In a study done by Laursen(2005) that studied household structures and
conflicts between mothers and adolescents, there were more total disagreements between single
mothers and others of blended households than with mothers of biological two parent families. In

conclusion, the study found that the number of people in the household determines the amount
available to monitor, discipline and supervise the adolescent. There is more involvement in a
biological two family home. There is no question that there is a direct importance between the
relationship of parenting practices and delinquency. Machteld Hoeve, Geert Jan J. M.
Stams, Claudia E. van der Put, Judith Semon Dubas, Peter H. van der Laan, and Jan R.

M. Gerris (2012) conducted a study confirming that even though there is a wide array of
variables that contribute to delinquency, children with poor relationship to their parental figures
leaded to higher levels of delinquency.
Other Risk Factors
While it is true that parental supervision is a factor in juvenile delinquency, there are
other factors that attribute to an adolescent criminal behavior. One of which is lack of education.
A study by Lober and Dishion found that poor social achievement, limited vocabulary and low
verbal reasoning skills by the end of elementary school was a prediction of juvenile delinquency
(Yoshikawa, 2010). Youths that were frustrated in the in the early grades there was a likelihood
that in the higher grades they would have similar problems may lead to truancy and a higher
dropout rate. Due to this, kids are lead to further isolation. This is intriguing because most often
being poorly educated correlates directly to having poor parenting.
Another risk factor is peer influence. It is clear that kids are very influenced by others in
their age group. This is where they spend the majority of their time. Gangs are a group of friends
that play a role in the life of a juvenile. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference
Service (2012) juveniles join gangs as a form of support that they are not receiving at home.
Even a gang is an advantage to a teen. They provide friendship, status and protection in a youths

eyes. Most juveniles are willing to do anything including criminal activity to bond with the
members and their leader. Putting youths together in a Training School would put them together
with peers to form a union that might combat gang influence. These conclusions remain
consistent across all forums of research.
Poverty is another risk factor. Poverty plays a role in cognitive and behavioral disorders
and leads parents into harsher discipline. Juveniles are given less warmth from their parents.
Cognitive behavior problems such as depression and anxiety play a role in a childs
ability to focus in school. It causes them to have social issues, such as making friends and, live a
productive lifestyle. Some psychiatric symptoms include depression, anxiety, and behavioral
disorders all of which are higher in children living below the poverty level. (Brandt, 2006).
Another risk factor is children who have been neglected or have parents who abused
drugs or alcohol. These parents often have other problems such as the stress from single
parenthood, domestic violence, poor education and depression. Teen parents themselves are
another actor. In 2008, fifteen percent of female detainees at a training school in Rhode Island
were pregnant. Eight percent of males already had a child and two percent were expecting
(Juvenile Justice in Rhode Island 2008).
Although one risk factor alone cannot predict if a child will become a juvenile
delinquent, it is important to look at the number of risk factors that a child possesses in
developing delinquent behavior. The key seems to be preventative programs, such as Head Start
and early intervention. The term early intervention means before birth and early adolescence,
before delinquent behavior exists. This is an important time period for a young child to receive a
supportive environment for which a child could flourish.

Although scholarly theories assume that there is a definite link between delinquency and
parenting, clear conclusions are difficult draw. This is difficult because studies vary on the kinds
of delinquency, parenting dimensions and heterogeneity in this field of research.It is also difficult
because of how much of the population from which these studies are drawn.
The articles contain a clear notion that one parent households are more likely to rear a
child that can become a juvenile delinquent. There are several other risk factors involved but
clearly they are at a disadvantage based on the fact that there kids are not always supervised
properly and they are alone more time than children from two- parent households.
To further conclude, I feel more research needs to be done on female juvenile
delinquency. It may be because there are less females are involved in serious crimes or that they
are exposed to less risk factors than males. It may be because they have a higher threshold for
becoming delinquents. Whatever the cause, there needs to be more studies involving this.