Research Analysis

6

SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES AND CHILD DELINQUENCY

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Introduction

As of 2010, over 25 million children were being brought up by single parent, and in most of these cases, an absentee father. Based on research, single parenthood is the number one cause of poverty, and also crime. Comparing all adolescents, those brought up in full-married families are less likely to indulge in criminal behavior. A reason for this could be due to the emotional problems and abuse that they most likely undergo in their growth, which could make them struggle academically and thereby indulge in questionable conduct which eventually leads to delinquent acts.

Peer Review

One peer reviewed article that supports this notion is by Singh & Kiran (2014) that studied the effect that single parent households have on child delinquency. To establish the relevance of the articles used to support the facts in the topic, articles shall be selected based on the types of data used. Singh & Kiran (2014) used secondary data to support their notion i.e. secondary sources from other research and publications, and complied a conclusive observation based on the different findings.

Singh & Kiran (2014) attempted to analyze the effect that a family structure would have on juvenile criminal behavior. They established a real connection between these two elements and specifically for households that have a single mother. They observed that children that grew up without a father were more likely subject to other issues like depression, teenage suicide and even eating disorders i.e. besides juvenile crime. Singh & Kiran (2014) present these findings in different sections of their publication. First, they present a literature review that analyzes similar studies that were conducted to support their topic. Six studies conducted at different times (between 1990-2013) were analyzed, and the same characteristic was observed in all. These studies attempted to give different causal factors to the topic at hand. In the second section, Singh & Kiran (2014) highlight the most common causes for juvenile criminal behavior. Out of the five causes analyzed, three directly relate to the family structure and two indirectly relate to the family structure. For instance, they point out peer influence and drug use as causes of juvenile delinquency. These two factors are indirectly related to single parent families through the different effects earlier highlighted, such as depression. For instance, due to depression, teenagers may indulge in substance abuse and may participate in crime so as to finance their drug use. In the final section Singh & Kiran (2014) discuss the remedies to juvenile delinquency, and obviously, it revolves around the family structure. All responsibility is left to parents to ensure equality of rights, maintain healthy relationships with their children and if possible, both parents should be actively involved in the upbringing of their children. The experimental hypothesis for this article is that there is a direct relationship between juvenile delinquency and single parent upbringing. The null hypothesis would therefore try to reject this claim by asserting that there is no direct relationship between juvenile delinquency and single parent upbringing.

Nowell (2015) also carried out the same study and obtained similar results. This study is relevant in establishing the validity of the topic at hand since it used primary data as the main source of data, which was statistically analyzed by the author. Nicole (2015) conducted a quantitative study that analyzed the effect the structure of the family in a typical Midwestern suburb in Chicago would have on juvenile delinquency. All participants involved were randomly obtained from a church. They completed surveys that gave different findings pertaining to the family structure and the probability of juveniles engaging in criminal tendencies.

Nicole (2015) categorized her research in three main sections: an introduction, literature review, and methodology. In the introduction section, Nicole (2015) highlighted the research questions that the research set out to answer, and the means to accomplishing the results. These questions were mainly based on the aspect of single parenthood, parenting behavior and income received by the family. This set similar experimental and null hypothesis as those of Singh & Kiran (2014) that there is a link between single parent hood and juvenile delinquency and a rejection of this statement being the null hypothesis. In the literature review section, Nicole (2015) studied different data pertaining to crime and single parent households. Her review began with a general discussion of this relationship and subsequently a further analysis of literature relating crime to youths, thereby uncovering common crime indicators. In the methodology section Nicole (2015) highlights out how the data was collected from the sampled population and used to come up with a conclusion supporting the experimental hypothesis. She then reports her findings based on the data that.

Conclusion

Obviously, the benefits that children receive from either parent are totally different and no role of the other can be played by either. Fathers for instance contribute to the feeling of paternal authority and a sense of discipline which can only be conveyed in their involvement. A mother on the other hand creates the sense of love and affection. An absence of either would therefore lead to high juvenile delinquency, and a presence of both could would subjectively mean lesser instances of juvenile delinquency.

Reference:

Singh, A., & Kiran, U. V. (2014). Effect of Single Parent Family on Child Delinquency. International Journal of Science & Research, 3(9), 86-868.

Howell, N. (2015). A Link Between Single Parent Families and Crime. Ed.D.Dissertations. Paper 79