Introduction
It is important to note that juvenile delinquency is an intricate and multifaceted issue, which is further complicated by the involvement of minors and the legal responsibilities of parents. Among the many factors contributing to and driving the problem, single parenthood can be highlighted as the most interesting and critical. It is well-known that single-parent households, most of which are comprised of single mothers, are challenged with parenting children and adolescents due to their sheer difficulty.
Two parents mean that the efforts needed to sustain the family and raise the child properly are divided between two people, whereas a single parent has to do the same work alone. As a result, such a disadvantage can lead to an array of issues, which range from poverty to juvenile delinquency. The given analysis will focus on understanding how single parents impact juvenile delinquency. Single-parent households are more likely to have delinquent minors due to single motherhood, socioeconomic factors, and a poorer child-parent relationship, but it is still better than having an abusive father.
Juvenile Delinquency
Firstly, to properly and effectively address the problem of juvenile delinquency, one should be able to define it. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (2020), a “juvenile” refers to someone under eighteen. In addition, “juvenile delinquency” is defined as a violation of U.S. law by an individual under eighteen that would have constituted a crime if committed by an adult (U.S. Department of Justice, 2020). It should be noted that “a person over eighteen but under twenty-one years of age is also accorded juvenile treatment if the act of juvenile delinquency occurred before his eighteenth birthday” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2020, para. 1). Thus, past juvenile delinquencies can still be determined as such if an individual is within a specific age range.
Single-Parent Family Factors
Secondly, there is a strong relationship between having a single-parent household and delinquent minors. Evidence suggests that “juvenile delinquency increases
- when children are born to a single parent;
- a single-parent family started at a younger age.
- children grow up with only a biological mother” (Kroese et al., 2022, p. 596).
In other words, being born into or raised by a single parent, especially a young mother, increases the chances of a child behaving delinquently by a significant margin. The study additionally found that parental separation and parental death greatly impact juvenile delinquency rates as well (Kroese et al., 2022). The latter statement means that traumatic and painful experiences make minors more vulnerable to breaking the law, which is reflective of the mental health dimension of the issue. In the case of young single mothers, the relationship between the given factors is tied to the socioeconomic aspects of being a young mother. Poverty, low income, homelessness, and inattentiveness of the parent due to the lack of time can be identified as the modalities through which young mothers heighten the risk of their offspring becoming offenders.
Family and Non-Family Related Factors
Thirdly, it is valuable to understand and be able to separate general family-related factors from non-family-related ones. The former includes “parental attitudes, the degree of family cohesion, physical violence, and uninvolved parenting” (Mwangangi, 2019, p. 52). It becomes evident why single-parent households tend to increase delinquent behavior among minors. A single parent is more likely to engage in uninvolved parenting simply due to the need to work for the family’s financial sustenance, with the option of sharing other household responsibilities with a partner.
Non-family-related factors are “the failure of the juvenile justice system, poverty, a lack of access to education, drug abuse, and genetic problems” (Mwangangi, 2019, p. 52). As addressed before, single parents are more likely to have poverty problems, which can further make such families vulnerable to juvenile delinquency. In other words, family-related and non-family-related factors are skewed to the disadvantage of a single-parent household compared to a two-parent one. The problem is further exacerbated if the single parent is a young single mother who is generally faced with even greater challenges of parenting.
Quantity and Quality of Parenting
Fourthly, the juvenile delinquency problem is an intricate issue that needs to be analyzed in greater detail. A study found that a single-parent household is not the sole factor in a specific range of minor offenses (Jacobsen & Zaatut, 2022). In essence, it can be stated that juveniles from single-parent families are likely to engage in crimes, such as vandalism, harassment, drug offenses, disturbing the peace, and other forms of non-violent crimes (Jacobsen & Zaatut, 2022).
Evidence suggests that “the quality of the parent-child relationship does, as those who have stronger relationships with their parents are at lower risk of delinquent behavior” (Jacobsen & Zaatut, 2022, p. 30). As a result, the quality of a parent-child relationship is the most important factor, rather than the quantity. A single mother with a strong connection with her child will have a better-behaved son or daughter than a child with two parents with a poor parent-child relationship. However, in general, two parents are more likely to provide a child with high-quality parent-child bonding than a single parent.
Absent and Harsh Fathers
Fifthly, in most instances of single parenthood, the mothers carry the burden of being a single parent. The research found that “youth in the harsh-father group engaged in more offending behaviors and used more substances than youth in the absent-father group” (Simmons et al., 2018, p. 9). In other words, the finding suggests that having a bad male parent in a family is even worse than not having him at all.
It is plausible to assume that single-mother families are as such because the mothers wanted to protect and save the child from the more detrimental condition of having a harsh father. The latter term is used to define fathers, who are more likely to be inattentive and uncaring, as well as to use physical violence in their parenting. Thus, having a father is not protective in itself, but rather having a caring and attentive father, which corresponds with previously analyzed studies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, households with a single parent are more prone to juvenile delinquency, often as a result of single motherhood, socioeconomic challenges, and weaker parent-child connections. However, this situation remains preferable to one involving a harmful father figure. Children born or raised in single-parent families, particularly with a young mother, are at a higher risk of exhibiting delinquent behavior.
Single parents often struggle to balance work and household duties, which may lead to less involved parenting. A two-parent household is more likely to offer strong parent-child bonding than a single-parent home. Finally, it is important to note that the mere presence of a father does not guarantee protection, because abusive fathers are more detrimental than single mothers.
References
Jacobsen, S. K., & Zaatut, A. (2022). Quantity or quality? Assessing the role of household structure and parent-child relationship in juvenile delinquency. Deviant Behavior, 43(1), 30-43. Web.
Kroese, J., Bernasco, W., Liefbroer, A. C., & Rouwendal, J. (2022). Single-parent families and adolescent crime: Unpacking the role of parental separation, parental decease, and being born to a single-parent family. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 7, 596-622. Web.
Mwangangi, R. K. (2019). The role of family in dealing with juvenile delinquency. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 7(3), 39-49. Web.
Simmons, C., Steinberg, L., Frick, P. J., & Cauffman, E. (2018). The differential influence of absent and harsh fathers on juvenile delinquency. Journal of Adolescence, 62, 9-17. Web.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2020). 38.”Juvenile” defined. Web.