A broken home is considered a major cause of delinquency.

Inner city males, whether white or black, who grow up in homes without fathers are more likely to? commit crime whereas males who grow with a father in the home will be less like to commit any form of crime. Young black males who come from broken homes commit mostly murder and robbery .They are influenced by income, region, population density, city si e, or welfare benefits. !amilies which are broken ha"e a stronger correlation to ju"enile "iolence than adult "iolence. There is no difference in correlation between black and white communities# the percentage of white families headed by females also had a significant positi"e effect on delinquency rates. The relationship for white crimes is the same as for those of blacks crimes. $%hinn, &. '()*+,. !ather absence and children-s cogniti"e de"elopment. $.sychological /ulletin, +0,1 In ()23, 4eorge /. &angold declared, $the broken home is probably the single most important cause of delinquency.1 &argaret 5odgkiss-s ()66 study in 7ook county '7hicago, also re"ealed a strong difference in the incidence of broken homes among delinquents compared to nondelinquents1 88.) percent of delinquents and 33.+ percent of nondelinquents had broken homes. %heldon 4lueck and 9leanor T. 4lueck-s classic s study, which compared 0:: delinquents and 0:: non delinquents, further reported strong e"idence of the important of broken homes; 8:.3 percent of delinquents and 63.2 percent of nondelinquents came from broken homes. 7lemens /artollas '2::8,. <ni"ersity of =orthern Iowa. $>u"enile ?elinquency,1 *Th 9dition.

@"er ninety percent of ju"enile delinquents feel unhappy at home and unsatisfied with their life circumstances. !iftyAse"en percent of black children, thirtyAone percent of 5ispanic children and twentyAnine percent of white children li"e in single parent homes. %ur"eys ha"e found that only one out of eight delinquents comes from twoAparents homes. !lorida reports that siBty percent are rapists, se"entyAtwo percent are adolescent murderers and se"enty percent are ju"eniles in state reform institutions who grew up without fathers. The <.%. /ureau of the 7ensus pro"ides data about fathers, including that $nearly oneAfourth 'twentyAfour percent, of America-s children li"e with only their mother.1 $<.%. ?epartment of >ustice, !ederal /ureau of In"estigation, '2:::,. 7rime in the <nited %tates. There are three theoretical "iewpoints of broken homes and delinquency. The control perspecti"e, the learning perspecti"e, and the strain perspecti"e. The control perspecti"e focuses on of social bonding, direct control, and selfAcontrol. %ocial bonding theory '5irsch, ()8), says that ju"eniles will engage in delinquency because they fail to ha"e a strong relationship with their parents or caregi"ers, do not want to de"elop a standard pattern 'do not want to stay focus,, fail to be in"ol"ed in the community or school acti"ities, and fail to respect what is right and wrong. ?irect control theory eBplains how a single parent tries to set rules, monitor their children, and alternate their bad beha"ior. %elf control theory '4otlffredson and 5irschi, ()):, states that when parents do not monitor or control their children-s beha"ior, delinquency occurs. &ost parents say they can not control their children, or that their children are just completely out of control, starting from toddlerAage. The Cearning perspecti"e implies that peers are linked to broken homes and

?elinquency rates. The peers persuade, belie"e in each other, and reinforce bad beha"ior. There are two studies which support the learning perspecti"e. =ye '()0*, said, $those adolescents in conflictAridden households are more likely to report substantial delinquency among peers than are adolescents from stable households.1 %imilarity, %teinberg '()+*,, $conducted an eBperiment demonstrating that youths from broken homes are more susceptible to the effects of peer pressure than are youths from intact homes.1 Dod .lotnik '2::0,. %an ?iego %tate <ni"ersity. $Introduction to .sychology, *th 9dition.1 The %train perspecti"e tells us that broken homes moti"ati"es delinquency and indi"iduals can-t set positi"e goals for themsel"es. The growth of the number families today is directly linked to the growth of singleAparent households, usually mothers. This modern form of family disintegration E or, more accurately, nonAformation AA has as its consequence criminal beha"ior. The growth in crime is the growth in the numbered of families abandoned by fathers. Dod .lotnik '2::0,. %an ?iego %tate <ni"ersity. $Introduction to .sychology, *th 9dition.1 The rate of ju"enile crime within each state is closely linked to the percentage of children raised in singleAparent families. %tates with a lower percentage of singleAparent families will ha"e lower rates of ju"enile crime. %tateAbyAstate analysis indicates that a (: percent increase in the number of children li"ing in singleA parent homes 'including those resulting from di"orces, accompanies a (* percent increase in ju"enile crime. Along with the increased probability of family po"erty and higher risk of delinquency, a fatherFs absence is associated with a host of other social

problems. The three most prominent effects are lower intellectual de"elopment, higher le"els of illegitimate parenting in the teenage years, and on welfare. According to a ()): report from the ?epartment of >ustice, more often than not, missing and GthrowawayG children come from singleAparent families, families with step parents, and cohabitingA adult families. !amilyArelated "ariables ha"e been shown to be factors in the absence of criminality. Tra"is 5irschi, the theorist most closely identified with %ocial 7ontrol or /onding Theory, links delinquent beha"ior to the quality of the social bond. 5e theori ed that indi"iduals who are most tightly bonded to social groups such as family, school, and church are less likely to commit delinquent acts. 5e states that attachment and bonding to others through ties of affection and respect for parents, teachers, and others correlate to their ability to internali e norms and de"elop a conscience. The stronger the attachment, the lower the likelihood of committing a delinquent act. 5e also maintains that the most important "ariable that insulates a child against delinquent beha"ior is the attachment to parents. 9"en if a family is broken by di"orce or separation, the child needs to maintain attachments to one or both parents to a"oid drift towards delinquency. 5e goes further to assert that if the child is alienated from the parent, he or she will not de"elop an adequate conscience or superego. In normal families a father gi"es support to his wife, particularly during the period surrounding birth and in the early childhood years when children make hea"y demands on her. In popular parlance, he is her GburnAoutG pre"ention. /ut a single mother does not ha"e this support# emotional and physical stress may result in fatigue and lower a"aiablility of the parent to the child, increasing the risk of an emotionally distant

relationship with the child. The single mother generally is less able to attend to all of her children-s needs as quickly or as fully as she could if she were taken care of by a husband. These factors tend to affect the motherFs emotional attachment to her child and in turn reduce the childFs lifelong capacity for emotional attachment to others and empathy for others. %uch empathy helps restrain a person from acting against othersF wellAbeing. &cCanahan, %. and /umpass, C. '()++,. Intergenerational consequences of family disruption. $American >ournal of %ociology,1 )3'(,, (6:A(02. In AmericaFs inner cities, the distant relationship between a mother and child can become an abusing and neglectful relationship. <nder such conditions the child is at risk of becoming a psychopath. These obser"ations ha"e disturbing implications for society. If the conditions in which psychopathy increase, then America will ha"e proportionately more psychopaths, and society as a whole is at an increased risk of suffering in unpredictable ways. A fatherFs attention to his son has enormous positi"e effects on a boyFs emotional and social de"elopment. /ut a boy abandoned by his father is depri"ed of a deep sense of personal security. According to Dolf Coeber, .rofessor of .sychiatry, .sychology and 9pidemiology at the Hestern .sychiatric Institute in the <ni"ersity of .ittsburgh %chool of &edicine, GA close and intense relationship between a boy and his father pre"ents hostility and inappropriate aggressi"eness.G This inappropriate aggressi"eness is an early indication of potential delinquency later on, particularly in boys. !urthermore, such bad beha"ior is a barrier to the childFs finding a place among his more normal peers, and aggressi"eness usually is the precursor of a hostile and "iolent GstreetG attitude. 9lijah Anderson, .rofessor of %ociology at the

<ni"ersity of .ennsyl"ania, obser"es that these young men, "ery sensiti"e in their demands for Grespect,G display a demeanor which communicates Gdeterrent aggressionG not unlike the beha"ior that causes normal peers to reject and isolate aggressi"e boys in grade school. The message of this body language, of course, triggers rejection by the normal adult community. &cCanahan, %. and /umpass, C. '()++,. Intergenerational

consequences of family disruption. $American >ournal of %ociology,1 )3'(,, (6:A(02. The dominant role of fathers in pre"enting delinquency is wellAestablished. @"er forty years ago, this phenomenon was highlighted in the classic studies of the causes of delinquency by %heldon and 9leanor 4lueck of 5ar"ard <ni"ersity. They described in academic terms what many children hear their mothers so often say; GHait till your father gets homeIG In a wellAfunctioning family, the "ery presence of paternal authority, an authority con"eyed through his daily in"ol"ement in family life, is critical to the pre"ention of psychopathology and delinquency. The benefits a child recei"es from his relationship with his father are notably different from those deri"ed from his relationship with his mother. The father contributes a sense of authority and discipline which is con"eyed through his in"ol"ed presence. The additional benefits of his affection and attachment add to this primary benefit. Albert /andura, professor of psychology at %tanford <ni"ersity, obser"ed as early as ()0) that delinquents suffer from an absence of the fatherFs affection. &cCanahan, %. and /umpass, C. '()++,. Intergenerational consequences of family disruption. $American >ournal of %ociology,1 )3'(,, (6:A(02.The professional literature of criminology is surprisingly consistent on the real root causes of "iolent crime; the breakdown of the family and community stability. The sequence has its deepest roots in

the absence of stable marriage. The frightening news is that both the le"el and "iciousness of teenage "iolent crime has been rising steadily. %ince ())8, "iolent teenagers between the age of siBteen and eighteen were born into chaotic family and social conditions. %ince then these conditions ha"e become more pre"alent, and we will see a continued rise in "iolent teenage crime. !urthermore, America is headed toward a 0: percent outAofAwedlock birthrate sometime in the neBt twel"e to twenty years, inching more and more of the country closer to today-s innerAcity illegitimacy rate. If this trend is not re"ersed, Americans must prepare for eBtensi"e and serious erosion of public safety and practical freedoms. 4o"ernment can staff and manage the criminal justice system efficiently and pre"ent crime in the short term by locking up "iolent teenage criminals so that they are no longer a danger to others. /ut it lacks both the capacity and competence to tackle the root causes of crime. That is the mission of three other basic institutions of society; the family, the church, and the school. @ther research shows that the absence of a motherFs lo"e, parents fighting and domestic "iolence, the lack of parental super"ision and discipline, rejection of the child, parents who abuse or neglect their children, and criminal parents are all causes family condition lead to crime. If a childFs emotional attachment to his mother is disrupted during the first few years, permanent harm can be done to his capacity for emotional attachment to others. They will be less able to trust others and throughout their li"es will stay more distant emotionally from others. 5a"ing many different caretakers during the first few years can lead to a loss of this sense of attachment for lo"e and to antisocial beha"ior. %eparation

from the mother, especially between siB months and three years of age, can lead to longA lasting negati"e effects on beha"ior and emotional de"elopment. It is now time to help these institutions fulfill their missions by re"ersing course and remo"ing these burdens. It will take real leadership to inspire us all to cooperate in rebuilding our marriages, families, neighborhoods, and communities.

Hork cited %hinn, &. '()*+,. !ather absence and children-s cogniti"e de"elopment. $.sychological /ulletin, +0,1 2)0A623. &cCanahan, %. and /umpass, C. '()++,. Intergenerational consequences of family disruption. $American >ournal of %ociology,1 )3'(,, (6:A(02. Dod .lotnik '2::0,. %an ?iego %tate <ni"ersity. $Introduction to .sychology, *th 9dition.1 <.%. ?epartment of >ustice, !ederal /ureau of In"estigation, '2:::,. $7rime in the <nited %tates.1 7lemens /artollas '2::8,. <ni"ersity of =orthern Iowa. $>u"enile ?elinqeuncy,1 *Th 9dition. 5ttp;JJroBburyKroBbury.net 5ttp;JJwww..roquest.umi.comJpqdweb