CHAPTER 1 - FAMILY

PART II - FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

At the end of this section, the student should be able to:

• Explain how socialization contributes to the development of juvenile delinquency

• Cite different social groups that shape the behavior and personality of juveniles

• Analyze how family, peers, environment, school, mass media, and other social groups
can contribute to the delinquency problem.

Chapter 1- Family, Peers, Environment, School, and Mass Media

The problem of juvenile delinquency is attributed to factors such as family, peers,

environment, school, and mass media that affect the socialization of children.
Socialization is the process through which children learn the ways of a particular
society or social group so that they can function within it.

FAMILY

The family is the first and most important social unit to affect children; it is the first
social world the child encounters. Individuals learn the attitudes, behaviors and social
roles considered appropriate for them from already- socialized individuals, typically
parents and other family members. Through the socialization process in families, the
personalities, characters, values, and beliefs of children are initially shaped. Families
help in the development of stable and emotionally secure individuals and enhance the
cognitive language development of children by providing a variety of intellectually rich
and stimulating experiences. Parents and older family members also serve as role
models, transmitting educational values and providing environment in which children
can safely develop a sense of independence.

Families, however, are not isolated group. Rather, they exist within a larger social
and cultural context and reflect the family's particular class, ethnic, religious, political,
and regional characteristics. This means that a child's socialization is somewhat
selective, depending on the background of his or her family.

At a theoretical level, families are the primary source for teaching children self-
control, a major point of delinquency. It has been observed that adolescents who have
low self-control are more attracted to delinquency behaviors than youth with greater
self-control. The primary cause of low self-control appears to be ineffective child-
rearing.

One of the most critical aspects of socialization is the development of moral

values in children. Moral education, or the training of the individual to be inclined toward
the good, involves a number of things, including the rules on the do's and don'ts and the
development of good habits. Youths who have developed higher levels of social moral
reasoning, such as behaving according to moral motives and internalizing values that
would lead youth to act in ways that would benefit others and society, are less likely to
engage in aggressive behaviors and delinquency. Although the church and the school
complement the family in both teaching and setting examples of moral behavior, it is in
the family where the development of moral virtue or good character is effectively formed
or left unformed.

Families traditionally have been the primary providers of the material well-being
of their members. The family clothes, feeds and provides shelter. Parents or older
siblings provide supervision and monitoring of younger children to ensure the latter's
safety and obedience. In addition, the family provides for the physical security of its
members and performs home functions to protect its members from potential thieves,
vandals and burglars. Finally, the family provides emotional security to its members
through giving encouragement, support and unconditional love.

Many families, however, fail miserably at achieving one or more of these goals.
Unfortunately, some families transmit values that promote violence or criminality and
destroy the development of positivve self-concept among its members. They fail to
inculcate moral values or virtues among children. Many families too, fail to provide
adequate material, physical and emotional security to their children when parents
separate or fail to marry, and engage in rule- violating behaviors, thereby ignoring the
primary needs of children.
Family Conditions that Influence the Development of Juvenile Delinquency

1. Separation of parents/broken home

2. Family desertion

3. Both working parents

4. Parental rejection

5. single-parent household

6. In-law problems

7. Lack of parental guidance

8. Family displacement

9. Low income of parents

10. Teenage pregnancy

11. Latchkey children

Family Structure

Both the family size and birth position had been found to have predictive effects
on delinquency.

1. Family size

Parents of larger families tend to give less parental attention to their children.
Children of large families are having a greater chance to become delinquent, and this is
a predictive factor. It was found that delinquency is associated with the number of
brothers in the family, but not with the number of sisters. Members of large families had
been found to be lacking in educational success. They perform poorly in school and
score low in IQ test.

2. Child's Birth Order in the Family

Birth order affects the delinquent behavior with delinquency more likely among middle
children than first or last children.

The first child receives individual attention and affection of parents, while the last child
benefits from the parents' experience of raising children, as well as from presence of
siblings who serve as models. In some cases, the delinquent child is the first or last
child.

Relations between Parents and Children

The strongest predictive factor for delinquency is having criminal parents. While a very
small part of this may be accounted for by genetic factors, most of it must be related to
the relationship of parents toward their children. It may be that parents provide a model
of behavior for the children to copy or a model of aggressive and antisocial behavior
which in turn leads to delinquency.

1. Family Rejection

Studies found significant a relationship between parental rejection and delinquent

behavior.

Some children are rejected by their parents. As a result, they are deprived of one
or both of their parents through abandonment, hospitalization, divorce, death, or
intervention of public agencies.

According to John Bowlby, a British psychologist, even a short absence on the

part of the mother could have deleterious effects on the psychic well-being of the child.
A child who is deprived of his mother goes through three phases:

a. Protest- cries and screams for mother, shows panic, clings when she visits, and
howls when she leaves.

b. Despair- after a few days, child becomes withdrawn, sucks thumb.

c. Detachment - loses interest in parents and is not concerned whether they are
there or not.

2. Discipline in the Home

Inadequate supervision and discipline in the home have been commonly cited to
explain delinquent behavior.

Where discipline is erratic or harsh, children tend to become delinquent in

adolescence. Such parents differ from normal parents in punishing harshly, and in
giving many commands. Certain children are difficult to discipline; shouting and
incessant commands are a parental reaction to the child's constant misbehavior.
 The fact that parents of normal children can make their children behave worse
simply by giving more commands is an indicator that discipline is a shaping factor.

Three types of home that breeds three types of behavior:

a. A loving, friendly and just home that breeds Conforming Behavior

b. A loving, liberal and open-minded home that breeds Critical Behavior

C. A loveless, lonely and problematic home life that breeds Deviant Behavior

Family Model

1. The Corporate Model- The father is the chief executive officer. The mother is the
operating officer, and implements the father's policy and manages the staff (children)
that in turn have privileges and responsibilities based on their seniority. The father
makes the most; he is the final word in the corporate family. Intimacy runs to the profit
motive.

2. The Team Model- The father is the head; the mother is the chief of the training
table and cheerleader. The children, suffering frequent performance anxiety, play the
rules and stay in shape with conformity calisthenics. In the team family, competition is in
the name of the game; winning is everything.

3. The Military Model - The father is the general. The mother is the guard duty with
a special assignment to the nurse corps when needed. The kids are the grunts. Unruly
children are sent to stockade, insubordinate wives risk discharge. Punishment is swift,
and sadism is called character building.

4. The Boarding School Model- The father is the rector or head master, and is in
charge of training school minds and bodies. The mother is the dorm counselor who
oversees the realm emotion, illness, good works, and bedwetting. The children are
dutiful students. The parents have nothing left to learn; there's but teach and test.
5. Theatrical Model- The father is the producer and plays the role of the father.
The mother, the stage manager, doubles in the part of mother. The children, the
stagehands, also act the roles of girls and boys. No writer is necessary because the
lines are scripted, the roles are sex stereotypes, the plot is predictable.

Quality of Home

Poor family home life, measured by marital adjustment and harmony within the
home, also affects the rate of delinquent behavior among children more than whether or
not the family is intact.

Happiness of marriage, good marital relationships and strong family

cohesiveness in homes are the key whether or not the children become delinquent.

1. Broken Home

This does not refer to the separation of parents leaving their children
behind, but includes the presence of parents who are irresponsible that children
experience constant quarrel in the home. Broken homes are associated with an
increase risk in deviant behavior.

Effects of Family Breakdown to the Children:

a. Being brought up by one parent instead of two decreases the amount of

surveillance, which protects against delinquency.

b. Divorce plunges the family into poverty, which is associated with deviance and
forces the family to find accommodation in high delinquency area.

c. People who divorce are less stable character than normal, and pass their
instability unto their children.

2. Single Parent Family

Majority of single parent families are the products of divorce. Part of the effect is
simply that of the strained relationships between the parents prior to family breakdown.
Effects of Single-Parent Family:

a. Single parents are much more likely to be living in poverty, or living in a high-
delinquency area than are married persons.

b. Single-parents may find it more difficult to control their children during late childhood
and adolescence.

c. The fathers of the children of single-mothers may have criminal behavior or

alcoholism which may have influenced their children prior to family break-down.

Parenting Styles

Another perceived delinquency factor is parenting style. Parents could manifest

one of the following parenting styles:

1. Authoritative parents- They are warm but firm. They set standards for the
child's conduct but form expectations consistent with the child's developing needs and
capabilities. They give high regard on the independent development of the child and
self- direction but assume the ultimate responsibility for their child's behavior.
Authoritative parents deal with their child in a rational, issue-oriented manner, engage in
discussion and explanation with their children over rules and discipline.

2. Authoritarian parents - They place a high value on obedience and conformity

tending to favor more punitive, absolute and forceful disciplinary measures. These
parents are not responsive to their children and show little warmth and support. Open
and constructive discussion is not common in an authoritarian household because
authoritarian parents believe that the child should accept without question the rules and
standards established by the parents. Parents tend to discourage independent
behaviors of children; instead, they place importance on restricting the child's
dependence.

3. Indulgent parents – They behave in responsive, accepting, benign or kind,

and more passive ways in matters of discipline. They place relatively few demands on
the child's behavior, giving the child a high degree of freedom to act as he or she
wishes. Indulgent parents are more likely to believe that control is an infringement or
violation on the child's freedom that may interfere with healthy development. Instead of
actively shaping their child's behavior, these parents consider themselves as resources
the child may or may not use.
 4. Indifferent parents- They are fairly unresponsive to their child and try to
minimize the time and energy they must devote to interacting with the child or
responding to the child's demands. In extreme cases, indifferent parents may be
neglectful. They know little about their child's activities and whereabouts, show little
interest in their child's experiences at school or in his or her friends, and rarely consider
the child's opinion when making decisions.

Parenting Skills

The following are ways of developing parenting skills:

1. Notice what the child is doing.

2. Monitor it over a long period of time.

3. Model social skill behavior.

4. Clearly state house rules/policies.

5. Consistently provide same punishments transgressions and disobedience.

6. Provide reinforcement for conformity.

7. Negotiate disagreements so that conflicts and crisis do not escalate.

Two General Views Concerning Family and Delinquency

1. The Alarmist View - this is the belief that the family is a very serious
condition; it is in critical condition and is getting progressively worse. Alarmists believe
in the myth of declining family.

Five Trends indicating that the Family is Declining:

a. Marriage is something that fewer and fewer people want.

b. Being a homemaker (housewife) is something that fewer and fewer women want.

c. Fewer and fewer people want a large number of children.

d. Sacrifice and self-denial are things that fewer and fewer people are willing to practice.

e. Hedonism and self-fulfillment are things that more and more people are pursuing.

Hedonism is a cultural norm which pursues or seeks only pleasure and gratification.
Arguments/Philosophy of Alarmists:

a. The trends on family mean that the family is weakening.

b. The family is the one institution that holds the society together.

c. If the family loses its influence, children will not get the guidance they need.

d. Children will eventually grow-up wild, unsocialized and disruptive.

Proposal of Alarmists:

a. The family should revert to the traditional form.

b. Parents should provide role models, authority and supervision.

 If the preceding conditions are not satisfied, children might turn to:

1) Drugs

2) Sexual experimentation

3) Serious delinquency

2. Reassuring View- this view contradicts the belief of the declining family.

Arguments:

a. Today's family is alive and well, vital, and still the primary in raising the nation's
young.

b. Declining family condition is just a natural consequence when the society is

undergoing modernization.

c. The family condition would eventually improve as soon as the society's

economy will stabilize.
Child Abuse

"Child abuse" can be defined as causing or permitting any harmful or offensive

contact on a child's body: and, any communication or transaction of any kind which
humiliates, shames, or frightens the child. Some child development experts go a bit
further, and define child abuse as any act or omission, which fails to nurture or in the
upbringing of the children.

Types of Child Abuse

1. Physical Child Abuse - is an act of deliberately inflicting physical injuries on a

child. This may include burning, hitting, punching, shaking, kicking, beating, or
otherwise harming a child. The parent or caretaker may not have intended to hurt the
child; the injury is not an accident. It may, however, have been the result of over-
discipline or physical punishment that is inappropriate to the child's age.

2. Emotional Maltreatment/ Psychological Child Abuse - is when an adult

demeans the child's worth or dignity as a human being by constant scolding and
ridiculing. This could lead to a child with very low self-esteem and many hang- ups and
psychological problems.

3. Child Neglect- is the failure to provide for the child's basic needs. Neglect can
be physical, educational, or emotional. Physical neglect can include not providing
adequate food or clothing, appropriate medical care, supervision, or proper weather
abandonment. Educational neglect includes failure to provide schooling or special
educational needs, allowing excessive truancies. Psychological neglect includes the
lack of any emotional support and love, never attending to the child, spousal abuse,
drug and alcohol abuse, including allowing the child to participate in drug and alcohol
use.

4. Sexual Child Abuse - is any act of maliciously molesting the child sexually
whether the sexual act is consummated or not. It includes fondling a child's genitals,
making the child fondle the adult's genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy,
exhibitionism, and sexual exploitation. To be considered child abuse these acts have to
be committed by a person responsible for the care of a child (for example a baby-sitter,
a parent, or a daycare provider) or related to the child. If a stranger commits these acts,
it would be considered sexual assault and handled solely by the police and criminal
courts. Sexual abuse could lead to trauma, fear, and psychological problems on the part
of the child.
Typology of Child Abusers

1. Mentally disordered abuser - a person who has defective mental ability.

2. Parentally incompetent abuser - an individual whose practice of disciplining

the child is in the same way he was disciplined.

3. Situational abuser - a parent who only abuses the child when he/she is
confronted with a particular situation, one who is usually non abusive but "fly off the
handle" when circumstance develops.

4. Accidental abuser - a parent who exercises poor judgment in his/her

parenting decisions; poor judgment results to child abuse.

5. Subcultural abuser - a group of people who share a number of values, norms

and attitudes in common.

6. Self-identified abuser - parents who are abusive; although some of these

kinds of abusers want to stop abusing their children, they cannot and they are afraid to
make their discipline practices known.

7. Institutionally prescribed abusers- some institutions are grounded with

beliefs that are abusive to children.

Child abuse may occur in:

a. Homes

b. Schools, public or private

c. Day care centers

d. Preschools

e. Detention centers

f. Correctional facilities

Mental health and delinquency experts have found that abused kids experience
mental and social problems across their life span, ranging from substance abuse to
possession of a damaged personality. For example, victims of abuse are prone to suffer
mental illness such as dissociative identity disorder (DID) formerly known as multiple
personality disorder (MPD); research shows that child abuse is present in the histories
of the vast majority of DID subjects.

One particular area of concern is the child's own personal involvement with
violence. Psychologists suggest that maltreatment encourages children to use
aggression as a means of solving problems and prevents them from feeling empathy for
others. It diminishes their ability to cope with stress and makes them vulnerable to the
violence in the culture. Abused children who have fewer positive interactions with peers,
are less well liked, and are more likely to have disturbed social interactions.

It is to be noted though that not all abused children become delinquent. Many do
not, and many delinquent youths come from what appear to be model homes. Research
shows that abused adolescents seem to get involved in more status offenses than
delinquent acts--perhaps indicating that abused children are more likely to “flee than to
fight."