BROKEN HOMES, PARENTAL PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS, AND FEMALE DELINQUENCY

• NCJ Number: 56575
• Journal: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry Volume: 49 Issue: 2 Dated: (APRIL 1979) Pages: 253-264
• Author(s): D R OFFORD; N ABRAMS; N ALLEN; M POUSHINSKY
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 605-7-764
• Sponsoring Agency: Canada Ministry of National Health and Welfare
• Corporate Author: American Orthopsychiatric Assoc, Inc
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

FAMILIES WITH DELINQUENT GIRLS IN ONTARIO, CANADA, WERE COMPARED TO FAMILIES OF THE SAME SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS WITH NONDELINQUENT GIRLS TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF BROKEN HOMES AND PARENTAL PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS ON DELINQUENCY.

Abstract

SUBJECTS FOR THE STUDY WERE GIRLS PLACED ON PROBATION WITH THEIR PARENTS OR WITH PROBATION AND AFTERCARE SERVICES BY THE JUVENILE COURT OF OTTAWA-CARLETON BETWEEN JULY 1972 AND JANUARY 1975. FAMILIES OF 59 DELINQUENT AND 59 NONDELINQUENT GIRLS PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. INFORMATION WAS ACQUIRED THROUGH INTERVIEWS WITH PARENTS OR GUARDIANS REGARDING DEMOGRAPHIC, PHYSICAL, AND PSYCHIATRIC CHARACTERISTICS. DETAILED DATA WERE OBTAINED ON SOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF GIRLS. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DELINQUENT AND NONDELINQUENT GIRLS ON VARIABLES OF AGE, INTELLIGENCE, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE. FAMILIES OF DELINQUENT GIRLS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY MORE MATERNAL MENTAL ILLNESS THAN FAMILIES OF NONDELINQUENT GIRLS, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS WITH RESPECT TO PATERNAL MENTAL ILLNESS AND MATERNAL AND PATERNAL MENTAL ILLNESS CONSIDERED TOGETHER. THIRTY-NINE OF THE FAMILIES WITH DELINQUENT GIRLS WERE NO LONGER INTACT, COMPARED TO 13 OF THE FAMILIES WITH NONDELINQUENT GIRLS. PARENTAL ALCOHOLISM, HOWEVER, WAS NO MORE PREVALENT IN THE DELINQUENT GROUP THAN IT WAS IN THE NONDELINQUENT GROUP. THERE WAS NO ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FAMILY SIZE AND FEMALE DELINQUENCY. GUARDIANSHIP CHANGES CONTRIBUTED TO DELINQUENCY REGARDLESS OF THE EXISTENCE OF BROKEN HOMES. DELINQUENT GIRLS HAD FEWER ATHLETIC AND OTHER HOBBIES THAN NONDELINQUENT GIRLS. THE PRESENCE OF PARENTAL MENTAL ILLNESS WAS RELATED TO A GREATER NUMBER OF SYMPTOMS IN GIRLS BUT NOT TO AN EARLIER AGE OF ONSET OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT PARENTS OF DELINQUENT GIRLS MAY BE DISADVANTAGED IN SEVERAL WAYS; ONE-PARENT FAMILIES; MOTHERS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS; FATHERS WITH CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR; AND PARENTS WITH A HISTORY OF BEING ON WELFARE. DIFFERENCES IN THE IMPACT OF BROKEN HOMES AND PARENTAL PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS ON FEMALES VERSUS MALES ARE DISCUSSED. SUPPORTING DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)