Crime and Family Policy (From Juvenile Delinquency - A Justice Perspective, P 53-57, 1985, Ralph A Weisheit and Robert G Culbertson, eds. - See NCJ-99489)

• NCJ Number: 99494
• Author(s): T Hirschi
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Waveland Press, Inc.
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from Journal of Contemporary Studies, V 6, N 1 (1983)

Annotation

Based on the experiences of the Oregon Social Learning Center in treating families with problem children, this paper argues that the family may be the most important influence in the delinquency process.

Abstract

The Oregon group's advice to parents for controlling delinquent behavior is simple: monitor behavior, recognize deviant behavior, and punish such behavior. In taking this view, the group is swimming against current intellectual trends. A consistent finding of delinquency research is that children in large families are more at risk of delinquency. According to the Oregon model, this finding can be explained by the strain that large families place on parental resources with the result that children are likely to spend more time with other children who are tolerant of deviant behavior and have less power to impose their edicts than adults. The single mother has less time to devote to monitoring and punishment, one explanation for research findings that children from intact homes have lower rates of crime. Also discussed are the implications for delinquency with the increased number of working mothers, child abuse and delinquency, and the impact of the media on delinquency. Research on good childrearing practices should be encouraged and the findings possibly incorporated in the school curriculum. The paper contains 20 footnotes.