NCJ Number
76211
Journal
Asian Journal of Psychology and Education Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1978) Pages: 16-20
Date Published
1978
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A total of 200 delinquent boys from an Indian jail were compared with 200 nondelinquents from a regular school population to determine the effect of a disrupted father-son relationship on the son's delinquent behavior.
Abstract
Based on a review of prior research, it was hypothesized that delinquents would show more disruption in the father-son relationship than would the nondelinquents. Subjects were personally interviewed and given questionnaires containing specific questions regarding their relationships with their parents. Questionnaire results were compared with those of the interviews. The chi-square test was used to analyze the data. Results showed that 71 percent of the delinquents and 48 percent of the nondelinquents reported fearing their father more than their mother, and significantly more delinquents than nondelinquents felt rejected by their fathers Futhermore, delinquents tended to feel more understood by their mothers, while nondelinquents tended to feel more understood by their fathers. In times of crisis, delinquents tended to seek the help of their mothers rather than their fathers, whereas nondelinquents tended to turn to their fathers. Communication channels between delinquents and their fathers tended to be blocked in comparison with nondelinquents' relationships with their fathers. These findings are consistent with other research showing that the majority of delinquents come from psychologically broken homes and that delinquents tend to have disrupted relationships with their fathers. Tables and 17 references are included.