NCJ Number
232926
Date Published
2010
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines evidence on the extent to which variations in family structure and functioning contribute to individual differences in young people's risk of involvement in antisocial behavior and crime and evaluates claims that changes in family life caused or contributed to rising levels of youth crime.
Abstract
Variations in family structures and in parenting have long been known to be associated with variations in risk for youth crime. Family breakdown was among the earliest-identified correlates of youth offending. The extensive research on more detailed aspects of parenting leaves little doubt that it plays a key role in the complex of influences, individual and environmental, that go to shape young people's behavior. These influences start early in childhood, and persist to adolescence, and they have proved highly effective targets for intervention. However, while family factors are clearly implicated in individual differences in youth offending, current evidence suggests that there may be a need to look elsewhere to understand trends in overall levels of youth crime. Figures, table, and references