NCJ Number
150222
Date Published
1994
Length
78 pages
Annotation
Strengthening the ability of high-risk and dysfunctional families to raise successful children is emerging as a critical social issue.
Abstract
Children who live in non-nurturing families or in families that cannot provide adequate supervision have a tendency to become antisocial. Further, estimates indicate that one in four children living with two parents, single parents, or remarried parents live in poverty. Many research studies have found that children raised by socially and economically deprived families are at high-risk of chronic delinquency and drug use. The importance of involving the family in juvenile delinquency prevention efforts is increasingly being recognized. An etiological framework of family risk and protective factors for delinquency is described and illustrated, multiple risk factors in high risk youth and families are identified, and family factors in juvenile delinquency theories are noted. Socialization variables in juvenile delinquency are examined, including lack of parental or adult supervision, extended family or alternate caretaker supervision, sibling supervision, time with the child, covert versus overt conduct disorders, discipline, developmental expectations, parent-child relationships, family conflict and stressors, and mental health and depression. Specific ways of strengthening the family are described, and recommendations to improve the effectiveness of family interventions are offered. 199 references, 1 table, and 3 figures