NCJ Number
209711
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 17 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 689-701
Date Published
June 2002
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effect of early father involvement, controlling for mother involvement, in juvenile delinquency.
Abstract
Research has lacked in the role of fathering in child conduct problems, especially when there are several reasons why fathers can be expected to be particularly significant in the initiation and persistence of offspring offending. Using longitudinal data from the British National Child Development Study (NCDS), this study examined the independent role of fathering in juvenile delinquency, controlling for the effect of mothering and the known risk and protective factors. In addition, the study checked for moderator effects. The NCDS is a continuing longitudinal study of some 17,000 children born in the first week of March in 1958 in England, Scotland, and Wales. This study attempts to improve the understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole life span. The study results indicate that for boys, early father involvement protects against later delinquency, lending support to the important role of fathers in the development of sons. In addition, no evidence was found that father involvement was a more important predictor of juvenile delinquency when mother involvement was low rather than high or that growing up in a non-intact family weakened the association between parents’ involvement and juvenile delinquency. Lastly, the study showed that for both genders, low academic motivation and large family size were significant risk factors. References