Running Head: RAISING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
“Raise them in the way you would want them to live”
What, if any, Impact does Ineffective Parenting Contribute to the Development and
Manifestation of Delinquent Behavior in Adolescents in Florida.
Sandra Jones
USF Sarasota/Manatee
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
2
Abstract
This paper examines family structure, parenting styles and parent’s psychopathology and their
relationship with delinquent behavior in adolescents from an interdisciplinary perspective. In
Florida more than 95,000 persons under eighteen were charged with serious crimes in 2010
(Federal Bureau of Investigations 2011). According to the uniform crime report nearly 102,000
violent crimes were reported in Florida total. What parents say and what parents do are all said
to be analyzed by the children they influence. In this paper I use an interdisciplinary social
science approach to answer the question, what, if any, impact does inefficient parenting
contributes to the development and manifestation of delinquent behavior in the adolescents of
Florida. This paper integrates my research in psychology and criminology to form a greater
understanding of the problem and its possible solutions.
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
3
What, if any, Impact does Ineffective Parenting Contribute to the Development and
Manifestation of Delinquent Behavior in Adolescents in Florida?
On any given day there is an estimated 49,000 incarcerated offenders in Florida (Florida
Department of Corrections). Moreover, in Florida today, it is not uncommon to see young boys
and girl in trouble for fighting, stealing or even buying, using and selling drugs. In the state of
Florida, at risk youths find themselves facing jail or even prison time for these and other crimes.
With that said, education has become a choice while street life has become the lesson.
Throughout time communities have fought to save adolescents from self-destruction and
although statistics indicate that crime among adolescents has decreased from past years (Uniform
Crime Report), it has still proven itself to be a major problem in the state of Florida. In addition
to the number of criminal minors the number of criminal arrests in general are increasingly high
with more than 1,000,000 arrests in 2010 (Uniform Crime Report). One must note that most
career criminals young and old showed some kind of antisocial behavior far before they picked
up a gun or started to sell drugs. Thus, no matter the current age of an offender, theories in crime
such as life-style persistent theory and labeling theory could still attribute the offender’s criminal
behavior to their upbringing and antisocial behavior as adolescents.
Interdisciplinary social science uses two or more scientific disciplines to answer a
question that is too complex to be explained or answered by only one discipline (Repko 2011).
This paper uses the theories of criminology and psychology theories to attempt to answer the
question: What, if any, impact does ineffective parenting contributes to the development and
manifestation of delinquent behavior in adolescents in Florida? Unlike multidisciplinary social
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
4
science, interdisciplinary social science combines social disciplines to form a new hold as stated
by Allen Repko. (2010). In other words, interdisciplinary social science calibrates scientific
information of multiple disciplines in an effort to describe and explain a social problem not
easily explained using only one of those disciplines.
Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior. Criminologists often
ask why do some people commit crimes and others do not. According to the life-style persistent
theory of criminology, criminal or delinquent behavior is referred to as antisocial behavior in
adolescents (Barker 2011). This antisocial behavior would include but is not limited to bullying
other children, fighting or starting conflicts between other adolescents, talking back to adults in a
rude or disrespectful manner, stealing candy from a store or money from parents to personal
items i.e. cell phones, music player and so forth from friends and other students (Holmes 2001).
Criminality is said to be the result of many factors including poor parenting (Unnever 2006).
On the other hand, the study of mental health or psychology can tell us more about the
mental stability of an individual. A person’s psychological state is greatly influenced by the
parents or individuals raising the child. In an effort to determine why a person might commit a
crime or why some adolescents engage in antisocial behavior which leads to delinquent behavior,
researchers must first know what, if any, parental advisement and attention the adolescents are
receiving at home. By gathering psychological research on parenting styles and their effects on
adolescent behavior researchers can then examine the correlation between neglectful parenting
and the theories of criminal behavior.
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
5
Parental Responsibility
While on the subject of psychology and parenthood consider this, when purchasing a car,
the manufacturer provides clear instructions for everything about the vehicle from what kind of
oil to use in it to how often to have it serviced. Unfortunately children are not born with such
manuals and the soon to be parent are not required to pass a test before taking them home.
Parenthood is a very important responsibility that is unfortunately left to trial and errs. “Parental
responsibility laws hold parents accountable for the delinquent behavior of their children even
when parents’ actions are not the direct cause of an offense” (Brank, Greene, Hochevar 2011).
All across the nation, states, including Florida, have similar laws that penalize parents for their
Childs criminal behavior. Parenting styles sometimes conflict with parental responsibilities.
Social Scientists have studied and reported on parenting styles and their consequences on
adolescents (Shucksmith 1995). The results of these studies has been published and utilized in
books, articles and journals similar to the article written by M. Hoeve in 2009 that suggest there
is a relationship between parenting and delinquency (Hoeve 2009). Psychologists will not contest
that children requires attention, stability, discipline and structure in their lives (Holmes 2001).
When parents are supportive, aware of their child’s behavior and practice effective
discipline it is easier to correct a child’s behavior problem before it becomes irreversible. This
would mean paying close attention to the child’s outburst, mood changes, and shifts in
personality. Many times a child may act out for attention. Therefore, when the parent is involved
and paying attention to the child they are more likely to notice changes in the child’s behavior
and are more likely to determine if and why the child is in need of more attention. Support is just
as important as attention in effective parenting. When a parent shows the child that they are
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
6
interested in what is going on in the child’s life good or bad that child is more likely to have a
better relationship to the parent. Also being involved in the child’s education, personal life and
extra activities shows that attention is being paid. Stability and structure is important in parenting
because it provides rules, guidelines that will prove valuable for success as adolescents and
adults. Stability eliminates stress on both parent and child in the since that everyone knows
where home is and there is no confusion in that. Structure is the blueprint for everyday life in a
household and also keeps stress down. Stability and structure makes disciplining a child easier.
The idea behind discipline is to reinforce good behavior while discouraging bad behavior.
Effective discipline does not include physical punishment however it may include some kind of
non-physical reprimand.
“Certain individuals do not simply vary in the degree to which they are vulnerable to the
negative effects of adverse experience: rather, these individuals are thought to be especially
susceptible to the positive developmental consequences of supportive environment”(Barker,
Salekin, Trentacosta 2011). Children are influenced by various people, such as peers, other
family members, entertainers and media. In some cases those other influences are likely to have
more of an impact on the child, in which case the child may do the opposite of what is suggested
by their upbringing. For example: in a personal interview done on thirty year old Anonymous
Woman (AW), it was revealed that her mother was an on again off again drug addict and at her
worst she had sold everything out of their home. AW was 16 at this time and was forced to live
with her father and step mother. Growing up, AW was unpleasantly shocked by her mother’s
behavior. Her mother was almost never around and when she was, she was looking for
something to sell in an effort to support her drug habit or she was high on drugs already. In
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
7
contrast, seeing her mother under the influence of drugs showed her a life she never wanted to
live herself. In addition, she did have one stable parent as well as grandparents who were there
and gave her the love and support that has helped her achieve her goals to go to college and
Graduate school. In this situation although the parenting style was neglectful to say the least, the
influences from others and situation itself turned out positive for AW1. Not all stories however
end that way.
In recent Florida news, a case arose against 12 year old Christian Fernandez of
Jacksonville Florida. Christian Fernandez became the youngest person to be tried as an adult in
the state of Florida for the beating death of his 2 year old brother. Christian’s story, although
extreme, is a prime example of the effect of neglectful parenting. It all arose when Christian was
born. His mother, Biannela Susana, was only 12 years old at the time she gave birth to baby
Christian. When Christian was two years old, he was found walking the streets near a Southside
motel while his grandmother/guardian nursed a drug binge inside. As a result he was placed into
foster care along with his then fourteen year old mother. Unfortunately that was not the worst
episode in Christian’s life for it is suspected that he was physically and sexually abused
throughout his life. Prior to the death of his brother their stepfather killed himself in front of the
family. Some may say that with a drug addict for a grandmother and a twelve year old for a
mother, this young boy didn’t have a chance. Now little Christian is facing life in an adult prison
(Hunt 2011).
Both homes lacked stability and or structure that would have helped in either child’s
development. Sadly, neither of the two children mentioned above received enough attention from
their then guardians and ineffective discipline was likely in their upbringing. Some people might
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
8
argue that the actions of all adolescents are the responsibility of the parents, there for when a
child becomes troublesome to society it is most likely due to the parents lack of involvement.
The above case on Christian is a prime example of negligent parenting and lack of involvement.
There was also a lack of stability, structure and effective discipline that could have helped to
alleviate the violent turned deadly out bursts displayed by Christian.
Parental Styles
Hoeve, a child psychologist and author of “The relationship between parenting and
delinquency: A meta-analysis” created a cluster analysis where three different parenting styles
are identified, authoritative, authoritarian and neglectful. The first parenting style described by
Hoeve is authoritative. This type of parenting style is when the parents (caretaker) who reflect a
relatively good relationship with their child, they have an open line of communication, they have
a high score on positive parenting and they are skilled in affective discipline. The next parenting
style is Authoritarian parents are moderately supportive, communicative and they score
relatively high on discipline although they practice physical punishment. On the other hand,
neglectful parents had the worst relationship with their children; they poorly supervised and
physically punished their children (Hoeve 2009).
In addition parents who have a good relationship with their children are more likely to
spend more time with their children particularly mothers with daughters and fathers with sons.
Authoritarian parent although may have control over their house hold may not have the time due
to work or lack of interest in spending time with their children even if they know exactly where
the kids are and what they are doing (Hoeve 2009) Neglectful parents are just that, neglectful,
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
9
they lead with a whip and often are not aware of the child whereabouts or behavior. So what
makes a “bad” parent? Some may argue that a bad parent is one that treats their children as
equals or friends, giving them too much space and not enough responsibility. This type of
parenting according to Shucksmith and Glendinning is considered permissive (1995).
In the following graph from the works of J. Shucksmith, L.B Hendry and Glendinning
“Models of parenting clusters parenting styles with descriptions of the parenting styles. The
authors also include parenting styles such as permissive and problem parenting, but do not
include neglectful parenting. In the below model n= the number and percent of adolescents who
reports having the mentioned parenting styles.
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
10
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
11
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
12
Parenting and Delinquency
Does bad parenting contribute to the delinquency of adolescents? For the purpose of this
paper, bad parenting is considered as neglectful, unsupportive, uncaring, lax or selfish; however
this parent may not necessarily be physically abusive but neglectful parents who might be
inconsistent with punishment and discipline. Also this type of parent does not pay much attention
to the company the child keeps and is not a very good role model. Neglectful parenting could
start as early as birth. Basic theories of psychology talks about parent/child bonding in a child’s
early cognitive development. This psychological theory states that the time in a child’s life, age
birth to about 3, is the primary time to establish bonding between parent and child after that it is
likely that the child will remain distant. (Henriques, G. 2011). In other words the bounding
between parent and child at that age is symbolic to the bound he or she has to society at later
ages in life
Conclusion
Katrelle Johnson, 19 of North Port Florida, was arrested and charged with first-degree
murder. Johnson was accused of shooting and killing a manatee county school teacher in an
attempted home invasion. Teenager charged with raping a fellow classmate in a Florida high
school bathroom. Stories such as theses grace our television screen and news papers day after
day. Teenagers are being arrested and charged with robbery, burglary, battery and other offences
all over the state of Florida. According to Federal Bureau of Investigations approximately 95,756
persons under the age of 18 were arrested and charged with federal crimes in Florida in the year
2010. Children as young as ten years of age are in Florida’s judicial system with charges
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
13
including but not limited to theft, burglary, battery assault and even murder (Florida Bureau of
Statistics).
Although research has not drawn a direct correlation between parenting styles and
delinquency there is little evidence that may suggest a negative impact on children raised by
neglectful parents. A gap in the research found suggests the need for more longitudinal studies as
well as more in depth cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies on families of different
parenting styles would give researchers a firsthand look at family structure and parenting styles
that directly or indirectly influence a child’s life. Also cross-sectional self report surveys on
incarcerated youths that question the youth about their family life and their upbringings as well
as their criminal background would help researchers get an understanding of the criminals life
from his or her point of view. The results should then be compared to the results of the same
studies done on individuals of different backgrounds and upbringing as well as youths who has
not been incarcerated or in trouble with the law. Social workers could aid in the research for they
have access to at-risk families who are often missed. These mythologies would help bridge the
gap in current research on neglectful parenting and delinquency. In the meantime, programs
should be established to help educate teenage or at-risk families on affective parenting and
discipline. In addition, free or income based after school programs that engage the children in
extracurricular activities oppose to housing and supervising them until parents arrive would also
aid in curving youths appetite for crime.
Crime is everywhere, and Florida is no exception, and more and more young people are
engaging in criminal behavior. Parenthood is no easy task; however parenting plays a big role in
a child’s development and should not be taken lightly. In this paper we have looked into the lives
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
14
of some fortunate and unfortunate youths whose family dynamics could have cost them their
childhood or life.
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
15
References
Barker, E. D., Trentacosta, C. J., & Salekin, R. T. (2011). Are impulsive adolescents
differentially influenced by the good and bad of neighborhood and family? Journal of
Abnormal Psychology, 120(4), 981-986.
Brank, E. M., Greene, E., & Hochevar, K. (2011). Holding parents responsible: Is vicarious
responsibility the public's answer to juvenile crime? Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,
17(4), 507-529.
Ehrensaft, M. K. K., & Ehrensaft, M. K. (2003). Maternal antisocial behavior, parenting
practices, and behavior problems in boys at risk for antisocial behavior. Journal of Child
and Family Studies, 12(1), 27-40.
Estrada-Martínez, L. M., Padilla, M. B., Caldwell, C. H., & Schulz, A. J. (2011). Examining the
influence of family environments on youth violence: A comparison of mexican, puerto
rican, cuban, non-latino black, and non-latino white adolescents. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, 40(8), 1039-1051.
Henriques, G. (2011). A new unified theory of psychology. New York, NY US: Springer Science
+ Business Media.
Hoeve, M. (2009). The relationship between parenting and delinquency: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(6), 749-775.
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
16
Hoeve, M., Blokland, A., Dubas, J. S., Loeber, R., Gerris, J. R. M., & van, d. L. (2008).
Trajectories of delinquency and parenting styles. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology:
An Official Publication of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent
Psychopathology, 36(2), 223-235.
Holmes, S. (2001). Risk factors in childhood that lead to the development of conduct disorder
and antisocial personality disorder. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 31(3), 183193.
Shucksmith, J., Hendry, L. B., & Glendinning, A. (1995). Models of parenting: Implications for
adolescent well-being within different types of family contexts. Journal of Adolescence,
18(3), 253-270.
Unnever, J. D., Cullen, F. T., & Agnew, R. (2006). Why is 'bad' parenting criminogenic?:
Implications from rival theories. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 4(1), 3-33.
Wynne, S. (2011). Predictors of school victimization: Individual, familial, and school factors.
Crime and Delinquency, 57(3), 458-488.
RASING KIDS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE
17