Free Essay: Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency

Research question: Can the family structure of a community propagate criminal behavior in the middle of children thus leading to criminality in their adult stages of life?

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

In the article, Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency, the researcher employed the evaluative method of research in the study. Through the method mentioned above of research, it was discovered that the most prevalent factor that resulted in increased cases of youthful criminal behavior was the structure of individuals families. The sample population for this study was Cameroonian adolescents who were acquired from centers of re-education and in institutions in which persons were taught morals so that they could become part of their societies such as rehabilitation centers. The sample population for the study included 120 persons from Betamba Re-education Institution from the Central Province of Cameroon (Fritz, 2009).

The instrument that was utilized for data gathering was a questionnaire that was made up of 19 questions (Fritz, 2009). In reference to the above, majority of questions that were relayed to respondents were close ended. This was so that respondents could find ease in replying to the questions asked. However, the questionnaires also had open-ended questions that allowed respondents to issue additional information about the issue under research, Juvenile Delinquency. The elements that were presented in the questionnaires included inquiries on individuals personal data, persons matrimonial family status and the socio-economic status of individuals families. The research was also aimed at studying the quality of moral enlightenment that people were subjected to in their life period, the number of persons who resided in individuals families, respondents level of education and the different forms of crime individuals committed in their lifetime. Data that was gathered in this research was evaluated through a simplified quantitative method of analysis. For example, the data was analyzed through the calculation of means, modes and percentages.

Respondents in this study were persons above the age of 10, which was a clear indication to the actuality that the people who participated in the study as respondents were at the onset of adolescence (Fritz, 2009). Some of the factors that were discovered as the causative elements of increased criminal behavior in the midst of juveniles included permissive parenting styles, financial difficulties experienced by most families, parents spending most of their time in their workplaces instead of spending wonderful moments with their families, and overcrowded homes.

Article 2: Juvenile Delinquency and Victimization

Research Question: Are children who develop criminal behaviors victims of circumstances?

The targeted group for this study was a sample of 2,030 children who were between 2 years of age and 17 years of age (Cuevas et al., 2007). However, because of it being that children below the age of ten hardly took part in criminal acts, this study majorly targeted children from the age of 10 years to 17 years (Cuevas et al., 2007). Participants in the study were close to 1,000 persons (Cuevas et al., 2007). In line with this, persons who made part of the respondents in the study were Caucasians who were 79% of the sample population (Cuevas et al., 2007). African Americans were 10% of the sample population; Latinos made up 8% of the population and persons from other races made up 3% of the sample population (Cuevas et al., 2007).

The researcher employed different mechanisms in data collection strategies such as demographic questionnaires and juvenile victimization questionnaire (Cuevas et al., 2007). The demographic questionnaire enabled the researcher to obtain more information on the background of the children who were introduced as part of the study. Background data included information regarding individuals household characteristics, childrens age, gender, race, ethnicity and family structure. Similarly, demographic questionnaires were aimed at discovering more about the socio-economic status of the parties involved in the study and details of the traits of children under study in terms of the crimes they had committed at different points in their lives (Cuevas et al., 2007). Juvenile victimization questionnaires, on the other hand, were employed with the aim of analyzing childhood victimization in the middle of parties involved in the study. Most interviews that were conducted with parents and youths were carried out over phone exchanges. In this research, it was discovered that the context within which individuals developed determined the moral principles they adopted through their development processes into adult life (Cuevas et al., 2007).

Article 3: Juvenile Delinquency: A Comparative Study between Child Rearing Practices in Developed and Developing Countries

Research Question: Do child rearing practices employed by parents determine whether children grow with criminal behaviors or not?

This study entailed a comparative study of child rearing practices that were partaken to in different states all across the globe. Sample groups for the study were obtained from Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, and the United States among several other nations found in the universe (Ehiemua, 2014). Other than interviews that were carried out by the researcher and the respondents, the researcher incorporated an analysis of diverse forms of information from articles that were written about the issue of child delinquency from the distinctive regions respondents in the study originated from.

The researcher had the presumption that individuals from diverse cultures had different trends in child rearing practices. On the same note, the techniques that were used in nurturing children in one generation were different from the child rearing practices that endured for subsequent generations (Ehiemua, 2014). To add onto this, depending on the social class individuals belonged to, persons were subjected to different strategies in child rearing. Therefore, such aspects brought about increased differences in terms of the moral principles that individuals adopted in their future life. In this research, elements such as permissive parenting strategies, authoritative parenting strategies, and authoritarian parenting techniques were analyzed in relation to individuals adoption of criminal behavior in their lives both in the developing and developed states. From the research, it was evident that parenting styles that were used in developed countries were quite different from some of the strategies of child rearing that were used in developing nations. Subsequently, this brought about great differences in the manner in which children attained moral values.

Conclusion

Overall, the research that was conducted in article 2 was more intensive (Cuevas et al., 2007). This is because the method of research entailed an in-depth analysis of persons from different races in terms of the factors that determined their growth and development. Similarly, the items that were incorporated in the questionnaires that were used in the research that was conducted in Article 2 were more elaborate (Cuevas et al., 2007). Consequently, the detailed nature of the research questionnaires allowed researchers to attain more data for their substantive analysis thus enabling them to draw better conclusions.

eferences

Cuevas C., Finkelhor D., Turner Heather A., & Ormrod Richard K. (2007). Juvenile Delinquency and Victimization: A theoretical typology. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 22(12), pp.1581-1602.

Ehiemua S. (2014). Juvenile delinquency: A comparative study between child rearing practices in developed and developing countries. European Journal of Research in Social Sciences, Vol. 2(4), pp.59-65.

Fritz Ilongo N. (2009). Family structure and juvenile delinquency: correctional centre betamba, centre province of Cameroon. Internet Journal of Criminology. pp.1-19.