Families, Delinquency, and Crime Linking Society's Most Basic Institution to Antisocial Behavior

by Simons, Ronald L.; Simons, Leslie Gordon; Wallace, Lora Ebert

• ISBN13: 9780195330427
• ISBN10: 0195330420
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book explores the link between family life and antisocial behavior. In recent years, researchers from a variety of disciplines have investigated the relationship between society's most fundamental social institution--the family--and various forms of criminal behavior. Simons et al. fill a fundamental void in the literature by demonstrating how these seemingly disparate lines of research can be woven together using classic and contemporary theories of delinquency and crime. The book is designed to serve as a supplement for courses on juvenile delinquency, criminology, deviance, and child development. Families, Delinquency, and Crime evaluates and explores popular explanations using the results of studies by sociologists, criminologists, and psychologists. Each chapter succinctly defines terminology, establishes a review of empirical literature, and provides an effective argument that families are a dynamic aspect of our social lives that are intricately related to delinquency and other problem behaviors. Clear examples of each situation are provided. Part I explains child and adolescent antisocial behavior. The chapters review theory and research regarding the effect of family structure, marital conflict, parental antisocial behavior, and parents' childrearing practices on a child's risk for conduct problems and delinquency. Part II focuses on adult antisocial behavior and shows how the various family socialization processes and childhood behavior problems discussed in Part I influence the probability of later adult crime. Explanations are provided for both the continuity and discontinuity of antisocial behavior across the life course. Consideration is given to the manner in which romantic partners often modify deviant life course trajectories. The book also explores the link between family experiences during childhood and adult risk for either perpetrating or becoming the victim of marital violence.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Family Processes and the Deviant Behavior of Children and Adolescents

Defining Our Terms and Focus

Deviance and Social Norms

Cultural Relativity and Antisocial Behavior

What Are Families?

The Focus of Subsequent Chapters

Linking Parenting and Delinquency: Theories of Social and Self-Control

Criminal Careers Start Early

Early Evidence Linking Parenting and Delinquency

Social Control Theory

The Elements of Effective Parenting

Self-Control Theory

Family Interaction and Peer Influences: Social Learning Explanations

Respondent LearningOperant or Instrumental Learning

Mutual Training

Modeling as Vicarious Learning

Ron Akers' View of Social Learning and Crime

Patterson's Coercion Model

The Corporal Punishment Controversy

Methodological Problems

Theoretical Considerations

Severity of Punishment

Age of Child

Quality of the Parent-Child Relationship

Cultural and Community Context

Conclusion

Family Structure and Delinquency

Changing Family Forms

Single-Parent Households

Quality of Parenting in Single-Parent Households

The Stress of Being a Single Parent

Nonresidential Fathers

Blended or Stepfamilies

Multigenerational and Extended-Kin Households

Conclusion

The Effects of Parental Work and Neighborhood Conditions on Family Processes

Economic Hardship and Parenting

Linking Parental Employment to Family Processes

Community Differences in the Consequences of Parental Control

Collective Socialization: Adults Influencing Other People's Children

The Consequences of Labeling: The Juvenile Justice System and Family Processes

Adult Deviance as an Expression of Childhood Socialization

Linking Childhood Delinquency and Adult Crime: Life Course Perspectives on

Antisocial BehaviorSelf-Control Theory: A Latent Trait Approach

The Life Course Perspective: Explaining Both Continuity and Change

Evaluating the Evidence

Summary and Conclusion

Marital Violence: Antisocial Behavior

Learned in Childhood?

The Incidence of Marital Violence

Explaining Marital Violence

Patriarchy and Male Dominance

Childhood Exposure to Family Violence

The Criminological Perspective

Explaining Women's Double Jeopardy

Summary and Conclusions

Child Maltreatment: Inept Parenting or Expression of a General Antisocial

Orientation?

How Common Is Child Maltreatment?

Intergenerational Transmission of Child Maltreatment

Sexual Abuse of Children

Summary and Conclusions

Conclusions and Observations

References

Name Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.