Is juvenile delinquency linked to family instability?

Demonisha Edwards

Mrs. Verdun

AP Literature

Due: March 26, 2014

Research Paper

Is juvenile delinquency linked to family instability?

Even though one may not have a great supportive family, they should know what life they would like to live. When one knows that they want to be successful in life they do what they have to do to reach for success. There is a student attending an Orleans Parish School w ho does not have a good supportive system at home. That young man did not have anyone ne xt in kin to help give him some fatherly guidance that he needs. That young man is now livin g in a group home so that he could get away from the stressful environment at his house. Tha t young man knows he does not want to live that life style and that he wants to become very s uccessful in life.

Do you believe juvenile delinquents are so troubled because of their family stability? Some may say family is the support system of juvenile or minors. The family of a child is wh

ere the support comes from first. They are the ones who support the juvenile through all of th eir trials and tribulations. Once a child is being neglected, abandoned, or abused they act out and cause trouble because their family or support system does not exist for them. Others may argue minors don't need family stability, they should know how to act and present themselve s no matter the circumstances. Juvenile delinquency is linked to family instability. Family is t he support system of juveniles. The reason I think juvenile delinquency is linked to family st ability is because usually juvenile delinquents having a stable family is the support that child needs.

John Dillinger is an example of how instability, being neglected, and abuse is what le d him to being a juvenile delinquent. John was the younger one of two children. When John was very young his father became widowed. His mother had died of a stroke. John father ne glected him which most likely led him to be a juvenile delinquent. According to an article on biography.com, He was simultaneously a harsh disciplinarian who would beat John for his i nsubordination, and then turn around and give him money for candy. Later, when John was i n his teens, his father would alternate between locking him in the house all day andtypicall y later in the weekletting him roam the neighborhood for most of the night. According to that same article on biogragraphy.com John Dillinger was he was wild and rebellious behavi or continued with nightly escapades that included drinking, fighting and visiting prostitutes.

John committed small theft crimes. John and his group of friends that called themselves the Dirty Dozen. Dirty Dozen continued committing several crimes until they were arrested.

A study was developed "to explore the effectiveness of family interventions for young offenders, while paying special attention to the concerns regarding the impact of methodolog ical rigor on this relationship." ( Jalsevac) When dealing with juvenile delinquents there are a t least two mechanisms regarding their family stability? The first mechanism is "the greater r ole of extended kin in the upbringing of black children." (Andrews) In some situations if a ch ild is being brought up by a single black parent to help the child, that parent, if female, may b ring in an uncle or cousin in to help fulfill the needs of the child needing someone similar to a father figure It is also the other way around. If it's a male parent they may bring in an aun t or female cousin to give some type of guidance to the child. Some single parents even bring in a grandparent.

Grandparents usually raise their grandchildren as if it is their child. If a parent feels th ey are unsuitable to raise their child once they have been divorced, they sometimes give their custody rights to the grandparent. Grandparents even request custody, if the feel the child is being neglected. the child is substantially at risk due to parental abuse, neglect, drug or al cohol abuse or incapacity (Wall-Cyb)

This leads in to the second mechanism that states black children may live in family a nd neighborhood environments where a greater number of stressful events occur." (Andrews) The chances of a child living in a less stressful circumstance wouldn't be as high compared t o a child living in a different environment. Sometimes the environment in which one lives in can trigger different feelings and emotions causing stress. When living in an area where a gre ater number of stressful events such as murders, kidnappings, rapes, robberies, or etc. occur i t can cause a lot of stress. Some juvenile delinquents act out because of stress. They go to mi sbehaving as a stress reliever.

In 2000, children between 5 and 14 years old were studied by a mothers' report log. T he children between the ages of 10 and 14 were quicker to become juvenile delinquents due t o lack of parental foundation. In both black and white households children are most likely to have behavior problems being raised in a house of only a single parent. This is a good exam ple of how the study at John Hopkins University in Maryland was developed. "Children who go through frequent transitions are more likely to have behavioral problems them children rai sed in stable two parent families and maybe even more than those in stable single parent fami lies." (Jalsevac) If a child is bounced from household, to household to family household they are more likely to have behavioral problems. "Multiple family transitions were also directly l inked with more frequent instances of juvenile delinquency such as vandalism, theft, and trua

ncy." (McLeod)

If you are raised in a household of two parents it has been said that you are more succ essful with overcoming challenges to not become a juvenile delinquent. However, if one is br ought up by one parent the results will vary. This is most likely one of the leading factors of j uvenile delinquency. When dealing with juvenile delinquents, there are two processes known as mechanisms. The first mechanism is the greater role of extended kin in upraising of black children.

Mark Wahlberg is a good example of how the results of living in a single parent hous e hold results may vary. At the age of eleven, Mark Wahlberg parents got divorced. He spent equal time between both his mother, and father's. . In between living with both parents in sep arate houses, Mark dropped out of school and was arrested several times. Two years later af ter he dropped out of school, he hit rock bottom when he was jailed for his role in the savage beating of a Vietnamese man. Although the crime was believed by many to be racially motiv ated, Wahlberg has continually denied that race played a part in the attack. (biography.com) Mark was even strung out on cocaine at one point. However, Mark later got himself together and became a rapper that went by the name of Marky Mark. Although his rap career didn't g et him very far, became an actor. Just because his parents were divorced, it did not determine

his future. Today, Mark Wahlberg is a well-respected entertainer/actor who stars in some hit movies such as Four Brothers (2005) , Contraband (2012), Ted (2012), 2 Guns (20 13), Pain and Gain (2013), etc. His 45-day stint in prison was a self-proclaimed turnin g point in the 16-year-old Wahlberg's life. (biography.com) Still to this day, Mark's mother blames herself for him behaving the way he did. "...his mother has since blamed her own em otional neglect for her youngest son's descent into juvenile delinquency during the next sever al years." (biography.com)

If a child watches a traumatizing event it cam scar them for the rest of their lives. For example, if a child watches his or her parents as they are being killed, or even if they are kill ed, the child can be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress. Posttraumatic stress can also lead to juvenile delinquency. If they are close to that parent they lost it, can be traumatizing for him or her. Losing a parent is very hard for a child. When they lose everything they have at the sa me time is even worse. If the child has to go from one house to the next, it would be hard for them to focus especially as they are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress. "To assess posttrau matic stress and its relationship to comorbid psychopathology, violence exposure, and perso nality traits in male juvenile delinquents."(Vladidislav)

Stressful neighbor hoods can cause a child to either become a part of it or try to make

that their motivation to make a better life for themselves. Are also movies that portray juveni le delinquency such as the movie Boyz N the Hood (1991). The movie portrayed senseless violence and drug abuse in South Central Los Angeles dealing with young black teenage gan g related violence. This movie shows how when being brought up in stressful environments t hey can turn out to be juvenile delinquents. It also shows how when a child is missing a pare nt someone next in kin steps in. However even though it isnt next in kin, it was the fathers best friend. There was also movies that portray the image of how that can be the motivation f or a child to make a way of a better life for themselves.

Bibliography Page Andrews, D.A., and Craig Dowden. "Does family intervention work for delinquents?: Result s of a meta-analysis." Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice July 2003: 327 +. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 Feb. 2014

Fomby, Paula, and Andrew J. Cherlin. "Family Instability and Child Well-Being."Http://ww w.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 12 Sept. 2011. Web. 4 F eb. 2014.

Holloran, Peter C. "Juvenile Delinquency." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 2. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 583-584. Studen t Resources in Context. Web. 3 Feb. 2014 Jalsevac, Med. "Study Shows Family Instability Has Bad Effect on Childrens Behavior." Lif e Site News. N.p., 02 Apr. 2007. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.

"Juvenile Delinquency In Depth." Juvenile Delinquency. Child Laws, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014 Mark Wahlberg Biography. The Biography Channel website. 2014. 25 March 2014 http:// www.biography.com/people/mark-wahlberg-9542335?page=2

McLeod, Lisa S. "Juvenile Criminals and Victims (1990s)." American Decades: 1990-1999. Ed. Tandy McConnell. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Student Resources in Context. Web. 4 Feb . 2014.

Thomas, John C. "Root Causes of Juvenile Violence, Part 3: Family Instability." Parents for Christ. Jeff and Faith Johnson, 1999. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. . Wall-Cyb, Teresa. "Pennsylvania Child Custody Laws & Grandparents' Visitation Rights." D ivorceNet.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.