NCJ Number
83137
Date Published
1982
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from a British study that examined the relationship between the degree of strictness of family supervision and delinquent behavior.
Abstract
An area of interest in the study is the association between economic and social factors which determine the degree of social handicap of a family and that family's methods of parenting, especially the parental style of supervision. Also considered are the implications of the aforementioned association for the social mix of small areas. The study involved 120 families residing in a large West Midland city. The study was designed to test the findings of earlier research which found a significant association between parental supervision and delinquency. The current study included families in different circumstances and residing in various areas of the city. Methods of parenting were related to three categories of social handicap, and the location of the sample made possible a comparison of families in inner-city neighborhoods with families in the suburbs. The findings confirm the close association between parenting methods (measured on a strict-lax dimension) and delinquency (official as well as self-reported) of the families' targeted boys, aged 10-11, and parenting methods and official delinquency of their older siblings. The study also found that families with a strict supervisory style had such supervision diluted in areas with a high proportion of families with lax parental supervision, as delinquency among the children of supervising families tended to be higher in such areas. These findings imply that severely socially handicapped families with young children should not be concentrated in an area. Where the processes of the housing market unavoidably produce such concentrations, resources should be made available for child supervision within the community. Tabular data and six references are provided.