NCJ Number
112003
Journal
Criminology Volume: 26 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1988) Pages: 235-261
Date Published
1988
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study exaines the family structure versus family function issue by testing the comparative effects on self-reported delinquency of family structure and five measures of family function.
Abstract
Multivariate studies comparing the effects of the broken home and other theoretically relevant measures of the quality of family life are rare, despite the overabundance of studies of broken homes. In this study, five types of delinquency are considered. Data were obtained from a 1980 survey of 152 high school students in a small midwestern town. Two types of family structure were examined: presence of birth biological parents at home versus other and single- versus two-parent homes. Bivariate tests of the relationships between broken homes and delinquency were not significant, except for a moderate relationship between broken homes and status offenses. Also, a relation between single-parent homes and delinquency was observed for status offenses only. Other forms of family dysfunction all were significantly related to overall delinquency and to status offenses. Several measures of family quality showed significant relationships to property offenses, violent offenses, and drug offense. The importance of the broken home was further diminished when the direct effects of broken homes and home quality were examined in multivariate tests. Home quality and gender, rather than family structure, was shown to be the more important determinants of delinquency. Efforts to expand the analysis to identify specific areas of family dysfunction were unenlightening. 5 tables, 15 footnotes, and 42 references. (Author abstract modified)