NCJ Number
214423
Date Published
2004
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Drawing on data from a Scottish longitudinal study, this report presents findings on the relationship between parenting and youth crime.
Abstract
The findings suggest that children will repeat behavior that rewards them in the short term, so parents should ensure that only acceptable behavior is rewarded. Programs that improve parenting skills in directions that contribute to the responsible behavior of their children are one means of reducing youth crime; however, it is often difficult to reach those parents who are most in need of such programs. Parenting styles were found to be closely related to crime and antisocial behavior in teens. Parenting characteristics and family functioning when children were 13 years old were good predictors of juvenile delinquency 2 years later. When youth were 15 years old, seven dimensions of parenting and family functioning were independently related to levels of delinquency. The most important of these factors were parents tracking and monitoring their child’s behavior, the child’s willingness to confide in a parent, parental consistency in relating to the child, avoiding parent/child conflict, and excessive punishment. This study drew on findings from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, a longitudinal research program that is exploring pathways into and out of offending for a cohort of approximately 4,300 youth who began secondary school in Edinburgh in 1998. The study uses self-report questionnaires, semistructured interviews, children's hearings records, teacher questionnaires, police and criminal statistics, a parent survey, and a geographic information system. 4 tables and 9 references