Family Experience in Preadolescence and the Development of Male Delinquency

This study examined aspects of the family experience of 194 males at age 10 as predictors of police arrest by age 17. Effects for quality of parent-child relations, parental discipline practices, family structure, and family problem solving on arrest were found, with intelligence, socioeconomic status, and peer relations as controls. Experience in stepfamilies or single-parent families more than doubled the risk of delinquency that began by age 14, but did not increase the risk for delinquency that began between ages 14 and 17. The elevated risks associated with poor peer relations and antisocial characteristics were constant across the family structures. Effects of family problem solving were found only in stepfamilies and single-parent families. The results clarified the timing and indirect nature of family effects on the development of delinquency. An association between childhood experiences in the family and juvenile delinquency has long been recognized (e.g., Glueck Sampson Steinberg, 1987). This work has identified three separate aspects of family life that contribute to delinquency: (a) an absence of parentchild attachment that inhibits a child's acceptance of norms and values (Gottfredson Simons, Wu, Conger, McCord, 1991; Peterson Cherlin et al. 1991; Demo,1993). This study clarifies the extent to which parentchild relations, parenting practices, and family structure influence the risk of juvenile delinquency. To assess the relative importance of these particular family characteristics compared with others, our analysis also considers the impact of four additional variables that influence the development of delinquency: (a) peer relations (Warr, 1993), (b) family problem solving (Leadbeater, Hellner, Allen, Sampson Steinberg, 1987). This view has been challenged by studies that suggest that negative child outcomes associated with certain family structures may be due to factors that often accompany them, rather than the family structure itself (Demo Cherlin et al. …