Parental influences on youth delinquency
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-03-2017-0018 |
| Pages | 138-149 |
| Date | 09 May 2018 |
| Published date | 09 May 2018 |
| Author | Lütfiye Kaya Cicerali,Eyyüb Ensari Cicerali |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminal psychology,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
Parental influences on youth delinquency
Lütfiye Kaya Cicerali and Eyyüb Ensari Cicerali
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader about the currently employed theories, research,
and interventions in developmental criminology, with a particular emphasis on parental influences.
Design/methodology/approach –As well as evoking the classical theories and relevant research in
psychology and developmental criminology fields, some of the significant recent contributions are also
evaluated to reveal how parenting is linked to youngsters’delinquency in the extant literature.
Findings –While parental factors do not directly affect delinquency of children and adolescents, it is an
effectual mediator.
Research limitations –Not a systematic (statistical) review, rather a hermeneutic one with righteous
justifications.
Practical implications –Evidence-based suggestions, regarding the allocation of time and resources for
the modification of implicated parenting factors in planning preventative and interventional programs,
are made.
Originality/value –This review is an up-to-date instructional source that presents the major developmental
criminology theories including the recent ones.
Keywords Antisocial behaviour, Parenting, Juvenile delinquency, Forensic psychology, Delinquency,
Developmental criminology
Paper type General review
Introduction
Parenting refers to the values, beliefs, and attitudes adopted by and reflected in the behaviors of
a parent as a socialization agent toward his/her child (Hoghughi and Long, 2004). Unfavorable
developmental outcomes such as academic underachievement, conduct problems, and criminal
involvement are often associated with a list of parental factors including insecure
attachment behaviors (e.g. Kim et al., 2010), poor parenting style, frequent parental change
(e.g. Fergusson et al., 2004), intense interparental conflict (e.g. Greeson et al., 2014),
early parental victimization (e.g. Boel-Studt and Renner, 2013), insufficient parental support/
involvement (e.g. Yang and McLoyd, 2015), and low parental SES (Hope et al., 2003;
Fergusson et al., 2004). This review particularly concerns the parental factors that influence the
relationship between parenting and delinquency of youngsters.
Throughout this review, delinquency will be used interchangeably with criminal involvement,
perpetration of criminal acts, offending, and deviance seen in young people who did not yet
complete their 18th years of age, therefore who are legally children. Harassment issues
like school bullying, spanking, and narcotic addiction are also taken into the definition of
delinquency here, since they are indicators of youngsters’propensity to act delinquently.
Delinquency is a palpable and predictable consequence of the diverse interactions
between personal (e.g. temperament, predispositions, attitudes, and genes), and
environmental variables (e.g. parenting, parental factors, peer circle, residential setting)
(Burt et al., 2012; McGuire, 2004). Forecasting when and by whom criminal acts would be
carried out is one outstanding aim of developmental criminal psychology, since foreseeing future
deviant behavior would trigger prevention efforts, and help with the maintenance of a safe and
healthy society. In the same vein, understanding the liaisons and interactions between parents
and their youngsters’criminality would benefit the construction of effective interventions to cut
back on existing crime rates. This is important, because the legal, ethical, psychological, and
Received 24 March 2017
Revised 5 June 2017
1 August 2017
Accepted 4 August 2017
Lütfiye Kaya Cicerali and
Eyyüb Ensari Cicerali are
Assistant Professors of
Psychology, both at the
Department of Psychology,
Nisantasi Universitesi,
Istanbul, Turkey.
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JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
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VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018, pp. 138-149, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829 DOI 10.1108/JCP-03-2017-0018
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