The Impact of Different Family Configurations on Delinquency

Family Dissolution and Children's Criminal Careers

“…These findings are generally in line with previous studies, both those stressing the importance of family functioning, conflicts and emotional stress (Haas et al 2004;Juby and Farrington 2001;Voorhis et al 1988) and those emphasizing economic disadvantages (Conger et al 1994;Fergusson et al 2004), because in both cases the specific mechanisms are believed to work at the level of family processes. However, this does not imply that structural conditions are unimportant.…”

“…Children who experience family dissolution have a higher crime rate than their peers (Haas et al 2004;Hoeve et al 2007;Juby and Farrington 2001;Rebellon 2002;Voorhis et al 1988). In a similar vein, it has been shown that family dissolution is associated with a range of other negative adult outcomes, such as depression, low education level, low income, and unstable partnerships (Amato 2006;Amato and Keith 1991;Hetherington 2006;Ross and Mirowsky 1999).…”

“…However, it is generally agreed that the presence of discord, emotional stress and difficult living conditions (as a result of divorce) is more likely to lead to these outcomes than the parental break-up per se, because children who grew up with married, but high-discord, parents experienced many of the same negative outcomes as children from disrupted families. Thus, some conclude that the risk factor is 'bad homes' not 'broken homes' (Haas et al 2004;Voorhis et al 1988). Although parental break-up is generally experienced as problematic by the children, this is not always so.…”

Academic Aspirations as a Moderator of the Link Between Negative Life Events and Delinquency in a Sample of Latino Youth

“…However, it is also likely that students will associate with delinquent peers when they have varying levels of family support (Aaron & Dallaire, 2010;Haas, Farrington, Killias, & Sattar, 2004). Students who experience family structure-related NLEs may be attracted to groups of delinquent peers as social support after experiencing family structure-related NLEs.…”

The Effects of Parental Divorce on the Intergenerational Transmission of Crime

“…Research among British and Swiss males, for example, showed that children from disrupted families are not at significantly increased risk of being involved in juvenile or adult crime compared to children from intact, but high-conflict families [20,21]. This suggests that it may be the conflictive family situation rather than the divorce itself that causes the offspring problem behavior.…”