Juvenile Delinquency and Justice

The type of parenting techniques applied during a child’s upbringing has a direct influence on the juvenile’s behavior. The weight of family/parental support also cannot be underestimated in terms of action exhibited during adolescence. As a result, parenting has an indirect control of the community since parents are responsible for the conduct of their children in society. Besides, it is mostly claimed that the presence and vicinity of biological mothers play a huge role in the development of children leading to typical/upright behavior. Usually, lack of a mother’s love during the early development of a child is cited as an explanation for deviance later on in life (Liu & Zuo, 2019). Hence, this study aims to investigate the impact of different parenting styles on children's behavior, especially regarding delinquency and deviant behavior. Some of the critical areas related to the study that will be analyzed include a review of parenting styles, the impact of family rules, and the effect of one parenting strategy on attraction or resistance to delinquency. I was brought up in a patriarchal dominated household where our father ruled the important family decisions. Our mother shouldered most of the family burden and was the most involved during our childhood upbringing. On the other hand, our father was hardly available at home since he was busy earning for the family or socializing with his friends during his spare time. Hence, the responsibility of parenthood was neglected to our mother. Since our father hardly spent time at home, the nature of our relationship deteriorated. We thus perceived the environment as an external threat to us. Very little communication would occur between us (Gram et al., 2018). We can hardly believe that we shared paternal intimacy and love with our father during our early years. The patriarchal beliefs we hold are not only present in our family, but in most families, in the community, I grew up in. Growing up in a patriarchal dominated family and community, we knew that girls/females were supposed to act in a certain way and perform specific duties that were distinctly different from those of boys/males. To perform otherwise or an opposing obligation contravened the family/societal norms (Liu & Zuo, 2019). For instance, boys were taught to be tough, while softness was tolerated among girls. Also, we were informed that women should be submissive to men. Losing to a girl, even in studies was not acceptable, and was considered an insult to the male masculinity. Growing up in an urban middle-class family setting, both of our parents had formal employment. However, the power of decision-making in the family rested on our father. While our mother ruled over less important matters such as cooking, purchase of meals, cleaning duties, etc., our father had authority over family matters such as education, family movement, and finances. Our mother conducted management of daily family expenses while the major financial decisions regarding the joint and nuclear family were the responsibility of our father. It was only in the absence of our father that my mother allowed to decide crucial family issues. In his capacity as the family-head, our father was responsible for economically supporting the family (Gram et al., 2018). Though our mother earned a salary from her formal employment, it was far much less than what our father made from his job. Nonetheless, despite her salary being insufficient for the family's expenses, she assisted with the family finances. At times, we differed with our mother regarding some of the critical decisions made by our father. We sought her intervention when our father made decisions that we deemed to be hard on us. However, she admonished us and requested us to follow the directives established by our father without questioning. Since we were Christians, she referred to the bible to inform us that the family’s patriarchal order derives its origin and purpose from God. To disobey implied going against God’s commandments, thus leading to sin (Prinzie, Stams & Hoeve, 2016). We were taught that life is a question of law and order and that authority remains to be feared and respected. Exposure to the patriarchy parenting style exerted different effects on my male and female siblings. It made my female siblings more subordinate and respectful of authority. On the other hand, it made us (males) daring and more risk-averse (Hirtenlehner & Sims Blackwell, 2015). While my fellow brothers and I were a bit disobedient, my sisters were well behaved and were hardly in trouble with our parents. Somehow, the patriarchal beliefs were responsible for the gender differences. Most of the time, my sisters stayed at home reading and working while we, the boys, escaped from home to play and socialize with our friends. Since we were more exposed to the outside world compared to the girls, we adopted some of the behavior exhibited by our friends, even the negative ones. For instance, we learned to wrestle and abuse at an early age. Sometimes we extended this conduct/behavior to home, which leads to us being punished numerous times compared to our sisters. The patriarchal beliefs in our families seemed harsher on females than in males. As a result, males had more freedom compared to females. Hence, we took advantage of that freedom by sometimes deviating from the accepted social norms. Occasionally, our mistakes were overlooked since boys were expected to be boys. For instance, after losing a fight against a fellow friend, one could not report the incident to the parent as it would be considered a weakness. The imbalance in gender-power in the family placed males at a higher and dominant level than the girls (Hirtenlehner & Sims Blackwell, 2015). It is as a result of this gender-power imbalance that the male members of our family exhibited risky behavior. The difference in power and decision-making between my parents led me to develop the hierarchic self-interest syndrome (HIS) and gender-role preference. Hence, I became more competitive, aggressive, and likely to engage in risky conduct. These particular traits induced in me a "don't care attitude," which motivated me to behave in whatever way I wanted. Though my upbringing encouraged me to act in a morally upright manner, my male instincts reminded me of an unbridled potential to harness my negative power if the need arose. For instance, the masculine superiority complex seemed to allow physical fighting among men when the safety of family or friends is threatened (Carlson, 2012). Therefore, as a result of hierarchic male superiority induced by patriarchal parenting, I was more inclined towards behaving in a delinquent manner. The only thing that made my delinquency not to spiral out of control was the influence of my mother. During most of my childhood, I spent a lot of time with my mother. It led to a considerable connection/bond between us that exists to date. Her involvement in my life made me learn a plethora of good virtues and morals. On the other hand, I perceive my father to be antisocial since we hardly communicated. This is not to imply mean that he is not an excellent communicator since he engages in deep and meaningful communication with his peers. Maybe it is because we had little to share or pursue different interests. Hence, I can comfortably agree that the attachment I have with my mother is less compared to the one I have with my mother. The motherly love and affection in a patriarchal family setting is the primary variable that modifies the trajectories of delinquent conduct (Gram et al., 2018). Therefore, I attribute my good behavior and positive morals to mostly the upbringing and high level of attachment with my mother. She motivates me to behave as a responsible citizen. 

Conclusion 

Application of the patriarchal parenting style to children's upbringing leads to high delinquency among male children than in females. The reason for the difference in delinquency among male and female children is the unequal power relation between the mother and father, which leads to high parental control on girls than boys. As a result, male children are more likely to act out while female children are better behaved. Besides, the parenting strategy makes male children exhibit traits such as competitiveness, aggression, and risk-taking behavior since they consider themselves more dominant, entitled, and superior compared to females. The perceived superiority results from t he hierarchic self-interest syndrome (HIS) and gender-role preferences . I would recommend parents to abandon the patriarchal parenting style, and play an equal role in upbringing of their children. Additionally, a father should be more involved in raising of his children rather than play the role of absentee parent. Secure attachments and bonds with parents correlate with positive morals and behavior. 

References 

Carlson, A. (2012). How Parents Influence Deviant Behavior among Adolescents: An Analysis of their Family Life, Community, and Peers.  Perspectives ,  4 (1), 6. 

Gram, L., Skordis-Worrall, J., Mannell, J., Manandhar, D. S., Saville, N., & Morrison, J. (2018). Revisiting the patriarchal bargain: The intergenerational power dynamics of household money management in rural Nepal.  World Development ,  112 , 193-204. 

Hirtenlehner, H., & Sims Blackwell, B. (2015). Can Difference In Attachment To Parents And Level Of Self-Control Explain The Gender Gap In Juvenile Delinquency? Testing A Gendered Attachment--Self-Control Theory.  Journal of Current Issues in Crime, Law & Law Enforcement ,  8 (3). 

Liu, E. M., & Zuo, S. X. (2019). Measuring the impact of the interaction between children of a matrilineal and a patriarchal culture on gender differences in risk aversion.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ,  116 (14), 6713-6719. 

Prinzie, P., Stams, G. J., & Hoeve, M. (2016). Family processes and parent and child personality characteristics. In  Tomorrow's Criminals  (pp. 109-120). Routledge.