In today’s world, single parenthood has become a norm whereby most parents are forced, due to circumstances, which some are unavoidable (death of one parent), to raise children on their own. Majority of young people in the United States stay in single parent homes. The minority groups, like the African American single mother families, form 56 percent of this population, which lives under a single mother home (Scott, Wallander, & Cameron, 2015) . The large percentage of the minority group single parent families arise due to a decrease in the need or inclination to marriage. This is unlike other dominant and ethnic groups such as the Whites. Another basis for this situation is the increased divorce levels among new and old parents (Hatzenbuehler & Pachankis, 2016) . One of the main problems that majority of the youths face today is because of being raised in a one-parent household.
Family factors such as one parent issue have been recognized to model the ultimate problem behavior among youths from minority families. Several single-parent families especially Black Americans live in impoverished regions and conditions. These poor economic conditions predispose the youths in such regions to indulge in criminal activities as a means of survival ( Harris-McKoy, 2016) . The single parent minority families also live in overcrowded places, and their youths easily engage in delinquent activities because of peer influence. In the overcrowded regions, the young who were initially innocent are compelled into high-risk behaviors such as doing drugs and alcohol. In some regions, Male youths are forced to fight off peer pressure that forces some to indulge in substance abuse that attracts many problems (Hatzenbuehler & Pachankis, 2016) . This combination of factors has caused the transition and survival more challenging for minority youths that are coming from one-parent families. Thus, such youths are more likely to experience problems than the youths that have their families in economically advantaged places with sufficient social and economic resources.
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One of the fundamental factors that lead to successful adjustment of youths in the minority group is good parenting. Single parenting may be void of parental monitoring, as it requires frequent communication regarding significant issues, and consistent daily engagement and involvement of the parents and the youths ( Harris-McKoy, 2016) . The youths need someone to confide in, particularly when it comes to their important issues. Absenteeism of parents exposes the youths to joining wrong groups that may end up misleading and misguiding them (Scott, Wallander, & Cameron, 2015) . As result, their problems compound due being led in the wrong directions when in the first place they needed proper guidance.
Single parenting cannot allow for a strong protective effect on the youth, so that the behavior of the minority youth is not shaped as they develop. The involvement of both parents is missed since they are unable to instill the proper values and norms that are significant for conventional behavior. With just one parent, the youth would not have the stamina to resist temptation not to indulge in drug and substance abuse (Hatzenbuehler & Pachankis, 2016) . According to Wolf, Aber, & Morris (2015), young people should have their aggressive tendencies monitored and some people that would guide them in appropriate alternatives of releasing their aggression. A strong parent-adolescent relationship would help to contain the youths from being influenced into peer problems. One parent alone may not be able to make holistic contributions to a young person's behavior, as it regards to minority group.
In conclusion, substance and drug use and abuse, aggressive behaviors, and delinquency levels are higher among minority youths from single parents. The single parenthood predisposes the family and the youths to other unfavorable conditions that act contrary to the development of the young people. The single parents of the minority group find themselves in abject poverty where they lack sufficient resources needed to support their children. Two parents may provide holistic monitoring to the youths as they develop than if the parent is just single. Furthermore, a single parent would always be protective of the youth. The youth would then lack proper values and self-control mechanisms that may have helped him or her to overcome wrong peer influence and other problems.
References
Harris-McKoy, D. (2016). Adolescent delinquency: Is too much or too little parental control a problem?. Journal of Child and Family Studies , 25 (7), 2079-2088.
Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Pachankis, J. E. (2016). Stigma and minority stress as social determinants of health among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: research evidence and clinical implications. Pediatric Clinics , 63 (6), 985-997.
Scott, S. M., Wallander, J. L., & Cameron, L. (2015). Protective mechanisms for depression among racial/ethnic minority youth: Empirical findings, issues, and recommendations. Clinical child and family psychology review , 18 (4), 346-369.
Wolf, S., Aber, J. L., & Morris, P. A. (2015). Patterns of time use among low-income urban minority adolescents and associations with academic outcomes and problem behaviors. Journal of youth and adolescence , 44 (6), 1208-1225.
