Citation

Church WT, Jaggers JW, Tomek S, Bolland AC, Bolland KA, Hooper LM, Bolland JM. J. Juv. Justice 2015; 4(2): 95-110.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, In Public Domain (U.S. Department of Justice OJJDP), Publisher CSR)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Originally described by Baumrind (1967), permissive parenting is an indulgent parenting style in which parents make few demands on their adolescents, have low expectations for adolescent's self-control, yet allow adolescents considerable self-regulation. Even though parenting styles may transform over time (Schroeder & Mowen, 2012), permissive parenting has been associated with poor academic achievement (Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987; Huey, Sayler, & Rinn, 2013; Shumow, Vandell, & Posner, 1998), decreased psychological health and quality of life (Milevsky, Schlechter, Netter, & Keehn, 2007; Niaraki & Rahimi, 2013), and juvenile delinquency (Chan & Koo, 2011; Hoeve, Dubas, Gerris, van der Laan, & Smeenk, 2011). Permissive parenting provides little structure and often places youths at risk for poor psychosocial outcomes and increases adolescents' propensity to engage in delinquent acts. Empirical literature points toward the long-lasting effects of delinquency, which is of particular concern for those living in impoverished conditions. Multiple studies have shown that delinquency is associated with adult criminality (Cernkovich, Lanctot, & Giordano, 2008; Dilalla & Gottesman, 1989; Huesmann, Eron, & Dubow, 2002; Juon, Doherty, & Ensminger, 2006; le Blanc, 1992). While measures of parenting style have been developed (see Darling & Steinberg, 1993), there has been little research examining family management practices that may be defined as permissive. Furthermore, at least one study of parenting strategies found that permissive parenting style may not be as harmful as originally thought (Bolkan, Sano, De Costa, Acock, & Day, 2010). The current study examines the confluence of permissiveness and family management practices on delinquency. Delinquency is of specific interest given research that indicates 1 in 3 Black American men and 1 in 18 Black American women will go to prison in their lifetime, compared to 1 in 9 of all men and 1 in 56 of all women (Bonczar, 2003).

Because a greater than average proportion of Black American adolescents live in poverty (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012), delinquency is both an issue of race and poverty. We hypothesize that fewer family rules, absence of family curfews, and lower levels of parental monitoring are associated with greater delinquency in a sample of Black American adolescents living in highly impoverished neighborhoods. This study examined the longitudinal trajectories of the delinquency of adolescents (11 to 18 years old) in relation to permissive parenting regarding family rules, curfews, and parental monitoring. The longitudinal analysis identified how these relationships develop and change through adolescence. Using data from the Mobile Youth Survey, a 14-year longitudinal study of high-poverty, primarily Black American youths living in Alabama (N = 4,800), the relationship between delinquency and permissive parenting was analyzed using linear growth models.

FINDINGS showed that males with minimal family rules, minimal curfew expectations, and minimal parental monitoring were at the greatest risk for delinquency. For females, no significant relationship between parental monitoring and delinquency was found over time. In addition, while holding curfew and family rules constant, adolescents with lower levels of parental monitoring exhibited higher levels of delinquency at age 11, which decreased slightly throughout adolescence.



Wesley T. Church, II, School of Social Work, Louisiana State University; Jeremiah W. Jaggers, School of Social Work, Indiana University; Sara Tomek, Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology & Counseling, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Anneliese C. Bolland, Institute for Social Science Research, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Kathleen A. Bolland, School of Social Work, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Lisa M. Hooper, Department of Counseling and Human Development, and College Student Personnel, University of Louisville; John M. Bolland, professor emeritus, was a research chair holder in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Alabama. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Wesley T. Church, II, School of Social Work, Louisiana State University, 305 Huey P. Long Fieldhouse, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. E-mail: wesleyc@lsu.edu

Keywords: delinquency, parents; juvenile justice, parenting

Language: en