Parents Play a Role in Youth Crime in an Area

Most sociologists would agree that criminal and deviant behaviour can be linked to life at home. There are enough factors about life at home that can be linked to criminal and deviant behaviour; such as child abuse, alcohol/drug abuse by parents or guardians, domestic violence etc. Also, a child can be led into criminal behaviour by the norms and values that it is taught. For example, if a child is exposed to violence as a way of resolving issues, and then it is more likely than not that the child will engage in violence as a way of resolving issues.

Neglect is another important thing that most people experience at childhood which goes a long way to affecting them later on in life. Children require their parents' attention. However, that is hardly the case these days. Especially children from a broken home or where one parent is absent lack the necessary attention children need. The single parent is left with the double burden of looking after the children as well as managing a job to make ends meet. They are usually forced to put work first in order to earn enough money to look after the kids. Consequently, their children result to hanging out in the streets to get the attention they are lacking at home. Hanging out in the streets eventually leads to those children joining a local gang that engages in criminal or deviant behaviour.

Some parents refuse to or don't have as much control over their children as they should; or some parents just don't care because they can't handle the responsibilities of parenting. If parents were to reinforce rules and boundaries in the household by making it known to the children the consequences of deviant behaviour i.e. teaching them wrong from right at a reasonably young age, then the children will be more aware of that difference when they are growing up in society. They would appreciate from a very young age that bad behaviour results in adverse consequences. Teach a child the way to go so that when he grows, he will not depart from it. I am not sure that is exactly how the proverb goes but it is paraphrased from a verse in the Holy Book. Another one is: spare the rod, spoil the child.

I agree with both sayings and I am sure many people born and raised in Ghana or Ghanaian homes; or religious homes will readily agree with me. I remember my father giving me a strong whipping when I was young because I told a lie which embarrassed him. Till this day, I find it difficult to tell a lie. Thus it is evident that such training will be with children through their lives, making it less likely that they will end up in a life of crime and/or deviance.

Some people argue that putting fear in the children is another way to control them; because the children have the mentality that if they do "x" it will result in their parents doing "y". They will fear the penalty they will receive from their parents. Others argue that this form of control rather drives children away from the home because they would rather want to run away from trouble at home than come home to trouble at home. But then again, if they know they don't want to return home to trouble, they should know not to act in a deviant manner.

There are other explanations that sociologists would agree with on what else might affect the level of crime in an area such as peer groups and subcultures. A person could be pressured by peers into being involved in deviant behaviour in order to fit in with their friends. There are also factors like lack of opportunity which prevents "reformed criminals" from having a decent lifestyle. Elements of a decent lifestyle will include things like well paid job and a decent house. This may lead to "status frustration" which is when an individual gets so frustrated at their financial and social status. They also get frustrated about things that others have that they don't have. This is called Relative Deprivation – being aware that others are doing better than you.

Or you could say the nature of society is to blame for crime; which is what the Marxists came up with. Marxism draw up the idea of Consumerism – buying is good. People must have the latest clothes, cars, toys, technology and etc. This can create competition between social classes because people will strive to be better than others.

In summary, society as a whole supports crime because it makes us want things that we don't have.

Credit: Akua Afriyie – To what extent would sociologists agree that the level of youth crime in an area depends on how well parents control their children?