The effects of single mother hood on child delinquency - Essay Example

It is even more difficult to discuss delinquency and single motherhood and to describe a relationship between the two because there are so many inter-related issues. It is not easy to separate out these issues and define a straightforward link between the two. However the issue is an important one since more and more children are living in single parent homes as time passes. And not just in single parent homes, but more specifically in homes where the mother is the single parent. The absence of fathers in children’s lives is an increasing challenge to society.

According to the US Bureau of the Census in 1990 (cited in Stolba and Amato 543) “The proportion of children under 18 who live with a single parent increased from 12 percent in 1968 to about one-fourth at present”. This was almost twenty years ago. The figure now is even more cause for concern. In order to develop the discussion it is first important to understand some parameters of the term itself- how is it defined and measured; to understand the phenomenon and the nature of the problem in terms of the extent to which it is a problem in children and young people.

In broad terms delinquency is antisocial or criminal behavior. It is juvenile delinquency when displayed by children or adolescents. Juvenile delinquency is also considered behavior that deviates from the norms. Even trying to understand what juvenile delinquency actually is presents problems since norms vary from place to place and even from one household or family to the next. The attitude of parents and other adults can also add to the difficulty as what one parent may consider delinquent behavior another parent may merely shrug it off as defiance or ‘a behavior phase’ that the child is going through.

There seems to be no definite definition for delinquency. For clarity and standardization then and for this