ABSTRACT

Research investigating the risk factors for delinquency has found that single-parent households are more criminogenic than two-parent households. Using data (N = 4,626) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study expands on prior research by considering various types of households and parent-child relationship, along with three categories of delinquency: status offenses, property crimes, and violent crimes. Contrary to previous research, we find that juveniles living in single-parent households are significantly less likely to engage in all three types of delinquency than those from intact and stepparent households. Further, while an increased quantity of parents in the household does not lessen engagement in delinquency, the quality of the parent-child relationship does, as those who have stronger relationships with their parents are at lower risk of delinquent behavior. Our study highlights the importance of distinguishing between different types of delinquency and household structures, as well as how such classifications may influence research findings in this area.

摘要

调查犯罪风险因素的研究发现，单亲家庭比双亲家庭更容易犯罪。使用数据（N= 4,626）来自全国青少年到成人健康纵向研究，本研究通过考虑各种类型的家庭和亲子关系以及三类犯罪：身份犯罪、财产犯罪和暴力犯罪，扩展了先前的研究。与之前的研究相反，我们发现与来自完整家庭和继父母家庭的青少年相比，生活在单亲家庭的青少年参与所有三种类型的犯罪的可能性要小得多。此外，虽然家庭中父母数量的增加并不会减少犯罪的参与，但亲子关系的质量却可以，因为与父母关系更密切的人发生犯罪行为的风险较低。