Child Delinquency

Anthony Ward Jr.

Final Paper Psych 394

11/30/05

Child, a word once synonymous with innocence, is now more than ever seen as synonymous with guilt. Guilty of delinquency, guilty of crimes that prior to modernity could never have been fathomed to be carried out by children. Our world and our society have failed to be role models for the young and impressionable. The family unit has deteriorated and parents fallen short of their duties to their progeny. In many areas and in many households children have not been allowed to live innocently. Children have been forced to grow up before their time, to learn things their minds cannot properly comprehend. They have been forced to relinquish their naivety in response to societal images and pressures. Environments that children are reared in are becoming increasingly hostile. Children of urban and impoverished neighborhoods no longer make statements of "when I grow up", but "if I grow up". The word "if" replaces "when" because it is all too likely that a child may not make it to adulthood. In the word "if", one can see the feelings of hopelessness that an environment such as the inner city of Chicago breeds. The feelings of if I make it through the pain and suffering of my childhood then I'll be...

Juvenile courts and centers are filled with children from impoverished urban neighborhoods where violence and death is a common occurrence. How can a child be shielded in an environment such as this? I propose that while no child could be completely shielded, the effects of the environment can be buffered. I believe this buffering can be accomplished through a developmentally nourishing home environment created by a loving and encouraging parent or guardian. I believe that the parent-child relationship and a stable home environment are key to the improvement of child delinquency. Observing the trend of generational teen pregnancy in the urban setting, I decided to research the effects of the age at which a mother gives birth to her child on the development of the child and subsequent delinquent behaviors. Through my own experience I have observed many young mothers and found their interaction with and manner of discipline for their children to be developmentally unsound. In my research I attempted to better understand the situations that lead up to and are created by teenage pregnancy and what if any is the effect on the child.

The age of the mother isn't itself the problem rather it is indicative of the mother's inexperience, immaturity, and instability. The younger the mother the less life experiences she may have, resulting in an inferior understanding of actions and consequence. Research studies have shown that "having a child at an early age decreases the mothers' future chances of finishing school and getting married, and increases the number of children she is likely to have." (Hotz, McElroy, & Sanders, 1997) This brings light to the poor attainment achieved by most young mothers. Respectively, poor attainment affects the life she can provide for her child as well as herself. I will attempt to within this paper display the effects of maternal instability, poor attainment, and immaturity on child development.

The life and life circumstances of parent and child are indelibly linked. Human lives are interconnected and this is particularly true of parent and child. Life-course circumstances of one person has an important effect on developmental paths and outcomes of those who are linked to them. Internal change in life-course circumstances can have important implications beyond the individual. So, if mother's life is unstable the child feels the effects of shifting circumstance.

Goldstein et al., in The Best Interests of the Child, identifies a child's need for stability and continuity. From the Goldstein et al. book one can identify instability as a detriment to the psychosocial development of a child. The lives of young mothers are more likely to be unstable. They themselves are still in stages of development both in their understanding as well life circumstance. The young mother must find a job to provide for the child, home circumstances are likely to change as mother and child may have to leave the house of the mother's parent. The child of a young mother is a witness and a participant to every move that she makes. The child's development is most fluid and impressionable at the earliest stages of life and the unpredictable nature of the mother and the environment she is likely to create may impede proper development.

One place of instability can be recognized in relationship instabilities of the mother. The stress of early parenting would undoubtedly cause stress between the young parents and possible absenteeism by the father. Drawing from the implications that mothers who have their children at a young age are less likely to get married, a paternal figure may be unstable as well. And, any subsequent male relationships that the mother might have may lead to discontinuity for the child. Instability may also be present in the relationships of the mother with her own parent(s), the child's grandparent(s), which is subject to stress and upheaval as the grandparents may express disappointment and possible resentment to the mother and her child. With little to no relationships to properly model, the child social development becomes stunted or even warped.

Instability of a young mother's emotional status also has observed adverse affects in child development. Young mothers are prone to bouts of depression and depressed mothers are less attuned to the needs of their children (Brody & Forehand, 1986). From these facts and implications, the instability of mood and emotion can be seen to have an affect on proper development of a child.

The need for stability and continuity in the life of a child is made paramount in fact that child growth and development has inherent instability. Growth--physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and moral--does not happen without the child experiencing internal tension. The inherent instability of mental processes during the course of development needs to be offset by a supportive environment. Smooth growth, growth that is unhindered and continuous, may be disrupted when upheavals and changes in the external world are added to the inevitable internal ones (Goldstein et al., 1996, pg. 19).

The connectedness of mother and child can also be seen in circumstances in and around poor attainment. Poor attainment speaks to the mothers' lack of education and her subsequent inability to find a stable well paying job to provide for her child. Teenage mothers