In this chapter we revisited the role of families as it relates to the social ecological model of crime. Studies show that family composition is often highly associated with crime

Question

One view holds that young people commit crime not because of their individual family situations but because of some broader community consequence of low parental supervision. What can be done to improve parental supervision in a free country where anyone can raise children regardless of their knowledge or skills?

Answer 1

In the career path we usually start out with low paying jobs that don't require any experience. At first we make mistakes, but our employer expects that. After all, we are inexperienced. We might burn someone's hamburger or leave a door unlocked, but the consequences of our mistakes are usually short-lived and forgettable in time. As we gain experience, we become better at what we do and move into better paying positions. We become more valuable to the company. We can even train new workers in hopes that they can develop into great employees one day.

Parenting is somewhat of a paradox. All parents start out with no experience. As mistakes are made, they gain experience, but the consequences are life-long. Once they learn parenting skills, it is too late to practice them on anyone. The people most qualified to teach a child self control rarely have the opportunity. The people who have the opportunity are in their training phase making mistakes.

China has a family planning policy that limits the number of children a family can have. Although we in America would never infringe that far on human rights, there would be some advantages to forcing parental controls. Since we don't currently have the ability to force parents to do their jobs better or get some training prior to becoming a parent, maybe there could be some incentive programs implemented. Imagine a social policy offering parenting courses for all parents prior to the birth of their first child in exchange for governmental monetary assistance to help cover the birth costs. Young mothers and fathers would benefit by learning some skills that would help develop the child's self control at the most crucial time, the first two year after birth.