The Family and Delinquency

1. The Family and Delinquency

2. The Family and Delinquency • What is the role of the family in causing or preventing delinquency? • How important is the family in considering possible causes of delinquency?

3. The Importance of Causality A theme in this course

4. Reference: Lecture Six

5. Reference: Lecture Four

7. Reference: Lecture Six

8. Social Institutions Shaping Youth Education System Family Community

9. Viewpoints About the Family and Delinquency • Travis Hirschi: a weak child-parent bond or attachment explains delinquency(1969) • Joseph Rankin: homes with both biological parents missing explains running away, truancy, and auto theft(1983) • Sheppard Kellam, M. Ensminger, and R. J. Turner: Being raised by a mother alone explains delinquency(1977) Source: Glenn C. Loury, Ch 1 of Families, Schools, and Delinquency Prevention, eds. James Q. Wilson and Glenn C. Loury

10. Trends Affecting Families Changes in Family Structure

11. Source: US Statistical Abstract

12. Marriage Rates Source: Center for Disease Control, CDC

13. Number of Divorces and Children Affected Source: Center for Disease Control, CDC

14. Age Specific Divorce Rates, men and Women Source: Center for Disease Control, CDC

15. Divorce Rates by Duration of Marriage Source: Center for Disease Control, CDC

16. Source: US Statistical Abstract

17. Source: US Statistical Abstract

18. Source: Glenn C. Loury, Ch 1 of Families, Schools, and Delinquency Prevention, eds. James Q. Wilson and Glenn C. Loury

19. Post World War II Phenomenon • “In 1925, approximately 85 perent of black families living in Harlem were intact, and the teenage mother raising her children alone was virtually unknown...” Source: Glenn C. Loury, Ch 1 of Families, Schools, and Delinquency Prevention, eds. James Q. Wilson and Glenn C. Loury

20. Source: Glenn C. Loury, Ch 1 of Families, Schools, and Delinquency Prevention, eds. James Q. Wilson and Glenn C. Loury

21. Source: Glenn C. Loury, Ch 1 of Families, Schools, and Delinquency Prevention, eds. James Q. Wilson and Glenn C. Loury

23. Birth Rates for Unmarried Women By Age of Mother Source: Center for Disease Control, CDC

24. Per Cent Low Birth Weight By Age of Mother Source: Center for Disease Control, CDC

25. “The Rotten Kid Theorem” • Reference: Jack Hirshleifer, “The Expanding Domain of Economics” • Figure 1

26. Daughter’s Income Father’s Income

27. Daughter’s Selfish Preferences: UD = UD(YD) Daughter’s Income, YD Best Better Good Father’s Income, YF

28. Family Joint Income Opportunities When Both the Child and Parent Agree Daughter’s Income Father’s Income

29. Short-sighted selfish daughter prefers point R Daughter’s Income R Father’s Income

30. Daughter’s Income Family Income = Daughter’s Income + Father’s Income Father’s Income

31. Daughter’s Income Family Income Is Maximum At Point J R J Father’s Income

32. How Does the Parent Inducethe Selfish Child to Act in the Family Interest? Did King Lear Have It Right?

33. Father’s Altruistic Preferences: UF = UF(YD , YF) Daughter’s Income Father’s Income

34. Why Does The Parent Care For The Child? • Darwinian (evolutionary) motive: survival of the genes

35. If the father is sufficiently altruistic, then the daughter’s enlightened self-interest is to prefer point A, and she can be induced to behave in a cooperative way, allowing point J that leads to point A Daughter’s Income A R J Father’s Income

36. If the father is insufficiently altruistic, then the daughter will prefer point R to point B and, as a result, family income and fortunes will be lower Daughter’s Income R B J Father’s Income

37. So, Love, Not Greed, Makes the World Go ‘Round • In what kind of environment does love and caring flourish? • both biological parents are present • educated, enlightened self-interest • a family with enough time and resources to care for one another

38. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth • survey of 14-23 year olds • self-report information about contact with the criminal justice system for -1979 • ever stopped by the police • ever charged with a crime • ever convicted of a crime • family income • family structure when youth was age 14

39. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) Report: never stopped Report: never charged 14-23 years of age Report: never convicted Report: ever stopped 28.5% Report: ever charged 17.4% Report: ever convicted 10.1%

40. NLSY: Family Structure, Age 14 4,927 boys and young men, ages 14-23 Source: William Comanor and Llad Phillips, “The Effect of Family Structure on Teen Delinquency”

41. NLSY: Family Structure, Age 14 3119 girls and young women, ages 14-19, never married Source: William Comanor and Llad Phillips, “The Effect of Family Structure on Teen Delinquency”

42. So, Love, Not Greed, Makes the World Go ‘Round • In what kind of environment does love and caring flourish? • both biological parents are present • educated, enlightened self-interest • a family with enough time and resources to care for one another

43. The Importance of Social Institutions • Family: social control; human capital • School: social control; human capital • Religious organizations: moral compliance • Community groups and centers

44. Question: Why are people violent? • Before the agricultural societies in Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley, people were hunters and gatherers and shepherds and tended to fear strangers (And fight them) Paul Seabright, The Company of Strangers, A Natural History of Economic Life(2004) Princeton U. • After people settled down as farmers they needed social institutions to help them interact with strangers • Markets allowed people to deal productively with strangers • Legal systems and governments allowed settlement of disputes • Adam Smith; The Wealth of Nations(1776) • “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”

45. THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION • We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

46. What Leads to the Loss of Social Control?

47. Social Control of Citizenry • Civil law and authority • First line of defense: moral compliance and good citizenship • Second line of defense: deterrence (the threat of punishment) • Third line of defense: detention • Martial law and authority • Fourth line of defense: National Guard and the Army

48. 100 % Percent Control Riot 99% 98% Martial Law Civil Law Moral Compliance Deterrence Detention National Guard

49. Why Is the Imprisonment Rate So High in the USA? • 0.74 %

50. The U.S. Incarceration Rate is Higher than for Russia, and South Africa; 7 times Italy and 8 times France