Family interactions and delinquency: A cross-gender analysis of parent-child relationships and delinquent behavior

Both researchers and practitioners appear increasingly to recognize the role of family as a potential "risk factor" for delinquency. In this analysis, I focus on the influence of parent-child interaction in the process leading to delinquent behavior. Relying on social learning theory, I test a comprehensive model of parent-child interaction, children's well-being, and delinquency.;Specifically, I explore (1) sociological and psychological determinants of parent-child interaction, (2) the relationship between parenting practices and delinquency, and (3) the ways in which parent-child interaction and its effects on delinquent behavior differ for sons and daughters. In examining predictors of family interaction, I focus on not only structural factors, but also child's temperament, parents' psychological well-being, and marital conflict. I explore elements of parent-child interaction that have been largely ignored in previous research (e.g., consistency of parenting practices between parents, reinforcement of appropriate behaviors), and distinguish between forms of discipline that have been confounded in prior research. Finally, I examine children's psychological well-being and school adjustment as intervening mechanisms in the process by which parent-child interaction affects delinquency.;I expect this process to differ for sons and daughters for two reasons: (1) traditional gender role socialization may cause females to be more concerned than males with maintaining relationships, and (2) parental supervision and control is typically greater for daughters than for sons. Both mechanisms suggest that parents may be more influential in the process leading to delinquency for females than for males.;To test hypotheses derived from a social learning framework, I use three waves of data from the National Survey of Children. I employ covariance structure analysis to examine these data, estimating a cross-groups model of parent-child interaction and delinquency.;The results show that the process represented by this model varies slightly for daughters and sons, though the primary finding is one of invariance across sex. Surprisingly, parent-child interaction has limited effects on delinquency, for both groups. The major finding of this analysis is the substantial influence of child's temperament on parent-child interaction, and children's well-being and behavior---for both daughters and sons. The pattern of this influence, however, varies somewhat across sex.