SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES

Single Parent Families

Abstract

Research indicates that children are at risk for delinquency if they live in a single-parent family and if they live in areas with high levels of family disruption. Although there is a substantial amount of research on both the individual and aggregate relationships, examining delinquency at either of these two levels alone is not appropriate. Specifically, families do not exist in isolation as individual-level research inherently assumes, and aggregate research is concerned with explaining rates of delinquency as opposed to explaining influences on individual behavior. The current research used data from thirty-five schools, an important adolescent context, to determine the individual- and school-level effects of single-parent families on delinquency. The results from an overdispersed Poisson HLM regression model suggest both individual and aggregate effects, with a potential buffering effect of intact families regardless of any adolescents' specific family structure.

Table of Content

ABSTRACT2

INTRODUCTION4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION7

Individual-level research7

Aggregate-level research9

Multilevel research13

The school as a meaningful context15

CONCLUSION28

REFERENCES31

Single Parent Families

Introduction

What is the term family? What does it mean? Who decides what makes up a family? The definition of family means "a set of relations especially parents and children" (American Century Dictionary 205). This might include anyone related to by blood or by adoption such as: step parents, grandparents acting as parents, and even brothers and sisters sometimes sharing the same household. The term family has been believed to coincide with the word "marriage". If you were to have a family, you were also thought to have a husband or wife. This was thought to be the norm for many centuries. This was named the "institutional family." But we have reinvented the word family. A family can consist of single parent family, step family, or a first marriage family. The role of the family is also a key concept in defining the family (Doherty 11). "In all societies the first major agent of socialization for most individuals is the family" (Thompson and Hickey 105). It is the nucleus of American life. The role of the American family is much the same as in any other country. Each family member has to fulfill his or her own part. Being a father, a mother, or a daughter. The mass media will have an influence on the family's role. For instance, the media has portrayed men to be thought of as the "bread-winner". To more or less support the family. This family type was atypical of the American family. This was called the "Traditional Nuclear Family." This kind of ideology has existed for centuries (Thompson and Hickey 386).

Nevertheless, of all family types, single parent families have made the most gains during the past few decades. According to a sociological book called Society in Focus, the definition of a single parent family is "families in which one parent resides with and cares for one or more children" (387). "Researches estimate that a century ago one in three children spent part of their childhood in a single parent home" (384). This estimate is taken during the colonial period of ...