Overview
Continuing our systematic review of the Central Eight the chapter situates the role of family/marital, school/work, and leisure/recreation vis-à-vis criminal behavior. Family/marital was touched upon in Chapter 6 but here we dive deeper (e.g., family therapy interventions). The development of emotional bonds between the child and parent(s) are reviewed and the effects of disruptions in the relationship, especially as a result of adverse childhood experiences are highlighted.
The discussions of school and work show that these two prosocial environments go a long way in protecting the individual from engaging in crime. Attending school or working, especially if they are enjoyed, provide rewards for prosocial behavior and increases the costs for criminal behavior. Without stable school/work, one is free to deviate from prosocial norms. Similarly, involvement in prosocial recreational activities reinforces one’s commitment to prosocial values.
Neighborhood has a more distal influence on criminal behavior. Growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood increases the risk for negative outcomes and crime is one of them.
Worth Remembering
- Forming social attachments is the basis to healthy relationships that could protect a child from a criminal trajectory. Children who become attached to a caregiver develop fewer psychological difficulties than young children who do not, and they grow up with healthier relationships with peers and adults. Problematic attachment patterns do not result simply from disruptions in the parent–child bond due to divorce. It is the nature and frequency of the disruption that is important. High-conflict families, parents who emotionally neglect their children or treat them harshly, and moving from one foster care home to another produce the most harm.
- Families operate along two dimensions: the relationship and the structuring dimensions. Children who are raised in families in which there are poor relationships and the parent(s) exercise poor parenting techniques are most at risk for delinquency. Furthermore, children in such families are more likely to associate with procriminal peers.
- At the extremes of the relationship and structuring dimensions children may be exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs predict future criminal conduct and multiple traumatic experiences place youth on a life-course-persistent trajectory.
- Family interventions can reduce delinquency. Treatment programs that address the relationship and normative dimensions of family functioning have demonstrated less delinquency in the problem child and even among siblings of the child.
- Marital and romantic relationships are important covariates of criminal behavior. Assessments of marital relationships predict future criminality. In addition, research suggests the a stable marital/romantic relationship can be a “turning point” in the life of a criminally involved person, if the partner is prosocial.
- School/employment is a Central Eight risk/need factor. Participation in school and work settings increases opportunities to receive rewards for prosocial behavior and increases the costs for criminal behavior. There are many programs that succeed in increasing ties to school (for youths) and employment (for adults).
- The impact of leisure/recreation programs has not been sufficiently explored. Although leisure/recreation shows moderate predictive validity there have been few controlled studies of systematically altering the leisure activities and observing its impact on criminal behavior. However, the research that does exist is promising.
- Disadvantaged neighborhoods can affect the criminal actions of individuals. Deprived neighborhoods can impact physical and mental health and crime within the setting. These neighborhoods operate by altering the membership composition to favor criminal behavior. Buffering the impact can be achieved by deliberately increasing prosocial orientation among the community members.
Quiz
Further Reading
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Patterson, G. R. (2016). Coercion theory: The study of change. In T. J. Dishion, & J. J. Snyder (Eds.,) The Oxford handbook of coercive relationship dynamics (pp. 7-21). New York: Oxford University Press.
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, K. (1999). Intraindividual growth in covert antisocial behaviour: A necessary precursor to chronic juvenile and adult arrests? Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 9, 24–38.
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.