Who is to blame? Pointing fingers at the parents of juvenile deliquents

            I have had the amazing opportunity to be an intern at the Lancaster’s District Attorney Office this semester. I was placed in the juvenile department where I have been able to attend juvenile court hearings. During this experience I have been truly shocked to learn of the severity of the children’s crimes at ages as young as 11! This makes me wonder, who is to blame if a child is displaying criminal behavior? Most people are quick to put this blame on the parents, including law enforcement. But should parents be held accountable by law for their children’s delinquent behavior? 

            In Wilmington, Delaware parents are held responsible for their children’s actions when they are out past the city’s curfew. In Jacksonville, Florida parents have to pay for any graffiti damage done by their minor son or daughter. And in Detroit, Michigan parents have the “continuous duty” to prevent their child from committing any delinquent act.

            Brank, Greene, and Hochevar did a series of studies to examine what situational factors or individual temperament factors impacts the public’s opinion on parental responsibility.

            One of the factors that the researchers studied was how views on parental responsibility changed when the parents committed acts of commission versus acts of omission. For example, an act of commission would be actively giving their children hazardous materials, while acts of omission would be accidently leaving dangerous materials where their children could access them. As you may expect, parents who committed acts of omission were seen by participants as less responsible then the parents who actively gave their children materials that led to a crime. The study also showed that participants saw that parents were more responsible for their child’s actions if they committed a personal injury crime than a property crime.

            Participants found parents of 9 year olds more responsible for their child’s actions then older youths. This is probably because older teens are usually seen in the public eye as being more rebellious and influenced by their older peers more so then their parents.

            So what did the participant’s think the parents should have to do if found responsible for their child’s actions? Most participants thought that parents shouldn’t be imprisoned when found responsible for their child’s crimes. They proposed that a better approach which would be to have the parent receive counseling with their child, and have them be more involved with their child’s life. I would have to agree with this. Enforcing counseling sessions with their child would be far more beneficial then slapping the parents with some fines and community service.

            Overall, this study did find that most participants thought more of the responsibility of a crime should lay with the juvenile, but the parents are in part to blame. The participants had to take into account both the situational factors and the age of the juvenile before they decided how much responsibility lies on the shoulders of the parents. 

            All of these factors make the concept of parental responsibility in the legal system very complicated. That is why I think each situation of parental responsibility should be treated differently, and that broad laws, such as the ones in Wilmington, Detroit, and Jacksonville should be re-examined. If the parent’s actions were not the primary cause of the offense and if they could not have been foreseen the juvenile’s delinquent behaviors occurring, how can we automatically hold these parents responsible?

            This study is very important because it examines how the public supports and views these laws. Public support of social issues can motivate the government to make new laws and revise existing laws.  If the legal system knows how the public views laws, it can influence how they enforce them. If the public widely supports a law then it is more likely to be enforced by police. On the other hand, if the public does not perceive a law as legitimate and fair then they are less likely to obey the law. This is very important in the case of parental responsibility. If the parent’s view this law as unfair then they may be more unlikely to want to have control over their children.

            Let your State and City representatives know what you think of parental responsibility laws! It is important for them to gage the public’s opinions, especially on laws that are viewed as potentially unfair. If you think your children may be up to no good keep an eye on them so you don’t end up being the one punished! 

 Anna Teeter

Brank, E.M., Greene, E., & Hochevar,L. (2011). Holding parents responsible: Is vicarious responsibility    the public’s answer to juvenile crime? Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 17 (4), 507-509.