Delinquents’ self concepts about being parents

Abstract

There is national concern about teenage pregnancy and children parenting children in the U.S. There is also an established link between delinquent parents and future delinquent offspring. Parenting skills training for youth in trouble has been considered as one way of addressing this complex problem. Yet there have been few studies of the way troubled and troublesome adolescents see themselves as parents. In this study, juveniles being held in a detention center were observed in a small group setting on a weekly basis for more than nine months. Delinquents also responded in writing to open‐ended questions about their views on parenting. In addition, detainees who had not attended parenting classes were interviewed about families. Six significant social psychological concepts from Symbolic Interaction were identified under the general heading of socialization: self‐concept, self‐image, self‐control, self‐esteem, identity and roles. This preliminary study points out the need for a better understanding of delinquents’ personal concepts about parenting in order to provide meaningful parenting skills training.