Shame as a Consequence of the Parent-Child Relationship

Abstract

The object of this research is to investigate the relationship between gender, parent-child relations, shame and juvenile delinquency. The study proceeds from a social bonding theoretical framework and hypothesizes that shame will act as an intervening mechanism through which poor parent-child relations impact upon delinquency. The present study addresses three key research questions. Are girls more strongly attached to and controlled by their parents than boys are? Do girls feel more shame in the face of significant others than boys do? And, finally, does shame mediate the effect of parent-child relations in the explanation of delinquency? A total of 979 students in grade 8 of the Swedish school system (aged 14; 505 boys and 474 girls) were included in the study. The findings show girls to be more strongly attached to parents, to be more controlled and to feel more shame than boys. Finally, the analyses show that feeling less shame in the face of significant others tended to mediate the effect of poor parent-child relations on delinquency for girls. For boys, both family interaction and shaming components are significantly related to delinquency.