Juvenile Justice
According to Jennifer Morse, there is a relationship between single parenthood and criminal activities. According to the article, for a child to adopt a good behavior, he/she must grow with bother parents, the mother and the father. If the children grow in a single parent either the mother or the father, there is a probability that the child may end up in prison in his/her future life. This therefore means that single parenthood contributes to increased crimes that cause disturbance to the society. Despite the fact that such children need the support of the other society members as they grow, they are likely to become a burden to the society in the future when they start engaging in criminal activities.
Jennifer argues then that the prison serves the role that the parents did not serve when the child was growing. This means that the behavior of the child is controlled by the prison since the parents failed to control the behavior at young age. Therefore according to Jennifer, prisons can substitute the parents.
It is true that children from single parents families do not develop socially well as compared to other children from families where there are both parents. Both parents contribute to an extent to the proper growth and development of a child. However, it is not parents only that shape the behavior of the children. Therefore I totally disagree with the arguments that children from single parent families are most likely to become criminals.
Even though there are cases whereby children from single parent families engage in criminal activities, Jennifer used a wrong sample that cannot represent the truth about the whole population. Therefore the sample used cannot guarantee the conclusion made. In the first place, there are many cases whereby children from families with both parents have engaged in criminal activities. Therefore it is not possible to blame single parent’s families for their contribution to increase in crimes.
There are many factors that affect the behavior of the individuals. Some of the traits are passed during birth. This is why a child in a certain family may grow to become a criminal and the other grows to be a good citizen. Therefore one major factor that affects the behavior of an individual is factors inherited at birth.
The environment that one individual lives in also shapes the behavior of an individual. When the children meet with their peers, the peers may make them to engage in criminal activities. This however is not always the case. Some children may fail to follow the actions of their peers. However, if the children get attracted to the criminal activities, then they become criminals.
In this regard, it can be said that what mostly contributes to criminal behaviors of the children is the features inherited at their birth and the environment they grow in. the people they interact with daily play a role in shaping the behavior of individuals.
In conclusion, I disagree with the assertion made by Jennifer in the article. It should be understood that when the children are born, they become members of the society and hence the society as a whole shapes the behavior of the children. Therefore children from single parent families may learn from other society members and become good citizens. Even though both parents contribute to the positive growth of children both physically and emotionally, the criminal behaviors of children cannot be attached to single parenthood. Inherited characteristics and the society one lives in play the greatest role in influencing the behavior of an individual.
