Parenting and Young Adult Crime: The Enduring Effects of Parental Attitudes and Behaviors

Abstract

Objectives

We draw on social learning theory to examine associations between parents’ attitudes, beliefs, and behavior and youth crime. Extending beyond prior work in the social learning tradition, we expand the scope of attitudes and beliefs that may elevate youths’ risk, recognizing that most interactions and communications involve noncriminal considerations.

Methods

Using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (n = 1,162), we explore the direct and indirect role of parental attitudes and behaviors on individuals’ self-reported crime using structural equation models.

Results

Our findings provide support for a social learning approach and demonstrate the ongoing role of parents through late adolescence to adulthood via direct and indirect pathways. We find that parental behaviors are associated with youths’ involvement in crime. In addition, parental influence processes help to shape youths’ own developing attitudes which, in turn, contribute to their risk of offending.

Conclusions

These findings underscore the need to direct additional attention to family influence processes to develop a comprehensive understanding of youth involvement in crime and to inform the development of programmatic efforts focused on disrupting the process of intergenerational transmission.