The Role of Negative Parental Influences and Criminal Thinking in Juvenile Offending Behaviors

Abstract

Previous research has established that juveniles who experience negative parental influence are more likely to engage in problem and offending behavior. Less attention has been given to the possibility that criminal thinking styles might partially explain this relationship. This study examined the negative parental influences and criminal thinking styles of 1,354 juvenile offenders to establish that both negative parental influences and criminal thinking are significantly associated with juvenile problem and offending behavior. Further, the analysis showed that juvenile criminal thinking (proactive, reactive, and general) might mediate the relationship between negative parental influences and problem behavior. Implications for such findings are discussed.

Keywords

criminal thinking negative parental influences juvenile delinquency

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andrews

D. A.

Bonta

(2010). The psychology of criminal conduct (5th ed.). Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.

Baglivio

M. T.

Epps

Schwartz

Huq

M. S.

Sheer

Hardt

N. S.

(2014). The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) in the lives of juvenile offenders. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 3(2), 1–23.

Baglivio

M. T.

Wolff

K. T.

Piquero

A. R.

DeLisi

Vaughn

M. G.

(2017). Multiple pathways to juvenile recidivism: Examining parental drug and mental health problems, and markers of neuropsychological deficits among serious juvenile offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(8), 1009–1029. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0093854817714810

Baglivio

M. T.

Wolff

K. T.

DeLisi

Jackowski

(2020). The role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and psychopathic features on juvenile offending criminal careers to age 18. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 18(4), 337–364. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1541204020927075

Bandura

Barbaranelli

Caprara

G. V.

Pastorelli

(1996). Mechanisms of moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(2), 364–374. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.71.2.364

Bandura

Ross

S. A.

(1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 575–582. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0045925

Barrett

D. E.

Katsiyannis

(2016). Juvenile offending and crime in early adulthood: A large sample analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1086–1097. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0304-6

Bellis

M. A.

Lowey

Leckenby

Hughes

Harrison

(2013). Adverse childhood experiences: Retrospective study to determine their impact on adult health behaviours and health outcomes in a UK population. Journal of Public Health, 36(1), 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdt038

Chipman

Olsen

S. F.

Klein

Hart

C. H.

Robinson

C. C.

(2000). Differences in retrospective perceptions of parenting of male and female inmates and non-inmates. Family Relations, 49(1), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00005.x

10.

Cuadra

L. E.

Jaffe

A. E.

Thomas

DiLillo

(2014). Child maltreatment and adult criminal behavior: Does criminal thinking explain the association? Child Abuse and Neglect, 38(8), 1399–1408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.005

11.

DeLisi

Vaughn

M. G.

(2014). Foundation for a temperament-based theory of antisocial behavior and criminal justice system involvement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(1), 10–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2013.11.001

12.

Duke

N. N.

Pettingell

S. L.

McMorris

B. J.

Borowsky

I. W.

(2010). Adolescent violence perpetration: Associations with multiple types of adverse childhood experiences. Pediatrics, 125(4), e778–e786. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-0597

13.

Farrington

D. P.

(2020). Childhood risk factors for criminal career duration: Comparisons with prevalence, onset, frequency and recidivism. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 30(4), 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.2155

14.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2019). [Table 38]. Arrests by age, 2018. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/topic-pages/tables/table-38

15.

Folk

J. B.

Stuewig

J. B.

Blasko

B. L.

Caudy

Martinez

A. G.

Maass

Taxman

F. S.

Tangney

J. P.

(2018). Do demographic factors moderate how well criminal thinking predicts recidivism? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(7), 2045–2062. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0306624X17694405

16.

Fox

B. H.

Perez

Cass

Baglivio

M. T.

Epps

(2015). Trauma changes everything: Examining the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders. Child Abuse & Neglect, 46, 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.01.011

17.

Gonzalez

Mandracchia

J. T.

Nicholson

Dahlen

(2014). Exploring parenting as a predictor of criminogenic thinking in college students. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(9), 1081–1100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X13487523

18.

Goodman

S. H.

Rouse

M. H.

Connell

A. M.

Broth

M. R.

Hall

C. M.

Heyward

(2011). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-010-0080-1

19.

Gottfredson

M. R.

Hirschi

(1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press.

20.

Grady

M. D.

Levenson

J. S.

Bolder

(2017). Linking adverse childhood effects and attachment: A theory of etiology for sexual offending. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(4), 433–444. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838015627147

21.

Grusec

J. E.

Davidov

(2010). Integrating different perspectives on socialization theory and research: A domain-specific approach. Child Development, 81(3), 687–709. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01426.x

22.

Haapasalo

(2001). How do young offenders describe their parents? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 6(1), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1348/135532501168226

23.

Hawkins

J. D.

Herrenkohl

Farrington

D. P.

Brewer

Catalano

R. F.

Harachi

T. W.

(1998). A review of predictors of youth violence. In Loeber

Farrington

D. P.

(Eds.), Serious & violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 106–146). SAGE.

24.

Hoeve

Dubas

J. S.

Eichelshiem

V. I.

van der Laan

P. H.

Smeenk

Gerris

J. R.

(2009). The relationship between parenting and delinquency: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(6), 749–775. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s10802-009-9310-8

25.

Jolliffe

Farrington

D. P.

(2007). Examining the relationship between low empathy and self-reported offending. Legal and Criminal Psychology, 12(2), 265–286. https://doi.org/10.1348/135532506X147413

26.

Kaufman

J. G.

Widom

C. S.

(1999). Childhood victimization, running away, and delinquency. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 36(4), 347–370. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022427899036004001

27.

Kjellstrand

Eddy

J. M.

Clark

(2020). Children with incarcerated parents and developmental trajectories of internalizing problems across adolescence. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45, 48–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-019-09494-4

28.

Levenson

J. S.

Willis

G. M.

Prescott

D. S.

(2016). Adverse childhood experiences in the lives of male sex offenders: Implications for trauma-informed care. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 28(4), 340–359. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1079063214535819

29.

Livingston

Stewart

Allard

Ogilvie

(2008). Understanding juvenile offending trajectories. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 41(3), 345–363. https://doi.org/10.1375%2Facri.41.3.345

30.

Mulvey

E. P.

(2016). Research on pathways to desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Subject measures, 2000-2010 (ICPSR 29961) [Data set]. Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR29961.v2

31.

Palmer

E. J.

Gough

(2007). Childhood experiences of parenting and causal attributions for criminal behavior among young offenders and non-offenders. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37(4), 790–806. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00186.x

32.

Pratt

T. C.

Cullen

F. T.

(2000). The empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime: A meta-analysis. Criminology, 38(3), 931–964. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00911.x

33.

Schroeder

R. D.

Bulanda

R. E.

Giordano

P. C.

Cernkovich

S. A.

(2010). Parenting and adult criminality: An examination of direct and indirect effects by race. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(1), 64–98. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0743558409354215

34.

Sutherland

E. H.

(1947). Principles of criminology (4th ed., pp. 1–9). J. B. Lippincott Co.

35.

Toth

S. L.

Cichetti

(2013). A developmental psychopathology perspective on child maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, 18(3), 135–139. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1077559513500380

36.

Unnever

J. D.

Cullen

F. T.

Agnew

(2006). Why is “bad” parenting criminogenic? Implications from rival theories. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 4(1), 3–33. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1541204005282310

37.

van Langen

M. A.

Wissink

I. B.

van Vugt

E. S.

Van der Stouwe

Stams

G. J

. (2014). The relation between empathy and offending: A meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(2), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2014.02.003

38.

Walters

G. D.

(1995). The psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles part I: Reliability and preliminary validity. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 22(3), 307–325. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0093854895022003008

39.

Walters

G. D.

(2011). Predicting recidivism with the psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles and level of service inventory-revised: Screening version. Law and Human Behavior, 35(3), 211–220. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s10979-010-9231-7

40.

Walters

G. D.

(2012). Criminal thinking and recidivism: Meta-analytic evidence on the predictive and incremental validity of the psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles (PICTS). Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(3), 272–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.02.010

41.

Walters

G. D.

(2016a). Friends, cognition, and delinquency: Proactive and reactive criminal thinking as mediators of the peer influence and peer selection effects among male delinquents. Justice Quarterly, 33(6), 1055–1079. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2015.1039048

42.

Walters

G. D.

(2016b). Proactive and reactive criminal thinking, psychological inertia, and the crime continuity conundrum. Journal of Criminal Justice, 46, 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.03.003

43.

Walters

G. D.

(2018). Proactive and reactive criminal thinking and self-reported offending: A cross-national survey of seventh- through ninth-grade boys and girls. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(1), 89–107. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0306624X16645600

44.

Walters

G. D.

(2020). Crime and social cognition: A meta-analytic review of the developmental roots of adult criminal thinking. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 18, 183–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-020-09435-w

45.

Walters

G. D.

DeLisi

(2013). Antisocial cognition and crime continuity: Cognitive mediation of the past crime-future crime relationship. Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(2), 135–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2012.12.004

46.

Walters

G. D.

Lowenkamp

C. T.

(2016). Predicting recidivism with the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) in community-supervised male and female federal offenders. Psychological Assessment, 28(6), 652–659. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pas0000210

47.

Weinberger

D. A.

Schwartz

G. E.

(1990). Distress and restraint as superordinate dimensions of self-reported adjustment: A typological perspective. Journal of Personality, 58(2), 381–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1990.tb00235.x

48.

Whitten

McGee

T. R.

Homel

Farrington

D. P.

Ttofi

(2019). Comparing the criminal careers and childhood risk factors of persistent, chronic, and persistent-chronic offenders. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 52(2), 151–173. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0004865818781203

49.

Williams

L. R.

Steinberg

(2011). Reciprocal relations between parenting and adjustment in a sample of juvenile offenders. Child Development, 82(2), 633–645. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01523.x

50.

Wills

T. A.

Sandy

J. M.

Yaeger

Shinar

(2001). Family risk factors and adolescent substance use: Moderation effects for temperament dimensions. Developmental Psychology, 37(3), 283–297. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/11855-012

51.

Wolff

K. T.

Baglivio

M. T.

Piquero

A. R.

(2017). The relationship between adverse childhood experiences and recidivism in a sample of juvenile offenders in community-based treatment. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(11), 1210–1242. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0306624X15613992