Children growing up in single-parent families are more likely to commit criminal behaviour. This is according to research by behavioural scientist Janique Kroese. The younger the child is when a single-parent family forms, the higher the likelihood of criminal behaviour. Growing up with a mother, for both sons and daughters, also increases the likelihood.
With her research, Kroese shows that children growing up in single-parent families show an increased risk of committing crime. It does not matter whether this single-parent family was created by divorce or the death of a parent. What does matter is the age of the child. The younger the child is when a single-parent family is formed, the higher the likelihood of criminal behaviour. Growing up with a mother (for both sons and daughters) also increases the likelihood.
Furthermore, Kroese shows that there is a temporary increase in the likelihood of committing crime soon after a parental divorce. In contrast, children show a temporary reduction prior to the death of a parent. Kroese: "It is additionally interesting to see that children show a lower probability of committing crime when they no longer live with a criminal parent due to divorce. So in such a case, divorce need not be disadvantageous." This is striking, as both parental criminality and divorce normally viewed in isolation increase the likelihood of committing crime.
Social importance
Kroese's research shows what are risk factors in single-parent families and their children's criminal behaviour. This is important to know, as relatively many children grow up in single-parent families in the Netherlands, and crime is detrimental to both the victims and the adolescents themselves. If psychological help were to be offered to children from single-parent families, it would be especially good to focus it on 1) children who have lived in a single-parent family from birth or where this happened at an early age, 2) adolescents who have experienced a (marital) divorce, especially in the first years after, and 3) adolescents in intact families where one or both parents commit crime.
Her research also highlights the importance of the fact that a judge can sometimes award custody to one of the parents in exceptional cases, such as when a parent commits crime. Kroese: "In order to get a complete picture of the effects of growing up in single-parent families on juvenile delinquency, it is important to continue conducting high-quality research on this topic in the future.
