Family Structure as a Social Context for Family Conflict

• Date: 01 September 2011
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016811402495
• Published date: 01 September 2011
• Subject Matter: Articles

Family Structure as a Social

Context for Family Conflict:

Unjust Strain and Serious

Delinquency

Ryan E. Spohn

1

and Don L. Kurtz

2

Abstract

Two major themes in the delinquency literature are the roles of family structure and childhood

victimization. Combining these two lines of research, the current project examines the unique

contribution of family structure and victimization on the serious delinquency of a nationally

representative sample of adolescents. In addition, we examine whether the form of families

serves to condition the relationship between victimization and delinquency. Past research

indicates that abuse is more likely to occur in two-parent families of a ‘‘mixed’’ form, specifically

in the presence of a live-in boyfriend or stepfather. However, little is known regarding the impact

of victimization on delinquency across different types of family structure. Guided by a theoretical

framework acknowledging that notions of justice influence the experience of victimization, our anal-

yses indicate that, although victimization is more likely to occur in nonintact two-parent families,

victimization is more likely to result in serious delinquency in intact families and single-parent

families.

Keywords

delinquency, broken homes, child maltreatment, sexual abuse

Two major themes relating families and juvenile delinquency are the roles of family structure or

‘‘broken homes’’ and family conflict, often operationalized as maltreatment or victimization.

Although these lines of research have generally developed in isolation from each other, numerous

researchers have undertaken efforts to examine the role of family structure and maltreatment simul-

taneously, but have produced mixed results. The current study extends these areas of research by

examining the interrelationship of family dynamics and family structure, as well as testing the

hypothesis that family structure moderates the effect of maltreatment on serious delinquency. Rather

than simply comparing the relative strength of relationship between family processes and

1

Center on Children, Families, and the Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE, USA

2

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, KS, USA

Corresponding Author:

Ryan E. Spohn, Center on Children, Families, and the Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 206 S. 13th St., Suite 1000, Lincoln,

NE 68588, USA

Email: rspohn@ccfl.unl.edu

Criminal Justice Review

36(3) 332-356

ª2011 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016811402495

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delinquency, on the one hand, and family structure and delinquency, on the other, our theoretical

approach views the structure of a family as a context in which youth and adolescents interpret the

experience of abusive punishment and maltreatment. Our goal is to develop a sociological under-

standing of families and delinquency based on Agnew’s (2001, 2006) suggestion that perceptions

of injustice influence the manner in which adolescents react to strain. We will approach this goal

through the following steps.

First, we undertake a brief review of the literature on the relationships between family structure,

victimization, and delinquency. Next, we outline a theoretical approach that views family structure

as a social context in which adolescents interpret their experiences of maltreatment. In this theore-

tical section, we discuss how adolescents’ notions of justice or fairness may represent a lens through

which they interpret and act upon their experiences of victimization. From this theoretical frame-

work, we then develop hypotheses that guide our empirical analysis. Finally, we describe the results

of our empirical analysis and discuss the implications of our findings for research on families and

delinquency.

Family Conflict and Delinquency

A long history of research has addressed the impact of child maltreatment on subsequent negative

outcomes, including delinquency. Research on harsh or punitive discipline, such as the early studies

of delinquent boys conducted by Glueck and Glueck (1950), indicated that abusive punishment pre-

dicts juvenile delinquency, and a comprehensive review of the literature confirms this relationship

(Haapasalo & Pokela, 1999). Additional studies have linked delinquency to erratic or inconsistent

parenting (West & Farrington, 1973) cold or rejecting parenting techniques (McCord, 1979), and

various types of coercion (Unnever, Colvin, & Cullen, 2004). More recent studies adopting multi-

variate analysis techniques adjusting for control variables also suggest that abuse and punitive pun-

ishment are positively related to delinquency (see Brezina, 1998; Heck & Walsh, 2000; Ireland,

Smith, & Thornberry, 2002; Kakar, 1996; McCord, 1983; Smith & Thornberry, 1995; Spohn,

2000). Child abuse also appears to be predictive of violent delinquent behaviors, evidenced by stud-

ies of self-reported violence (Thornberry, 1996), official records (Widom, 1989) and interviews, and

record checks of individuals incarcerated for violence (Boswell, 1995; Curtis, 1999; Peacock, 1999).

Overall, these studies indicate that maltreatment has a moderate effect on delinquency and violence.

Broken Homes and Delinquency

Another popular theme in juvenile delinquency research is a focus on family structure, commonly

referred to as ‘‘broken homes.’’ The most frequent conceptualization of family structure is a simple

dichotomy in which families are categorized as either ‘‘broken’’ or ‘‘intact.’’ A broken home is a

family that is absent one of the biological parents and an intact home consists of both biological par-

ents residing in the same household as their children (Heck & Walsh, 2000; Rebellon, 2002).

Because not all single-parent homes go through a process of being ‘‘broken’’, we will use the term

‘‘nonintact family’’ for the purposes of our research.

Primarily a consequence of divorce rates and single-parenthood, the United States Census Bureau

(2000) indicates that approximately 27%of children under the age of 18 live in a one-parent house-

hold and that 85%of single parents are mothers. Despite the attention focused on nonintact homes

and criminal behavior, research on the subject has been inconclusive, contradictory, or incomplete

(Heck & Walsh, 2000; Rebellon, 2002; Wells & Rankin, 1991).

In one of the most expansive analyses of the subject, Wells and Rankin (1991) conducted a meta-

analysis of existing research on nonintact homes and delinquency. They found that children from

nonintact homes were between 10 and 15%more likely to engage in delinquent behavior. The

Spohn and Kurtz 333