Are all parents responsible for their children's behaviour?

Are all parents responsible for their children’s behaviour?

Functionalists see the family as the basic and most vital part in society. Relationships between members of the society are organised by rules. Values provide general guidance for behaviour therefore social order in society. The nuclear unit provides husband and wife with very clear social rules. The family are responsible for the socialisation of children and teaching them cultural values and norms. Functionalists would stress how important it is to teach social values to children in order to maintain conformity. The role of parents and teachers in passing on good values and norms to the youngsters is stressed. Marxists would agree to a certain extent, however, Marxist see society as 2 parts- an infra-structure and a super structure, infra structure being the ruling class and working class and super structure such as mass media and family etc. Marxists see the 2 structures as being unequal and based upon conflict because the Ruling class (capitalists) aim to extract the maximum labour from the workers at the lowest cost. The function of the mass media, education and family is to reproduce the values of the ruling class so that the working class are unaware of the conflicts which divide them from the capitalists.

This is a preview of the whole essay

According to research, it is believed that the type of parenting children receive influences their level of delinquency; children are also influenced by a wide range of other factors such as socio economic status, the community and the socialisation of the child, however, on top of all these factors, parents have a very important influence on a child’s behaviour, because a child looks up to their parents as a role model. ‘’ Put simply, the findings show that good parenting can prevent crime’’ (guardian newspaper). From a functionalists point of view, it suggests that parents should teach them values and norms to be a part of this society – what is acceptable and what isn’t. Parents should discipline their children in a good way. A Marxist would agree to the point that children are influenced by other factors such as the socio economic status- this brings in the ruling class and the working class and the point that children turn to delinquency because they may not be able to afford to buy things like the rest. Studies have found that parents who are inconsistent and harsh and who easily give in to unreasonable demands are more likely to see their children turn to delinquency; behaviours like : Truancy, Vandalism, Suicidal tendencies, Theft. From a Marxists point of view it is believed that children from working class families commit most crime due to the influence of media which reinforces ideas of materialism into people. Another essential point, stressed by the researchers is the quality and not the quantity of the time spent together with a child. Parents have many responsibilities and both play a vital role in their child’s upbringing, it is important to make your child aware of what is good and bad behaviour; if the child does something wrong, disapprove of it and make them aware it is wrong. It is also important to praise them on good behaviour and to be consistent with them of what is allowed. Together with good parenting, and family upbringing, children learn self-discipline and appropriate behaviour.

A writer suggests that parents cannot expect children to behave well, whilst they themselves as a parent are setting a poor example. If children see parents shouting, abusing and behaving in a threatening manner to other people, they’re going to think that this is an acceptable way of conducting oneself. However, there may be other reasons why a child is misbehaving, one of these could be that they are being bullied at school for instance. They may feel that they are not in a position to fight back or tell anyone about their negative experiences. It is important to enforce a strict pattern of discipline at home and communicating with children, at the same time listening to their concerns as well and not ignoring their problems.

According to a research which was carried out in 1995 in the uk, it was said that a change in a family that has been brought about by a divorce or death of one or both parents is considered to be one of the most influential factors of delinquency. ‘’Abandoned or emotionally abused children are more prone to ignore school, misbehave, and become criminals’’ The number of one parent families has more than trebled in the past 25 years, according to statistical estimates. Many argue that politicians and commentators have unfairly blamed lone mothers for everything from youth crime to welfare spending. The family occupies an important place among other groups that socially influence children and effective measures to prevent this should be taken.

BIBLIOGRAPHY