In this essay I will be discussing how far sociologists would agree that teenage criminal and deviant behaviour results from parents failing to socialise their children correctly. Teenage criminal and deviant behaviour is when teenagers (13-19 yr olds) participate in activities which breach the law and are involved in activities which are seen as abnormal, for example underage drinking is illegal.
Firstly functionalists would say family is to blame for teenage criminal and deviant behaviour because more youths from working class, single parent households are likely to participate in criminal and deviant activities. In addition an American functionalist known as Robert Merton argued that society has set goals for people which encourage them to achieve, such as becoming rich through the system of meritocracy. Merton also argued that deviant or criminal activities defer from the shared norms and values of society which leads to anomie. This means people would be uncertain over the norms and values. The significance of this is that Merton’s theory would be likely to affect lower/ working class families as they have little chance of achieving success therefore they would want to find an alternative to success. Merton would blame parents for failing to socialise their children correctly as they did not teach their children the norms and values therefore their teenage children believe crime and deviance is acceptable.
Families are to blame for teenage criminal and deviant behaviour because males are not likely to be pressurized into abiding the law thus male teenagers commit crimes. As well as this some parents allow their teenage sons to socialise with their friends everyday and male youths are more likely to break the law when with their friends rather than when they are on their own. This is important as