Fatherless homes and delinquency: a study of institutionalized African American male youth

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dc.contributor.authorWolfe, Timothy W.en
dc.contributor.departmentSociologyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:40:48Zen
dc.date.adate2009-07-21en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:40:48Zen
dc.date.issued1994en
dc.date.rdate2009-07-21en
dc.date.sdate2009-07-21en
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between fatherless homes and juvenile delinquency, especially as it is perceived by African American adolescent males (N=23) who have been detained in a juvenile detention facility. This study is ethnographic, exploratory, and inductive in its approach. Hypotheses are generated or discovered rather than tested. The methodology that is employed is multi-dimensional as it includes in-depth interviews, self-reports, and participant observation. The findings suggest that adolescent African American males perceive father-absence as a partial causal factor in their own delinquency, and their peers’ delinquency as well (suggesting most strongly a social control hypothesis, although other possible explanations exist). Family structure (i.e., father-absence) appears to be related to delinquent behavior through the mediating variables of parental supervision, discipline, and gender role modeling. The results from this study suggest that the dynamics within a family system are more important in explaining delinquent behavior than is the actual family structure. Some of the most insightful research into family structure and delinquency, especially research that aims to inform prevention and treatment programs, may come from examinations of how family structure and function are related.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.extentvii, 161 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-07212009-040512en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-07212009-040512/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/43805en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V855_1994.W654.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 32139490en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1994.W654en
dc.subject.lcshAfrican American families -- Virginia -- Roanoke -- Case studiesen
dc.subject.lcshAfrican American teenage boys -- Virginia -- Roanoke -- Case studiesen
dc.subject.lcshFatherless families -- Virginia -- Roanoke -- Case studiesen
dc.subject.lcshJuvenile delinquencyen
dc.subject.lcshJuvenile delinquents -- Family relationships -- Case studiesen
dc.titleFatherless homes and delinquency: a study of institutionalized African American male youthen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineSociologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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