The Role of Parents in Child Delinquency: A Quantitative Study with Ethical Considerations in Pakistan

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency has become a social problem of serious concern that endangers the moral, psychological and social growth of children and adolescents in all parts of the world. In emerging economies like Pakistan, the issue has exacerbated owing to the accelerated social change, financial strain and deteriorating family structures. This paper will explore the parental impact on delinquency in children with a narrowed down to the main parental factors being parenting styles, parental supervision, discipline practices, parent child communication as well as laying stress on ethical considerations in parenting and research involving child participants. Quantitative cross-sectional research design was used, and the data were collected among adolescents (12-18 years) and their parents living in urban and semi-urban communities in Pakistan. It was done using a structured questionnaire that was based on a five-point Likert scale and analyses statistically with SPSS. The results indicate that there is a strong association between parental factors and child delinquency. Poor parental supervision, lack of discipline, poor communication, and authoritarian or negligent parenting styles were highly related to increased levels of delinquency behavior, and authoritative parenting and ethical parental involvement were loosely related to decrease cases of delinquency. The paper concludes that the importance of the prevention of juvenile delinquency that may occur can be crucial with the help of strengthening ethical parenting and family-based interventions.