Paper Summary:

The paper examines the current research on parental substance abuse and juvenile delinquency. The paper shows how the research highlights a link between negative parenting and juvenile delinquency, and indicates that parental substance use impacts parenting skills, but fails to directly correlate parental substance abuse with juvenile delinquency. The paper proposes a study that will determine the rates of parental substance abuse in delinquent and non-delinquent juvenile populations and outlines the planned methodology, analysis of results and ethical considerations involved.

Outline:
Objective
Literature Review
Research Questions
Method
Analysis
Ethical Considerations

From the Paper:

"Many people automatically assume that drug and alcohol addicts are bad parents, based on the idea that they are bad people. However, it is patently false to assume that addicts are bad people. Though it is highly misunderstood, addiction is a disease. In addition, drug abusers are oftentimes not able to stop using simply changing behavior. This is due to the oftentimes underestimated "complexity of drug addiction...it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower." (National Institute on Drug Abuse). In fact, the "abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure of the brain...over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self control and ability to make sound decisions." (National Institute on Drug Abuse). Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that, due to their impaired judgment, drug abusers are not likely to be very stable or effective parents, even if, aside from the addiction, they are otherwise good and moral people."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bavolek, Stephen. "The Nurturing Parenting Program. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. November 2000. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 9 Nov. 2008 http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/2000_11_1/contents.html
• Coleman-Davis, Veronica, and David Forde. "Pathways from Dependency and Neglect to Delinquency: Part Two." NCJRS. October 2007. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/220288.pdf>.
• The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. "Criminal Neglect: Substance Abuse, Juvenile Justice and The Children Left Behind." CASA. October 2004. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://www.casacolumbia.org/absolutenm/articlefiles/379-Criminal%20Neglect.pdf>.
• The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. "National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIII: Teens and Parents." CASA. August 2008. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://www.casacolumbia.org/articlefiles/380-2008%20Teen%20Survey%20Report.pdf>.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction." National Institute on Drug Abuse. June 2008. National Institutes of Health. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://www.nida.nih.gov/PDF/InfoFacts/Understanding08.pdf>.

Visitors who viewed this Research Proposal also liked these:

• Essay # 53047 : "Juvenile Delinquency and Addicted Parents"
• Cause and Effect Essay # 115967 : "Parental Addiction and Juvenile Delinquency"
• Research Paper # 23395 : "Predictors of Juvenile Delinquency"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: