Youth Crime and Family Structure

Pennsylvania is experiencing a youth-crime crisis

• Data from the state's Juvenile Court Judges' Commission suggest that a major factor in crime among youth is family structure
• More than 80 percent of every juvenile court disposition in 2021 involved a young person who lives in a broken home, without two married parents
• 48 percent live with a single mother, while a mere 15.5% live with both parents.
• The strongest predictor for incarceration is the share of two parent families in a neighborhood

Where are the parents?

• Politicians rarely ask this question because they react in familiar ways
• Republicans in Harrisburg consistently call for more policing and are trying to impeach Philadelphia’s progressive DA
• Democrats like Darisha Parker of Northwest Philadelphia repeatedly propose bans on so-called assault weapons
• Stop the spread of such maliciousness among young people is a daunting task
• No amount of funding for school psychiatrists can make up for tens of thousands of absent parents
• Christopher Winters, CEO of Olivet Boys and Girls Club in Berks County, Pennsylvania, believes there is a way
• He wants to see the state pass legislation providing more grants for after-school activities
• After-school programs and street-level intervention programs like South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace reduce negative behaviors and bolster parents' ability to work
• But programs can only do much

 

https://www.city-journal.org/youth-crime-and-family-structure