There are few more controversial or politically charged topics than parenting. Advice columns and radio/television shows abound providing tips on the best way to raise children. Parenting, especially in this day and age of social media, when every move is constantly scrutinized, has become a touchy subject.
In the arena of juvenile justice, however, parenting has long been considered an important focus of intervention. The relationship between parenting styles and behavior is one of the most researched in all of criminology and crime prevention.
Yet in recent years, the causal relationship between parenting and behavior has come into question, particularly by scholars who argue that biology plays a larger role than the environment in producing outcomes in children. For example, in her book “The Nurture Assumption,” Judith Rich Harris argues that the long-standing belief that parenting styles affect the way children turn out is wrong — genes and peers are more influential. Others have followed in Harris’ footsteps.
[For more on this story by Michael Rocque, go to http://jjie.org/2017/10/23/why...ms-and-at-risk-kids/]
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