Delinquency refers to the social vice or an activity of engaging in socially unaccepted activities such as crime. In general terms, conceptualization may be described as the act of forming concepts about a given issue so as to be able to clarify it while operationalization may be viewed as the act of putting a concept into action or it is the act of implementing a concept.
Juvenile delinquency has been in existence for a long time and has affected the society differently. Generally juvenile delinquency refers to the behavior of youths persistently engaging in law violation, mischief or intractability so as to prevent correction by his or her parents (Anderson, 2002). Youth normally engage in delinquency as a result of indiscipline or at times as a result of psychological disturbance. The research done on the relationship between the broken homes and delinquency has given quite conflicting results (Hollin, 1992, p. 77). Moreover, the relationship between the two is quite small and not big as others put it.
I would conceptualize broken homes in the sense of them being a major player in the increasing rates of crime in the developed countries. The homes either break as a result of desertion, death or divorce. Recent studies have shown that the broken homes are a major cause of the delinquency in a number of societies (Hiroshi, 1982, p. 81).
The studies stress that the breakup is likely to lead to delinquency especially if a certain interpersonal relation exists in that family. Indeed, a study done earlier on in the United Kingdom showed that about 60% of the delinquents were from the broken homes and a similar study done in New York showed that about 45% of the boys in correctional institutions were from the broken homes (Hiroshi, 1982, p. 81). In this study, the measurement would be on the rate of crime amongst the youth from the broken homes. This study will assess the people involved in criminal activities or any kind of antisocial behavior to ascertain as to whether they are from broken homes or from two parent families. Lastly, there will be comparison of the results from both the broken homes and the two parent families.
In this study, a broken home is one in which the parents have separated and one of the parents is therefore forced to care for the children on his or her own where the breakup could be as a result of desertion, death or divorce. In this essay, a broken home shall not include a temporary separation in which the parents are able to be with their children quite often in addition to excluding the homes where adopted children are brought up. This is mainly because the adopted children are likely to consider the foster parents as their parents. Another exclusion will be those homes in which the children have not been psychologically affected by the departure of either of the parents.
The level of measurement in this study will be to assess the frequency of involvement in crime by the children from the broken homes as well as those from the two parent families. I will measure the likelihood of the children being brought up in such families engaging in crime. I will also assess the percentage of the children involved in delinquency; those from the broken homes as well as those from the two parent families.
This seems to be the best level of operationalization of the measurement since the percentages of the youth currently involved in the crime will give me enough information on the situation at hand while the measurement of the frequency of involvement in crime will enable me to come up with the possible predisposing factors of such youth to crime.
In conclusion, the increase in the number of single parent families has been shown to be the major cause of increased delinquency cases in the youth from the broken homes. This is because such children normally lack role models. Broken homes have also been shown to promote delinquency since the children are never really disciplined – they often grow up without any strong moral values.
References
Anderson, K. (2002). Broken Homes, Broken Hearts. Web.
Hiroshi, V. (1982). Heritage of endurance: family patterns and delinquency formation in urban Japan. London: University of California Press.
Hollin, C. (1992). Criminal behavior: a psychological approach to explanation and prevention. East Sussex: Psychology Press Limited.