Chennai: In yet another study that links juvenile delinquent behaviour to poor social and academic skills, a new research has found that youngsters who feel they have empathic support from their parents and caregivers are verging away from a wide range of delinquent behaviour, such as committing crimes.
The study, based on data surveying children over a four year period from when they were aged 12 to 17, shows that those who received empathy were less likely to execute acts of serious delinquent behaviour, compared to those who simply felt they had supportive parents.
In addition, the new findings demonstrate that parents/caregivers who display greater empathy enhance their teenagers’ own development of empathy, or the ability to acknowledge and understand the feelings of others.
The results follow an investigation of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children data source, which features a series of interviews with 3,865 boys and girls across Australia over the period when delinquent behaviour first tends to appear.
Author of the paper, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Moral Education, Prof. Glenn Walters from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, USA, states his findings demonstrate that parental support, as perceived by the child, plays a āsmall but significant roleā in the development of empathy in early adolescent youth.
“Empathy in youth also appears to have the power to mediate the negative association between perceived parental support and future juvenile delinquency,” said the Associate Professor of Criminal Justice.
The study was launched to expand on results of several previous articles which investigated the relationship between parental support and delinquent behaviour in teenagers. The proposition is that strong parental support reduces the propensity for such behaviour. However, the results have been mixed.
Forensic psychologist Professor Walters, after his research, conceded that other factors such as social interest and self-esteem may also play a role in mediating the relationship between parental support and teenage delinquency, and says these factors should be explored in future research.