The Responsibility of Parents in the Crimes Commited by Children Research Paper

The Responsibility of Parents in the Crimes Commited by Children - Research Paper Example bankrupt and devastate the whole family, leaving them unable to recover and in a position to deteriorate rather than rise above incidents that have already caused difficulties within the family dynamic. In addition, a parent going to jail for the crimes of their child will create a series of long lasting consequence from which the family might also never recover. The inequities within the various socio-economic classes within the United States means that the poor would be punished to an unprecedented magnitude, leaving a further gap between lower classes and the upper classes. Parents should not be penalized for the crimes of the children, rather children and parents should be put through therapies and courses of treatment that can re-socialize them so that they understand their mistakes, can recover from the incidents, and can move forward towards more productive lives. This research study has been conducted in order to understand how criminal liability for the crimes of children th at is placed upon families would affect those families. The opinions of parents in relationship to this concept have been examined through the use of a focus group which was interviewed in a semi-structured format to encourage parents to discuss the topic and relate their beliefs on the feasibility and consequences of holding parents responsible for the crimes of their children. Through qualitative methods of discovery, the opinions and experiences of three sets of parents have been examined to understand the belief systems that are in place in relationship to the responsibility that they hold for the crimes of their children in relationship to social and public consequences that society may choose to impose. Background The extent to which parents are liable for the crimes committed by... The study was significant in that it showed that the answer to the question of responsibility is both complex and in need of further study. Social and legal responsibilities are both structured to operate within the parameters of society as it is understood by its inhabitants. In this case, children have yet to fully come to an understanding of their world, thus their fantasy worlds seem to collide with it and create alternative belief systems that are outside of the understanding of their parents. Parents are at a loss to how they are supposed to control the emergence of beliefs when they are not always let into that world by their children. The example of fictional concepts, such as the film the Goonies or even the Harry Potter series reflect the idea that children often believe that the world will operate in a different way and it is through luck that their ‘adventures’ do not cause harm or come to tragic ends. This report makes a conclusion that the difficulty in coming to a conclusion through the discussion group stems from the personal connection that the parents have to a fear that something their child will do will result in a tragic event. With children, it seems, control is an illusion that parents try to assert but is still within the ability of the child to determine his or her behavior. Control is only asserted through convincing them that good behavior is better than bad behavior.