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Children -- Spoiled Or Dissuaded Term Paper

¶ … children -- spoiled or dissuaded from a life of crime?

On one hand, it might seem that, from a sociological point-of-view, an only child would be less likely to enter into criminal enterprises. Peers, including siblings, can have a negative influence upon the developing child's moral code that counterweights the parent's positive influence. One study, "Delinquency in a Birth Cohort" by Marvin E. Wolfgang, Thorsten Sellin, and Robert Figlio, notes that children whose siblings pursue a criminal lifestyle are more likely to become criminals themselves. An only child is subject within the family environment primarily to his or her parent's moral code, and thus may be less apt to model him or herself according to the possibly delinquent standards of his or her age group. Even parents who live a morally dubious lifestyle, unlike a sibling, are likely to desire that their child live a more moral way of life. Also, the only child is more likely to be watched closely by his or her parents and thus theoretically should have less of an opportunity to become exposed to the mischief of other juveniles, through his or her siblings.

On the other hand, however, the only child may be more socially isolated from a wide range of persons, and thus enter adulthood unable to understand the needs of others, or engage in social contact with as great ease, in contrast to children with siblings who had to assume some of the burden of taking care of other members of the family. An only child may find him or herself more prone to become an "outsider" in the words of Howard Becker, and identify with deviant or non-mainstream groups. Theoretically, an only child might be more willing to assume a deviant role as an identity, or more prone to engage in socially disruptive behavior and to identify with marginalized groups that destabilize rather than uphold common values. Rather than modeling themselves upon a peer, like a younger sibling might, or having to take charge of a younger sibling like an elder child, an only child must form his or her own moral code and thus may be at odds with other persons and feel no sense of responsibility or connection to collective and established institutions.

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