Homosexuality, Parenthood, And Social Deviance
The article "Lesbian and gay parenting: babes in arms or babes in the woods?" (Mccann, & Delmonte, 2005) examines the nature of parenting in connection with openly homosexual couples and the manner in which the sexual preference of parents affects their children. According to the authors, most of the objections to parenting by gay couples are entirely unfounded. Specifically, males within same-sex couples are actually more likely to be fully involved in their roles as parents than their heterosexual counterparts. Likewise the division of labor and parenting responsibilities in lesbian couples tends to be more equitable than within traditional marriages. Certainly, there is a range of parenting quality within same-sex relationships just as there is within traditional families; however, by comparison, same-sex couples are no less likely to provide stable and healthy environments for children than are opposite-sex parents within the traditional family system.
More particularly in relation to juvenile development, Social Control Theory suggests that when children are exposed to deviant or antisocial behavior in the family environment, they are more likely to exhibit antisocial and deviant behavior of their own (Schmalleger, 2008). Critics of gay marriage and (especially) of the rights of gay couples to raise children have argued that children raised by gay parents are more prone to delinquency, deviance, antisocial behavior, and criminality by virtue of the effects of the deviant lifestyles of their parents and the implications of exposure to deviance as predicted by Social Control Theory.
Critical Analysis of Proposed Connection
At the simplest level, there is…
