A single parent is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of another parent in the home. Being a single parent may occur for a variety of reasons: divorce, adoption, abandonment, or even death. Single parent families suffer from multiple problems including the decline in income and educational level, which consequently lead to economic, social and psychological complications (Essa, 1995).
According to research, children of single-parent families suffer from a decline in the level of education when compared to children who are raised in an intact family. Children in single-parent households were twice as likely to drop out of school (Al-Zufairi, 2000). Children from single-parent households were also more likely to take jobs at the bottom of the occupational grade with lower incomes and also have a higher rate of unemployment.
The children in single-parent households also suffered economic deprivation, prenatal care and had a higher rate of moving from home to home, which could negatively affect their development. Broken families earn less money, suffer from low educational levels and often pass these conditions on to their children, which often effects other generations. A single care giver will usually develop a sense of loneliness and tension, especially when he/she needs to make important decisions concerning the family. Certain conditions such as mental disorders, special needs and physiological conditions often increase the worry of raising children and the guilt due to the inability to meet all the family demands.
Functional Theorist believe that all system parts are interrelated and if there is a change in one part, it will inevitably affect interaction between all other parts. This theory can be applied to the system of family or the community as a whole. Consequently, the problems faced by the family are also reflected on the society, which means the increased number of single-parent families, the increased number of problems in the community.
Because of these problems, crimes are produced. Poverty connection with crime is not a new theory, for centuries philosophers and social reformers stressed that poverty plays and important role in pushing the individuals to the practice of crime (Mizwah, 2000). In the past, Socrates said that “Poverty is the father of the revolution and crime”. It has also been shown in recent studies that poverty is the basic cause of crime.
In the United States, fifty percent of children who are raised by a single parent, especially mother, live under the line of poverty, compared to the only one percent who lived in an intact family under similar conditions (Almeharib, 2009). These single parent families are forced to live in poor areas, and it is in those areas where high concentrations of criminals are expected to be found. Some environments encourage illegal behavior, while others discourage it.
When family fails to properly raise children, society will and so there future will be marked with crime, delinquency and lack of values. Parents who have a strong influence on their children and are in constant relation with them and exercise appropriate parental skills, are more likely to lead their children to adopt good values, faith, trust and practice socially accepted behaviors. While with single parent families, with the absence of the father or mother, am imbalance of the family is likely to happen, which may reduce the positive impact on the children.
As it is shown, the world is witnessing a rise in the number of single parent families and that there are complications experienced by these families. These complications are parts of other problems that greatly affect society, which results in an imbalance of its structure and function. Also as stated earlier, crimes are one of the end results that we expect to get as an outcome from these families. With the increasing rate of single parent families, one would predict an increase in the rate of crime in society.
“Children who live with both parents do better, on average, than children who live with only one parent” (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994).