Do Delinquent Children Obey their Parents in Japan?: Examination of Effects of Parental Controls for Japanese Institutionalized Delinquents

Abstract

The role of family in the etiology of delinquency has gained revived interests. However, we do not have sufficient knowledge about the process through which parental controls influence delinquency. Specifically, there is an unresolved issue concerning the relative efficacy of parental direct controls (parental discipline and the administration of punishments) and indirect controls (parental controls due to affective bonds between children and parents) in curtailing delinquency. After demonstrating that conformity to parents differentiates two groups of institutionalized delinquents and a comparison group of high-school students, the present study examines whether the relative efficacy of the direct and indirect controls in inducing child conformity differs for the delinquents and for the non-delinquents. Using LISREL which allows the examination of the equality of causal relationships across multiple groups, we find that direct controls are more effective for delinquents than for non-delinquents while indirect controls are equally effective for both delinquents and non-delinquents. Future criminological research and criminal justice practices need to acknowledge that people are heterogeneous in their sensitiveness to direct controls.