This is the third in a series of 12 articles about contemporary American families.

Q: What are the problem behaviors in adolescents and children related to causes within the family?

A: The Vanier Institute of the Family in 2007 published an article by Dr. Anne-Marie Ambert, a retired professor of sociology at York University, Canada. A noted author and researcher, Ambert addresses the rise in problem behaviors in adolescents and children and the multiple causes of these behaviors.

The rates for juvenile delinquency increased dramatically from the 1960s to the 1990s. Current rates of delinquency have declined some, but have leveled off and remain high. Ambert defines problem behaviors as those acts that hurt others, are destructive to schools and families, and are destructive to property and the natural environment.

Early behaviors that are problematic include disruptive and negative actions such as lying, hyperactivity, irritability, low impulse control, sullenness, defiance, and temper tantrums. If these behaviors persist in older children, they lead to constant back-talk, truancy from school, violations of parental curfews, running away, and early sexual activity.

A second category of aggressive behavior includes fighting, hitting and biting, common among younger children. In older children, aggression moves on to intimidation, harassment, name-calling, social exclusion, defamation of character and rumor to destroy someone's reputation.

The third category of destructive behavior is delinquency. That includes sexual assault and rape, robbery, assault, murder, cruelty to animals, stealing, car theft, drug trafficking, prostitution, vandalism and fire setting. These categories of problem behaviors do not include emotional problems or addictions, as Ambert's analysis is psycho-sociological rather than psychiatric. Some children and adolescents have problems in more than one of these categories.

In Canada, youth crimes increased from the 1970s to 1990s and violent crimes have continued to rise. Canada has also had an increase in gangs in major cities. In the United States, delinquency doubled from 1960 to 1985. From 1985 to 1994, murder arrests increased 46 percent in this same time period.

Although boys outnumber girls in delinquency, the number of delinquent girls is increasing. More girls are also gang members. The number of children 7 to 11 years old committing crimes have increased and the types of crimes has increased in severity.

Causality can be divided into those factors within the family and those that are extra-familial. In the family, the first consideration is the genetic predispositions of both parents and children. Children might have traits of low impulse control, irresponsibility and irritability. Parents may be aggressive, difficult, and impulsive.

If children have negative traits, and parents have negative traits that cause poor parenting skills, poor communication and poor role modeling, then the children have both inherited problem traits and negative parenting.

Many researchers have observed that anti-social children process experience by attributing blame to others, and by choosing disobeying, defiance and revenge as positive solutions to problems. When delinquent behaviors result in punitive reactions from others, difficult children interpret these reactions from others as unfair treatment. Such bias feeds their needs for payback and revenge. These antisocial children do not learn social cues and how to read others, having a significant lack of empathy and co-existing self-centeredness.

The increase in negative behaviors in adolescents and children cannot be accounted for solely by negative personality traits and temperments of children and parents. Social changes in cultural patterns have conspired to deprive children of what they need to develop pro-social behavior. There is much less parental or other adult presence in the home. There are fewer family customs and rituals that bond children to family life.

Other cultural trends that have conspired to produce more negative behaviors in children include American individualism, parental goals of self-sufficiency and independence for their children, an emphasis on personal happiness, and the preponderance of materialism.

There is no longer effective collective supervision of children in schools and neighborhoods. Religion is not as important in the lives of families and therefore not as effective as an institution of social control. Children are also exposed to media that portray materialism and violence.

The interaction between parents and children can result in the escalation of conflicts because of mutual antagonism. Other parents abdicate their parental roles and their authority. The key to raising healthy children lies in parental monitoring based on reasoning and appropriate discipline.

In a society of rapid changes, permissive parenting is especially unsuitable and produces children who have low frustration tolerance, no goals, and are more likely to be underachievers. When parents expect nothing of their children, children learn to expect nothing from themselves.

* Next week's discussion will continue with problem behaviors in adolescents and children related to families and peers.

Judy Caprez is associate professor and director of social work at Fort Hays State University. Send your questions to her in care of the department of sociology and social work, Rarick Hall, FHSU.