What is the psychological reasoning behind some parents' denial that their child is guilty?

Question

My personal experience, as well as witness from many national headline stories, has been that most parents do not believe their child is capable of crime. They deny and defend, sometimes despite the DNA that proves otherwise. Why is that?

Answer 1

Pride.  How can you spend 18 years raising someone, feeding them, changing their diapers, singing them to sleep and then they grow up into a monster?  Most people sort it out into either "it's my fault" or "it didn't really happen".  They don't realize that the kid comes into contact with outside influences that can turn him bad.

Not to forget that people are redeemable.  The deeper the hole, the harder it is to crawl out, and they have to crawl out by themselves, and rebuilt the trust they've lost.

Answer 2

They see an accusation of their child as an attack on their parenting, their blood and genes.

Answer 3

Because someone had taught them (the parents) to be positive. Positive and negative is not a fact, but a self-thought one wanted.

Answer 4

The parent feels responsibility for the child and the child's behavior, there is guilt and concern that the parent should have known and been able to help the child.  It's hard being a parent and feeling helpless. Our children are an extension of us no different than our arms and legs and the denial is that the parent is thinking "I wouldn't do that", so how could my child?

The same happens when a parent is abusive to a child, the child will protect the parent, always needing acceptance from the parent.  If the parent needs to be punished, it is also punishing the child.  Again the extension is no different than arms or legs from the child to the parent.

As a child grows up and matures, they can comprehend the abuse as harm to themselves and hopefully have learned to care for them self.

As an outsider we can say, WHY?  Because there is no emotional attachment but should it happen to you it becomes a direct personal responsibility.  

Answer 5

Most criminal acts are committed by people with what is called "Errors in Thinking" which allow for explaining their behavior or making it seem less than what it is, even denial.  I suggest you read the biography of Dr. Stanton Samenow, who is considered the foremost author in understanding what motivates and persists in criminal behavior.  This criminal behavior may exist in the children of parents who tend to use the errors in thinking in their home that led ultimately to their child's misbehavior.

Answer 6

cuz when u luv sum1 soooooo much u may just ignore things about them that u dont wanna hear no matter how true they r

Answer 7

base on my opinion. first parents loves their child as usual and to protect their reputation