Why are the majority of current inmates men raised by single mothers?

Question

My theory is that it has to do with teaching your children to react emotionally (usually with anger) to things they disagree with rather than logic, reason, and understanding. Running on emotions mixed with testosterone and muscle is a dangerous thing, I suppose.

The statistics show the end result, I'm just wondering how it happens. What is is about single female parenting that raises the likelihood of incarceration of the children by so much?

Answer 1

There are probably various reasons why men were not in the picture, the actual reason does not matter though.  It does highlight the importance men have in their children's lives though.

EDIT- "78% of the nation's jail and prison inmates grew up in a fatherless household, even though only 15% of today's adult population grew up fatherless."

Answer 2

My guess is that they suffer from low self esteem because they realize that at least one of their parents didn't want them.

Answer 3

Because their fathers weren't man enough to stick around and raise their children, and crapped out instead.

Answer 4

Uh,the VAST majority of inmates are adult victims of child abuse.

So, you post a completely unreasoned, utterly irrational post, and accuse WOMEN of not being able to reason?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

If you were capable of reason yourself, you wouldn't have posted such insanity.

Most of those raised by single moms are NOT criminals.

The statistics don't show what you're saying at all. There are NO statistics saying women don't reason.

Answer 5

I'm personally of the mind that it's difficult for a woman to teach a boy to be a man.  

It's important for boys to have strong male role model to teach them the things you mentioned, such as how to react to anger.  Granted this doesn't have to be the father per sey, but this requires a stable relationship and a significant amount of time.

The problem is compounded by fact that single mothers often are forced to leave their children unsupervised.  Children (especially boys) will constantly test the limits and require disipline that single mothers often cannot provide.

Answer 6

The majority of inmates are raised by a SINGLE PARENT. It just seems like a lot of them were raised by single mothers because, obviously, the mother is the one who keeps the kids in most of these cases.

Until there is an equal number of single mothers and fathers raising their children we cannot come to conclusions about which of the two is better at raising children.

Edit: By the way, Voice of Reality, that "women react emotionally" IS true for many women, but again it's a stereotype. I've known many women who are very rational and understanding, and many men who can't control their emotions. Please don't generalize.

Answer 7

you cannot blame women for men committing crime.

there are roughly 10 million single parent households, most lead by women.  there are 300 million people in the usa.

you cannot blame women for societal ills. research states it only represents a small amount, most single parent households do fine.

women have logic, reason and understanding too. calling us emotional is a misogynist stereotype. men are also emotional --isn't anger an emotion? ??

you completely neglected to mention how race, class, education, etc. could also play a factor and chose solely to concetrate on blaming women.....

we heard all the blame in the 80s from newt gingrich and his like.  (the conservatives, like the misogynist christian party.net love using this stuff agst us)...it's getting quite old, narrow-minded, and destructive rather than constructive...flex the old brain muscles some more....

Answer 8

Its not the single mother thats the issue but the absent father that is deemed to be the problem.   Since men who abandon their children aren't amongst my cohort I can't say why they aren't there.

Answer 9

Single fathers by the stats have far less of these type problems--- maybe that's one less thing women were expected to be as competent or better served than men.

Answer 10

Children are born of two parents. Take either parent out of the equation and you have a person whose childhood consists of only having one half of the emotional input. Also there is no direct male role model.

Fathers have different abilities and roles they play in a child's life compared mothers.

We have millions of years of evolution that has established families as the core basis of child rearing including extended family as well as both parents as well as older siblings.

Answer 11

And despite this judges still hand children over to mothers time and time again.  Here's a thought.  Any woman who files for divorce forfeits her right to her children.  Children were a part of that marriage.  Women trying to pressure men into marriage whine time and time again about men's "fear of commitment" then they are the ones 90% of the time that come down with Green Grass Syndrome and run, taking their children with them like some sort of loot.  You run from your commitment, you forfeit your kids...how's that?  Since men have a concept of justice they are far more likely raise children to stay off of drugs and out of jail.  Try it out...you'll see.

Answer 12

maybe the fathers were in jail

Answer 13

Its not the presence of the single mom, so much as the absence of male role model.

I was raised by a single mom, and I learned how to be a man in the streets. By the time I was a certain age, (or rather, a certain size) there was nothing my mom could do stop me from doing what I wanted to. And you need to get out and get yours.

Answer 14

Their mostly african americans also

Answer 15

Of course there are not statistics showing the outcomes of single father children..there are not many.

I think children deserve both parents.  Whatever way you look at it.  Unfortunatly one parent sometimes gets to take the easy road and ditch their responsibility.

Answer 16

You are implying that single mothers and the teaching of reacting with anger instead of reasoning, logic, and understanding to children go hand in hand. I do not understand this premise. Please explain yourself.

Answer 17

Women don't teach their children logic? Are you serious? If you really want to understand your question, you're going to need to dig a little deeper.

Many single-parent families live in poverty, which means that many of those inmates could have had a pretty rough life. There's also the hurt of being abandoned by one of your parents. Those would definitely play a large role in how people turn out.

Answer 18

Not enough time for a single mother working two jobs to instill the disciprine.