Introduction

Juvenile delinquency is one of the emerging concerns not only in Pakistan, but also across the entire
world. According to Saleem (2011), youth in Karachi are largely kept in custody for snatching or stealing
mobile phones, robberies and other petty crimes. In rural Sindh, youth is often involved in more serious
crimes, including murder, rape, sodomy and tribal clashes. The majority of juvenile delinquents are male
engaged in violent and illicit crimes including rape, murder, property crimes and many more. In the era
of globalization, it has been indicated that the nature of offenses are becoming more violent (Siegel &
Welsh, 2014). Since the widespread of juvenile delinquency has become a social problem, it has become
extremely important to study this problem and to evaluate the influence of parenting styles as an
underlying cause of this behavior. According to Hoge (2001), the criminal act regarding youth can be
defined as an action that violates an ordinance or law of jurisdiction in which that action is performed. In
the light of a broader definition of youthful criminal act, juvenile delinquency refers to what juvenile
court believes is supposed to be brought within its jurisdiction. In other words, juvenile delinquency
refers to the law breaking acts committed by adolescents under the age of 18. Some of the common
examples of major law breaking acts are rape, murder, theft, robbery and property crimes. On;. the
other hand, minor law breaking acts can be considered as the acts of misconduct, underage drinking and
truancy. From this perspective, Stahl et al (2005) point out that according to the National Center for
Juvenile Justice, adolescents are more often engaged in a variety of crimes that can be divided into three
distinct categories: (a) violent crimes, (b) status offenses, and (c) drug violation (Silsby, 2012). The
following represents the delineated law breaking acts often committed by juveniles known as delinquent
 abstract

This research determined the influence of parents and their parenting styles on children’s behavior. The
author examined different parenting styles to understand which style leads the children to be juvenile
delinquent, that ultimately makes the children low academic achievers. In this paper, the researcher
attempts to bring an original contribution through the identification of what is missing in the literature
thus offering recommendations for future research on the role of parents in shaping the future of their
children. Much research has been done on the role of parents in shaping the future of their children;
however, more comprehensive research needs to be conducted on the role of parents and different
parenting styles on their children’s behavior. A qualitative paradigm was preffered using in-depth
interviews with two mothers of children with delinquent behavior. The findings revealed that
authoritarian parenting style leads the children to become rebellious and adopt problematic behavior
due tomore than necessary power exercised on children by parents. In contrast, authoritative parenting
style is effective for children, as it encourages moderate parenting style. There is a demonstrated need
reported in the literature that parents who spend maximum time with their children reduce the
probability of developing delinquent behavior among their children. Spending more time together with
the adolescents reciprocate throughreducing their problematic behaviors. This study is based on a
limited data and refers to the experience of only two mothers.
 Research Methodology

Qualitative research design using a case study approach was used where the primary data were
collected through in-depth interviews from the mothers who had experienced juvenile delinquency in
term of their own children. Generally, the methodology of qualitative research is used when the
researchers are intended to explore the why or how type questions. Yin (2013) also explains that in this
methodology, the researchers have no control over the events and the major focus of the researchers is
on “a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context” (p.1). One of the purposes of
qualitative research is to look into phenomenon that people have themselves experienced; and in this
case the authoritarian behavior of fathers in bringing up their children and later mothers facing
problems due to the negative behavior of their children
 Sources of data

Qualitative method of interviewing was considered where the primary data have been collected through
two in-depth interviews conducted with each of the two mothers who have experienced juvenile
delinquency. Mother A had a 17-years-old son, who has been arrested by local police three times, while
Mother B had a 15-year old son, who had attempted several times to run away from home. The primary
data is that which was specifically sought for the purposes of the research, for example interview data
and discussion board messages” (Hramiak, 2005, pp. 82-83). For data collection, this paper has also
utilized secondary data from various sources including online libraries and topic books.

Data Analysis

In order to analyze the primary data, this paper used the method of coding (Driscoll, 2011). The term
primary data refers to the material “which is used empirically, that is, analysis of this data leading
directly to particular themes or conclusions. Similarly, coding in the qualitative research is a word or
phrase that “symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/ or evocative attribute
for a portion of language-based or visual data” (Saldana, 2012, p. 3). The researcher was able to code
using the codes indicated used in the literature review. Words such as beating, anger, cursing define
authoritarian style whereas words such as understand, ask, and discuss show authoritative parenting
style. On the other hand, words like lenient, say nothing, and neglect ect.
 Topic

Authoritarian parenting style In the light of findings of the present study, it can deduced
Methodology
 237 Sarwar that parents do not want their children to be involved in criminal activities. Nevertheless,
the parenting style molds and shapes the behavior of children to interact with their surrounding
societies. For example, if a child does something wrong and his/her parents show a very strong reaction,
this behavior of parents can lead the children to be rebellious and thus they may become delinquent.
According to Tompsett and Toro (2010), the risk of adolescent’s development of delinquent behavior is
often headed by parenting style. In the same way, it is generally believed that parenting style plays an
influential role in developing the delinquent behavior among adolescents that eventually results in
negative outcomes (Kerr, Stattin & Ozdemir, 2012). Both mothers outrightly denounced authoritarian
style. Mother A pointed out that: “ When parents adopt authoritarian style, they actually pose negative
impact upon the behavior of their children.” Mother A also narrates her experience and says: “I know of
a child who is a student of fourth standard having very rude behavior with his peers in classroom.
Teachers around him tried their level best to counsel him but a positive result never came. Once a newly
appointed teacher realized that there should have been something wrong with this child that was
associated with his home or environment he got at home. So, she tried to investigate the matter and
realized that his mother punished him using fire and even he showed the sign of his burnt body. The
teacher managed to call his mother and inquired the matter. The teacher finally came to the result that
since his mother punishes him with the wrong means 238 Vol. 3 No. 2 (December 2016) Parenting Style
on Children’s Behaviour and ways (having no communication/ discussion to make him aware of his
mistakes at all); the boy adopted the negative behavior and remains jealous with his peers.” This is
particularly so because parents observing authoritarian style tend to display tendencies with a high level
of demand. An authoritarian parent is considered to be forceful, corrective and believes that a child
should adhere to work ethics and should be obedient. In the light of Hoskins (2014) explanation,
authoritarian parenting style is more inclined towards the negative behavior of parents towards their
children. In this parenting style, the parents are more concerned pertaining to parent-child relationship.
Since the foremost concern of this parenting style rests within the traditional family structure, the child
is demanded to adhere to parent’s orders without any questions. Therefore, it can be argued that
authoritarian parenting style tends to rely on rules, which are considered as concrete. mother B shared:
“Authoritarian parenting style or very strict behavior of parents leads the children to be delinquent, as
they become rebellious. They contradict and retaliateto allguidance given by the parents.” In the light of
interviews conducted as well as literature reviewed, it can be stated that authoritarian parenting style is
more appropriate for young children to prevent them being delinquent. For example, the reviewed
literature suggests that the authoritarian parent is believes that a child should adhere to work in
accordance to ethics and should be obedient. This is particularly because parents are more concerned in
the authoritarian parenting 239 Sarwar style with the traditional family structure. Mother A mentioned
how authoritarian behavior of the father was the cause of negative behavior in her child. She stated:
“Father hits him with a stick, but it hardly affects my son. On the contrary he retaliates and warns us of
direct consequences. Yes, my husband is very strict.” She further recalls the dinner time when the family
was sitting together at the table: “Father should be calm and show his love to his son whe they are
sitting to dine. If there is any serious matter, the father should be patient and loving to make him
understand, rather than beating him at the dining table. It is completely wrong. In this way, my son does
not eat and he becomes stubborn and rebels and stays away from the house”. From this perspective,
parents limit their children’s autonomy along with the parent-child relationship. Authoritarian parenting
 style is related with the lower level of ability and selfconfidence to employ coping mechanisms among
adolescents. Therefore, it restricts a child to explore his/her capabilities and social interactions,
eventually resulting in the child’s dependence on parental guidance and direction (Nijhof & Engels
2007). As in both the cases mentioned above, the fathers authoritarian behavior had negative affect on
their children. Authoritative parenting Authoritative parenting was favoured by both mothers. )
Parenting Style on Children’s Behaviour Authoritative parents are more likely to define and determine
rules associated with family, while encouraging the adolescents to consider them as a resource. Such
parenting style is responsible for bringing up children who are self-regulated, and self-asserted (Darling,
1999). Additionally, authoritative parents discourage their children from following the standards and
rules of the society. As explained by Johnson and Kelley (2011), authoritative parents are more likely to
define and determine rules associated with family, while encouraging the adolescents to embrace it for
their own betterment. Since the level of demandingness is lower in this parenting typology, the
demands made by parents are very much limited. Furthermore, this style discourages the parent to use
explicit power, while avoiding the implementation of control over the adolescents. mother A stated:
“Instead of showing strictness, it is good to deal with him politely that means parents need to be
involved in the character building of their children. Dealing children with politeness make them realize
someone not only takes care of them, but also wants them to be good in the society.” Although
literature suggests that permissive parenting involves politeness, but in this case the term politeness is
more appropriate to be defined under the heading of authoritative parenting, as in permissive
parenting, parents are not involved in the character building of their children. Permissive parents allow
their children to actively participate without being concerned for their actions (Yang, Kim, Laroche &
Lee, 2014; Bernardo, 2014). Mother A further explained her point of view by saying: ) 241 Sarwar “A
good parenting style is that parents should keep eyes on their children…they should understand the
mindset of children. Moreover, children should be made to undestand with love by setting examples and
counseling them on ongoing basis. Parents have to be polite and give respect to their children.”
Authoritative parents tend to provide their children with guidance in a rational manner (Larzelere,
Morris & Harrist, 2013). This style also demands parents to be patient enough to explain the
consiquences of an action to a child (Larzelere, Morris & Harrist, 2013). Mother B linked this parenting
style with religion and elaborated: “Even our religion teaches us to be gentle and moderate. In our
religion, verdicts are not given immediately-we need evidence. In short, our religion teaches us about
patience. Limitations (hudoods) are issued on certain extreme points. Therefore, parents should be
patient.” Since the level of demandingness is higher in this parenting style, the parents welcome
effective communication and effective relationship between them. Apart from strong parent-child
relationship, the authoritative parents explain the child with certain rules and regulations to assure
independency. Even though this parenting style encourages open-minded personality, parents can use
power and exert firm control on the child without any hesitation. In other words, the exertion of control
and use of power is to set standards for the child’s future behavior and to assure that the child would
not rely on delinquent behavior. Authoritative parents, on the one hand, 242 ) Parenting Style on
Children’s Behaviour provide guidance to their children in issue oriented and rational manner (Larzelere,
Morris & Harrist, 2013). Since the level of demandingness is higher in this parenting style, parents
usually welcome effective communication as well as effective relationship between them. It was clear
from the interviews that both mothers knew that authoritative not authoritarian is the right type of
parenting style, yet it seemed that the fathers were more authoritarian in nature. This style of fathers’
parenting had forced the fathers to re think their and change their attitude due to the negative
consequences and reaction of their children.
 Conclusion and recomadation

In conclusion, the research aims to expand the understanding how the authoritarian parenting style
leads the children to be juvenile delinquent. From this perspective, the findings of this study reveal that
the authoritarian parenting style causes the adolescents to be delinquent, as the extraordinary
strictness displayed by their parents makes them rebellious. From this perspective, good parenting is
authoritative in which parents keep eyes on their children and try to understand the mindset of their
children. Authoritarian parents tend to control and exercise more than enough power for the future
development of their children, but juveniles perceive it negatively perceive as their actions are
restricted. The following recommendations are put forward in accordance with the results of the study:
1. Parents should opt for authoritative rather than authoritarian parenting style. 2. Parents should spend
time with their children because it can ) 243 Sarwar reduce the probability of developing delinquent
behavior. 3. Parents should be continuously involved with children so that adolescents may be
prevented from committing crimes and associating themselves with law breaking actions.