Neglect
Name one way neglect can influence a child’s behavior.
Lack of supervision
How can parental abuse affect a child?
Causes anger, fear, emotional instability may lead to violent or illegal actions.
Why should parents be responsible if a child uses a weapon from home?
Easy access increases the chance of impulsive or criminal behavior.
How can growing up in an unstable home affect children?
Normalizes negative behaviors, increases risk of criminal activity, anxiety, depression.
Neglect can include failing to provide which basic needs?
Food, clothing, emotional support, or guidance.
Name one type of abuse that can push a child toward crime.
Physical, verbal, emotional, or severe neglect.
Give one example of what careless weapon access can lead to?
School shootings, assaults, accidental injuries.
Name one factor in a home that can create an unstable environment?
Ongoing conflict, exposure to drugs, neglect, or lack of guidance.
Explain how chronic parental neglect can indirectly lead to a child committing multiple offenses over time
Chronic neglect creates a lack of supervision and guidance → children may join negative peer groups or experiment with risky behavior. Over time, repeated exposure to harmful influences and lack of intervention increases the likelihood of multiple offenses.
Explain how emotional abuse can contribute to a child’s criminal behavior even if the child is not physically harmed. Give at least one psychological mechanism
Emotional abuse can cause long-term fear, anger, and low self-esteem. These psychological effects may lead children to lash out, struggle with impulse control, or see aggression and lawbreaking as acceptable ways to solve problems.
Analyze why parents leaving weapons accessible at home can create both legal and ethical liability, even if the child has never used them before
Accessible weapons create a foreseeable risk of harm or criminal activity. Legally, parents may be held responsible if the child uses the weapon to commit a crime. Ethically, leaving dangerous items unsecured demonstrates negligence, as it puts both the child and others at risk.
Discuss how growing up in a home with ongoing conflict and substance abuse can alter a child’s decision-making and long-term behavior patterns?
Exposure to conflict and substance abuse normalizes negative coping strategies, increases stress, anxiety, and depression, and impairs impulse control. Over time, children may see criminal behavior as a viable option for survival or problem-solving.