Research on the Unintended Consequences of Parental Sanctions

"Parental Legal Culpability in Youth Offending"

January 2024
By Colleen Sbeglia, Imani Randolph, PhD, Caitlin Cavanagh, PhD, and Elizabeth Cauffman, PhD in Annual Review of Criminology

This review provides a psychological perspective on parental legal culpability, highlighting the different types of offenses that parents may be held responsible for, including vicarious tort liability, status offenses, and criminal responsibility. The authors consider the unintended consequences that may arise as a result of parental sanctions, from exacerbating racial and ethnic inequalities to imposing financial burdens that may put families at risk for further justice involvement.

Key findings include: 

• Parental legal culpability largely falls into three categories: vicarious liability, which assumes financial responsibility on the part of the caregiver for damages caused by children; status offenses, for behaviors that are illegal only due to a child’s minor status; and criminal responsibility, when youth are adjudicated for serious, and usually violent, crimes.
• Some evidence suggests that these laws have little effect on reducing youth involvement in the legal system but instead contribute to the deterioration of parent–child connections, which are known to promote resistance.
• These laws have also been linked to increases in depression, sleeping difficulties, and aggressive behavior by diminishing financial and emotional resources in the homes of already disparately disenfranchised individuals.
• Parental responsibility laws may perpetuate and amplify existing racial/ethnic and economic disparities for justice-involved families.