Family as a Context of Risk and Protection: From Family Dysfunction to a Multifactorial Model of Adolescent Social Maladjustment
Description
Family environments are frequently described as foundational contexts for both successful socialisation and developmental difficulty. The explanatory value of this proposition decreases when the label “dysfunctional family” is treated as a sufficient cause of adolescent maladjustment. This article revisits the problem raised in the author’s 2012 manuscript and replaces a deterministic account with an analysis of specific family processes and their interaction with school, peer and community contexts. Particular attention is given to parental monitoring, rejection and hostility, violence and neglect, inconsistent discipline, conflict, and the protective value of stable relationships with adults. The central argument is that family adversity is an important context of risk but not an autonomous cause of social maladjustment. Resocialisation practice therefore requires assessment of mechanisms, cumulative risk and protective resources rather than reliance on a global family label.
Keywords: family, social maladjustment, delinquency, risk factors, promotive factors, protective factors, resocialisation, adolescence
