It is right that the government protects its citizens against crime; however it seems they have got the balance slightly wrong in that, rather than punishing the victims of a wayward and fractured society, it should tackle the causes of crime. In the UK there is evidence from longitudinal studies of the connection between broken home and deviant behaviour. 70% of young offenders come from lone parent families compared to children from two-parent families (Youth Justice Board, 2002). In answering the above question I have looked how the divorce and single parenthood affect behavioural problems in children and young people, causing them or not to commit criminal activities. I have looked at other factors that also cause deviant behaviour in children and young people. For instance the quality of the parenting, whether separated, married, divorced or re-ordered, has a huge role to play in the way that a child turns out in his/ her adult life. Children who experience family breakdown are more likely to have behavioural problems. The quality of the marriage too, contributes to the child’s well being, such that if there’s too much marital conflict or inadequate parenting in the home children pick up on it and are confused about how to behave in society because they haven’t experienced a comforting and nurturing environment they deserve. Other contributors to deviant behaviour in young people include poverty, child abuse, having teenage parents, unstable living conditions and it can also be the result of economic disadvantage. The paper by Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith in 2007, argues that in order to avoid tackling the symptom and not the cause the spotlight has to be turned on the family Youth Justice Board, 2007). The composition of families is one aspect of family life that is consistently associated with delinquency. It is believed that children who come from single-parent households or those facing marital disruptions are more likely to have behavioural problems than children from two-parent families (Wells and Rankin, 1991 in Thornberry et al, 1999). According to some estimates around 40% of white children and 70% of African American children will experience family breakdown in form of separation and divorce and conflicts by the age of 16. Many of them will experience family troubles for most of their life (Furstenburg and Cherlin, 1991; in Thornberry 1999, p1). While some studies have shown that there is a link between family transitions and delinquency, there is little evidence to show the impact of multiple family transitions on serious adolescent behaviour. The ultimate question the study asks is whether adolescents who experience multiple changes in family structure are more likely to be involved in delinquency and drug use than adolescents who live in more stable families (Thornberry, 1999 p2). Longitudinal Research by the Office of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OFJJD) on Family Disruption and Delinquency (1999): Results The results are a collection from three studies, namely Rochester Youth Development Study, Denver Youth Study and Pittsburgh Youth Study. The youth in the study had experienced some sort of family transition, be it moving house, one parent leaving and having less income, having step families during adolescence. In Rochester 64.5% of the sample had experienced at least one change in the family structure over the 4 year period of the study and about 45% experienced two or more transitions. Almost half of the Denver group had one or more family changes and 29% had two or more. Family instability seemed to be less pronounced in Pittsburgh. For the Rochester youth, there was a clear statistical difference in the connection between changing family structures and youth delinquency. About 64.1% of those who experienced no changes in the family structure reported delinquency, this rate steadily increased as the number of transitions increased, reaching a peak of 90%. Also, about 28% of adolescents with no change in family structure reported using drugs, but that rate increased to almost 60% for those who experienced five or more transitions. In the Denver group, a similar pattern developed with an increase from family transitions from 61% for youth with no transitions to a peak of 85% for youth with three or more transitions. About 31% of adolescents with no family transitions used drugs, and 58% of those with three or more transitions used drugs. In Pittsburgh however, the results of delinquency and drugs aren’t as staggering as the other two studies. While 64% of juveniles who experienced no transitions reported delinquency, 80% or more of those who experienced three or more transitions reported of delinquency. About 27% of youth with no family transitions reported drug use, and more than one-third of those used drugs. Overall, the relationship between young people with no family transitions and those with family transitions was similar across the three cities. Thes