Single-Parent Families Have Been Maligned for Causing Juvenile Delinquency, Poverty

question 21

Essay

Single-parent families have been maligned for causing juvenile delinquency, poverty, and a host of other social problems. List at least three difficulties with such a sweeping generalization.

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Definitions:

Behavioral Contracting

A therapy technique where an agreement is made between two parties to promote a change in behavior.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior, encouraging the occurrence of desired behaviors.

Systematic Desensitization

A therapeutic technique aimed at reducing anxiety through gradual exposure to the feared object or situation while using relaxation strategies.

Stepwise Regression

A statistical method of building a regression model by adding or removing predictors based on their statistical significance, in a step-by-step procedure.