Youth crime and violence are on the rise across Australia. A recent article in The Guardian reads, 

The state’s overall offence rate has increased by 15% but youth crime has seen an even bigger increase.

“Youth offending also continues to grow, with crimes committed by children aged 10 to 17 up 17.9%. It is the second quarter in a row that youth crime rates have reached record levels. Police said children (10 – 17 yrs) only accounted for 13.1% of all offenders, but they were overrepresented in serious and violent crimes such as robberies (63.1%), aggravated burglaries (46%) and car theft (26.9%).”

A study in the USA called “Father Absence and Youth Incarceration” showed that boys who are fatherless from birth are three times more likely to go to jail than peers from intact families.  While boys who do not see their father depart until they are 10 to 14 years old are over two times more likely to go to jail than peers from intact families.

Interestingly, Dr Pat Fagan showed that states in the USA with a lower percentage of single-parent families, on average, had lower rates of juvenile crime. State-by-state analysis indicated that, in general, a 10 per cent increase in the number of children living in single-parent homes (including divorces) accompanied a 17 per cent increase in juvenile crime.

Fagan, in his article, “The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community”, demonstrates the correlation between marriage and fatherhood and what the absence of both does to our children. Among married two-parent families, whether white or black, the crime rate was very low. The capacity and determination to maintain stable married relationships, not race, was the pivotal factor. Chaotic, broken communities resulted from chaotic, broken families.

Rejecting God’s ordinance for marriage: one man and one woman for life so they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24), is why we no longer have stable God fearing homes.

Jesus tells us what end times families will do: “And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Mark 13:12

“Victoria’s crime rate surges with young offenders contributing to record arrests”.

The state’s overall offence rate has increased by 15% but youth crime has seen an even bigger increase.

“Youth offending also continues to grow, with crimes committed by children aged 10 to 17 up 17.9%. It is the second quarter in a row that youth crime rates have reached record levels. Police said children (10 – 17 yrs) only accounted for 13.1% of all offenders, but they were overrepresented in serious and violent crimes such as robberies (63.1%), aggravated burglaries (46%) and car theft (26.9%).”