ABSTRACT
Family, the first social institution in women’s lives, played a vital role during their growth—particularly from childhood to early adolescence. In the literature of substance abuse, familial structure and stability are of salient importance to women’s drug use (Platt 1988). As suggested by research, parental characteristics and parental child-rearing practices were both essential to women’s development; the former was mediated by socialization of parental controls (Kandel 1980). While parental child-rearing practices are the primary sources for the building of children’s self-control (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990), the recent study also indicates that “parental efficacy”—a combination of parental control and parental support, is more effective on reducing youth crimes (Wright and Cullen 2001).
