Has parenting -good, bad or indifferent- contributed to the current behaviour in England?

I think the reasons for the uprising run deeper than parenting.

Parenting is a contributory factor, but as mentioned by others, the causes are very complex and several issues are interconnected.

Values, sense of responsibility and discipline start with the parents. We learn those in various social environments, but I believe the most important lessons or learning starts at home.

However, in societies where both or single parents have to work to the bone just to get by and times are really tough, there is considerable pressure brought to bear on people and survival becomes the norm - values, sense of responsibility and discipline become an afterthought.

Not an excuse for bad behavior or neglect in parental duties, but society as a whole should look at the big picture and figure out that the current state of things needs to be addressed to prevent the creation of these simmering yet volatile tensions in society.

Income disparity, unemployment, high cost of living, criminality, a sense of despair, apathy, corruption - mix them together and stir the pot a bit and you got a potent brew just waiting to explode. In London, it did. Just as it does in other places around the world through the years.

Yes but in no way is the matter as simple as some would have you believe. The causes are very complex.

Bad parenting may have a tiny role to play but the overall reasons are far more complex than that. What follows is a comment I have posted on most questions or hubs on this theme...added here in case you haven't read it yet. It may resonate with you in "classless" America!

I think the rioters stole stuff simply because they could. They didn't care about the consequences for society at large, they only cared about themselves and perhaps their circle of family and friends.

Unfortunately, this attitude of screw society, screw the community, screw the country because it's all about 'me', 'my' and 'mine' has pretty much been encouraged in this country for the last 30 years or so from the top down.

It manifests itself in very different ways in our diverse country.

In the banking system we see managers of failed nationalised banks paying themselves huge unmerited bonuses at the expense of the tax payer simply because they can.

In our parliament we saw our politicians inventing a set of rules designed to allow them to abuse the expenses system to claim for plasma TV's and tens of thousands of pounds for 'renting' the spare room of family members, and using these monies for speculating on the property market and then dodging the tax on the profits. MPs certainly wouldn't steal a plasma screen TV in a riot, not when they could just simply walk into John Lewis, order it to be delivered to their home, and stick in an expense claim for it.

In the police force we hear claims of police selling confidential details about the royal family to gutter press hacks simply because they could and thought that they could get away with it.

As for the media we hear claims of editors ordering that private investigators hack private citizens phones, simply because they can and think they can get away with it.

We hear of celebrities and the super rich dodging the taxes the rest of us have to pay at a time when services for the very poorest are being cut, simply because they can.

And in the underclass what do we see. Wide spread stealing and looting, again simply because they don't care about society and because they can.

Something has gone very wrong with this country. But to think this corruption is confined to one section of society is wrong. And I think we all need to look within.

In the 1980's Thatcher's government pursued policies that were designed to deliberately impoverish millions of people. Rioting was the inevitable result.

A Tory government pursuing policies that are designed to deliberately impoverish people. This has resulted in rioting.

Those kids have also seen how the politicians - that are pushing these policies - lined their own pockets by stealing from the taxpayer during the expenses scandal.

They have also seen billions of pounds: of taxpayer's money, given to the banks to 'bail them out' (quantitative easing 1&2) and the nationalization of banking debt. The banks were supposed to lend this money back into the economy to create jobs. They haven't done this.

Instead they are only lending to market speculators who are using cheap, low-interest loans to fund a share dealing frenzy which is causing massive swings in stock market prices. Share prices are now massively over inflated and when this bubble bursts - and the dollar and sterling fall off a cliff - guess what: you're going to see a lot more rioting. The collapse in share prices and hyperinflation is going to wipe out savings and pensions.

This is why rich people are converting all their money into gold and silver etc.

So anyone that thinks that what they have seen so far is bad - just wait - cos' you aint seen nothin' yet.

I believe that it is a big part. Not only in not teaching good values but also in not thinking about how they talk in front of their children. I'm sure that a lot of the parents of the youth talk about how they are being screwed by government in front of the kids.

I'm sure that in the aftermath in the UK just as was the case in the US those same parents will be in denial.

How many of us remember the mothers of the LA 4 who were filmed attacking Reginald Denny watching the film and saying "That ain't my baby boy!

I have heard that a lot of kids involved in the rioting come from foster homes and institutions. Not that that is an excuse but a lot of them don't care about a society they feel doesn't care about them..

Then again, some are involved in the rioting just because they saw an excuse to break something. I am sure that not every single rioter is poor.

Absolutely. There are considerable factors contributing to the riots in the UK, but certainly ineffective parenting and difficult home environments and working conditions will have an effect on offspring. I work with upper middle class children and I am continually amazed at not only the differences, but the similarities when it comes to ineffective parenting from different socioeconomic levels.It generally comes from feeling entitled, ignorance (lack of education concerning parenting/child development), and an overall apathetic view of society.

Ineffective parenting is not a respecter of social status.

I'm sure that is part of the answer ... whether the parents were just too liberal with their kids or whether they simply didn't care what they did.

But I also think the rest of society has to take its share of blame ... the consumer culture that constantly tries to sell things many of us can't afford and the celebrity culture that encourages kids to emulate glittery lifestyles when they haven't the money to do it.

For my more in-depth, but gloomy, analysis see.

Good conduct begins at home and thus parenting has an effect on how people grow up as adults -- this is true throughout the world and throughout all races and nationalities, not just in UK. But as we grow more older, we become more aware of the influence of our environment and I think this is more of a factor to predict the behavior of most adults. The riots in your country and all the chaos around the world runs deeper than parenting.

Bad parenting has contributed to destructive behavior in many instances in both the USA and in the UK.

Example; The Columbine gh School massacre could have been totally avoided. If the parents of the perpetrators had even once taken a look inside the bedrooms of their sons no shooting would have occurred. Each boy had turned his bedroom into a virtual armory of ammunition, arms and other types of weapons.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.