SE Hinton's The Outsiders: When the Family Within Crumbles, A New One is Forged Without
-- Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy Two major functions of the family as the basic unit of society are socialising and integrating its members into the larger society. Where it fails to do so, its members are forced to seek love, attention, and care elsewhere. Faced by the physical absence of parents or the lack of parental attention and care in their homes, many young Americans turn to the streets to adopt new families and friends that they pledge absolute allegiance to. Hence, many young children are easily drawn into the world of juvenile delinquency with peer pressure as an incentive for their violent and antisocial acts. The adult world is such a distant place from the world of adolescents cum teenagers, yet adults are quick to assume that they know all about youngsters (we fool ourselves with the 'been there, done that, and seen it all' mentality). We fail...