Youth gun crime is an important public health issue that affects many communities in the United States. Since 2012, there were over 30,000 gun-related deaths in the United States. Gun violence remains the leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24. This phenomenological study examined single female parents' attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of the influences and causes of youth gun crimes. The purposive sample drew from 10 single female parents of youth ages 14-17 charged with gun crimes. Sutherlands' (1974) differential association theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The mothers participated in a series of in-depth, face-to-face interviews; these data were analyzed via inductive and emergent analysis. Results of the study indicated that these 10 parents were attempting to convey the correct message to their children to avoid gun violence. This message did not resonate due to environmental peer influence. One finding was the perception that peer influence and environmental factors favorable to gun violence hampered the impact of the parents in getting the message to youths to avoid youth gun violence. The study findings suggest that curtailing gun violence will require collaboration amongst community members. In addition, mothers need to be armed with resources that address the issues of peer pressure and community violence. The results of the study can impact positive social change by informing parents to be more empowered to seek resources to combat peer pressure and gun crimes. For this reason, the study should provide information useful for individual families in curtailing youth gun violence, thus impacting the community and the lives of many.

Adolescence is a stressful time for many children. Changes in their environment or changes in social situations are some typical stressors that an adolescent child might encounter. Interactions with parents can also be a stressor for a child. Previous research has shown that a risk factor for a parent using harsh parenting techniques is perceived control. Parents who have low perceived control are at a higher risk to engage in physical parenting techniques or child abuse. This study included 198 middle school students and their female parent or guardian pairs (296 total participants), with the adolescent participants ranging in age from 10-year-old to 14-years-old. The adult participants were evaluated for their level of perceived control and the adolescent participants were evaluated for their level of perceived stress. The results showed that parents who perceived themselves as have a low amount of control over their child's behavior (low ACF), regardless of the level of control the parents perceived the child to have over their own behavior (CCF), were linked with their child have a high level of perceived stress, F (1, 182) = 5.14, p = .025. This effect was found only for the 14-year-old participants, t (30) = 2.774, p = .009. Implications of thesis results and areas of further research are suggested. It is possible that as a child gets older and enters puberty, the parent of the child feels as if they are losing control over their child and, as a result, resort to more forceful parenting techniques to regain control.