Living in a step- or single-parent household more than doubles the risk of delinquency by age 14. The likelihood that a young male will engage in criminal activity increases substantially if he is raised without a father. Boys who grow up outside of intact marriages are, on average, more likely than other boys to end up in jail. Youngsters in the juvenile justice system disproportionately come from disrupted families. In Wisconsin, only 13 percent of inmates in juvenile correctional facilities came from families where the biological mother and father were married, while 33 percent had parents who were divorced or separated, and 55 percent had parents who had never married. Seventy percent of youth in state reform institutions across America have grown up in single- or no-parent situations. Without two parents, married to each other and working as a team, a child is more likely to end up in the criminal justice system at some point in his life. Prison becomes a greater probability in a child's life without parents. Children raised in fractured families face heightened risks that are rooted in wrong parental choices, impacting not just the individual but society as a whole. Two parents can better detect and correct a child's behavior problems through task-sharing, while a single parent often lacks the time and energy, leading to poor scholastic achievement and a greater chance of dropping out of school, which increases the likelihood of entering the justice system. Children in single-parent homes who fail to form strong attachments during infancy may develop attachment disorder, becoming sociopaths who lack a conscience and do whatever they can get away with, often leading to criminal behavior. The costs of disrupted families are high, with public expenses for judges, police, probation officers, social workers, prison staff, psychiatrists, and parole officers mounting as behavior problems escalate. In California, adult prison costs average about $26,700 per person per year, and juvenile care in the California Youth Authority averages $49,200 annually per individual, far exceeding the cost of education. Money spent on prisons has little prospect of turning individuals into productive citizens, merely neutralizing their negative impact on society, while funds dedicated to correctional systems crowd out resources for more beneficial services like education and health care.

We live in a disturbing period when the sanctity of the family structure is under attack by secular progressives. Secular progressives have been chipping away at the family since the 1960s, with movements like free-love, the so-called new morality, and militant feminism. In February 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Court approved same-sex marriages, striking another blow at the nuclear family. In August 2005, USA Today reported a steady decline in the marriage rate, dropping 50% since 1970 from 76.5 per 1,000 unmarried women to 39. Not surprisingly, the fruit of savaging the family structure is a higher mortality rate.

As a society, we have witnessed a staggering increase in crime, from murders that once shocked the nation to now only the most brazen or hideous making local news. Child abuse has reached an all-time high, with 2 million cases reported in 1987, the latest year for which data is available. Spousal abuse affects an estimated 4 to 6 million women battered by their husbands, and sometimes men are battered by their wives. Elder abuse is also prevalent. Gangs roam our streets, particularly in our largest cities, with branches even in the heartland of America, pushing drugs and violence on the weak, entrapping them in a downward spiral of addiction. Legal abortions number 1.6 million each year. Violence on television and in movies is appalling, with content like the latest Jason movie going largely unhindered. There has not been a single day of peace on earth since before World War II, with wars raging somewhere continuously. These crimes and societal breakdowns reflect a deeper issue of lawlessness multiplying exponentially, causing love and natural affection to grow cold, as sin begets more sin in an atmosphere where guilt is downplayed or denied.