The mother is the most important person to the child during the first two years, with other immediate family members also important. Later, other children and adults become influential. During adolescence, peers become more important than the family. An authoritative style of parenting is considered the ideal, whereas the authoritarian, indulgent, and negligent approaches tend to restrict the child's social competence and result in the potential for later deviant behavior and criminality. Several researchers have also shown the important role of family interactions, with emphasis on discipline, positive parenting, monitoring, and problemsolving. Research has also focused on the many systems in which the child lives, including microsystems such as the family, the mesosystem, the esosystem, and the macrosystem. To prevent delinquency parents should stay informed about their children's peers and activities and provide any needed support in schoolwork. Figures and 28 references