The Effect Of Family Structure On Juvenile Delinquency Among School Adolescent

The Effect Of Family Structure On Juvenile Delinquency Among School Adolescent

Abstract

The Effects of Family Structure on Juvenile Delinquency According to studies, family structure has a significant role in the causes of juvenile delinquency (Price & Kunz, 2003). However, there is a dearth of studies on cohabitation. The major objectives of this study are to ascertain if cohabitating families differ from other family types in terms of delinquency and to investigate the extent to which parental social control strategies can explain the variation in delinquency by family structure. In today’s culture, juvenile delinquency is one of the threats that affects both life and property. Parents, mentors, sponsors, and well-wishers are concerned and disturbed about our future leaders as a result of the type of crime committed by juveniles. This study aims to examine the nature and effects of juvenile delinquency. Crimes linked with juveniles include: rape, stealing, Kleptomanism, burglary, disobedience, homicide, truancy, vandalism, and robbery, among others. The goal of this study is to determine why young people commit delinquent acts, why they continue to commit crimes despite being punished or sanctioned, what the Nigerian government can do to better or inform young people about crime, and the detrimental effects of crime on both individuals and society at large. However, the expected result of this study is that government and voluntary organizations should be involved in the following ways to reduce or eradicate juvenile delinquency in our society: Government should provide employment opportunities for youths, greater thought should be given to setting up more amenities in the rural areas, stoppage of pornographic films and some American films, where our youths learns techniques in stealing and destroying properties, parents should be more involved in their children’s lives, and government should stop funding for the drug trade. The only method of gathering data employed in this study was a questionnaire.

Chapiter 1

1.0 Overview

1.1 The Study’s Background

Since the 1990s, there has been a tremendous rise in juvenile delinquency of up to 30%, making it a global issue that cannot be solved (World Youth Report, referenced in Sheryln, 2008). The wellbeing of the people in Nigeria has been greatly hampered by the antisocial behavior of young people. Juvenile delinquency is viewed by Nigerian citizens, academics, and public authorities as a significant social issue today. Drug abuse, cultism, bullying, truancy, cheating on exams, prostitution, and theft are some of the juvenile crimes that are seen in Nigeria (Ugwuoke, 2010; Sanni, Udoh, Okediji, Modo & Ezeh, 2010).

Juvenile delinquency was defined as “illegal acts, whether criminal or status offences, which are committed by youth under the age of 18” by Shoemaker (2010:3). In light of this description, it is important to draw attention to the two categories of delinquent offenses that are frequently committed by young people, sometimes known as juveniles or children. The first category of offenses includes actions that, if committed by an adult, would constitute a criminal offense, such as rape, burglary, robbery, etc. The second category of delinquent offenses, referred to as “status offenses,” includes actions that are considered delinquent but do not apply to adults, such as truancy, running away from home, etc. (Alemika & Chukwuma, 2001; Alfrey, 2010).

The 1920s saw the emergence of teenage crimes like pickpocketing and prostitution as major media stories in Nigeria, which is when juvenile delinquency in that country first began. It is shocking that the troubling problem of juvenile delinquency still severely afflicts the modern Nigerian society (Muhammed, Salami, Adekeye, Ayinla and Adeoye, 2009). This ugly trend led the colonial administrators to establish judicial administrative processes to deal with juvenile offenders (Fourchard, 2006). However, Nigeria is not the only country that has a problem with adolescent delinquency. 2.18 million minors were apprehended by law enforcement in the United States of America in 2007 (Alfry, 2010). The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics discovered that 72% of minors in jail were from dispersed families, which Alfry also mentioned.

According to the World Youth Report, which Sheryln (2008) quoted, adolescent criminals in groups in the Russian Federation commit crimes at a rate that is roughly three to four times higher than that of adult offenders. Juby and Farrington (2001) explored juvenile criminality and family disruption in a longitudinal study of South London boys from age 8 to 46, which was motivated by the rising rate of juvenile delinquency in Britain. In contrast to 18% of the boys from stable families, the researchers discovered that 29% of the boys from broken families were sentenced as juveniles. The researchers came to the conclusion that one of the contributing elements to the rise in adolescent criminality in Britain was familial disturbance.

In a study examining the connection between family dynamics and juvenile delinquency in the Nakuru municipality of Kenya, Muola, Ndugu, and Ngesa (2009), referenced in Kimani (2010), discovered that juvenile delinquency incidences had grown recently in Kenya. Family instability and discipline methods were found to be substantially correlated with juvenile criminality. According to the experts, adolescent delinquency in Portharcourt and family structure may be related.

In Nigeria, juvenile delinquency is on the rise, and Fourchard (2006) lamented this trend, attributing it in part to familial circumstances. Numerous experts concur that the basis of juvenile delinquency is rooted in the type of household the child is raised, taking into account the aforementioned global and local concerns and trends (Okorodudu, 2010; Igbo, 2007).

According to Muhammed et al. (2009), family instability is on the rise in Nigeria, which may be the cause of the rising crime rates among young people. Based on the aforementioned, this study’s goal is to investigate how family structure affects juvenile delinquency among school-aged children in Nigeria, with a particular focus on the Portharcourt municipality.

Situation Of The Problem

According to Muhammad et al. (2009), juvenile delinquency in Nigeria is a significant social issue that has an impact on the entire society and seriously impedes development. According to Nwankwo, Nwoke, Chukwuocha, Iwuagwu, Obanny, Okereke, and Nwoga (2010), crime is prevalent among young people in Portharcourt Municipality and many of them are caught in one criminal act or another, such as examination fraud, armed robbery, assault, rape, house breaking, forgery, truancy, etc. According to Muhammed et al. (2010), the majority of young people in modern-day Nigeria engage in armed robbery, cultism, kidnapping, drug usage, and other criminal activities. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) commander for the Imo state bemoaned that young people were the ones most involved in using and dealing illegal drugs (Nkwopara, 2011). The effects of this disease and other juvenile crimes like examination fraud, alcoholism, forgery, rape, and other such crimes in Nigeria include social violence among youths, armed robbery, mental disorders, lack of respect for elders, and other numerous social ills.

Scholars and concerned people have blamed a variety of causes, including poverty, peer pressure, family structure, drug usage, and more, for the severe issues with juvenile delinquency in Nigeria and the Portharcourt Municipality (Nwankwo et al. 2010). The family has a significant role to play in the formation of a conforming or delinquent personality (Igbo, 2007:89), hence this study tries to focus on the effect of family structure on juvenile delinquency among school adolescents in Portharcourt while acknowledging these other reasons.

Juvenile misbehavior appears to be linked to inadequate supervision resulting from family structure (Alfrey, 2010). Alfrey went on to say that kids from single-parent households typically get less supervision. He asserts that this insufficient parental supervision tends to make adolescent criminality more likely.

According to Dogget (2004), it is harder to constantly watch over kids when there is only one parent living at home as opposed to two. According to Dogget, the single parent must handle daily tasks like errands and work, leaving no parent at home. As a result, kids in single-parent households typically get less supervision (Sanni et al., 2010). Lack of parental supervision causes children to engage in antisocial behaviors both directly and indirectly by exposing them to peers who engage in deviant behavior, which is a precursor to more serious deviant behavior (Okorodudu, 2010). Because of their numerous social and professional commitments, it appears that parents and other caregivers in Nigeria are not spending much time watching after their kids.

In Nigeria, and specifically in Portharcourt Municipality, this situation frequently encourages youth misbehavior. (Uwaoma & Udeagha, 2007) Uwaoma and Udeagha also explained that a broken home has an imbalance and as a result is detrimental to a child’s socialization and personality adjustment. Children from broken homes are more likely to run away from their family than children who come from more stable families. A child may as a result be more susceptible to negative peer pressure and more likely to engage in criminal behavior than children from stable families with a balanced structure of two parents who serve as positive role models for children in developing proper roles (Odebunmi, 2007).

Children from unstable households are more likely than those from stable families to experience a range of behavioral and educational issues, such as drug use, aggression, vandalism, and criminal activity (Sheryln, 2008). Sheryln asserts that alterations in the family can have an impact on a child’s level of self-control.

Changes in the family structure also affect how the kids are organized, watched after, and disciplined. Adolescents’ levels of self-control may vary as a result of widespread changes, which is likely to result in antisocial behaviors (Mullens, 2004). Compared to two-parent families, single-parent households are frequently more financially vulnerable. These families may be drawn by their bad economic situation to chaotic neighborhoods where crime and delinquency are common (Alfrey, 2010). Alfrey draws the conclusion that the kids might be exposed to delinquent behaviors and might potentially be persuaded to join delinquent gangs. The researcher believes that children in single-parent families may experience stress due to their financial fragility. As a result, their single parent might not be able to meet all of their demands. Children in such circumstances may feel pressured to commit theft, extortion, and other criminal acts in order to survive.

A rise in antisocial behavior among young people in Nigeria has also been attributed, among other things, to familial instability, according to Muhammad et al. (2009). They observed that kids from insecure homes have a variety of behavioral issues that drive them to exhibit delinquent behaviors. This, in their opinion, is because the warmth, guidance, love, and protection that their parents would have given them have been lost, and they have now sought them in anti-social behaviors like drug misuse.

On the subject of the connection between family structure and adolescent criminality, there does appear to be some disagreement. Kimani’s (2010) study discovered a positive association between broken houses and juvenile delinquency, in contrast to Alemika and Chukwuma’s (2001) study which, among other studies, showed no relationship between broken homes and juvenile delinquency. As a result, the goal of this study is to close the research gap on juvenile delinquency while simultaneously determining how family structure affects juvenile criminality among school-aged adolescents in the Portharcourt municipality.

1.3 Study’s Objective

The goal of this study is to determine how family structure affects juvenile delinquency in Port Harcourt’s school-aged youth. The following goals serve as the specific focus of the research:

i) To examine the impact of family structure on juvenile delinquency among secondary school students.

ii) To determine the degree to which social studies education can reduce juvenile delinquency through teaching and learning in secondary schools.

iii) To determine the effect of other personal traits on the encouragement of criminal behavior that results in poor academic achievement.

iv) To identify practical solutions to the juvenile delinquency issue in secondary schools.

1.4 Questions For Research.

The research topics below were derived from the declaration of the

the issue mentioned above

1. What distinguishes pupils who consistently arrive late to school from those who arrive early in terms of their academic performance?

2. Does the academic achievement of pupils who participate in gang combat differ from that of students who do not?

3. What distinguishes the academic success of students who constantly disrupt class from those who are consistently focused?

1.5 Hoposes

For testing, the following null hypotheses are developed:

1. There is little distinction between the academic

Before and after treatment, the performance of delinquent and non-delinquent students.

2. In the experimental group, there is no discernible difference in the academic performance of delinquent students with literate and illiterate parental backgrounds.

3 Based on age group, there is no discernible difference in the degree of delinquency among students.

1.6 Essential Assurances

The following presumptions are the foundation of this study:

1. Both delinquent and non-delinquent children in the school have equal opportunities to learn.

2. It is believed that all delinquent students perform poorly in school.

3. Both non-delinquent and truant students are taught by qualified instructors.

4. Among school-aged adolescents, family structure has a detrimental impact on juvenile criminality.

1.7 Motivation For The Study

In this study, Portharcourt school-aged adolescents’ involvement in juvenile delinquency and family structure are examined. The study does not, in any way, imply that all young people in Nigeria are lawbreakers, criminals, or otherwise responsible for breaking the law.

The study aids in the learning and development processes and enables our adolescents to recognize and steer clear of situations that could result in criminal behavior. The study will also assist parents, mentors, sponsors, and others in learning what they must do to keep their kids from committing alleged delinquent activities.

The study significantly advances efforts by our government to educate our youth and deter them from further delinquent behavior. In conclusion, this study is important since it aims to ascertain the amount to which juveniles commit crime, the reasons why they persisted in engaging in delinquent behavior, and the impact of these behaviors on both the individuals involved and society as a whole.

1.9 Term Definition

A individual who has reached the age of 14 but is under 17 is referred to as a juvenile. By definition, a young person who has not yet reached adulthood.

A person who deviates from or violates the established legislation that establishes the moral standards of a given nation or community is said to be a delinquent.

According to Andy (1960:30), juvenile delinquency is any social divergence a young person makes from cultural norms that puts him in contact with law enforcement. It is a young person’s act that broke the established law of that nation or community.

Burglary is the crime of illegally entering a building and taking items from it.

Robbery is described as the theft of money or items from a bank, store, individual, etc., especially when utilizing force or fear of force. 8

Rape: This is simply the act of coercing someone into having intercourse with oneself, sometimes via the use of violence or threats.

Homicide is the legal term for the intentional killing of a person.

Stealing is the act of taking anything without permission from someone’s store, shop, etc. and not intending to pay for it or return it.

Truancy is the act of absenting oneself from class without authorization. To be a juvenile is illegal.

Disobedience is the inability or refusal to follow instructions from a person, a law, an order, etc.

A person with kleptomanism just has an intense desire to steal stuff that they are unable to control. A lot of young people have it.

Family structure refers to the make-up of the family, including its members, as well as how those individuals are arranged and related to one another.