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Patterns And Causes Of Juvenile Delinquency As Expressed By Secondary School Students
[A CASE STUDY OF IBARAPA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE]
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CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
Preamble
Juvenile delinquency is an integral part of criminology. It is a big breading centre of criminals. The word delinquency is derived from the Latin word “delinquere†meaning de i.e. away and linquere i.e. to leave thus, meaning to leave or to abandon. Originally, the word had an objective meaning as it referred to parents who neglected and abandoned their children. In present day, it is used and applied to those children who indulge in wrongful and harmful activities. An individual becomes juvenile when such a person exhibits some characteristics of delinquent behaviours in the school or society. On this note, the review of the related literature is therefore centered on the following sub-headings:
• Concept of Adolescence
• Concept of Juvenile Delinquency
• Theories of Juvenile Delinquency
• Age and Juvenile Delinquency
• Patterns of Juvenile Delinquency Behaviours among Students
• Causes of Juvenile delinquency Behaviours among Students
• Summary of Review of the Related Literature
Concept of Adolescence
The origin of the word adolescence is form the Latin verb ‘adolescence’, which means, “to grow up.†It can defined as the transitional stage of development between childhood and full adulthood, representing the period of time during which a person is biologically adult but emotionally not at full maturity. It represents the period of time during which a juvenile matures into adulthood (Ogundele & Olasehinde, 1995; Gesinde, 2001; Merriam-Webster Learners Dictionary, 2012). Adolescence is a period of global changes, a time of turmoil and distress. It is a time of rapid physical changes accompanied by shifts in cognitive and emotional capacities.
Mosby’s Dental Dictionary (2008) defined adolescence as the period of development between the onset of puberty and adulthood. The period is generally marked by the appearance of secondary sex characteristics, usually from 11-13 years of age, and spans the teen years, terminating at 18 to 20 years of age with the completion of the development of the adult form. During this period, the individual undergoes extensive physical, psychological, emotional and personality changes. Kipke (1999) defined adolescence as the period of life ranging from ages 10-24, during which individuals make the developmental transition from childhood to adulthood. Adolescence is characterized by physical, emotional and intellectual changes, as well as changes in social roles, relationships and expectations, all of which are important for the development for the development of the individual and provide the foundation for functioning as an adult. The development of healthy adolescents is a complex and evolving process that requires: supportive and caring families, peers and communities; access to high quality services (health, education, social and other community services); and opportunities to engage and succeed in the developmental tasks of adolescence (Kipke, 1999).
Scholars such as Green and Palfrey (2000) stated that adolescence have different age range. But most importantly, going through different definitions; psychologists group this stage of development into three: early (11-14); middle (15-17); and late (18-21) (Green & Palfrey, 2000). The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2000) on the other hand, defined the age range for adolescents as 10-19 and 20-24 year olds as young adults. Steinberg (2011) affirmed that a broad way of defining adolescence is the transition from child-to-adulthood which happens to vary drastically in time between cultures. In some countries, such as the United States, adolescence can last nearly a decade, but in other countries, the transition-often in the form of a ceremony-can last for only a few days.
Historical perspective such as those offered by Kett (1977) and Hine (1999) stressed the fact that adolescence as a developmental period has varied considerably from one historical era to another. Due to its ever-changing nature, it is impossible to generalize about issues such as the degree to which adolescence is stressful, the development tasks of the period, or the nature of inter-generational relationships. One group of theorist, referred to as inventionists, argued that adolescence is entirely a social invention, and that the way in which life cycle is divided into stages in nothing more than a reflection of the political, economic and social circumstances in which we live. According to this group, although puberty has been a feature of development for as long as humans have lived, it was not until the rise of obligatory education that we began treating adolescents as a distinct group (Bakan, 1992). Miller (2011) talks about two cultures-the cultures of science and humanities, which state that most scientists know little about modern age. He also stated that in the past things were different.
According to Larson and Richards (1991), peer groups are especially important during adolescence. It is a period of development characterized by a dramatic increase in time spent with peers and a decrease in adult supervision (Brown, 2004). Adolescents associate with friends of the opposite sex much more than in childhood and tend to identify with larger groups of peers based on shared characterized (Eder, 1995). Peer groups offer members the opportunity to develop various social skills, such as empathy, sharing and leadership. Peer groups can have positive influences on an individual, for instance on academic motivation and performance, but they can also have negative influences and lead to an increase in experimentation with drugs, drinking, vandalism and stealing (Eder, 1995). Susceptibility to peer pressure increases during early adolescence, around the age of 14, and declines thereafter (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007).
According to Maier (2015), adolescence experience physical, social, cognitive, moral, behavioural as well as personal and emotional development. The rate at which adolescents experience changes will vary depending on gender, genetics, environmental and health factors.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACTThe challenges of adolescents are enormous simply because of diverse growth and development that characterized this stage, this lead many adolescents into delinquent behaviours. This study thus investigated the patterns and causes of delinquent behaviours as expressed by secondary school students in Ibarapa Local Government Area, Oyo State. The study also examined the influence of variables such as gender, age and residential area on respondents’ expressions. Descriptive survey de ... Continue reading---
APPENDIX A - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]SECTION C: Causes of Juvenile DelinquencyDirection: Kindly put a tick ( ) in the column that you consider as most applicable to you. There is no right or wrong responses. Please respond to all items as honestly as possible using the rating scales: SA - Strongly Agree; A - Agree; D – Disagree and SD - Strongly Disagree. ... Continue reading---
LIST OF TABLES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF TABLES Title 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents 2. Mean and rank order of patterns of juvenile delinquency among students 3. Mean and rank order of causes of juvenile delinquency 4. Mean, SD and t-test results comparing respondents’ expression on patterns of juvenile delinquency based on gender 5. Mean, SD and t-test results comparing respondents’ expression o ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF CONTENTSContent Title page Certification Dedication Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Tables Abstract CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONBackground to the Study Statement of the Problem Research Questions Research Hypotheses Purpose of the Study Significance of the Study Operational Definition of Terms Scope of the Study CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATUREConcept of Adolescence Concept of Juvenile Delinquency Theories of Juvenile Delinquency Age and Juvenile Delinquen ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 4 ]Studies have been conducted on juvenile delinquency, for instance, Hoeve, Dubas, Eichelsheim, Laan, and Jan (2009) carried out a meta-analysis study on the relationship between parenting and delinquency. The study found strong link among parental monitoring, psychological control and negative aspects of support such as rejection and hostility, accounting for up to eleven percent of the variance in delinquency. Ekpo and Ajake (2013) studied family socio-economic status and delinquency among senio ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]Psychometric Properties of the Instrument The psychometric analysis of the instrument was based on the validity and reliability measure. The properties are presented thus;Validity: Adewumi (1998) noted that a measuring instrument is described as valid when it measures truly and accurately the quality it is meant to measure. Validity is one of the most crucial psychometric properties of measurement and it is concerned with whether a test or scale really measures what it purports to measure. ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FOUR - [ Total Page(s): 7 ]Research Question 2: What are the causes of juvenile delinquency among secondary school students in Ibarapa Local Government Area?Table 3 depicts the mean and rank order of respondents’ responses on causes of juvenile delinquency. The table shows that the respondents agreed to all the identified items as causes of juvenile delinquencies as the response scores are above average mean score of 2.5. However, items 1, 4, 12, 5 and 3 were ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th with mean scores of 3. ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FIVE - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]RecommendationsThe following recommendations were made based on the findings of the study:1. Parents and the society should provide for the needs of adolescents (most especially the basic needs) so that they can be prevented from engaging in delinquent behaviours that may negatively influence their future.2. The school authorities should monitor students’ activities and encourage them on the needs to associate with peers that help them improve in their academic pursuits and mo ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 4 ]Smetana, J. G., Campione,-Barr, N. & Metzger, A. (2006). Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 255-284.Snyder, H, N. & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile offenders and victims. 2006 national report. Washington DC, US department of Justice, Office of Justice programmes office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Steinberg, L. & Monahan, K. C. (2007). Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Development Psychology 43(6): 1531- ... Continue reading---
