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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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Physical Development in Adolescents
Heightened pituitary sensitivity to gonadotropin-releasing hormone, leading to increased gonadal androgen and estrogens, triggers rapid changes in height, weight, body shape, and genital development. According to Hazen, Schlozman and Beresin (2008), different maturational patterns are recognized for boys and girls; they are:
• Girls in the United States begin the physical changes of puberty between 8 and 13 in the following sequence: breast buds and additional breast development; enlargement of the ovaries, uterus, labia and clitoris; and thickening of the vaginal mucosa.
• Menarche characteristically occurs 2 to 2 and half years after breast buds, at an average age of 13.
• Boys develop most observable signs of puberty later than girls. Testicular enlargement usually begins around 12, followed by appearance of pubic hair and growth of the penis.
• Following the onset of puberty for both sexes, growth in weight and height usually begins distally in the hands and feet before moving proximally to the arms and legs and finally to the torso.
• Increase in muscle mass often lags behind growth in height, thus contributing to a period of awkwardness for some teens.
• On average, girls meet their peak in growth velocity around 12, two years before boys,
• The timing of puberty is influenced by health and nutrition. For example, puberty in girls has an earlier onset as compared to 30 years ago, with rates of precocious puberty in girls (defined as the appearance of secondary sex characteristics before the age of eight or the onset of menarche before the age of nine) rising.
Cognitive Development in Adolescents
Changes in cognitive processes are characteristic during adolescence. Individuals at this stage experience more thinking, reasoning and abstract thoughts. Adolescents develop more advanced language skills and verbalization, allowing for more advanced communication. Abstract thought allows adolescents to develop a sense of purpose, fairness and social consciousness. Adolescents also decide how moral and ethical choices will guide their behaviours during this time. Cognitive processes are affected by overall socialization, meaning that adolescents will develop differently during this stage based on the individual factors (Woolfolk, 2010; Maier, 2015).
Personal and Emotional Development in Adolescents
Adolescences is a time when emotions begins to run high (Maier, 2015). Parents or care givers may begin to notice argumentative and aggressive behaviours due to sudden and intense emotions. Adolescents are also characteristically self-absorbed. They are preoccupied with themselves because they are beginning to develop a sense of self, but they are also scrutinizing their own processes and personalities. Possibilities begin to look endless during adolescence leading some in their teens to become overly idealistic. They further believe that their thoughts and feelings are unique, doubting that others could possibly understand what they are experiencing.
Moral Development in Adolescents
Gabel (2015) stated the following as feature of moral development of an adolescent of an adolescent:
• Often shows compassion for those are downtrodden or suffering and have a special concern for animals and environmental development.
• Are moving from acceptance of adult moral judgments to development of their own personal values. (Nevertheless, they tend to embrace values consistent with those of their parents).
• Are capable of and value direct experience in participatory democracy.
• Are greatly influenced by adult role models who will listen to them and affirm their moral consciousness and actions as being trustworthy role models.
• Are increasingly aware of and concerned about inconsistencies between values exhibited by adults and the conditions they see in society.
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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---