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Family Instability And Juvenile Delinquency
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1.3OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
General Objective
To establish the relationship between family instability and deviance in children
Specific Objectives
i. To determine the relationship that exists between divorce/separation and deviance in children.
ii. To demonstrate the relationship between parents’ attitude toward their children and delinquency.
iii. To find out if peer influence engenders juvenile delinquency.
iv. To find out if family size causes deviance in children.
v. To make policy recommendations on how to combat deviance in children.
1.4SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
significance of the study is to add to existing knowledge on family
instability and juvenile delinquency in Nigeria, it will serve as a
basis for further research on the subject matter, and finally, to serve
as a guide for policy formulation aimed at addressing the problem of
juvenile delinquency in Nigeria.
1.5SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope
of the study will be within the ambit of teenagers in Lagos State,
particularly in Birrel Boys Approved School (Sabo), Girls Remand Home
(Idi-Araba), in Yaba, Mushin, and Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government
Areas in Lagos State.
This will be done in the time frame of two
months, July – August 2006, in order to gather information on family
instability and its effects on children.
1.6CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION
In
this section, operational definitions of all the major concepts as they
are to be used in the study will be done, so as to give meaning and
clarity of purpose to the study.
Delinquency: Refers to behaviours
for which a juvenile can be formally sanctioned; collectively, those
behaviours include status offenses and those behaviours prohibited under
criminal law (Magill and Hector, 1995).
Deviance: Refers to an act
or behaviour which departs from a generally accepted pattern of
behaviour; a behaviour or act that aberrates from that which is
considered a norm (Magill, and Hector, 1995).
Divorce: Refers to the termination of marriage by legal, customary or religious procedures (Census Manual, 2006).
Family:
A family consists of a group of people who identify themselves as being
related to one another, usually by blood, marriage, or adoption, and
who share intimate relationships and dependency. Lamanna, and Reidmann,
(1991) define a family as “any sexually expressive or parent-child
relationship in which people-usually related by ancestry, marriage, or
adoption: (i) Live together with commitment (ii) Form an economic unit
and care for any young, and (iii) Find their identity as importantly
attached to the group
Juvenile: According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a juvenile is a young person who is not yet an adult.
Juvenile
Delinquency: Refers to any act in violation of criminal law, committed
by a person defined under the law as a Juvenile, which if it had been
committed by an adult will be treated as crime or criminal conduct
(Alemika, and Chukwuma, 2001).
Separation: Refers to a situation
where a couple is shut off from cohabitation, especially by Judicial
Decree (Census Manual, 2006).
Socialization: This will be looked at from two perspectives: the society and the individual.
i.
From the societal perspective, it is the process of fitting new
individuals into an organized way of life and an established cultural
tradition. It begins early and is a life long process.
From the individual perspective, it is the process by which human animal becomes human being and acquires
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The family as a universal social institution exists in all human society. It forms the basis without which no society can survive. It is from here the individual picks up a “self†through the process of socialization. Various factors have been associated with delinquency, but the most important is the quality of relationship between parents and children. Some observers of social life have argued that the family no longer functions as a useful social unit.The method employed for the s ... Continue reading---
