PREVALENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF DELINQUENCY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS (ILORIN METROPOLIS AS A CASE STUDY)
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
It is a general belief that the standard of discipline has fallen greatly in Nigeria Educational Institutions especially in secondary school. Once find this type of complaints published in some of Nigerian daily Newspapers and some have been made know either in Public lectures or on the air (Radio and Television Set) such pronouncement or lecturers and publications house put the blame on students’ delinquencies or this behaviour on home. The home does not concern itself with the academic progress or achievements at the students. For instance, the parents and guidance are not caring about the progress made in school concerning their children and words.
According to Mazi (2000) in the report of the committee on school discipline in Kwara State (1986) parents over indulge their children and that some are too busy to care for their children and that some are too busy to care for their children Asa result at this those types of children are difficult to control when they get to schools. Some parents over pamper their children with money and materials while in school, on the other hands some parents are too poor to meet the demands of their children. This disparity between the rich and poor leads to unwarranted behaviour, which result to indiscipline in youth. This is confirmed by Obasanjo (1989) who blamed meet parents for the tall on morality among the young. According to him children up bring seemed irrelevant matter for meet parents. It is a common phenomenon now a day those children are now left to be brought up in institution that lead commitment to ensure proper us bringing. In the school discipline committee report it was mentioned that the society also cause the delinquencies in the youth. How? The society places value on cash and lace, or luxury materials. The love of fashion and love of enviable influence by the society appeal to the student than the conservation demands of the schools for wearing particular uniforms and obeying school rules and regulations.
According to the Ministry of Education publication (1991), deviance in school may arise mainly form: in-conducive learning and social environment from they grow and develop, behaviours of adult associated with them and who they regards as models apparent abdications of responsibility and duty by parents and guardian as a result of un due pressure negative economy activity such as excessive pursuit of materials wealth high handiness of the part school authority and government in dealing with students breath of law and order, and inflexibility on the of the teachers, school authority and parents in matter relating to the behaviour children generally and especially those of school age. Out (1987) asserted that adequate supply of facilities including consumable such as Libraries, Science Laboratory, Workshop Equipment, Resource person and sport in School resultant Smallness of activities of positively engage student minds and maximally channel there energies to productive ventures may cause deviancy in School.
Deghton (1981) mention some of possible causes of the deviance among secondary students as: frustration, since hostility is most always preceded by frustration. Many student make trouble because of continual failure to reach there goal. There frustration may also be due to lack of acceptance by their classmate. He went further stated the ignorance especially in new situation can lead delinquency. Either because the rows are seen to be generally ambiguous. A certain number of students disobey merely because they are unaware of the rules and regulations. Other point raised by Deighton (1981) as possible causes of deviance among secondary school students are problems from home carried to school and inconsistency of enforcement in school or other agent of authority in the school.
Barry (1987) remarked that home background of a child can cause deviance in schools, for instance children brought up in a tolerant atmosphere at home are often shocked by the attempt to make them be have reasonably in school. They find themselves having to adopt few quite different behaviour patterns. This can have a traumatic effect upon some children which is in itself an incitement to deviance.
The growth of miscommunications media especially the visual ones and decline in censorship has introduced a much wider group to extremes of behaviours which give rise to varieties of deviancy in our secondary schools from the foregoing it could be seen that the courses of Juvenile delinquencies are so uncountable. Therefore this study want to find out the influence/effects of those delinquencies on the academic performance of secondary school students in Ilorin Metropolis.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Delinquency has been an issue that parents guidance and teachers are warned about. Even the government of every society is trying every way to tackle the problem. We have now come to a point in time to know they every agent of socialization (parents, teachers, school mass-media etc.) has a part to play.
The research is therefore specially designed to take into cognizance the factor contributing to delinquent behaviours as perceived by the students in selected secondary school in Ilorin Metropolis. The researcher intends to look into:
1. The causes of delinquent behaviour.
2. Ascertain the effects of delinquent behaviour. This will enable the researcher proffer or suggest workable solution as to the problem of delinquency in school.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research question is to first answer to the following:
i. What is the factor contribution to delinquent behaviour expressed by secondary school teachers?
ii. What are the effects of delinquent behaviour as perceived by the respondents?
iii. What is the perception of male and female students on delinquent behaviour.
iv. Is there any different in the extend of which both male and female students perceived the causes and effects of delinquent behaviours in secondary schools?
v. What is the perception of teachers on the solutions to the problem of delinquency in schools.
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
1. The following hypotheses are to be tested in this study. There is no significant difference between students that are Young and those that is old in their perception of the causes of delinquent behaviours in schools.
2. There is no significant difference between male and female students in their perception of the factors contributing to delinquent behaviours in schools.
3. There is no significant difference between JSS and SSS student in their perception of factors contributing to delinquent behaviours in schools.
4. There is no significant different among types of school in the perception of the factors contributing to delinquent behaviours in school.
1.5 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Many researches had been conducted to investigate because juvenile delinquencies or the causes of deviant behaviour the result of those studies dicated that there are a lot of factors that cause this anti social behaiours. The only basic cause of the juvenile delinquency is frustration of all kind. When an adolescent is frustrated of his basic needs he or she then results into committing antisocial behaviour in order to reduce his or her tensions. This act does not solve the problem, but rather add to it.
Asaju (2000) reported that some of the causes of juvenile delinquency are; lack of proper up bringing lack of societal civic training, lack of religious moral teaching, poverty broken home, lack of affection from parent inferiority feelings and so on. This study aims at finding out. Weather or not these various types of juvenile delinquency can affect the academic performance of secondary school student in Ilorin Metropolis.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Without missing words, the importance of this study cannot be over emphasized since the study is to investigate the effects of juvenile delinquency on the academic performance of secondary school students in Ilorin Metropolis. Its result may expose some of causes of poor performance of secondary school students in the public examinations such as West African Secondary Certificate Examination, NECO Exam and so on. The result of this study can be used by the school principal and school guidance counselors to solve the problem of secondary school student mass failure in Public Examination and some of the causes of juvenile delinquency or deviant behaviours will be exposed to the school administrations and to the society at large. Solutions to such problem can also be found in the recommendation of this study. The Educational policies makers can make use of this study of consider the provision of the basic. Needs of the youths when drawing their policies for the children. The future researches can used the study to find out the relate literatures for their work.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is perceived to the influence of delinquent behaviour on academic performance of secondary school students in some selected secondary schools purposely meant for collecting accurate data and to ignore difficulties that may surface against make judgment that is reasonable.
1.8 DEFINITION OF MAJOR TERMS/CONCEPTS
For the purpose of clarity and avoidance of misunderstanding, some terms or concepts used in this study are therefore explained as follows:
a. Delinquents: Are the young offenders who commit or who perform a certain act which does not confirm with the laws and norms of the society which he or she belong.
b. Juvenile Delinquency: Is the situation where by young people break the law in the society? It is an act of performing antisocial behaviour carry out by a young person usually under the age of 18years depending on he state code as to bring him/her to attention off a court.
c. Secondary School Students: Are the young people who attend the post primary institutions what is students of Junior Secondary School 1 – 3 and Senior Secondary School 1 – 3.
d. Norms: Are the value standard which are held in common by all members of Social Systems or Sub System.
e. Influence/Effects: Power to affect the outcome or the result obtained from a particular causes? In this study the cause is the juvenile delinquency, where as the effect is the influence of this behaviour on the academic performance of Secondary School Students.
f. Academic Performance: Negative response of the students toward their academic work in the school, that is the score obtain by the Student in test and examination.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
According to Lindrall William, Roberts and Ingle (2008), the true purpose of review of literature is to seek for problems which when sharpened with careful review of related research can make some contribution towards their building. It is with this view in mind that this chapter is devoted to the following.
1. Concept, nature of delinquent behaviour.
2. Incidence and consequences of delinquent behaviour.
3. Theories and approaches on management of delinquent acts.
4. Appraisal of the literature reviewed.
The Concept, nature of Delinquent Acts
Sensible discussion of delinquency according to West (1982) is confused by two opposing stereotypes. The first portrays delinquents as perfectly normal through his self report studies which show that nearly everyone is at least an occational law breaker. It is a natural human choice to disregard the law on occasion when the chance for quick personal gain with slight risk of detection presents itself. While the second stereotype pictures delinquents as different from the rest of their age group, a special category of persons lacking in restraint, primitive in their sense of right and wrong, unable or unwilling to conform to reasonable rules. They are seen as maladjusted individuals, who by virtue of their damaged personalities (one Perhaps to hereditary flows, perhaps to deprived upbringing) foul to learn civilized standard of behaviour and are liable to persistent trouble with the law. The first stereotype may be caused by opportunity, temptation and social tradition of ones peer group in his view.
In Sutherland’s (1999) submission, the fact that adolescents do not always behave in conformity with the ways adults would prefer them to behave causes problem. The popular term which has become fashionable in describing this problem is Juvenile delinquency. He argues further that, there are certain traits or characteristics which distinguish deviant types from the rest of the people. They may be martially deficient, peer-shaped, slack –jawed, epileptic, psychotic, poor, orphaned, or have any one or combination of personality, family, or social traits. The factors therefore suggested may be socio-logical, psychological, psychiatric, biological, physical or economic.
Akinboye (1987) argues that delinquency is not just naughty or mischievous behaviour as many people think. It is seen as a behaviour patterns that break certain rules or laws, enacted by constituted authorities. In modern Africa, Akinboye argues further that, delinquency is seen in the behaviour of youngsters as they break parental rules, teacher’s authorities and societal laws. While Dada (1993) describe delinquent behaviours as offences committed by young people and all those deviant acts which would be regarded as criminal and treated as such if committed by adults.
Delinquent acts have been seen to range from the violation of disciplinary measures of parents to truancy, stealing, assault, robbery and other socially undesirable acts to mob disobedience and violence, student unrest, student protests, vandalism, running away from home, drug addiction and a host of other related offence (Akinboye, 1987, Dada 1993 and West 1970).
Gibbons (1990) has a contrary view on the concept of delinquency; according to him Juvenile delinquency is not relatively homogeneous forms of behaviour, made up of a few similar acts which are prohibited in the criminal law as argued by some proponents earlier on. In his submission, the body of criminal statues to which adults are subject in modern societies prohibits a wide range of dissimilar actions which includes sexual acts and many others. Therefore, if Delinquency is regarded as Juvenile crime, attention must be paid to a heterogeneous mixture of youthful transgressions.
From the legalistic point of view, the united states statues declare, in effect, that all misbehaviors of juveniles, purview of the courts. No wonder then that, large numbers of youths engage in acts that technically qualify as delinquency since the laws are so broad. Gibbons therefore concludes that, delinquency is not confined to a minority of juvenile population; but in some degree, it is characteristics of must youngsters.
In Nigeria however, Dada (1993) opined that criminal responsibility begins at the age of ten. The contention therefore is that a child of this age is held to be capable of deliberate criminal intent, and therefore liable to legal punishment. This then is the reason why delinquents are sent to social welfare homes.
In essence therefore, delinquent acts can be seen as those acts that depart or deviant sufficiently from normal social usage of warrant being considered as threat to the perpetrator, to his/her future interests, to established law and to the society as a whole.
Gibbons (1970) observes that, some persons who engage in deviant acts are observed by others and tagged as norm violators, while others succeed in carrying out their aberrant actions in secret.
The former are delinquent cases handled officially by Juvenile courts police arrests and other public and private social agencies. While the latter are misbehaving youngsters who are undetected or a “hidden” delinquents.
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