An Analysis of the Causes of Juvenile Delinquency in Nigeria from the Legal and Empirical Perspectives (original) (raw)
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The Correlates of Juvenile Delinquency and Preventive Measures in Nigeria
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The issue of Juvenile delinquency is becoming polemical and widespread. Delinquency prevention are either unfitted to deal with the present happenings or do not exist. Most of the emerging countries have established some mechanisms to deal with this problem, and international programmes are evidently inadequate. Even where programmes are in place, the mechanism are always inadequate to address the multiple ways in which these children must be assisted. This article assessed factors influencing delinquent behaviours and the effective ways of rehabilitating young offenders. Building on this premise, the article reviewed relevant literatures on juvenile delinquency and its prevention measures. As evident in the literature and discussion in this article, juvenile offenders, as labelled individuals, are hampered by social conditions and support that are required to enhance their recovery, constructive behaviour and full rehabilitation. As juvenile delinquency is not caused by a single fa...
NATURE AND CONSEQUENCES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: BONNY ISLAND OF RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA A FOCAL POINT
This study focuses on the nature and consequences of juvenile delinquency in Bonny Island of Rivers State, Nigeria. The study aimed at finding out why juvenile engage in delinquent act, why juvenile offenders continue in crime after being punished and what Rivers State Government as well as Nigeria Government needs to do inorder to educate juvenile about crime and the negative impact of crime on individual and society at large. Specifically, this research work holds that juvenile in Bonny Island, Nigeria involved with delinquent behaviour, thus attributing it to family structure, social media, education, peer pressure, and environment etc. The various consequences of juvenile delinquency on the individual, victim, family, school, community and the wider society, support the view that no country can afford to ignore it. The research was able to provide extensive past and present global perceptions about the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency and its extent. However, the expected outcome of this study is that to reduce or eradicate juvenile delinquency in our society. Government and voluntary organization should be involved in the following ways: Government should provide employment opportunities for youths, provision of sporting activities and other recreational activities and Pre-trial diversion programs, such as pre-trial community service, vocational or life skills training programs, victim-offender mediation or family group conferences should be encouraged etc. Method of data collection used in this study was only questionnaire.
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A study of the juvenile delinquency in Bendel State of Nigeria, over a period of 12 years, has revealed an upsurge in its prevalence. More males were convicted than females, and more females under the age of 14 years were convicted than those in the 14-to 18-year-old age group. Most of the convictions resulted from crimes against property. Many juveniles in remand homes came from broken homes. Some ways of solving the problem are discussed.
2008
One feature of the crime situation in Nigeria is the involvement of juveniles in some criminal and/or dubious activities, which is referred to as juvenile delinquency. In Nigeria the laws define delinquency in terms of the age of those involved rather than in terms of their offences. In Children and Young Person Law, a distinction is made between a person who is yet 14 years and one who is 14 years but not yet above 16 years. The former is a ‘child’ and the latter a ‘young person’ Therefore any offence committed by a person above 16 is a crime not delinquency. Universally, delinquents are immature and therefore incapable of ‘mens rea’ (criminal intent) and ‘actus reus’ (criminal act). To this effect, regulations (laws) pertaining to treatment of delinquents apart from the adult criminals were enacted and documented, thus setting up separate justice system called juvenile justice, which is the focus of this paper. The enactments of these laws were meant to protect the child from the ...
Assessment of the Administration and Practice of Juvenile Justice System in Abuja, Nigeria
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2013
No social group seems to bear the direct brunt of economic crises like children and young persons. Because of their vulnerable nature, some of them resort to different forms of deviant activities, which bring them in conflict with the law. As a result, there is a range of laws at the international and local levels which set standard practice as it concerns juvenile offenders. However, the practice of juvenile justice system in Nigeria tends to be at variance with these laws. This study examines the practice of juvenile justice system in Nigeria, with the view to assessing the effort of government in the administration and control of juvenile delinquency in line with established standard in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The study used structured questionnaires to elicit information from the respondents. Findings reveal that there exist laws to protect the rights and conditions of juveniles, but these laws do not adequately conform to international standard. Juveniles are subjecte...
2014
The juvenile justice system is the government agencies that function to investigate, supervise, adjudicate, care for, or confine youthful offenders and other children subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The juvenile justice system deals with individuals who are specifically under the age of 17, who have committed a criminal offense. Juveniles who commit crimes are considered to have been delinquent. Nearly every society since the dawn of history has looked on youth crime and juvenile offences as a serious problem, and the Nigerian society is no different. The underlining philosophy of Juvenile justice as the history of child welfare in Nigeria became very interesting and of concern for all because it touches every of human life; the government, the homes/family and the legal system. Juvenile offenders are children who committed an offense before they reached eighteen years of age, as defined by the international standards contained in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”). The regime of the sentencing and treatment of a juvenile offender that has been found liable for a criminal offence forms a part of the larger framework of protection of the rights of Nigerian child under the larger Nigerian legal system. The Juvenile offender is not only protected under the constitutionally entrenched fundamental human right in chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria, but also enjoys special legal protection and coverage under the Child’s Right Act. These provisions create a framework for the proper sentencing and treatment of the juvenile as well as regulate the institutions that would enforce the sentences. This forms the basis for this research study because a critical review of the sentencing regime is imperative for the protection of a Juvenile Offender. This research study focuses on the review of the legal framework that regulates the sentencing of juvenile offenders to sentences in Nigeria. It aims to discover whether the provisions of the Criminal Laws and Procedures in Nigeria are in violation of international human rights law that deals with the protection of Juvenile Offenders.
2021
This study examined the challenges of controlling delinquency and juvenile recidivism in correctional centre. It explored the statutory roles of correctional institution and the challenges of correctional institution in Ondo State, Nigeria. The research design is explorative in nature. The study employed quantitative (survey) and qualitative (Focus Group Discussion) and personal observation research methods. The study involved Forty-two respondents (10 personnel of the correctional centre and 32 juvenile delinquents). The data collected were analyzed with quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis with the aid of descriptive statistics. The study found that male children are more prone delinquency and juvenile recidivism than the female. Poor family background, dysfunctional family system, peer group influence, ineffective juvenile correctional institutions and weak religious institutions and so on are the major factors influencing delinquency and juvenile recidivism in N...
Rethinking the Role of Family in Combating Juvenile Delinquency in Nigeria
American Journal of Arts and Educational Administration Research
Many families have failed in performing their major role of protection, provision for their members, socializing their members and ensuring they conform to the socially acceptable patterns of behaviour in society, thereby increasing the rate of adolescent delinquencies in society. The literature emphasizes that the home front is the root cause of juvenile delinquency. In this context, this paper examines the role of the family in adolescent antisocial behaviour and maintains that the family sustains the corrective ability to combat juvenile delinquency. The paper found that divorce, improper use of the internet by juveniles, dysfunctionality in the home, single parenthood, substance abuse, weak parenting, poverty, and constructed realities by the media, amongst others, were examined as the cause of these behaviours. The paper explains the challenges many homes face in raising lawabiding citizens and the aftermath effect of these challenges. However, this could be tackled by developing a child's security, values and skills. Consequentially, the paper recommends families placing more emphasis on meeting the psychological need of the adolescent, family bonding, and cohesion as well as adequate provision for every child by parents and guardians to curb this menace.
Children have been described as man’s most valuable natural resource, without which the human race will be extinct on the death of the last adult; hence, children signify perpetuity of human life on earth . To this end, the interest of the child needs to be protected by law, government, parents and the society at large. It sometimes happen however that the role of protecting the child may be neglected by one or all of the stakeholders which further leads to the child coming in conflict with the law, hence the phrase “juvenile delinquent”. These delinquents are usually made to face designated laws by being charged to juvenile courts, tried and sometimes remanded in homes such as the borstal homes. The concern of this study is to unearth the dynamics involved in running the affairs of the juvenile justice system in Nigeria with reference to the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centres Act. This study examines the history, structure as well as practice and procedure of the justice system in Nigeria; juvenile and delinquencies, as well as juvenile justice system in Nigeria through the mirror of stakeholders in the juvenile justice system in Nigeria. It also discusses the full appraisal of the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centres Act; history of juvenile correctional institutions in Nigeria and an example from one of the Borstal Homes in Nigeria today. In order to get an international view point on juvenile justice, Borstal institutions in Nigeria were considered viz-a-viz universal standards and principles in various international conventions serving the interest of the child. There is also an attempt to comparatively analyse the Borstal institutions in Nigeria and selected jurisdictions (Ghana and United States of America) which further helped to identify the challenges bedevilling the Nigerian system with a view to proffering credible recommendations. In all, finding improvements to juvenile justice administration in Nigeria is paramount in this study.
“Analysis of Juvenile Deliquency in Nigeria and India in a Comparative Perspective”
2018
Many children in Nigeria face a life of poverty, family instability, inadequate educational opportunities and poor physical and mental health which hinder their ability to develop into healthy adults, live an improved quality of life or fulfil their life aspirations. These factors have also been associated with juvenile delinquency and need for institutional care.