ABSTRACT

Criminal activities among youth  is seen as one of the menace that destroys life and property in our society today. Because of the nature of crime committed by juvenile parents, guidance, sponsors and well wishers are worried and disturbed about our future leaders. Crime associated with juvenile include: rape, stealing, kleptomanism, burglary, disobedience, homicide, truancy, vandalization and robbery etc. therefore, this study seeks to look at the nature and consequences of juvenile delinquency. The objective of this study aims at finding out why juvenile engage in delinquent act, why juvenile offenders continue in crime after being punished or sanctioned, what Nigeria government needs to do inorder to improve or educate juvenile about crime and the negative impact of crime on individual and society at large. However, the expected outcome of this study is that to reduce or eradicate  criminal activities among youth,  in our society government and voluntary organization should be involved in the following ways: Government should provide employment opportunities for youths, greater thought should be given to setting up more amenities in the rural areas, stoppage of pornographic films and some American films, where our youths learns techniques in stealing and destroying properties, parents should adopt method of positive and negative reinforcement and government should educate or enlightening parent on the effects of unmet needs like starvation (food), parental care and affection etc. on their children to enable them (parents) make adjustment.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The persistence and rise of crime continues to damage the social fabric of the society especially in the country’s’ urban areas. Crime is not a new phenomenon both locally and internationally but the intensity and nature of crime is different within different borders. Crime also does not distinguish between the developed and developing countries such as Kenya which continue to grapple with the effects of increased incidences of criminal activities in its urban areas.

An emerging trend of crime in the urban areas reflects an increase in youth participation in violent criminal activities which has been associated with the rising unemployment rates among the youth which is far more explicit in urban areas. Onoge (1988) in Adebayo (2013) perceives crime as dysfunctional as it threatens the stability of society and it is therefore, a social problem that requires a concerted effort towards finding a lasting solution to it. It undermines the social fabric by eroding the sense of safety and security

Discourse for crime has taken various dimensions according to different theorists and scholars. Some blame it on defective family structure or arrested personality adjustment. Others emphasize factors such as inequality, environmental influence, poor socialization process (Henslin,2006). In this regards, criminal acts may be induced by many unforeseen factors and circumstances.

Crime, according to Taylor (2006) could be seen as a fault of the social system whose institutions do not work equally for all its members. Sociologists look at the social in which individuals find themselves. Could it be that the problem lay not with the individual but in the social condition under which the individual live? The concern here is why people should exhibit behavior that is in violation of established norms, violations that may ultimately result in their being labeled as criminal behavior in terms of social processes.