CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Crime is an inevitable phenomenon in human existence because human beings are hedonistic in nature (pleasure seeking in nature). The rate at which teenagers and youths in the society commit crime cannot be overemphasized. Crime in schools is one of the most disturbing societal problems in the society today. The crime does not affect only the offender, victim or witness but it affects societal growth and stability at large.
A crime is an act committed or omitted, in violation of a public law, either forbidding or commanding it; a breach or violation of some public right or duty due to whole community, considered as a community. In its social aggregate capacity, as distinguished from a civil injury. (Wilkins v. u. s).
Crime is again defined as an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law, statutory, case law committed without defense or justification and sanctioned by the state as a felony or misdemeanor. (Paul Tappan 1947)
Crime and criminal behavior is hard to define. This is due to the varying norms and ideologies in different societies, what is seen as a crime in a society will be part of the norms of another. A United Nations research institute observed that:
Crime, in the sense of a breach of legal prohibition, is a universal concept, but what actually constitutes a crime and how seriously it should be regarded, varies enormously from
one society to another. Perceptions of crime are not determined by any objective indicator of the degree of injury or damage but by cultural values and power relations.
Various means have been provided to reduce the criminal behaviors amongst youth and various resources have been directed at developing various means of reducing criminal behaviors amongst students. Such means includes payment of fine, community service, rehabilitation, juvenile prison just to mention a few. But these various means have failed in achieving the means for which they were established, they have failed in reducing crimes in the society and also in reducing the high rate of recidivism in the society. The activities of students have long been subject to public concerns such as examination malpractice, physical assault, sexual assault, theft, bullying, and most times students always categorize some crimes as less crimes and this makes them commit some offences as if they were normal, this includes indecent dressing, going late for lectures just to mention a few.
In order to ensure the reduction of criminal behavior in schools, there should be an effective model put in place to ensure the reduction of criminal behaviors in schools. The main focus is to continue the downward trends in the high volume crime and to intervene in the increase of recidivism and effectiveness and efficiency of the intervention in addressing the behavior of the youth and the causes of such behavior and their needs.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The history of criminal behavior in institutions has been seen to have grown over the years. This shows that this area of criminal acts among students have been neglected in that the same
solution have been applied to the increase of these criminal behaviors in students and this has not yielded any positive result over the years.
Some of the problems include;
- Increase in crime rate in the institutions
- There is no standard measure of tackling criminal behaviors among students
- Increase in victimization among students
- Rise of tension among students
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The broad objective of the study is to evaluate the criminal behaviors of students of private institutions and to examine measures of reducing criminal behavior. Specific objectives include:
- To identify the criminal behaviors of students in both Afe Babalola University and Bowen university
- To compare the trend of criminal activities in both institutions
- To compare both institutions students disciplinary committee with the intent of knowing how effective they have been in reducing crime
- To analyze the success that has been achieved in reducing the crime
- To identify the challenges faced in reducing criminal behavior
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- How does criminal behavior affect the institution?
- Can criminal behaviors in private universities be eradicated completely?
- To what extent has the human and material resources directed at reducing crime in institution helped in reducing crime effectively?
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This study shall contribute to the already existing body of study of criminal behavior and serve as reference for further researches on this study. It will contribute to the already existing measures of reducing criminal behaviors in private universities in order to prevent such actions from affecting the offenders, victims, and the institution and to also prevent future recidivism. It will contribute to the efforts directed at curbing criminal behaviors in the private institutions to ensure it does not affect the society at large. It will also contribute to building individual understanding on crime and criminal behavior, why crime and ways of relating with such behavior. This study will basically provide information to private institutions (both students and the authority) and public institution as well as the government on the best way to tackle criminal behavior among students in the society.
SCOPE OF STUDY
This study is designed to study criminal behaviors among students of private universities and how such behaviors affects the victims and the institution at large, also the study will analyze
and compare the way criminal behaviors are been reduced in the institutions. Specifically, this work shall involve studying criminal behaviors of student in private universities though focusing on the criminal behaviors of students in Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State and Bowen University Iwo Osun State to know why they commit crime and to study their various measures of reducing such criminal behaviors.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
During the course of this study some words would be put to use. Below are some words and their definitions;
Crime: This can be defined as an act of commission or omission which is prohibited by criminal
law punishable by fine or imprisonment. Crime is the commission or omission; failure to do ore act of doing any act which is prohibited or required by the criminal code of an organization, institution or a state.
Recidivism: The act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after he or she has either
experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or has been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior.
Victim: An aggrieved or disadvantaged party in a crime. A person who suffers any injury, loss or
damage as a result of a voluntary undertaking.
Delinquent: An act of misconduct by a person under 18.
Deviance: Actions that violate formal and informal cultural norms.
Violence: Action intended to cause destruction, pain or suffering.
Behavior: The way a person acts. The way of life of a person or group of people.
Criminal: A person who is guilty of a crime, notably breaking the law.
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work shall comprise five chapters. Chapter one will be the introduction which deals with the background to the study, statement of research problems, research questions, research hypothesis, objectives of the study, significance of the study, operationalization of concepts, and organization of the study; as dully presented here in this section. Chapter two covers the literature review which consists of the conceptual clarification and theoretical frame work. Chapter three is for the research methodology; Chapter four shall be a presentation, analysis and interpretation of the primary data gathered from the field work. Finally, chapter five shall conclude the research work by providing a research summary, findings, conclusion and recommendation of the study.
CHAPTER TWO
- LITERATURE REVIEW/THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCTION
This chapter which is the literature review will cover the historical background of criminal behavior and explain some theories used in explaining criminal behavior and examine some literature by other researchers of criminal behavior and compare their work to the current research that is being done by this project.
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
The study of crime and criminal behavior is known as criminology. Crime can be defined as an act or omission which harms society and the individuals in it, for which a punishment has been determined by the law and is enforced by the state. Crime can have many impacts including:
- The effect on the victim, their family and friends which can be physical, psychological, financial and emotional
- The effect on the institution
- Cost to the institution, including the cost of administrating the disciplinary process.
Criminal behavior suggests a large number and variety of acts. Andrews and Bonta (1998) suggest that criminal behavior can be explained under four broad definitions of criminal behavior and acts and the behaviors that fit within these broad definitions. These four broad definitions are; legal criminal behavior or actions that are prohibited by the state and punishable under the law, moral criminal behavior which refers to actions that violate the norms of religion and morality and are believed to be punishable by a supreme spiritual being, social criminal behavior
which refers to actions that violate the norms of custom and tradition and are punishable by a community and finally psychological criminal behavior that refers to actions that may be rewarding to the actor but inflict pain or loss on others. Criminal behavior is an antisocial behavior.
A good definition can be seen as: “antisocial acts that place the actor at risk of becoming the focus of the attention of the criminal justice and juvenile professionals (Andrews and Bonta, 1998). It is difficult to define criminal behaviors as ideas of what is considered immoral, unconventional, illegal or antisocial because these factors vary from one place to another.
Delinquency must be distinguished from criminality. Delinquency is defined as behavior that is illegal, immoral or deviant with respect to societal values. Criminality on the other hand is defined as a breaking of existing laws, there is little or no confusion as to what constitutes illegal or legal behaviors. Criminal behavior may be measured by arrests and charges, however not everyone arrested is found guilty; it can also be measured by the amount of convictions and incarcerations; it can also be measured by the amount of self-reported offences. In the study of criminal behavior it is important to study what is known about a person who has been defined as criminals through the criminal justice system. Estimates of actual crime rates are usually obtained from official sources and different sources may produce different estimates. Crime reports generally categorize crimes by type of crime and offender characteristics such as age, gender, race and location. In estimating crime rates it is important to look at the rate of recidivism. Recidivism is the future criminal offences following a previous offence and is defined through new arrests, new charges and new convictions. The best way to predict recidivism is number and type of previous criminal offences, and these rates will vary due to age, gender and type of crime. It includes prior youth or adult offences, charges or and arrests under
the age of 16. Also, offence history is important such as the use of a weapon, an assault on authority, sexual assault and impaired driving in predicting future offences. A risk factor for criminality is anything in a person‟s psychology, developmental or family likelihood that they will become involved in some point in criminal activities. A protective factor is anything in a person‟s biology, psychology, developmental or family history that will decrease the likelihood that they will become involved in criminal activity. Risk factors generally include: lower class of origin, family of origin, poor personal temperament, and lower aptitude, early behavioral histories, poor parenting, school based factors, poor educational/ vocational/ socioeconomic achievement, poor interpersonal relationships, antisocial associates which support crime, antisocial attitudes/ values/ beliefs and feelings and psychopathy. Delinquency also has a relationship to attachment to peers. Brownfield and Thompson (1991) found that boys who had committed delinquent acts were more likely to have friends who had done so as well. This increased when the friends was considered a “best friend”. Also, risk factors can be divided into the various childhoods time periods that they may occur and increase later criminal activity. Patterson, De Baryshe and Ramsey (1989) proposed the Patterson model. Risk factors that may be experienced in early childhood include poor parental discipline and monitoring, poor family environment, coercive parent-child relationships, instability in the family and early childhood conduct problems. Middle childhood risk factors include rejection by normal or conventional peers, and academic failure and underachievement. Late childhood and early adolescence risk factors include a commitment to a deviant peer group. The cycle of violence hypothesis predicts that abusers and victims of violence will become violent offenders. Abused and neglected children are more likely to exhibit delinquent characteristics as well as criminal and violent behavior as adult.
Authors Morley and Hall (2003), who have investigated the genetic influences on criminal behavior, point out three different ways to define antisocial behavior. First is equating it with criminality and delinquency, which both involve engaging in criminal acts. Criminality can lead to arrest, conviction, or incarceration for adults, while delinquency is related to juveniles committing unlawful acts (Rhee & Waldman, 2002). Information can be collected using court and criminal records, as well as self-report surveys to analyze the influences that were present. Secondly, they advise individuals to define antisocial behavior through criteria used to diagnose certain personality disorders. More specifically, they mean those personality disorders, such as Antisocial Personality Disorder, which is associated with an increased risk in criminal activity. A final measure suggested for defining antisocial behavior is by examining personality traits that may be influential in the criminal behavior of individuals. Traits such as aggressiveness and impulsivity are two traits that have been investigated the most (Morley & Hall, 2003).
FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
There are many factors responsible for criminal behavior such as need, self-interest or greed, thrill, peer pressure, addiction or mental illness among them.
Social and Economic Factors
People whom society has disadvantaged may feel no compulsion to follow the law. Poverty may also affect crime; however disadvantages socially and financially do not provide the full explanation for criminal behavior. According to Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, 2005 Sociological Theories “widely diverse, attempt to explain crime in relation to various factors in society such as social class, poverty and social inequality.” Examples of criminal behavior motivated by
sociological factors would be an impoverished individual engaging in criminal behavior to “attain good or social prestige” (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, p 261).
Differential Association Theory
Criminal behavior is learned through social interaction and is a normal adaptation to the environment in which the offender lives. Other theories include anomie theory( the state of normlessness), the subculture theory( that the accepted group to which the criminal belongs share different value systems than that of mainstream) and the gang theory.
Genetic Theories
This theory supports that criminality is genetically determined. Poor diet, mental illness, bad brain chemistry, and even evolutionary rewards for aggressive criminal conduct have been proposed as explanations for crime
Political Motives
It can be observed in people or groups in the society that do not agree with some laws or are publicly displaying opposition to certain government decisions.
Self-Interest or Greed
It may be observed also in the desire to have something without earning it through legitimate means.
TYPES OF CRIME/ CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR Violent Crimes
A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without weapons. They also include both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. The United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) counts five categories of crime as violent crimes: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. According to BJS figures, the rate of violent crime victimization in the United States declined by more than two thirds between the years 1994 and 2009. On September 30, 2009, 7.9% of sentenced prisoners in federal prisons were in for violent crimes; 52.4% of sentenced prisoners in state prisons at yearend 2008 were in for violent crimes; and 21.6% of convicted inmates in jails in 2002 were in for violent crimes.
Sex Crimes
Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes. Someone who commits one is said to be a sex offender. Some sex crimes are crimes of violence that involve sex. Others are violations of social taboos, such as incest, sodomy, indecent exposure or exhibitionism. There is much variation among cultures as to what is considered a crime or not, and in what ways or to what extent crimes are punished.
Property Crimes
Property crime is a category of crime that includes burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property,
and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim. Although robbery involves taking property, it is classified as a violent crime, since force, or threat of force, on an individual is involved. In 2005, only 18% of reported cases of larceny/theft were cleared in the United States.
