Description
ABSTRACT
The educational process plays a vital role in human development, cultivating a better future from childhood. The topic of juvenile delinquency, which is on the rise, is one of the difficult issues attracting the attention of many psychologists and educators. Young criminals are not stereotyped to be bad members of society, and the impact of child and adolescent education may contribute to their misbehavior. Juvenile delinquents’ education since childhood, such as family and school education, affects their behavioral changes and individual values as they mature. Varied social changes and surroundings impact the rate of juvenile delinquents. This study explores the influence of child and adolescent education on juvenile delinquency in three aspects: the effect of family education, school education, and social environment. A qualified family education,such as educational levels,familial environment, and neighborhood environment, shapes children’s good values from a young age, preventing the occurrence of juvenile delinquency. School education equipped with moral education courses, positive teacher-student relationships in school, and a democratic learning environment creates a better curriculum to educate children and adolescents to step into society,lowering the risk of juvenile delinquency.Children’s development and behaviors are also influenced by social surroundings,including social insecurity,historical and cultural context, and child socialization. In addition to corrective measures and evidence-based practices in juvenile detention facilities, additional steps, like mandating more effective transition planning, are necessary and urgent. These include aftercare to give them access to basic education or employment opportunities after release,assisting them in better reintegrating into society and making their contributions. A successful reentry into the community requires an effective transition procedure and high-quality support services.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
APPROVAL PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
- INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
- Statement of the problem
- Aim and objectives of the study
- Significance of the study
- Research questions
- Scope and Limitation of the study
- Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Review Of Juvenile Delinquency
2.2 Juvenile delinquency in schools
2.3 The Influence of Family Education on Juvenile Delinquency
2.4 The Impact of Familial Environment
2.5 The Role of the Neighborhood Environment
- The Influence of School Education on Juvenile Delinquency
- The Impact of Teacher-student Relationships in School Education
- A Culture of Equality and Democracy in Classrooms
2.9 The Influence of the Social Environment of Childhood on Juvenile Delinquency
2.10 The Impact of Child Socialization
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 INTRODUCTION
3.1 Research design
3.2 Data collection
3.3 Population of the study
3.4 Sample and Sampling techniques
3.5 Data analysis
3.5 Validity and reliability
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 RESEARCH FINDINGS: DATA ANALYSES AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Data Analyses
4.3 Interpretation of findings
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
- Conclusions
- Recommendation
References
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
In Walter Pescaru’s “Teaching Against Idiocy,” he illustrates that everyone is born with “idiocy,” and an education process with a democratic and equal atmosphere could help develop “public-minded citizens” in society (Parker, 2015). People in a community should take responsibility for what they have done illegally. According to the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Code, juvenile delinquency commits a“federal criminal violation”before their 18th birthday(Buchanan, 2020).People committing crimes after the age of 18 are proceeded as”adults.”However,juvenile crime rates are increasing worldwide,from suicide to mass murder, especially in urban areas (Pescaru, 2020). Different levels of criminal responsibility also vary in countries, meaning the minimum age to be considered a juvenile varies by country. Aside from social condemnation of young criminals’ acts of defiance, it is more meaningful to discover the reasons that caused them to commit a criminal violation in society. Child and adolescent development mainly depends on surroundings,including the external and internal environment. Internal environment mostly means the impact of the familial atmosphere,such as family cohesion,educational level,and economic status.The external environment often considers the outer atmosphere, like schools, curriculums, and neighborhoods.These environmental factors can cultivate children to become well-behaved from a young age,which is also an essential factor that could be applied to prevent juvenile delinquency. However, although so mere search since youth crime is a complicated issue to discover,a requirement of quantitative and longitudinal (at least one year) tracking of juveniles could help systematically collect data from concluding complete research on the relationship among juvenile delinquency and its causes. This study will focus on the examining the impact of education in mitigating juvenile delinquency rates in Bayelsa metropolis.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The extent of juvenile delinquency and crime in Bayelsa metropolis schools, as alluded to earlier on, and the apparent permissiveness of society, were cause for concern for the present researcher, hence this study. According to Heynen (2015), adolescence is a normal, albeit frustrating, but inevitable process of development from puberty to adolescence. Mwangangi (2019) concurs and states that it is a temporary state normally discontinued in adulthood. This latter statement notwithstanding, there is a need to refocus on the problem in Bayelsa metropolis, where the youth consistently misbehave due to numerous factors, some of which are beyond their control, but which have the consequences of undermining the socialising role of the home, in particular, and the school, especially in black township schools.
1.3 Aim and objectives of the study
The aim of the study is to the examine the impact of education in mitigating juvenile delinquency rates in Bayelsa metropolis
1.3.1 Objectives of the study
- Describe the opinions and experiences of teachers on juvenile delinquency in secondary schools;
- Describe the nature, extent and causes of the problem in secondary schools
iii. To make recommendations to deal with antisocial behaviour amongst adolescents
- To contribute to educational research and the development of policies in dealing with the problem in future.
- To describe the extent to which parents, teachers, wider society and policies have caused, prevented and dealt with the problem in secondary schools.
1.4 Significance of the study
The findings of this study could lead to fresh debate among researchers, parents, teachers, socialising agents such as the church, health and social workers, as well as policy-makers in Bayelsa State, about the factors that cause the problem and its escalation. In addition, the aforesaid stakeholders could find common ground in developing intervention strategies to effectively address the problem. Finally, the research could contribute to further research on juvenile delinquency.
1.5 Research questions
This study shall bring answers to the following questions:
- What are the opinions of teachers on juvenile delinquency in secondary schools and their experiences thereof?
- What are the most prominent social and geographical features of adolescents in whom antisocial behaviour manifests?
- How has juvenile offending affected discipline in schools?
- What role does the family play in causing, preventing and dealing with juvenile delinquency?
1.6 Scope and Limitation of the study
The scope of this study covers examining the impact of education in mitigating juvenile delinquency rates in Bayelsa metropolis. The study used mainly the qualitative and combined interpretive-constructivist paradigm which commenced with a quantitative phase. Hence, a mixed method design was implemented.
1.6.1 Limitations
The study was conducted only amongst a limited number of secondary school teachers. Therefore, the findings would not be generalizable to other parts of the country. The key concepts are discussed below and henceforth used thus throughout the study.
1.7 Definition of Terms
The terms described below are universal and together describe the developmental phase; its challenges as well as the needs of young people in transition from childhood to adulthood. Thus, they suit the purpose of the present study on juvenile delinquency in Bayelsa Metropolis. The terms are, namely: adolescence and adolescent/youth; juvenile and delinquency; status offence; and risk factors.
Adolescence and adolescent/youth: “adolescence’’ refers to a stage of development from childhood to adulthood, while in the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Digital Dictionary (MWCDD) (2003), it refers to a period of development “from puberty to maturity terminating legally at the age of majority’’, in which the adolescent is in search of his/her own identity. The concept “adolescent’’ thus refers to one who is in the stage of adolescence. The concept “youth’’ refers to a period in one’s life when one is young.
Juvenile and delinquency: The concept “juvenile” refers to children or young people. However, when they display conduct that is discordant with social norms or the law, they are described as juvenile delinquents. The concept “delinquency” thus refers to the delinquent behaviour. For purposes of this study, the aforementioned definitions of the concept were used throughout the study. Examples of the problem include lying, truancy, sexual licentiousness, teenage pregnancy, bad-mouthing others, cheating, lack of respect, involvement in fights, vandalism, substance abuse, arson, rape, bullying, aggression, theft, violence and gangsterism. This study focused on both the general adolescent antisocial conduct that is characteristic of this stage of development as well as criminal acts that border on the illegal. Numerous media reports have alluded to alarming juvenile criminal acts amongst secondary school learners which the researcher could not ignore.
Status offence: the concept “status offence’’ refers to conduct that is illegal if committed by a child – it is commonly used in reference to a child whose 15 behaviour indicates that he/she needs care and supervision because of poor parental upbringing.
Risk factors: The concept refers to factors within society that have the likelihood of leading to juvenile delinquency, such as family structure, poverty, the economy, population growth and racism (Mwangangi et al, 2018). Due to the various operational definitions of the key concepts in this study, the concept “juvenile”, “adolescent”, and “youth”, on the one hand, and “delinquency”, “misconduct”, “offending” and “antisocial behaviour” on the other, were used interchangeably throughout the study
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings of the study led to two main conclusions, namely: the acquisition of knowledge about juvenile delinquency as both a global and local challenge,as well as the necessary intervention strategies which stakeholders, especially teachers, could use to deal with it.The conclusion is based on the assumption that the problem cannot be adequately addressed without there quisite knowledge of its existence.
Any conceptualization of juvenile delinquency should be preceded by an understanding of theories that explain adolescence.
The findings also led to the conclusion that teachers are no experts in addressing the antisocial behaviour among their learners. However, they have a key role in ensuring that affected learners in their schools receive the necessary intervention and support to curb their wrong behaviour. The latter statement thus purports that preventing and correcting learner misconduct is a collective effort of all stakeholders in school communities.Participants clearly articulated their need for training on how to deal with antisocial behaviour. Most expressed lack of knowledge of intervention strategies either due to their own ignorance or lack of adequate communication of such by the education authorities. Another factor commonly cited and which is connected to interventions is the general lack of basic resources, material or human, in previously disadvantaged schools, which obviously hamper attempts to address the problem at school-level.
The positive roles of mainly parents, various community leaders, and interested groups whom adolescents look up to for guidance, were alluded to and emphasized as a desirable contribution to the normal socialization of school-going adolescents.
The main conclusion made from the findings of the study is that juvenile delinquency at school-level is real, but can be managed by all concerned. Thus, the aim and objectives of the study were met by the empirical research. In addition,there commendations that will be tabled in the ensuing paragraphs are possible interventions that schools and policy-makers could utilise in order to address and de-escalate the problem.
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STUDY
The researcher recognizes the limitations of this study. The findings were based on the empirical study of a single school district with a few participants. Hence, there commendations that follow cannot be generalised to the rest of the schools in the Beyelsa. Future research based on a more representative sample of the school population in the country is necessary.
In the ensuing paragraphs, actionable recommendations are tabulated based on the two conclusions discussed in 5.3 above.
5.2.1 Recommendations for the Educational board
- Any provincial policy meant to enable behavioural change amongst delinquent youth should be based on a national youth policy that prioritises marginalized,vulnerable and disadvantaged youth.
- Desired policy formulations indicated above should be a product of experts from various government departments such as health,social welfare,justice,and correctional services. The voice of teachers, parents and youth should complete the list of stakeholders.
- The local social contexts of youth in Beyelsa as well as the global context of all young people have an effect on how they order their role in society.These contexts should be visited so that young people are accorded the necessary support in embracing their local and global existence and role,respectively.
- The current national Code of Conduct for learners should be revised and embedded in the envisaged policy.Intervention programmes such as mediation, use of guidance counsellors and mentors as well as conflict resolution programmes should be made mandatory for schools.
- The suggested policy should be used as a foundation for the training manuals for the training Erasing the negative effects of the evils of the previous political dispensation on the development of the youth in the state
- In view of the above suggestions, the South African government, through the support of policy-makers, should release funds to manage and correct learner behaviour amongst secondary school adolescents. The envisaged improvement in learner behaviour can be achieved only if sufficient human resources such as psychologists, social workers and guidance counsellors are employed and deployed to affected areas.
- Policy-makers and all stakeholders should appreciate the fact that when learner delinquency and crime within the school environment decreases,teacher, and learner performance in particular, improve.Consequently,future prospects in all spheres of life of youth from marginalized social environments improve for the better.
5.2.2 Recommendations for Gauteng school district offices
- Based on the envisaged policy revisions and implementation discussed in 5.4.1, districts should mediate the relevant policies to school managers,teachers,teacher unions,SGBs,parents,learners and community stakeholders.
- Teachers, who are the focus of this study, should be trained at entry level into the profession, and on an ongoing basis at regular intervals per annum \as shall be determined by the department. Such regular contact with district experts will afford teachers a voice regarding their frustrations and enable them to share ideas and good practices on effective classroom management and discipline.
- This service is to ensure that anti social behaviour amongst learners at risk is prevented and that those already exhibiting the behaviour are offered appropriate support services.
- The subject Life Orientation(LO)should be reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that knowledge and skills imparted to the youth include knowledge and skills on societal norms and values regarding behaviour in order to enhance discipline in schools and the home.
- Districts and all stakeholders should recognize the importance of“education of the whole child” (a fundamental precept of education) by according good moral behaviour the same status as Maths, Science and Accounting. The societal norms and values specified in the Constitution will resemble mere bones without flesh if they cannot be realized through appropriate individual and corporate actions.
5.2.3 Recommendations for future research
- The views of experts such as school psychologists,social workers as well as guidance counsellors would offer a fresh perception on other unknown dimensions of the problem as well as strategies they explore to intervene as well as their level of success. Information regarding the extent to which they share their expertise of learner behaviour with teachers would be much welcomed.
- Informal settlements are becoming a normal demographic feature of Africa’s land scape. Some of the country’s successful young citizens grewup and were educated in squatter areas. It would be interesting to know other factors not yet explored that serve as a buffer against learner misconduct in such residential areas.
- Every year provincial governments pump more money into improving matriculation results in their respective provinces. However, future research could investigate how many resources – monetary, human or otherwise, are allocated towards improving learner behaviour,in particular.
The study was set out to investigate the status of juvenile delinquency amongst secondary school learners in Bayelsa. Through the various chapters, the main aim and objectives of the study were achieved.
It is evident from the study that teachers, in collaboration with parents and the GDE,form the main support structure for learners experiencing behavioural challenges.Hence,their voice should be heeded equally or possibly more,due to their role in locoparentis,especially due to the amount of time some of them spend with learners.
In light of the findings of the study and the voice of teacher-participants, improved learner overall behaviour and the concomitant excellent academic performance are mutually inclusive and both aspects should receive equal attention from all stakeholders.
