Factors influencing male delinquents to commit capital offences: a case study of inmates in Kamiti Prison.

Abstract

The problem of insecurity is on the rise in the country. Unfortunately, some of the capital offenses are committed by juveniles. The Government is struggling to deal with the problem by equipping the police with modern weapons, bullet proof jackets and new vehicles but the menace still persists since the factors that1 influence juveniles to commit capital offences are not addressed. The study therefore sought to establish factors that motivate juveniles to commit capital offences and which were delinquents' criminogenic history; dysfunctional families; peer pressure and crime prone neighbourhoods.The research was exploratory which relied on a small sample of respondents and key informants. It was carried out in Kamiti prison purposely sampled for the category of prisoners in Nairobi. A sample of 23 prisoners as well as 5 prison I. officers and 5yrobation officers were drawn. The latter were purposively sampled because of the information they had concerning the study. Data was collected through interviewing respondents and key informants. The data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages from which conclusions were The study findings indicate that majority of the respondents 16 having engaged in petty delinquency which implies that juveniles who engage in petty delinquency are more likely to commit capital offences. The study also found out that 15 (65%) of the respondents lived with single parents of who 12 (~2%) were female indicating that juveniles who live with single and especially female parents are more likely to commit capital offences drawn. Poverty of juveniles' parents/guardians may predispose them to commit capital , offences as indicated by the fact that 18 (78%) of the respondents had their parents J employed as casuals in jobs such as selling curios, manual labour (tilling the land, splitting firewood etc) from which they earned a daily average wage of 80 shillings. Moreover, 21 (91%) of the respondents reported that their parents could not provide them with their basic necessities which led 16 (70%) of them to engage in delinquency for survival hence predisposing them to committing capital offence. Moreover, due to the low economic status of the respondents parents 18 78%L lived in crime prone slums as indicated by the fact that all of them (78%) witnessed crimes being committed in their neighbourhoods. This may have predisposed the juveniles to commit capital offences. Twenty (86.96%) respondents reported weak aren't child attachment which is a prerequisite for proper parental guidance and counseling of juveniles. This may have contributed to inability of parents to guide and counsel the delinquents leading them to delinquency. Although 12 (52%) respondents reported being severely punished by their parents, this,had no impact since most of the day the parents would be out in search of food. This left the juveniles on their own hence may have predisposed them to delinquency in the neighbourhoods. Parental criminality/delinquent siblings is not a major predisposing factor since except for 8 (35%) respondents who had delinquent siblings, the rest 15 (65%) had neither criminal parents nor delinquent siblings. However, peer pressure from delinquent friends may influence juveniles to commit capital offences as indicated by 21 (91.30%) of the respondents who had delinquent friends.