Family environments and delinquent behaviour: implications for delinquency prevention efforts

Abstract

The major hypothesis tested in this study was whether a significant relationship exists between specific family environments and the level of delinquent behaviour of ad olescents. Most of the studies on Juvenile delinquent behaviour have tended to use officially termed delinquents as their respondents. By using such respondents, these studies have not drawn their samples from representative portions of ,the juvenile population. In order to overcome this, the present study drew its respondents from a section of the juvenile population without regard to their known or unknown delinquent behaviour tendencies. The research design involved a survey of a sample of form I students selected randomly from six secondary schools in Nyeri district of Central Province of Kenya. The schools were themselves selected randomly to include three for boys and three for girls. The survey was undertaken in such a manner that its findings would add to the efforts being made to prevent adolescents in engaging in delinquent behaviour. The basic tools for data collection were a self-adminstered questionnaire,completed by the respondents, and unstructured questions for the headteachers and staff, and available data. The major findings of the study were that adolescents in secondary schools do engage in juvenile delinquent behaviour, and that the family environments which these children come from, as measured by family size, family stability, level of education attained by the parents, the socio economic status of the family, the frequency of visits by absent parents, and the religious commitment of the family, predispose these children towards juvenile delinquent behaviour. As anticipated in the three theoretical approches which formed the framework for this study, the process of socialization is crucial to the formation of proper and socially adjusted personalities. Inadequate socialization was found to be a major reason why these children engaged in delinquent behaviour. Those children who had engaged in a high level of delinquent behaviour came from large families, from fprr1liies in which the parents had attained a low level of education, from low socio-economic status families, from families in which parents rarely vis1ted their children, and from families which had a low level of religious commitment. It was concluded that a relationship does exist between these family environments and the delinquent behaviour of the children. This relationship has two major implications towards juvenile delinquency prevention efforts. These are: (1) That there is a need to look at delinient behaviour from a wider perspective than is presently the case. This wider perspective should include offering guidance and counselling to the family since it is the first agent of socialization. This is in view of the fact that most children engage in delinquent behaviour due to inadequate socialization. Yet, at present, treatment is only offered to the delinquent children. (2) That the study of delinquency should not confine itself to dealing with only officially known delinquents. It should draw samples fyem the entire juvenile pppulation. This is in view of the fact that a lot of delinquency goes undetected.