Abstract
Within the framework of the three residential areas, this study investigated the variation in the incidence, causes, and fear of juvenile delinquency in Ijaiye Low Cost Housing Estate, Lagos. Using random systematic sampling 199 copies of a structured questionnaire were distributed in the selected localities in a ratio of 3:2:1 among the three residential densities. An index termed Incidence of Juvenile Delinquency (IJD) was used in measuring the level of occurrence of twenty crime types in the study area. Other indices developed in the study included Causes of Juvenile Delinquency (CJD); Fear of Crime Incidence Index (FDI); Effectiveness of Delinquency Control Measures Index (EDCMI). CJD was used to measure residents’ perceived causes of juvenile delinquency, FDI was developed to investigate residents’ perceived feelings of fear of juvenile delinquency while EDCMI was used to measure the effectiveness of control measures used by adult residents’ in curbing delinquency in their zones. It was observed that smoking (IJD =2.86), cultism (IJD= 0.64) and reckless endangerment (IJD= 0.21) had the highest IJD recorded in high, medium and low density residential area respectively. The observed variation in incidence of juvenile delinquency is significant among the three residential areas in the Estate (F = 516.050, p = 0.000). Influence of peer group and social media each with CJD of 1.23 were perceived as the major causes of delinquency in Ijaiye Low Cost Housing Estate. Adults residents had higher fear of property being destroyed, being attacked early in the morning and at night due to the reduced level of police patrol in the area. The level of fear of delinquency in the high density (FDI = 1.81) was more than twice the level of fear in the study area (FDI = 0.79) while the medium density (FDI = 0.45) had almost four times that of the low density area (FDI = 0.12). The study concluded that the level of incidence and fear of delinquency decreased from the high to the low density area. The study suggests that areas of high incidences and impact should receive greater attention in the provision of any intervention while other areas must not be neglected. DOI : 10.7176/DCS/9-9-05 Publication date :September 30 th 2019
Highlights
The problem of juvenile delinquency is a burning issue of concern all over the world
The pattern of fear of crime events observed in Ijaiye Low Cost Housing Estate was in consonance with the perceived level of incidence of juvenile delinquency
It was observed that smoking, theft and truancy were the prominent delinquencies in the whole study area but smoking, cultism and reckless endangerment were the dominant juvenile delinquencies in the high, medium and low residential density area respectively
Summary
The problem of juvenile delinquency is a burning issue of concern all over the world. Www.iiste.org activity once they enter adulthood and show less pathology than life-course-persistent offenders, they still show more mental health, substance abuse, and finance problems, both in adolescence and adulthood, than those who were never delinquent (Aguilar et al, 2000) It has been established on a broader level that crime as a human activity, though negative occur within the environment, but are influenced and may be compounded by a wide ranging socio-economic and environmental factors, summarized in urban environment (Abodunrin, 2004; Adigun, 2012). Past research efforts by the singular act of concentrating on crime, had first, neglected the younger stage which is juvenile delinquency and largely incapable of suggesting policies that could tackle the problem when it is yet fully blown into crime Given this social malady an early attention would have saved the nation a lot of waste of resources and blessed youthful minds who could have contributed immensely to national development if their antisocial behaviour was effectively curtailed and did not graduated to crime. To this end the study examines the incidence of, and perceived level of fear and residents’ response to juvenile delinquency among the three residential densities in Ijaiye Low Cost Housing Estate, Lagos
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