A differential analysis of contributing factors to Juvenile delinquency in Busia township location, Busia county, Kenya

Abstract

The term juvenile delinquency has a very extensive meaning and includes rebellious and hostile behavior of children and adolescents and their attitude of indifference towards society. Juvenile delinquency is a problem that only affects not just one particular society; delinquent youth can be found around the globe. Throughout the nineteenth century, moralists and critics warned that newspapers were the cause of juvenile crime. In the 1920s, scholars were alarmed at what they saw as rampant sex, violence and general lawlessness on the movie screen. Most studies carried out on delinquency in Kenya have focused only on adults and crime. Not much attention has been given to juveniles. The study investigated factors that explain the predominance of juvenile delinquency in Busia Township location. The main objective of the study was to analyze contributing factors that explain the high levels of juvenile delinquency in Busia Township location. Specific objectives of the study were; to explore the relationship between socio-economic status of parents and their children's delinquent behavior, to asses the effect of household types on delinquency rates amongst juveniles and to analyze the influence gender of a child has on becoming delinquent among the juveniles. The study adopted a cross - sectional descriptive research design that enables the researcher to use a variety of data collection techniques to gather information that describes existing phenomena. The target population of the study comprised of households with children between the ages of fifteen and eighteen and two penal institutions. The study population constituted a total of 7133 households. Simple random sampling was used to select sample of 400 households from the target population. A total of 400 delinquent children from 400 different families participated in the study. Data collection methods used include; observation, focus group discussion, interview schedules and questionnaires. The data collected was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Qualitative data analysis involved identification, examination, and interpretation of patterns and themes in the textual data. Quantitative data was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics such as the mean, a measure of central tendency, and a measure of spread. Results of the study revealed that majority of parents are farmers (40%) or have lowest paying jobs (24.4%). Majority of juveniles are enrolled in school (82.8%), 82.1% were in day schools. There was a relationship between socioeconomic factors and delinquency rate, most respondents engaged in fishing 36.6% as a source of income hence were low income earners. Amongst those who engaged in stealing 67.5% were from male headed families while 32.5% were from female headed. 6.9% of lone children engaged in stealing, 4.5% were involved in drug and substance abuse. Those who were 2-5 in the family 62.9% engaged in stealing while 64.5% on drug and substance abuse. 6 and above in a family 30.2% engaged in stealing while 31% were involved in drug and substance abuse. In terms of sequence of birth 20.4% first born were involved in stealing, 34.2% in drug and substance abuse. 50% of middle children were involved in theft cases while 47% in drug and substance abuse. 29% of last born were involved in theft cases while 18.4% were engaged in drug abuse. Middle children (49.0%) were found to be more delinquent. 63.2% males were involved in theft cases with 36.8% females engaging in the same. In terms of drug and substance abuse 62.2% were males and 33.8% were females. Therefore male children were likely to involve in delinquent behavior than female children. In conclusion, families with low income had the highest rates of delinquency. Majority of household were male headed. The available data showed that delinquency and crime had strong gender association. The government should therefore organize rehabilitation programmes for them or create employment opportunities for the jobless. Family planning methods awareness creation should be encouraged to regulate the number of children in every family. Policies such as free primary and secondary education should be fully implemented to ensure all children regardless of sex.