| dc.description.abstract | Juvenile delinquency is on the increase in Kenya, especially as the number of
juvenile delinquents increase in Nairobi.
This study is a comprehensive study on the juvenile delinquents to find out what
factors drive them to commit delinquent acts.
The researcher visited four instutitional homes where the juvenile delinquents
are commited and administered questionnaires to them. The researcher also
got the views of the social workers as to the main factors causing juvenile
delinquency.
The thesis comes up with suggestions as to how to control the problem of
juvenile delinquency, through working with the parents of such children as well
as with the children themselves.
The interactions, between juvenile delinquency and the cultural socio-economic
factors in this study is explained within. the context of the subculture theory.
. . The study used various techniques in the collection of the data. These included
the use of standard questionnaires which were administered to 126 randomly
sampled respondents, non-participant observation and documentary sources.
The analysis of the data shows that the deprivation of material needs i.e. food,
clothes, shelter, school enrolment and poverty are the major causes of juvenile
delinquency, however parental neglect also contributes to the children
associating with delinquent peers hence causing delinquency.
The findings further point out that most of these-delinquents come from single
headed households (usually female). Most of these household heads are
engaged in small scale business, which keeps them away from their children for
long hours, hence the children either fend or cook for themselves.
The study also indicates that most of the children dropped out of lower primary,
due to lack of money to pay for the school requirements. Thus being idle they
roam about in town and at time engage in delinquent activities.
The slum environment has also emerged as an environment where the juveniles
copy the criminal activities, which they observe around them.
In the conclusion, it is the recommendation of the study that improving the
socia-economic status of the parents of these juveniles will go a long way in
decreasing the incidences of delinquency, and also that there should be, a
return to culture drive, because cultural control would help to reduce instances
of children lacking parental care and control. | en |
