CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the study

According to Snyder, (2013) Youth rate for violent crime began increasing in the late 1980s, after more than a decade of relative stability, Youth arrest the rate of violent youth crime as it was rose between 1988 and 1994 (Snyder, 2013). Youth Crime is noted to be an intractable problem worldwide and has been increasing phenomenally by as much as 30 percent since the 1990s (Sickmund, 2013).  However, Snyder further said that if the trends continue as they have over the past 10 years, the number of Youth arrests for violent crimes will triple by the year 2025. Although the number of arrests for violent crimes increased and data also show that teenagers are responsible for the most violent crimes. In some years back, young people accounted for only 45 percent of all arrests for violent crimes. This means that a little less than a fifth of all people entering the justice system on a charge of violent crimes were Youths (Sickmund, 2013). Moreover, antisocial behaviours of teenagers have been posting a lot of problems to the wellbeing of the people and society in Nigeria and Youth crime witnessed in Nigeria include: drug cruelty, cultism, harrying or bullying, malingering, examination derelictions, prostitution and theft (Snyder, 2013).

However, Immarigeon, (2014) opined that Youth Crime is an illegal acts, be it criminal or status offence committed by young people under the age of 18 (eighteen).  On the other hand, violence committed by minors is increasing, adults were responsible for 55 percent of the increase in violent crimes from 2010 to 2020 (Snyder, Sickmund, & Poe-Yamagata, 2013). Obviously something is happening in today's society, though more and more Youths of commit crimes. Sometimes a researcher needs to get to what he or she thinks is the root of the problem to understand what causes some issues. What causes a Youth to become a criminal and what makes the Youth so easily gravitate towards this lifestyle. This study explores how family life affects Youth Crime. Teenagers are more likely to become Youth delinquents where few families provided in structure (Amato, 2015).

Moreover, there are several influential variables; these categories are family functioning, the impact of the disruption of the family, both parents and against single parents. All these aspects of the family are very crucial for the education of a Youth and could ultimately lead to delinquent behavior if the family does not work "properly." Properly is defined as two parents, without violence, and to communicate openly household (Patterson, 2015). According to Wright and Wright (2015), the family is the foundation of human society. Youths who are rejected by their parents, who grow up in homes with considerable conflicts, or are inadequately supervised, are most at risk of becoming delinquent. However, Immarigeon (2014) said it best when he says that justice can be served better and youth led on track by involving families in cases of Youth Crime. If something was going to play a big role in the crime, it would be a family. Understanding how the family and how the minor in the works of the family to the heart of crime (Immarigeon, 2014). Families are one of the strongest forces of socialization in life. They teach Youths to control the unacceptable behavior to delay delight, and to esteem the rights of others. Conversely, families can teach Youths aggressive behavior, antisocial and violent (Wright & Wright 2015). This statement alone could easily explain how the minor can end up becoming an offender. Wright and Wright (2015) suggest positive parenting in the early years and later in adolescence seem to act as buffers preventing delinquent behavior and help the teenagers involved in this type of behavior to give up crime.

Adolescence is a period of expansion vulnerabilities and opportunities that accompany the social and geographical enlargement exposure to life away from school or family, but it starts with the family. Research indicates that various exposure to violence are important sources of early exits the role of Youths, which means not only a Youth witness violence within the family, but outside as well (Hagan & Foster 2013) . If violence encompasses all environmental aspects of the emotional life of the Youth, he or she is more likely to engage in delinquent activities. A substantial number of teenagers engage in crime.  Antisocial and/or violent behaviors may begin as early as preschool or in the first few grades of elementary school.  Such Youth Crime tends to be impervious to change; for example, the parents disciplining more harshly, repeatedly forecasts ongoing problems during adolescence, as well as adult crime (Prochnow & DeFronzo, 2012).

In the area of family functioning, there is a theory known as the name of the strain theory, which suggests that family environment influences the interpersonal style of a teenager, which in turn influences peer group selection (Cashwell & Vacc, 2011). Peers with a more coercive interpersonal style tend to get involved with each other, and this relationship is assumed to increase the probability of being involved in criminal behavior. Thus the understanding of the nature of relationships within the family, to include family adaptability, cohesion and satisfaction, provide more information to understand the young (Cashwell & Vacc, 2011). The cohesion of the family successfully predicted the frequency of crime for non-traditional families (Matherne & Thomas, 2001). Family behavior, especially parental supervision and discipline, seem to influence the association with deviant peers throughout the period of adolescence (Cashwell & Vacc, 2011). Among the social circumstances that have a hand in determining the future of the individual, it is sufficient for our present purpose to recognize that the family is central (Wright & Wright 2015).

Returning to the issue of supervision, a lack of monitoring is reflected in the parent often do not know where the Youth is that the Youth is with, what the Youth does or when the Youth is at home. Surveillance is becoming increasingly important as Youths enter adolescence and spend less time under the direct supervision of parents or other adults and more time with their peers. Previous research has shown that coercive parenting and lack of parental supervision not only directly contributes to antisocial boys, but also indirectly as seen in contributing to their increased ability to associate with deviant peers, predicts higher levels of crime (Kim, 2013).  The communication also plays an important role in how the family functions. Clark and Shields (2014) indicate that the importance of positive communication for optimum operation of the family has major implications for delinquent behavior. They also found that communication is indeed related to the commission of delinquent behavior and differences are presented in the categories of age, gender, family and marital status.

Gorman-Smith and Tolan (2010) found that parental conflict and parental aggression predicts violent crime; then, lack of maternal affection and paternal crime predicted involvement in property crimes and features suggestive behavior or family values such as family history of criminal behavior, harsh parental discipline, and family antisocial family conflict were among the most consistently linked. In another study conducted by Gorman-Smith and his colleagues, the data show that Youths are more likely to resort to violence if violence in relationships they can share with their families (Gorman-Smith, and al., 2001)