Peer Influence and Parenting Style as Correlates of Adolescents’ Delinquent Behaviour among Secondary School Students: Need for School-Based Delinquency Prevention

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency has been on the increase since World War II in industrialized and developed countries as well as developing countries. It has been reported to include a high rate of early school dropouts in both girls and boys, an increase in street children and a high rate of crime, in both towns and rural settings. A study on what precipitates involvement in delinquent behaviour among the juvenile in secondary schools and what prevention strategies could be factored-in to ameliorate/manage this menace warranted a study on Peer influence, parenting style and adolescents’ delinquent behaviour among secondary school students: need for school-based delinquency prevention. Participants included 290 SS II and SS III students, randomly selected from four public Secondary Schools in Awka. They comprised 163 males and 127 females, with ages ranging from 15 to 17 years, with a mean age of 16.22 and a standard deviation of .71. Three standardized instruments were used for data collection, while correlational design and Pearson product-moment correlation analysis were used as the design and statistics for the study, respectively. Result showed that peer influence correlated positively and significantly with adolescents’ delinquent behaviour (290) = .15, p = .01, whereas parenting styles (Demandingness, Responsiveness and Autonomy granting) correlated positively and significantly with adolescents’ delinquent behaviour r (290) = .25, p = .01, r (290) = .29, p = .01 and r (290) = .46, p = .01 respectively. The study recommended the need to develop a curriculum that would be focused on the sensitization of the key players in a child’s life on the effects of poor socialization, violence, drug abuse and substance usage on adolescent behaviour