1Findings: The population samples for the study revealed the following attributes.

Biosocial Attributes of Juveniles

2Of the population samples 42.28 per cent were boys who were 14 years and below. 56.14 per cent were boys between ages 15 and 17 years. Girls of 14 years and below formed 30.55 per cent (223) while those between 15 and 17 years made up 65.34 per cent (477). Of the total sample of 2,743 interviewees, 2013 were boys while 730 (26.61 %) were girls, (table 2). More boys were found willing to be interviewed than girls (Smah 1995a).

3In Nigeria, and Africa generally, religion plays an important social role in child socialization and stabilization. Through it, young and new members of the society are socialized into an expected role and status. Even in traditional pre-industrial settings, religion was used to inculcate discipline in the child. Severe proscriptions were imposed on such deviant acts as stealing and cheating. The idea of a supreme being who punished offenders served as an important deterrent. This is likely to have been one of the reasons for the level of religious consciousness of the youths in Jos metropolis (table 3). Less than 1 per cent of the girls and 2 per cent of the boys indicated no interest in religion. This is an insignificant percentage of the total number of youths interviewed.

Table 2. Age of juveniles interviewed

Table 3. Religious adherence of juveniles

4The majority of the youths had at least one or two other children staying with them under the supervision of a father (table 4). Earlier research on child psychology, for example, Freud (1933) and Ainsworth (1978), have shown that the early interactions of the child, particularly with his mother, laid the foundation for his later personality and social development. Parents with many children cannot give each child the individual attention he/she may require; and the less the attention given to children by authority figures, especially parents, the higher the chances that such children will become deviant. The quality of the relationship between parents and children determines the posture that children adopt in teenage and adult years. The results of our findings indicated that only 35-36 per cent (970) of the youths in the sample were among the first three children. Table 5 shows that only one out of about 3 (1: 3) boys had any chance of receiving adequate parental attention. The ratio was about the same for the girls.

5Education is an important variable in the development of any society. It is a critical key in the enhancement of the socio-political and economic well-being of individuals. Most of the youths interviewed had, at one time or the other, been in the school system. Table 6 shows that about 5 per cent of the juveniles were primary school drop-outs; another 3.5 per cent had dropped out of secondary school. A large number of juveniles surveyed (335) had completed secondary school education, but did not quality for entrance to any post-secondary or tertiary institution. This explains why they were attending extra-mural classes to pass their qualifying exams.

Table 4. Number of siblings in juvenile’s house

Table 5. Position of juveniles among siblings

6About 6 per cent of the youths had Koranic education, and slightly less than 3 per cent had no education at all. This segment of the youth population was largely involved in moving goods with wheelbarrows or begging on major streets and in public places in the city.

7Even though a good number of the youths, (618) had gained admission into university, the drop-out syndrome is a disruptive factor in youth development and growth. This is largely due to their lack of adequate socialization and education, which has inclined them to deviant behaviour. As a result, many youths dropped out of school, committed deviant acts and were incarcerated in remand homes (Odekunle 1978, Smah 1995a).

Table 6. Qualifications of sampled juveniles

Socio-economic Attributes of Parents/guardians

8Parents’ occupations were categorized into, 5 groups; military, paramilitary; civil service; business; farming; carpentry/ masonry /others (tables 7 and 8).

9Parents in public service jobs often take part in both small-and large-scale businesses, so as to enable them to adequately support their families. Parents/guardians’ inability to provide the basic needs of their children and wards has serious social implications. For example, the school drop-out syndrome, drug abuse, vagrancy, stealing and cheating can result from this problem.

Table 7. Occupation of fathers

10Street trading, opening of shops and the erection of kiosks in front of residential apartments are common activities in present day Jos, in a bid to secure extra finances to meet family needs. The influence of parents on their children and wards is great, and most children tend to be as religious as their parents or guardians. Tables 9 and 10 show that about 30 per cent of fathers and nearly 38 per cent of mothers did not indicate belonging to one religious faith. About 72 per cent of the youths claimed to be Christian, and about 25 per cent Muslim; less than 3 per cent stated that they were African traditionalists and others (table 3). Adherence to religious dogmas has a positive effect on moral and ethical development in African societies. However, the effects of these values are increasingly waning.

Table 8. Occupation of mothers

Table 9. Religious adherence of fathers

Table 10. Religious adherence of mothers

Housing

11Table 11 indicates that about 7 and 8 per cent of boys and girls respectively, lived with their parents in single rooms in tenement buildings. More than 50 per cent of the boys and girls lived with their parents in 3 and 4 room apartments. Since polygamy is higher among the lower income groups, these quarters are generally overcrowded, and this can lead to serious health problems, especially in the dry season. For example, the late arrival of rains in 1995 caused an outbreak of cerebro-spinal meningitis in Jos that resulted in the death of many teenagers and children. In most of these buildings, facilities such as toilets. kitchens and bathrooms are shared among several co-tenants. Shortage of water, the erratic supply of electricity and overcrowding can lead to anti-social behaviour. Overcrowding puts a strain on existing basic amenities and social relationships. This may lead to conflict, violence and child abuse. Children, who due to lack of accommodation, have to be distributed to friends or neighbours away from their parents’ direct supervision, sometimes get into trouble. Clashes between individuals in overcrowded accommodation also lead to children running away from home. Where teenagers spend more time with their peers than with their parents, the probability of them getting involved in drugs, aberrant sexual behaviour and violence is high.

12Approximately 58 per cent of the youths who live with their parents in 3 and 4 room residences have different problems.

13For example, people who rent or own spacious apartments generally have incomes above the average city dweller, and are normally within or above the middle-level civil servant and business class bracket. Since housing is one of the determinants of the socio-economic class of individuals, the high percentage of our sample group who lived in more than 3-roomed apartments indicates that many youths belong to this moderately high socio-economic stratum. The general attitude of the parents towards the upbringing of their children and their wards leaves much to be desired (Smah, 1995a). The parents’ lack of attention breeds indiscipline, incorrigibility, disregard for constituted authority and the rights of others.

Table 11. Type of parents’/guardians’ residential quarters/apartments

14Housing problems affect women differently. Smah and Dashe (1996) noted that more women stay at home than men. They are, therefore, directly affected by the lack of space and the quality of such space.

15The housing problem in Jos is further complicated by the cost of building new houses. The rocky landscape makes land clearance difficult. The rent of a typical three-bedroomed apartment is between 35 and 50 thousand naira per annum depending on its location, and is higher than in Kaduna and Kano.

16Delinquency and juvenile violence can also be instigated by the marital status of parents/guardians. The incidence of separation and divorce (at 12 per cent) are a matter of serious concern and when widowhood is added a figure of 16.62 per cent emerges for single parent families (table 12).

Table 12. Present marital status of parents/guardians

17Divorce, separation or death of one or both parents disrupts child rearing, particulary as the urban child lives in a small nuclear household, unlike the rural child who lives in family households, where every adult is a father or mother to every child.

18Most of the fathers in this sample (1007) were monogamists; 343 were polygamists, and 2.52 per cent had more than three wives. Less than 15 per cent of the husbands and wive: ; however, lived together (tables 13 and 14). The fact that husbands and wives do not live together impinges on the normal process of socializing children.

Table 13. Number of wives of fathers

Table 14. Fathers living with all their wives together

19It would appear that the perception of youths of multiple-marriages practised in modern industrial societies in Nigeria is limited. About 11 per cent of the youths perceived their fathers to be living with two wives; and about the same percentage believed their fathers had 3 or 4 or more wives. This situation often results in accommodation problems, making parental control ineffective, especially when there are many children.

Table 15. Number of wives who lived with husbands and children

Socio-economic Attributes of Juveniles

20Juveniles are affected by the social, economic and cultural factors in their immediate surroundings and in the wider society. The majority of children (49 per cent of the girls and 48 per cent of the boys) attended government schools. About 12 per cent attended private schools with a secular curriculum and 2 per cent went to private schools with a religious curriculum. Incessant teachers’ strikes, especially in public schools in Nigeria, has meant that the majority of youths are poorly educated.

21Even though public schools were poorly managed and equipped, many people sent their children there because they could not afford the high cost of educating them in private schools. There was a significant drop-out rate among youths (both boys and girls) who worked full time or part time. Some of them were involved in ‘barrowing’ as porters; others hawked goods or begged under the cover of Islam; some served as guides to the blind and invalid adult men and women. These youths were mainly found in the streets and at special ‘joints’ like entrances of supermarkets, road junctions, markets and hospitals. Such places included the Jos Main Market, Ahmadu Bello Way, Bauchi Road and Angwan Rogo.

Table 16. Ownership of schools attended by juveniles

22Shopkeeping was one of the most popular businesses of youths in Jos. Our observations indicated that Yoruba and Ibo businessmen and businesswomen controlled the bulk of both small and large-scale commercial and trading activities. About 17 per cent of our non-student sample were involved in business. Of those who attended school some worked for shopkeepers and in other forms of business at the expense of their education. The legal right of the child to have an education is generally ignored. This also disrupted their social, mental and emotional development.

23When asked about their adolescent sexual associations and relationships, the majority of the boys had more than four sexual partners (table 18). For the girls, 6.44 per cent had only one sexual partner. This figure rose to almost 55 per cent for those with four or more sexual partners. This indicates a very high incidence of sexual activity among the youths in Jos.

Table 17. Nature of the work done by juveniles

24A fairly high incidence of sexual involvement of youths was also recorded in Akinyele and Onifade’s (1996) study of trends in social behaviour among secondary school adolescents in Ibadan. Nigeria. The larger proportion of their sample was composed of university and senior secondary school students, including those who were in extra-mural centres, who were more likely to know about the acquired imuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This may explain the higher number of students who had one sexual partner in the Ibadan study, when compared to that of Jos. This suggests a widespread use of contraceptive devices by youths in Jos (see tables 18 and 19).

Table 18. Number of sexual partners for adolescents in selected secondary schools in Ibadan

Table 19. Number of sexual partners among juveniles

25Both boys and girls in our sample had a high rate of promiscuity when compared to boys and girls (12 % and 20 %) in mixed schools and all-boys’ schools respectively in Ibadan. The consequences of this prevailing impropriety among the youth are diverse. These include the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, child abandonment and child abuse.

26Interestingly, it was discovered that most of the sample survey (almost 48 per cent) lived with their own parents – either one or both. Approximately 8 per cent of the youth lived with their mothers only; and almost the same percentage lived with their fathers only. A good number of the youths (200) lived entirely with friends (table 20). This indicates a level of child abandonment and child runaways, which also provides fertile ground for delinquency and crime.

27Single parenthood is also becoming more widespread in Jos. Our study indicated that over 15 per cent of youths lived with just one parent, either their father or their mother. This can put enormous financial pressure on the single parent. Parents who are unable to cater for the needs of their children, may find it difficult to control the activities of those children. Some of the youths (5.03 %) depended on the magnanimity of their school teachers for sustenance. The real issue, however, is the quality of the attention that is given to the youths.

Table 20. Persons with whom juveniles live

28The quality of attention accorded the youths in their homes defines, to a large extent, their response to the situation around them. When asked to indicate actions they were compelled to take in times of need, the following responses were recorded (table 21).

Table 21. Multiple choices of juveniles in terms of need/satisfaction

29A significant number of youths were constructively employed, attending classes, assisting with domestic chores, etc. Seven hundred and thirty-three youths (about 13 %) watched films. The mass media is one of the veritable instruments in character or behaviour modification. Thus, the type of films watched or magazines and books read affects the behaviour of individuals considerably. In fact, the choices that people make are largely influenced by the conditions that surround them.

30Table 22 shows the various uses to which youths put their pocket money or wages. Food and dress constitute more than two-thirds of use to which the youth put their income. Slightly over 7 per cent of the youths spent money on cigarettes.

31The bond that exists between young people and significant others defines the extent to which the former conform to either group or societal norms. Generally, youths in Jos have very high (over 80 %) bonding patterns with the significant others made up of parents, teachers and the leaders of groups to which they belong. Both boys (45 per cent) and girls (53 per cent) have a significant bond with their parents. Youth involvement with peer groups constitute about 27 per cent, while those who are in constant contact with their teachers constitute another 7 per cent. Hoffmann (1993) argued that family structures have direct and indirect effects on adolescent drug use.

Table 22. Utilization of pocket money/income by juveniles

Table 23. Assessment of juvenile bonding

32The majority of boys (1634) and girls (638) recognize bad influences (table 24). When youths are conscious of right and wrong, committing an offence will bring a feeling of remorse which can lead them into devising different methods of neutralizing the effects or excusing the offence (Matza, 1964). As table 25 shows, only about 11 per cent of the youths approved of deviant behaviour.

Table 24. Juvenile awareness of the influence of bad friends

33The assessment of how youth spend their time (table 26) indicates that most of them (about 30 %) are full time students. Another major segment of the youth population (26 %) engage in begging. Beggars are common in the Ungwan Rogo ward and along the Bauchi Road and Ahmadu Bello Way. The main market area in Jos is a popular rendezvous for both commercial and scrounging activities.

Table 25. Behaviour of bad friends approved by juveniles

Table 26. Assessment of the main activities of juveniles

34Among the youths who spent their time watching TV or video, most of them preferred the period between 10 P. M. and 12 midnight and beyond. Late night movies often have a high content of overt sex and violence, which could have a negative influence on a young person’s social development. It is not uncommon for youths to watch films till the early hours of the morning.

Table 27. Time preference for watching TV/videos by juveniles

35Table 28 indicates that about 27 per cent of the youths in Jos preferred action-packed films with plenty of violence while 26 per cent preferred comedies. However, there was a sharp contrast in the preference of films between boys and girls. Approximately 29 per cent of boys preferred war films, while 34 per cent of girls chose comedies. However, more girls (16 per cent) preferred detective/blue films than boys (12 per cent). Smah (1995c) observed that boys appeared more prone to violence than girls, which may also reflect their preference for violent films.

36In response to situations of deprivation at school, work or at home (table 29) a small number youths admitted that they had resorted to stealing. More boys were involved in acts of theft than girls, but more girls stole with the intention of disposing of the stolen items. Begging was slightly more common among students, approximately 4 per cent reported to have begged for food or other items from friends.

Table 28. Types of films/videos preferred by juveniles

Table 29. Juvenile response to deprivation

37Although most of the youths surveyed did not admit to being involved in acts of violence, about 82 per cent claimed to have witnessed physical combat (table 31).

38Violence motivated by envy was not very significant; less than one per cent admitted getting into fights due to jealousy.

Table 30. Number of juveniles who had heard about physical combat

Table 31. Number of juveniles who had witnessed physical combat

39About 28 per cent confirmed their involvement in physical combat leading to injury (table 32). The youths were asked why they resorted to physical violence (table 33). Juvenile violence is usually personally motivated; peer pressure was the second most common response. Discussion with staff members and the examination of staff duty books indicated that many students had been influenced by their friends to commit such deviant acts as rape and stealing.

Table 32. Number of juveniles who participated in physical combat involving injuries

Table 33. Who instigated physical combat among juveniles?

40Two other important reasons stated by the respondents for engaging in personal combat included defending the rights of peers (about 7 %), and defending parents/guardians against assault (about 6 %). As shown in table 34, protecting one’s personal ‘estate’ and defending friends and family were the main reasons given for getting involved in fights.

Table 34. Reasons for physical combat by juveniles

41Apart from physical combat involving injuries, youths were asked to indicate whether they had participated in arson, assault. rioting and substance abuse. Table 35 indicates that as high as 13 per cent (boys) and 14 per cent (girls) in Jos have been involved in arson.

42Approximately, 6 per cent of the boys and 4 per cent of the girls interviewed said that they had participated in burning down places of worship over the last six years (table 37). Although over 83 per cent of the sample did not respond to the survey question as to who instigated them to commit these acts of arson, those who did respond almost equally claimed peer pressure, parents and teachers (table 36).

Table 35. Wilful setting of buildings ablaze by juveniles

Table 36. Reasons for juvenile arson

43It is worrying that some teachers have played an influential role in inciting youths to violence. The recent rise in Islamic fundamentalism has led to an increase in the burning of shops/houses and places of worship. For example, on April 12th 1994, shops owned by non Hausa-Fulani in a section of the Jos main market were razed by youths suspected to be Hausa-Fulani. Following that incident, allegedly non Hausa-Fulani youths embarked on the destruction of Gada-Biyu market and Hausa-Fulani places of worship. Interpersonal and institutional conflicts are increasingly taking vengeful and violent patterns.

Table 37. Type of structures burnt by juveniles

44Juveniles also admitted using sharp objects to injure others. Three hundred and thirty-five boys and 142 girls confirmed having used sharp objects on others (table 38). Thieves (7 %), were the main target of attack; followed by school-mates (about 4.5 %) and neighbours in residential areas (less than 4 %). Interpersonal conflicts resulting in violent physical assaults between youths and their parents are low. Less than one per cent of the total sample ever used a sharp object on their parents.

45Quite a sizeable number of students admitted taking part in riots (table 40); approximately 23 per cent of the boys and 27 per cent of the girls.

Table 38. Use of sharp objects by juveniles to inflict injury on others

Table 39. Victims of assault by juveniles

46Approximately 9 per cent of the youths admitted to using intoxicants on a regular basis, and before commiting any deviant act (table 41). The most popular drug was Indian hemp; nearly 38 per cent of the youth admitted to smoking hemp; another 25 per cent said they had used cocaine; and approximately 19 per cent said they drank spirits, or ‘hot’ drinks and another 3 per cent said they drank locally brewed gin. A small number, roughly 11 per cent of the sample, said that they mixed petrol, gamalin 20 and tube solution which they use as a weapon.

Table 40. Juvenile participation in riots

Table 41. Drug use by juveniles

47Although more than 88 per cent of the group did not respond to this question, the 142 (about 5 per cent) who did said that they got their drugs from friends/relations; while 3 per cent said that they procurred the substances themselves (table 42). Approximately another 3 per cent claimed that their teachers supplied them; ten boys said they received intoxicants from their fathers. Eight boys got drugs from their masters or colleagues where they worked.

Table 42. Sources of intoxicants and drugs used by juveniles

48Substance abuse by youths poses serious health and social problems (Smah, 1995c). The use of depressants (alcohol and marijuana), stimulants (cocaine), narcotics and other psychotropic substances affect the biological, physical and social lives of individuals. The extent to which drugs are abused among juveniles is indeed a manifestation of the degree of apathy in the larger society.

49Table 43 indicates how long the youths in the sample survey have been taking drugs and alcohol. Sixty-four youths indicated that they had been using drugs for over six years. Another 181 had been using various intoxicants for one to five years. The majority, however, (243) were fairly new to the drug scene, having used drugs for only one to two months.

Table 43. How long juveniles have been using drugs

50Juvenile violence was mainly carried out by individuals in the company of others (table 44). Less than 5 per cent of youths committed offences alone. Most crimes (about 13 per cent) were committed by gangs of more than three and about 11 per cent involved two or three youths. As such, peers provide a basis for continued reinforcement of violent and delinquent values in what can be termed ‘gang’ culture.

Table 44. Number of juveniles involved in deviant activities

51Statistics from the Jos Police State Headquarters for the years 1987-1995 (table 45) indicate that juvenile delinquency grew from 3.9 per cent in 1987 to 28.83 per cent in 1990, crimes committed by youth decreased in 1989 to 0.3 per cent, and 1991 (10.81 %), while the peak was reached in 1993 (30.63 %). This again dropped to 13.51 per cent in 1994 and 12.01 per cent in 1995. These oscillations notwithstanding, the occurence of economic crimes such as house-breaking and store-breaking was consistent throughout the period under analysis.

Table 45. Patterns and trends of juvenile delinquency (1986-1996)

52In respect of personal crimes (which is our main focus here), an average of 7.75 cases of grievous harm were treated and recorded by the Police in Jos metropolis between 1991 and 1995. An average of 17.57 cases of assault were recorded and treated between 1987 and 1995, while an average of 3.33 cases of fighting without physical violence were recorded in 1991, 1993 and 1994. Cases of interpersonal violence tended to characterize the 1990s more than the 1980s. These trends are not unconnected with the increasing population of the city occasioned by a growth rate of 3.5 per cent and the politically and religiously motivated migrations to Jos in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These factors, however, have resulted in a severe strain on social services and impacted negatively on the Jos urban social life, earlier known for its relative peacefulness.