“It All Has to Do with Poor Parental Care”: Exploring the Predisposing Factors of Juvenile Delinquency in Ghana
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: The upsurge in the rate of juvenile delinquency over the past decades and scanty literature in the area of juvenile delinquency in Ghana necessitated this study. Accordingly, the study employed Travis Hirschi’s social bonding theory to explore the factors that predisposed the inmates of the Ghana Senior Correctional Center to delinquency. A qualitative research design was used and the researchers conducted 20 individual in-depth interviews to collect data from participants. The findings of the study revealed that juveniles at the Senior Correctional Center had weak attachment with parents and caregivers prior to their arrest. Weak parent-child attachment resulted from poor parenting (single parenting, weak socialization, weak supervision, child abuse and neglect and poverty). Additionally, the study found that weak parent-child attachment impacted negatively on the other elements of the social bonding theory (commitment, involvement, and belief). Based on the findings, the researchers suggested the need for the government and other stakeholders to implement strategies aimed at enhancing proper parenting.
Authors: Frank Darkwa Baffour, Adam Abass
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2566380985