An Analysis of the Offences Committed by Youths in Selected Remand Homes in South West Nigeria, Implication for School Administrators

Abstract

This study analysed the offences committed by youths who are in remand homes in the South West zone Prison arrangement
in Nigeria and its implication for school administrators. The analyses are based on the type of offence, the seriousness the
society attached to the prevalence of the offences and the causes of the offences. The South-West Prison arrangement for
juvenile offenders in Nigeria is made up of Ilorin as the headquarters and all the other remand homes in the six states of the
South West. The prevalence of serious offences among the youths in the Nigerian society today appears to be embarrassing
to parents and educators that solutions via researches are urgently needed. The sample for the study consisted of all the
inmates in the remand homes in Akure (Ondo State), Abeokuta (Ogun State) and Ilorin (Kwara State). All inmates in the
remand homes were selected because their number was few. The total number according to the inmates superintendent was
100 and their ages spread between 10 to 18 years. The Expo-facto research design was used for the study. The research
instrument were structured interview and a recording profoma which were applied to gather data using person to person
contact with researcher and inmate superintendent six research questions were raised for the study. Simple percentage
scores, frequency counts, pictograms and charts was used to analyse the questions. The result from the descriptive analyses
showed that youths commit such offences as stealing, loitering around, burglary and violent behaviour among others. It was
discovered that stealing is the commonest offence committed by youths. Broken homes, poverty, peer influence and lack of
proper monitoring are the causes of these offences. It was recommended that youths should be well catered for and properly
monitored by the parents, teachers and the school. Schools should also make efforts to offer support programmes that can
cater for the needs of youths in their custody. The school system should inculcate right, morals and valves in the young ones.