Relationship Between Juvenile Delinquency and Students’ Perceived Family Social Class in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Kisii County, Kisii Central Sub-County, Getembe Zone, Kenya

Esther Okenyuri Nyarangi, Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology; Rose Otieno, Ph.D., Kisii University; & Peter Onderi, Ph.D., Maseno University

Juvenile delinquency is the practice of engaging in unlawful activities by youth below the legal age of adulthood; it is of critical concern to many governments, communities, and families.   Globally, and even in Kenya, youth are accused of being the major perpetrators of crime and many other acts of violence and the behaviour is on a steady rise.  The youth engage in crimes like drug abuse, suicide, murder, rape and other anti-social behaviours because of, among other reasons, peer group risk-taking behaviour, sensation seeking, age, gender, impulsivity, all leading to destructive life outcomes. The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between juvenile delinquency and students perceived family social class. The study utilised descriptive research design and the sample size of 605 students, three principals, three counselors and nine parents were selected using purposive and simple random sampling.  In this study, juvenile delinquency was measured using Juvenile Delinquency scale developed by Ageton and Elliot (1980) and social class was established by the respondents’ own perception of their families’ economic status. Findings of the study showed that 13.6%, 82.3% and 4.1% of the 610 respondents perceived themselves as of low, middle, and upper classes, respectively. Further, analyses showed that there were no significant differences in juvenile delinquency between low and middle class students (p-value=0.359) but there was significant difference between low and upper class students (p-value=0.006) and, middle and upper classes (p-value=0.012). The results also established that those from the upper social class were more delinquent than those from either the middle or the low class. Focus group discussions indicated that possession of excess money, peer pressure and access to negative information from the media influenced juvenile delinquency. The study recommends that parents of students from the upper class be sensitized on the possible negative impact of the digital gadgets they provide to their children.

Key words: Adolescent, Juvenile, Delinquency, Poverty, Social class