Impact of juvenile delinquency on pupils' behaviour in secondary schools: A case of four selected schools in the Lusaka district of Zambia

Impact of juvenile delinquency on pupils' behaviour in secondary schools: A case of four selected schools in the Lusaka district of Zambia

Master of Education (Religious Studies)

This study aimed at investigating the impact of delinquency on pupils’ behavior in secondary schools. Attention was drawn to understanding factors leading to juvenile delinquency; delinquent acts committed by delinquent pupils; assessment of measures that are already in place to curb delinquent behavior and the need for what should be done to curb delinquency in secondary schools.

Research has revealed that juvenile delinquency is real and a generational challenge. This claim has been indirectly supported by Harrison and Aeschliman(1993:57) who say “Each generation writes its own story, determines its own destiny. (And) every generation faces two competing temptations. The first is to live a life measured by comfort and personal gratification. This lifestyle is marked by a calculated coldness -an ability to shut out the cries of society in order to pursue personal satisfaction.”
The research sought to investigate the reality of the impact of delinquency on pupils' behavior using a sample survey carried out in the following four selected schools: David Kaunda Technical High Boarding Secondary School; Munali Boys Secondary School; Munali Girls Secondary School and Kapwelyomba Basic School; and from community members in the following selected areas:

Jesmondine, Marshlands, Chudleigh, Kaunda Square stages 1 and 2, PHI, Mtendere, Burma, Kabwata, Obama, Chelston, and Avondale and from the Drug Enforcement Commission(DEC) in Lusaka District.
A total of 500 respondents were divided as follows: 40 teachers, 340 pupils, and 120 community members, using the random technique during questionnaire distribution were targeted to participate in this study. The findings revealed that delinquent behavior is real in secondary schools and that it is negatively impacting pupils’ behavior. It was discovered that the factors leading to it are classified into four factors namely: personal factors, social factors, psychological factors, and academic factors.

The problem stemmed from the fact that delinquency has continued to impact pupils' behavior in secondary schools, despite the measures put in place to curb it. The vice is not decreasing thereby demanding that the problem becomes one of the Zambian government’s policy priorities, though it requires all of us to participate. Schools should be places of equipment.

Transformation, and development through learning and not places of learning anti-social behavior and involvement in criminal activities as is the case in some schools today. Having assessed existing measures by schools, and the government through LEAs to minimize or stop delinquency in schools, the research, therefore, proposed to add more strict measures to those already in place.

Finally, using the qualitative method, guided by the ‘Case Study’ approach to undertake this research, it was discovered that delinquent behavior in schools is on the increase. Therefore, the research brought out the need to understand that if juvenile delinquency is not attended to with the urgency it deserves; Zambia’s future generation will be dented with morally and criminally minded young citizenry, posing a danger to the country’s future. This, therefore, calls for concerted efforts by all of us to fight delinquency in secondary schools.

Kingsley Munsanje

Submitted to Justo Mwale University

2020

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Devison T. Banda

All Right Reserved. Justo Mwale University

Physical Medium

English

Impact of juvenile delinquency on pupils ‘behavior in secondary schools