Open Access Location of Mothers and Child Rearing Practices as a Predictor to Juvenile Delinquency Among Primary School Pupils in Borno State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study surveyed Location of mothers and child rearing practices as a predictor to juvenile delinquency among primary school pupils in Borno state, Nigeria. The differences between child rearing practice among urban and rural mothers and the nature of delinquencies associated with children of mothers from the different locations were determined. The population of the study was all mothers of delinquent primary school pupils in rural and urban areas of Borno State, Nigeria and their delinquent children. Data was collected from eight hundred mothers in both rural and urban areas and the teachers of their delinquent children. Stratified purposive sampling was used to select the sample. Self-made instrument consisting of 55 items questionnaire and 26 items child delinquency rating scale with Alpha reliability index of 0.89 and 0.93 respectively were used to collect data for the study. Descriptive statistic (simple percentage, mean and standard deviation) and standard step wise multiple regression at alpha level of p<0.05 were used to analyze the data. Result indicated that there were differences in child rearing practices of rural and urban mothers and also differences in the juvenile delinquency associated with children of the different location. There is also positive relationship between child rearing and mother‟s location and juvenile delinquency of primary school pupils. It is recommended that Borno State Government should put in place social facilities and security in the rural area as absence of these could result in higher level of physical and social delinquency that is already common among children of the rural women. It is also recommended that a research be further conducted to find out why personal social and physical related delinquency are common among rural children of Borno state, Nigeria.