CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOURS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MINNA METROPOLIS: IMPLICATION FOR GUIDANCE

This study investigated the ‘Causes and Effects of Delinquent Behaviour Among Senior Secondary School Students in Minna Metropolis: Implications for Guidance. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study was 49,717 senior secondary students in Bosso and Chanchaga Local Government Areas of Minna Metropolis. A sample size of 381 SS2 students was randomly selected from 10 secondary schools. The schools were selected through stratified random sampling of 5 secondary schools each, from the two Local Government Areas that make up Minna Metropolis. The instrument of the study was self-constructed questionnaire-Causes and Effects of Delinquent Behaviour Among Students (CEDBAS). The instrument was validated and its reliability co-efficient attaches much importance to the participation of the youth in nation building. Okonkwo (2021) ascertained at 0.78.While 5 harmonized objectives and research questions guided this study, only 4 hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significant. This is because the response to the effects of delinquent behaviour did not yield itself to hypothetical testing. The findings of the study revealed that socio-economic status of parents, poor parental upbringing, inadequate educational facilities in schools, modern-day media and technological advancement are associated factors causing delinquent behaviour among secondary school students. A F-value cal.= 8.49 < F-value crit. = 3.01 indicated that there is a significant difference in delinquent behaviour of secondary school students based on the socio-economic status of parent. Therefore null hypothesis one was rejected. Respondents from lowest monthly income exhibited most delinquent behaviour than the other two groups. Correlation r = 0.472 p < 0.05 for parental upbringing; Correlation r = 0.119 p < 0.05 for inadequate educational facilities; and Correlation r = 0.290 p < 0.05 for modern-day media and technological advancement are good indicators that there is a significant relationship between each of these factors and delinquent behaviour among students. Therefore, null hypotheses two, three and four were rejected. The major effect of delinquent behaviour according to the respondents was it leads to drop-out from school. Secondly, delinquent behaviour leads to social unrest in the society. Based on these findings, the researcher therefore recommended among others that, parents should looks inwards to their primary responsibility of raising up children who are responsible and responsive to the acceptable norms and practices of the larger society.