Factors contributing to external difficulties in the management of juvenile deliquency : a case study of correctional services in the Polokwane management area in Capricon District of Limpopo Province

Abstract

This study investigates the factors contributing to external difficulties in the management o juvenile delinquency. Fourteen million crimes were brought to the attention of police and almost 9 million arrests were Juveniles. The researcher needs to find out why juveniles are still continuing committing crimes and how they can be assisted to curb that situation. The respondents of this study are at Modemolle Correctional Centre which is under the Limpopo\ Mpumalanga\ North West Region and it falls under the management of Polokwane. For this study, the researcher employed mixed methodology where quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used. The researcher used a non-probability sampling and its subtype purposive sampling method to select the respondents of this study. Two instruments to collect data were also used, namely: questionnaires and interviews. When analyzing the data, two types of data analysis were used, for data collected through questionnaire the researcher used statistical analysis (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and for the data collected through interview, the researcher used thematic analysis (Narrative form). The following are the main findings of the study:

• Some of the contributing factors that lead to external difficulties in the management of juvenile delinquency are as follows: environmental factors such as unemployment and poverty, substance abuse, illiteracy, peer pressure, dysfunctional families, family breakdown, boredom, community characteristics and juvenile recidivism. • The researcher also found that the system of three-meal cycle which is practicing in the correctional centre when the juveniles are provided food, when they are out from Correctional centre they thinks about that food and commit crime again. • The researcher also found that the fo11owing can assist to curb juvenile delinquency: creating jobs, crime awareness and alcohol and drug awareness and encouraging youth to go to school. • The juvenile delinquency has the negative impact to the community and it destroys the future of the society.

The following recommendations were made:

• In-service training of all correctional officers should receive top priority. In-service training needs to focus on how correctional officers can manage juvenile delinquency. • Strategies for implementing effective family and parental care should be explored. This should include the way in which parents control their children and providing their needs with the aim of building responsible children. • Employment opportunities should be provided to youth in order to prevent juvenile delinquency. • There should be free education to all younger people to remove them from lingering up and down in the streets. • There should be tough sentences to the people breaks the rule of the Jaw.