Youth In Crime

Various observations indicate that most of the youth are in crime because of poverty, which drove them into criminal acts for survival (Prior & Paris, 2005). At Y.C.T.C, the study revealed that over 70%; more than 40 out of 55 of the inmates were poor or came from poor family backgrounds based on where they lived, property ownership and the types of offences committed. For instance, some boys indicate that they had run from home to beg for survival in the streets because they lacked basic needs. In those streets they later committed crimes to survive, they were involved in petty offences like stealing goods or properties whose value were less than Kshs 500. As poverty dictates which social class an individual belongs to, it was observed that

There were some youth who claimed to have committed criminal activities under the influence of traditional liquor and bhang. This confirms Dentler (1967) assertion that addiction to narcotics destroys the moral fibre of the addict; therefore, their character deteriorates and habits become evil. Makhoha (2008) in a study on the factors that influence male delinquents to commit capital offences among Kamiti inmates established that drugs were one of the factors. The cases of unrest in schools and colleges have also been attributed to drug abuse where bhang smoking is

These scholars observe that this is due to faulty upbringing by parents or guardians at critical stages of infant development because of the presence of several siblings. This observation was also established by this study. Out of the 55 randomly sampled young offenders 32; (58%) were from families where they have six siblings and above. Eckersley & Dear (2002) conclude that other than break up of families, individualism and rapid technological development are factors that cause crime among the youth. Finally, some crimes committed by the youth are out of excitement games not related to constructive