Neighborhood Characteristics in Criminal Offending Among Nigerian Juveniles

Abstract

This study examines neighborhood characteristics as predictive factors in criminal offending. Systematic random sampling was used to select one out of every two adolescents confined for a criminal offense in the study area. Findings revealed that encounters with drug and alcohol had the highest functional coefficients among juvenile residents in a postcrisis part of the town. Neighborhood gang activities had the highest functional coefficients among juvenile residents in medium-density areas. The study concluded that predictive factors in criminal offending differ from one residential area to another. Targeted programs should therefore reflect these differences.

Keywords:

• Crime
• juveniles
• neighborhood
• offending
• urban centers