Development of Family Therapy and the Treatment of Juvenile Delinquents: A Strategy to Curb Youths Violence in Rural South-South Nigeria

Abstract

The South-South region of Nigeria has of late been a very volatile and insecure region. Incidence of youth’s violence spanning from cultism, militant activities, vandalism, arson, drugs violence etc. has risen to horrifying dimension. Most of these youths were juvenile delinquents who had graduated from mere disorderly conduct to fully grown dangerous youths who had made the streets in the urban centres and rural communities unsafe to dwell and do business. Despite the full scale war declared by the Nigerian security forces against these youths, their population and the frequency of their dangerous actions are still on the rise. This has left the government with the question of ‘what is to be done’ to curb the increasing spate of youths violence in the region. In line with this question, a clinical study has been carried out here to get a clearer picture of the situation in the region. In the face of these crises in the region this paper has come to the conclusion that development of family therapy and the treatment of juvenile delinquents will help to reduce the army of violent youths in the region. This approach will act as a check and subsequently transform such juvenile delinquents into useful youths and on the long run into responsible adults in the society; adults who will not take to criminality. This paper is a product of intense days of field research. Information from primary and secondary sources coupled with the residual knowledge of the researcher in this area made the study a success. Primary data were collected through face-to-face interview with detainees from various police cells across the region and some social workers in government Establishments and Ministries in charge of family and social welfare. The response at all levels was encouraging.