Introduction

This is an article review on journal article written by Bimal Kanta Nayak. The title of the
article is: - Juvenile Delinquency: Its Magnitude and Impact at Gondar Town in Ethiopia. 1
Generally, the author has assessed the major determinant factors of juvenile delinquency
among prison inmates of Gondar correctional institution in Ethiopia

Summary

The author in this article tries to reveal the major determinant factors of juvenile delinquency
in Gondar town, Ethiopia. He has done the research to achieve certain objectives these are: -

I. To assess the major determinants factors of juvenile delinquency in Gondar town.

II. To estimate the common crimes among juvenile delinquency.

III. To study socio-economic status of juvenile delinquents.

IV. To identify the background of juvenile delinquents in Gondar town.

The populations for the study are all inmates of Juvenile delinquents in Gondar town
Correctional and rehabilitation centers.

The paper begins by defining the term juvenile delinquency. The term juvenile delinquency
refers to the criminal acts performed by juveniles or the youths, thus calling them juvenile
delinquents. It is also the legal term for criminal behavior carried out by minors recognized
for having problematic behaviour.

The paper argues various situations are making juveniles vulnerable to commit various
offences and delinquencies in cities and towns of Ethiopia. It has concluded that young
people who are living in difficult circumstances are at higher risk of committing delinquency
often. Among these difficult circumstances, poverty, breakdown of the family as a result of
divorce and death, abusive situations in the home, parental alcoholism and overcrowding
family are among the causes for juveniles to fall into delinquency. The author also considers
urbanization as cause of juvenile delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is not a new

1
‘ Bimal Kanta Nayak, ‘Juvenile Delinquency: Its Magnitude and Impact at Gondar Town in Ethiopia’ (2013)
International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research, 14
phenomenon but urban growth has made it worse by changing the structure of the society.
Drug abuse is the other cause of juvenile delinquency.

Critical Analysis

The central argument the author advances is with regard to the causes of juvenile delinquency
in Gondar town and, he has considered family size, level of education and rural urban
distinctions as a main determinant to juvenile delinquency in Gondar town. He argues that
Juveniles who were from large sized /or disintegrated family commit more criminal act than
smaller sized and healthy family. The analysis also shows that less educated adolescents more
prone to juvenile delinquency in the locality. He also argues that juveniles who come from
rural area and who had poor family background are more like to commit different crimes in
adolescence period. The paper has tried to show comprehensively the determinant factors to
juvenile delinquency. Yet, the paper has the following draw backs:-

1. The title doesn't explain the content of the article

The title of the article and the issues the paper discuss are not the same. Someone who sees
the article's title may get the impression that this article is about the magnitude and impact of
juvenile delinquency in Gondar town, but the critical examination of the paper makes
someone clear that the paper doesn't address the magnitude and impact of juvenile
delinquency in Gondar town. Rather the article thoroughly discusses the causes of juvenile
delinquency in the Gondar correctional facility. In our opinion title of the article has used the
words magnitude, impact and the phrase Gonder town erroneously. Firstly, the word
magnitude denotes size, scale or extent of something. The title of paper misleads readers to
believe that the article shows size, scale, degree or extent of juvenile delinquency in Gonder
town, nonetheless the article does not assess even mention the level, extent or degree of
juvenile delinquency in Gonder town. Secondly, the word impact is also inserted in the title
wrongly, because if the article is meant to assess the impact of juvenile delinquency in
Gonder town it should have assessed the influence or effect of JD in the town, however the
paper does not concern itself with this issue, therefore this word is also misleading. And
finally, title of the article has used the phrase “Gonder town”. In our opinion this is wrongly
placed phrase because the study population are inmates of Gonder town correctional
institution not the population of Gonder town, so it’s not logical to imply the findings are
expressions of Gonder town. The other issue related to this is the articles presumption that the
prisoners are only from Gonder town, in reality the inmates may come from every corner of
Gonder zone. Therefore, it is our opinion that the title should be reframed in this way; causes
of juvenile delinquency: the case of Gondar Town correctional center.

2. The use of old statistics

The author puts unemployment as the cause of juvenile delinquency in Ethiopia, yet he tries
to explain the unemployment rate in Ethiopia by using statistics from the early 1970s. This is
important because it is generally believed that current issues should be accompanied by
current data.

Strength

The article is easy to understand, the articulation is nice. The Author has used good language
and grammar. Most of all, the article has tried to discuss the relationship between juvenile
delinquency and many other variables. It allows readers to get a glimpse of the relationship
between the variables.

Conclusion

Author of the article assessed the causes of juvenile delinquency by using the case of Gondar
correctional facility. He has distributed and collected information from delinquents in the
institution and conclude that juvenile delinquents from large sized /or disintegrated family
commit more criminal act than smaller sized and healthy family. The analysis also shows that
less educated adolescents more prone to juvenile delinquency in the locality. He also argues
that juveniles who come from rural area and who had poor family background are more likely
to commit different crimes in adolescence period. Other causes include poverty,
unemployment, and immigration considered as the main causes of juvenile delinquency in
Gondar town.

The Author gives five recommendations to reduce the problem of juvenile delinquency

1. The government and the society must properly socialized children in order to make fruitful
citizens.

2. The government should emphasize the function of Medias and should control illegitimate
video house.

3. The government should established remand home for juvenile delinquents.

4. The city municipality should give greater emphasis for those individual who have
willingness to invest on recreational center.

5. To reduce rural –urban migration of juvenile it’s important to increase the income of rural
people.