Adeleke, Ajala Dare <br/><br/>
A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE SURGING SPATE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS / 
AJALA DARE ADELEKE; SUPERVISOR: BILGE ÖNAL DÖLEK 
 - 75 sheets;  31 cm.  Includes CD 
<br/><br/>Thesis (MSc) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Social Work Department 
<br/><br/>Includes bibliography (sheets 67-59) 
<br/><br/> ABSTRACT<br/>Crime is an age long practice that can be traced to the early existence of man. Crime <br/>can be found in every society and when left unchecked, becomes worrisome. Creating <br/>fear in the minds of people and causing untold suffering too. It goes as far as hampering <br/>socio-economic development of countries most especially in developing countries old <br/>as man and it exists in every society irrespective of its level of development. with this <br/>in mind, this study aims at identifying the types of crimes prevalent in Nigeria. The <br/>main results showed various manifestations of crimes such as banditry, kidnapping, <br/>rape, stealing, murder, armed robbery, pilfering, kidnapping, internet scam, and other <br/>social media crimes have risen to high pedigrees of recent among others. The study <br/>expose that in most cases, perpetrators of these crimes are youths. The study seeks to <br/>zoom in on the recent surge in crime rates in Nigeria most especially among youths, <br/>drawing up possible causes of this worrisome trend, pointing the effect this will have <br/>on the Nigerian society and its quest for socio-economic development when left <br/>unchecked and then proffer solutions to this anomaly. Secondary Data was sauced <br/>from literature reviews of scientific journals and reports. While for Primary Data <br/>questionnaires were administered to youths selected from all spheres and works of life <br/>regardless of their level of education and gender. The sample for the study consisted <br/>of youths drawn from all the six (6) Geo-political zones that make up Nigeria to give <br/>a holistic representation of the general public. A total of 1800 questionnaires were <br/>distributed at random to Youths and to elicit information from the residents. It <br/>discovered that unemployment and lack of meaningful empowerment by government, <br/>among others, are responsible for high crime rates among youths. It recommends <br/>urgent efforts on the part of government to gainfully engage unemployed youths for <br/>decent means of livelihood while pointing mostly commensurate penalties and proper <br/>rehabilitation/mentorship to perpetrators of crimes to serve as deterrent to others.<br/>Keywords: Crime, criminal activities, Nigeria youth, society, social worker, <br/>development 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Crime--Nigeria--Dissertations, Academic<br/>Criminals --Nigeria--Dissertations, Academic<br/>Social work--Nigeria--Dissertations, Academic