Impact of Parental Consciousness towards Juvenile Delinquency in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The objective of present empirical study was to see an association between parental consciousness and juvenile delinquency in Punjab Province (Pakistan). Five jails (where juvenile delinquents were prisoned) were selected from four major cities (i.e. Multan, Bahawalpur, Lahore and Rawalpindi) of the province through purposive sampling. The primary data was collected from all juvenile delinquents (e.g. 250 out of 260 where 5 respondents disagreed for interview, 5 were not available) aged 11-18 years present in the jails at the time of study through interview schedule. The study proved a majority of the juvenile delinquents had frequent interaction with the deviant peer group due to less consciousness of their parents towards them. Furthermore, the study found that they could neither get even basic needs (e.g. education, pocket money, time, love etc.) nor proper supervision or guidance from their parents. The study also concluded that this least consciousness of parents leads them towards delinquent behavior.