MUHAMMAD UMER

ROLL NO. # 545253

BS. ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

3RD SEMESTER

ASSIGNMENT:

SOCIOLOGY

SUBMITTED TO:

MAM ASMA ISLAM

GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSITY, FAISALABAD

 YOUTH CRIME IN PAKISTAN

ABSTRACT

In Pakistani society, it has been noted for a long a major downward trend is sighted in the institution
workplace, academic institution, workplace, and religion. Social and economic factors are held
responsible for crime and violence Human beings have probably always been experiencing violence. Its
effects are visible even in a bird’s eye view implicit in varied forms throughout the world. Some causes
of violence are apparent but some have taken their roots in social, cultural, and economic fields of
human life. Violence is the reaction resulting from a variety of situations in young people’s lives and
childhood experiences that bring about disastrous consequences when they reach adulthood or
adolescence, which is a period of quick progress, unpredictability, experimentation and adventure. In
order to find out the causes of youth violence 400 respondents (convicted prisoners between 15 to 20
years old) were randomly selected from the total 1400 prisoners in the Punjab, Pakistan. Bivariate
analysis, Chi-square and Gamma tests were applied. The chi-square and Gamma values of variables age,
education, family size, father income, self-control, self-esteem, life satisfaction, family management,
family practices, parents monitoring, community factor, educational attainment and gang/group
membership factors were associated with dependent variable violent behavior of youth. On the basis of
the result of the study it is recommended to strengthen the family system in the Pakistani society.
Without the strong family system, the desire to overcome youth violence is not fruitful .

KEYWORDS: Male, Youth, Violence, Causes

INTRODUCTION
The developing and developed countries are facing the problem of youth violence and crime. Scholars
warned that America will have to face a storm of “super predators”, raised significantly worst conditions
reach peak, offending ages (Gest and Pope, 1996). The rate of youth violence in America is twice as
compared with other 25 democratic countries (Mendel, 2000). Most of information about the
involvement of young people in crimes in our day-to-day life is provided by the media and spreads the
panics about the rise of violence in youth in shape of youth gangs on offences against girls etc. some of
the present generation believe that the behavior of the young people is worse if compared to those in
the past as we are experiencing a confrontation of a generation that behaves in a very different manner.
The assumption that all the adolescents are the same untouchable or unapproachable is not at all
welcomed or appreciated. Besides that, it is also important not to assume that only a little can be done
for the reduction of youth offending segregated from the harsh responses (Shaw, 2001).
Youth violence is thought to be the only way to command status, respect, and social and personal
requirements like money and knowledge. Violence is also a power. Some youth consider it the only
alternative to power. When there is a limited range of alternatives, no observance of social norms, lack
of discipline, and poor supervision of behaviors violent behavior is found to become rationale. The
rewards with regard to potential are great, and the costs that are perceived are minimized (Elliott, 1994).
According to research, cultural, economic, social institutional, situational psychological, and biological
factors are responsible for developing criminal behavior in individuals Maguire et al. (2002). Data
gathered from 70 countries indicates that half of the men aged between 15-29 years represent firearms
homicide victims.
Pakistan has the largest number of people in history 52 million aged 15-29 years and the groups in the
coming days are considered to be larger. For social, political, and economic development special
attention is being paid to the health and welfare of the youth so that the country becomes strong and
stable (GoP., 2006). Recently, the government of Pakistan is taking a serious interest to reduce youth
crime and violence. Youth violence and crimes in developing countries have increased in general but in
Pakistan and particularly in Punjab, it is noticed more increasing more rapidly.
A reasonable amount of work for the observation of the developmental conditions has been carried out
in Pakistan but lesser consideration has been given to analyzing the matter of youth violence and crimes.
It is evident that youth makes a significant portion of the population of Pakistan, so it is important to
deeply analyze the causes or factors that were accountable for youth violence and crimes in Punjab,
Pakistan.

METHODS
Research methodology is a set of methods that are used to test the research hypothesis, which expressed
the techniques used in research, such as the selection the of population, selection of sample; research
instruments, the method of data collection, and the statistical analysis of the obtained data for
generalizations (Farooq, 2001). A survey was administered to a selected sample from a specific
population of youth who were convicted in prisons. The term ‘survey’ is commonly applied to a research
methodology designed to collect data from a specific population or a sample from that population, and
typically utilizes a questionnaire or an interview as the survey instrument (Robson, 1993). Surveys are
used to obtain data from individuals about themselves, their households or about other factors like
family, school and community. Sample surveys are an important tool for collecting and analyzing
information from selected individuals.
The research was conducted in the selected prisons to gather information about the different causes or
factors associated with male youth (15-29 years) violence and crime in the Punjab-Pakistan. The study
targeted three main age groups:
 Adolescents (15-19 years)
 Youth (20–24 years)
 Adult youth (25–29 years)

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 400 respondents convicted in three central jails and one
Boarstal institute Faisalabad which were selected randomly. The responses of the respondents about
the causes of violence and crimes were recorded on the questionnaires. A well-designed questionnaire
was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Chi-square and Gamma
tests were used to explore the relationship between independent and dependent variables.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

 Socio-Economic Characteristics Age
The global youth population defines young people between 15 and 24 years of age but the National
Youth Policy of Pakistan-2006 defines youth as all Pakistani males and females between the ages within
the range of 15-29. Youth is defined as a “Period of transformation from family-dependent childhood
to independent adulthood and integration in the society as a useful citizen”. Ferrous desires, ingenuity,
and perseverance are the characteristics of this age. It is also under the dominant pressure of aloofness,
unpredictability, and terror. As young men are influenced by various factors, they need social economic,
and practical cooperation. Making general policies or programs for young people aged 15-29 does not
take into account the distinctive needs, experiences, and attitudes defined by the younger age cohort
(Adolescents aged 1519) compared to the elder age cohort (youth 20-24) and older age cohort (Adult
youth 25-29). Almost half (49.5%) of the respondents were in the age group of 15-19 years or in other
words, they were adolescents, 32.5% of respondents were in the age group of 20-24 years, while 18.0%
of respondents were in the age group of 25-29 years. The mean age of the respondents was 23.84 years
with a standard deviation of 3.66 years.
This age is exposed to risk in the whole world. It was seen in different surveys in Jamaica the country’s
homicide rates for 2005 were the highest in the world. Youth aged 16-30 committed 70% of homicides.
There were 78% of cases of shootings, 74% of robberies, and 68% rape. According to a survey of the
Dominican Republic, the present prison population 62% of those who committed homicide were young
men between the ages of 16 and 29. In the earlier six months of 2006 61% of prisoners captured for
homicide were between the ages 16-29 and 70% for robbery ((Procuraduría General de la Republican
Dominican, 2006).

 Education of Respondents
It was hypothesized that low interest in education, poor academic performance, poor standard of
education, and dropping out of school lead to violent behavior and criminal activities (Hawkins et al.,
1998). (29.75%) of the respondents were illiterate. The remaining 70.25% of the respondents were
found to be literate. Out of literate respondents’ 16.25% respondents got education up to the primary
level, 26.25% from sixth class to middle, and 27.75% from ninth to above.
The mean education of the respondents was 5.73 and the standard deviation was 4.36. Similar results
were found by Lipsey and Derzon (1998) who found that poor school attitudes/performance as indicated
by dropping out of school, low interest in education, low level of education, low school achievement,
poor quality school, and truancy measured at ages 12 to 15 years was among the stronger predictors of
later violent behavior.

 Residential Status
The residential background, to a large extent, was determined by the selection of the locality of the
survey. Whether a young person resides in an urban or a rural setting has a great impact on all aspects
of his transition to adulthood. Access to infrastructure and opportunities, levels and timing of marriage,
schooling, and work are all informed to a large degree by urban or rural residents. The data collected
from jails is presented the majority (73.2%) of the respondents belonged to rural areas, and only 26.8%
of respondents belonged to urban areas. Khalid (2004) found similar results that the majority (60%) of
the respondents belonged to rural areas and the study supported that the present crimes are more in
rural areas than in urban areas. Similar results were found by Bux et al. (2011) that the majority of the
youth prisoners belonged to rural areas.

 Family Size
With the increasing number of children in a family, the attention of the parents to each and every child
decreases. With the increased number of children the house becomes overcrowded and there is a
possibility to increase frustration, irritation, and conflict among the family members and resultantly
youth violent behavior. 49.5% of respondents’ families were consisting of 7 and above members, 40.75%
family consisting of 5-6 members, and the remaining 9.75% had a family sizes of 3-4 members. The mean
of family size was 9.51 and the standard deviation was 4.34 years. Similarly, Farrington (1998) found that
large family size predicted youth violence in the Cambridge and Pittsburgh studies. In the Oregon Youth
Study, a large family size at age 10 predicted self-reported violence at age 13–17 (Capaldi & Patterson,
1996). There are many possible reasons why a large number of siblings might increase the risk of a child’s
delinquency (Brownfield & Sorenson, 1994). Similar results were also found by Khalid (2004) that the
majority of the fathers of the respondents were lived in rural areas and were poor and had large family
sizes. He also stated that neglecting attitude of the father coupled with poverty exacerbated the
delinquent behavior of their offspring. In another survey by Bux et al. (2011) found in their study that
the majority (71.0%) of their respondents (convicted youth) belonged to large family sizes.

 Self-Control
According to Gottfredson and Hirsch (2005) the steps of socialization of young people which generates
self-control is; “(1) Parental affection for the child establishes a long -term interest in the success of the
child; (2) which enables a parenting style characterized by positive efforts to monitor conduct and
appropriately sanction deviance; (3) which creates self-control; (4) which is expressed by affection from
the child to the parent and, by logical extension, to other socializing institutions like schools and friends”.
In order to investigate the self-control of the respondents, 17 items scale having an alpha of 0.86 was
used. Items rated on a five-point scale, anchored from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree. Means
and standard deviations were also calculated. The Chi-square value of 40.58 significance at a 1% level of
significance clearly demonstrates the effect of self-control on youth violent behavior. The negative value
-0.435 of Gamma depicts that there is an indirect strong relationship between the self-control of the
respondents and violent behavior.

 Self Esteem
Low self-esteem is the source of all manner of personal and social ills. To examine the self-esteem of the
respondents 6 items scale having alpha (0.88) was used. Items were rated on a 5-point scale, anchored
from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree. The Chi-square value of 45.91 significance at a 1% level of
significance clearly demonstrates the effect of self-esteem on youth violent behavior. The negative value
-0.462 of Gamma depicts that there is an indirect strong relationship between the self-esteem of youth
and violent behavior.

 Community Factors
Research shows that if the community is organized, the crime rate will be lower and if the community is
disorganized crime rate will be higher. As found in the Rochester Youth Development Study, residing in
backward areas with high rates of crime also predicted self-reported violence (Thornberry et al., 1995).
In order to investigate the different community characteristics, a community factor scale of 22 items
having alpha of 0.88 was used. Items were rated on a 5-point scale, anchored from 1 strongly disagree
to 5 strongly agree. The Chi-square value of 26.01 highly significant at a 1% level of significance clearly
demonstrates the effects of community on youth violent behavior. The negative value -0.326 of Gamma
depicts that there is an indirect strong relationship between community factors and the violent behavior
of the respondents.

 Educational Factors
Educational factors are very important in the life of youth. On the basis of education, they become active
participants in society. In order to examine the educational attainments of the respondent’s educational
factor scale of 11 items having an alpha of 0.97 was used. Items were rated on a 5-point scale, anchored
from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree. The Chi-square value 32.20 is significant at a 5% level of
significance and demonstrates the effect of educational attainment on the violent behavior of youth.
The table shows that there is an indirect relationship between educational attainment and the violent
behavior of youth. The negative value of gamma -0.345 is highly significant at a 1% level of significance
clearly indicating that there is an indirect strong relationship between the educational attainment of the
respondents and violent behavior.

Recommendations
The first and most important recommendation of the study was to strengthen the family system in
Pakistan. The first step which is necessary to strengthen the family system is to educate the parents
about the socialization of children. Parents should establish a friendly relationship with their children.
Govt. should play its role in this regard and provide necessary facilities to the parents to educate them
about good parenting skills and training as needed.
Illiterate youth were more likely to involve in criminal activities as compared to educated youth. Govt.
should invest its budget in the promotion of an equal education system that is affordable for all income
groups in Pakistan.
Govt. and other departments should play their role in reducing the family size in Pakistan. The role of
religious leaders in promoting family planning programs to address population problems in the country
is of key importance.
Parents should know about the friends of their children and youth, they should monitor where they go
and what they are doing outside the home.
There are many self-esteem-raising programs running successfully in the world which are helpful to raise
the self-esteem of youth. There is a dire need to start self-esteem-raised programs at the school level
for those having low self-esteem.
There is a strong need to start parents’ awareness programs to educate them about the techniques of
good family practices. Media and NGOs can play a very important role to create awareness among
parents in this regarding good family practices and children’s socialization.
There is a dire need to strengthen the networks of social relationships among people and it will be helpful
to reduce/prevent violence, crime, and delinquency in the community.
The gang/group participation can be reduced to monitor the youth by parents, school teachers , and
community elders.

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