AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL of HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES(ARJHSS, Vol. 12, No2, May, 2019)||gubdjournals.org SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND CRIME IN RIVERS STATE By Orlu Chukwuemeka PhD
[email protected] Sociology Department, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt Abstract When unemployment issue is raised what quickly comes to mind is the vulnerability of the youth population. From cursory observation, youths are the worst hit in unemployment situation in Nigeria. Therefore, as a result of alarming youth unemployment, there is high crime rate among the youths in Rivers State, This is because unemployment certainly creates the environment in which frustration breeds and stress increased, resulting in a feeling of hopelessness, especially in Rivers State where there is no adequate provision for social welfare as to give temporary relief for the unemployed. Unemployment can lead to crime as a result of deprivation, rejection, personal failure and mental stress, apathy and illness. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between youth unemployment and crime in Rivers State. To achieve this objective, two hypotheses were frame, questionnaires, interviews and observational techniques were sources of our data. Rivers State was divided into Riverine and upland. Three communities were randomly sample from each of the zones viiz Port Harcourt, Ahoada and Omoku from the upland while Abonnema, Degema and Abalama from the Riverine zones respectively. 180 copies were distributed across the six communities at 30 copies each based on Likert scale of Strongly Agreed (SA) Agreed (A) Strongly Disagreed (SD) and Disagreed (D) respectively. Above all 180 copies were properly filled and returned.