Comparative Analysis of Delinquent Behaviour on the Basis of Parental Educational Background, Single Parenthood and Socio – Economic Status of In-School Adolescents in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

This paper investigates the comparative analysis of delinquent behaviour on the basis of parental educational level, single parenthood and socio economic status of adolescents in selected secondary schools in Ibadan metropolis. Two hundred and fifty (250) adolescents were drawn from these schools which cut across various socio economic statuses. Their age range was between 13 and 20 years old, while their mean age was 15.6 and SD was 1.8. Three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test. The results show a significant difference in the delinquent behaviour of adolescents from highly and lowly educated parents in the first hypothesis.It also showed a significant difference in the delinquent behaviour in the adolescents whose parents were not living together and also between parents who were of senior / professional cadres and those of junior workers / petty traders in the second and third hypotheses respectively. The implications of the above results brought about to our consciousness the roles the stakeholders and policy makers could play in assisting the adolescents to live a life free of crime and abnormal behaviours. Some recommendations needed for improving the totality of the findings of this study were equally made.