Delinquency and the family : a study of connexions between crime and socioenvironmental factors with special reference to inmates of the Constantia Reform School.

Abstract

The present thesis is the result of my curiosity about delinquency in South Africa. In Part One I review juvenile delinquency in general, the system of probation, and the institutionalized treatment of delinquents. I draw upon experience in comparing Israel and South Africa. Parts Two and Three of the work study the circumstances of a sample of boys lodged in the Constantia Reform School. The method of the research is described and so is the Reform School itself. Two questionnaires were designed and administered, one to the sample of boys and the other to their patents. The findings are then described and analysed.