title: The 'beyond parental control' label in Nigeria.
abstract: Recent reports in Nigeria indicate a geometric rise in incarcerated adolescents, with an overwhelming majority of this increase being attributed to adolescents being declared 'beyond parental control'. There is a nagging suspicion that the Nigerian juvenile justice system has over criminalised adolescents by declaring them 'beyond control' when behavioural problems have actually resulted from child abuse/neglect and family disruption. A study was undertaken in a juvenile justice institution in Nigeria to assess the adequacy of pre-incarceration parental care among adolescents that had been declared as 'beyond parental control'. The study included 75 adolescent boys that had been declared as 'beyond parental control' and a comparison group of 144 matched school going boys. It examined self-reports received from the adolescent boys regarding their pre-incarceration family life and social circumstances, as well as the behavioural problems they had experienced. The findings indicate that adolescent boys who were declared as 'beyond parental control' had a significantly higher lifetime history of behavioural problems than the comparison group, and they also had significantly higher indicators of pre-incarceration child abuse/neglect and problems with stability and consistency of primary support. These findings pose questions regarding the presumption of adequate parental care prior to the declaration of 'beyond parental control'. It also raises questions about child rights protection and juvenile justice reform in Nigeria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Medicine, Lagos State University College of Medicine Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria. Electronic address: draromedics@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Olayinka
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Atilola
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Olayinka
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Omigbodun
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Tolulope
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bella-Awusah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016487:Parenting; D011330:Prisons; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Beyond parental control; Borstal home; Child abuse/neglect; Juvenile justice; Nigeria