JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last unit, we discussed socialization. In addition, the unit served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now define socialization, identify and discuss the agents of socialization, and specify the values of interpersonal relationships. It is now time for us to discuss a very relevant and useful unit: juvenile delinquency. Let us take a look at what other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
define the concept of juvenile delinquency;
identify the places where delinquent personality operates; and
describe how the situation of juvenile delinquency may be remedied.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Concept of Delinquency

By legal definition, the juvenile delinquent is neither a neglected youngster nor a young criminal but one who occupies instead some twilight zone between the two. According to the law, if a young lawbreaker is legally defined as a juvenile delinquent, he cannot be charged with crime or treated as a criminal. Like the neglected and dependent child, he becomes a ward of the state. Sometimes, as in the case of murder, the young lawbreaker is

charged with a crime, tried and punished in the regular courts. For most other offences, however, the law requires that an offender under a certain age be adjudged delinquent and not criminal. On the face of it, the concept of juvenile delinquency may be said to be one of pro-criminality, the youthful violator in adult law is regarded as pre-criminal and as someone not only in need of rehabilitation but likely to be amenable to it. The incorrigible child, even though he violates an adult law, is also regarded as probably pre-criminal. The breakdown of parental authority is by itself considered ominous. The concept of juvenile delinquency automatically places the 17-year-old habitual committer of crime in the same legal category of responsibility with the 10-year-old child who steals a tyre as an escapade. Care must be taken to ensure that the concept of juvenile delinquency does not blur our perception of the distinction between delinquent youths and those who are, to all intents and purposes youthful criminals.


The special importance which delinquency has acquired in relevant years in the public mind may be traceable to a growing conviction that delinquent behaviour patterns are spreading among young people formerly relatively immune to them. Children who pickpocket with a view to buying sweets, or anything else are delinquents. Unlicensed schoolboys and undergraduate students riding automobile machines and or driving cars are delinquents. Vibrant Lagos youths who found the wild afternoon bar beach sun in 1985 a perfect rendezvous for their adventure when they were supposed to be in school or at work are delinquents. As Omotunde (1985:6) reveals, alcohol was unabashedly consumed and assorted weeds freely puffed by the youths. Such was the situation in July, 1.985 when a news crew of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) recorded the level of juvenile moral degeneration as was often exhibited at the Lagos bar beach. It was intended for a documentary, but a one-.minute clip during the evening network news was enough to cause a stir in the then Lagos State Government of Governor Mudashiru who swiftly set up a 4-member tribunal to probe what later became commonly known as the ‘bar beach show of shame’ and other issues relating to juvenile delinquency tribunal. It is important for you to note that its findings revealed that many of the principal actors were mainly school drop-outs.

3.2 Places where Delinquent Personality Operates

There are certain conditions in some places that make it more likely that the delinquent learning and the development of the delinquent personality will operate. Amongst such places and conditions are:

=The Family: Dacey (1989 cited in Alhassan, 2000) writes that the family is, and for millennia has been the social group that has the most influence on individual behaviour. Negative feelings within the family or the sudden alteration of family life can create disturbances that lead to juvenile delinquency. Burt (1925) in his book, The young delinquent, opined that the most favorable condition associated with delinquent acts is ‘a defected home discipline’.

I want you to note that discipline in such a home may be too strict, too lenient or worst of all, alternating between strictness and leniency. Merrill (1947) reports ‘good’ discipline in 15% of the delinquent homes and 63% of the non-delinquent homes. The Gluecks (1950) report ‘lax’ discipline in 57% of the delinquent cases and 12% of the non-delinquent ones. In deeper analysis, the Gluecks found that the fathers typically used physical punishment as a method of control in 68% of the delinquent cases, they used reasoning as a method of control in 11 % of the former as and in 24% of the latter.


So many things may happen within the family: It is through the family that the child most directly comes into contact with the value conflicts that exist in society. Not uncommon are the parents whose own overwhelming drive for success is all too obvious. Children who experience unhappy home lives, rejection by parents and inferiority complex are usually delinquent. Let us note that conflicts within the family, parental rejection, delinquent parents who take to alcoholism and lack of parental supervision of their children could easily bring about delinquency in children.

In addition, the size of the family, which is usually large in African societies, the emotional climate of the home caused by parental coldness and lack of any appreciable degree of freedom could bring about delinquency in children. Delinquency rates has been found to be high in homes broken by death, divorce, desertion or prison terms, and in homes where there is lack of emotional security.


The Peer Group: Juvenile gangs recruit, stimulate, and teach delinquents. Shaw and Mckay (1961) and the Gluecks (1950) and others have concluded that delinquency is largely a gang operation. Of 5,480 offenders, Shaw found that only 18% had committed their delinquency alone, 30% had a single companion, 27% had three or more. 89% of those charged with theft had at least one accomplice. Note that the gang contributes to delinquency rates in several connected ways.
The adolescent tends to want to conform to the ways of his peers. Because delinquent gangs are organized groups, they are in a particularly good position to exercise pressure for conformity.
Delinquent gangs provide ready antisocial channels for the energies and the normal and special personality needs of the adolescent.

It is to be noted that a gang can provide security, recognition, affection, and new experience when these are not provided by the family or elsewhere in society.


The Mass Media: The mass media are a key factor in the generation of delinquency. Radio, television, films, comic books, and newspapers contribute to delinquency by glorifying, overemphasizing and giving instruction in crime. It is important for you to note that this is one of the theories of delinquency causation that has attracted the most popular support from the public.
I am sure you are eager to know what the public reaction is against the mass media. Among the charges against the mass media are that they stimulate the juvenile appetite for adventure; glorify the criminal; impart knowledge of criminal techniques; and overemphasize the extent of criminal life in our society.


Children tend to remember good or bad acts learnt in movies more easily. We know that motion pictures can affect attitude towards social groups. Children who watch a sex act in a film tend to imitate such action. And this is seen as an aspect of delinquency. In a highly delinquent area, newspapers, which are sensational and which glorify various crimes and offences are usually in great demand. It is not therefore surprising that Lagos Weekend, Africa’s largest-circulation week-end daily, is printed and published in Lagos and not in Lokoja.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Take a close look at your immediate community. Are there delinquent gangs there? How do they operate?

Let us continue our discussion by looking at what we may do to sufficiently reduce the incidence of delinquency.

3.3 Remediation

Note that preventive measures are more reassuring. To prevent delinquency, it becomes necessary to deal with both personality factors and environmental influences, especially those coming from home, intimate associates and the community. Creating a wholesome environment and eliminating undesirable influences are two important phases of a constructive preventive programme. For instance, the Lagos state Government in 1985 accepted the recommendation of the Lagos Bar Beach Juvenile Delinquency Tribunal and banned the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to persons under 18 years while the doors of hotels and pub houses were shut .against them. Police patrol at the bar beach was made more effective at all times so as to rid the resort of malingering and criminals while the government stopped further approval of beer parlours and liquor sales points within school vicinities. The principal actors among the youths were sent to approved schools and foster homes as applicable where they can be conditioned to grow to become useful citizens.


We must embark on a genuine and sustained reconstruction of the Nigerian society. There are several ways that schools and teachers can facilitate the instruction of Nigerian youths and aid them in the solution of their personal problems.

Effort to lead juvenile gangs and clubs into socially acceptable .avenue of behaviour must be embarked upon on a sustained basis. The government should make provision for social services agency that would give adequate and continuous attention to family.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit you have learnt maladjustment. You have therefore learnt the concept of delinquency. In addition, you have learnt where delinquent personality operates and remediation strategies that may be employed.

5.0 SUMMARY

1. What you have learnt in this unit concerns maladjustment. 
2.  You also learnt concept of delinquency. 
3. The family, the peer group, and the mass media are among the factors that generate delinquency.
4. . Towards solving this problem, the school and teachers have been caned upon to be alert to the symptoms of the delinquent-prone such as extreme restlessness, hostility, truancy, and any apparent lack of moral standards, .amongst others. 
5.  The government should make provision for social service agency that would give adequate and continuous attention to family situations and parent education. 

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. a. Complete this statement:
‘For preadolescents and adolescents, the law requires that an offender under a certain age be adjudged……...…and not………….. b. Among the places and conditions where the delinquent personality operates are:
c. State any three (3) ways in which the gang contributes to
delinquency rates in Nigeria.

SOCIALISATION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last unit, we discussed the problem of deception. Also, the unit served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now identify channels of communication, explain deceptive non-verbal cues, and list factors influencing deception attempts. .Time is now ripe for us to discuss another interesting and relevant unit: socialization. We will now consider a significant process. Let us take a look at other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
define socializing;
identify socializing agents; and
specify the values of interpersonal relationships.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Concept of Socialization

At birth, the human baby is entirely dependent on others. It is subject to certain biological pressures such as hunger, thirst, and the need to eliminate waste. This is referred to as physiological needs in psychology. The human baby has no means of avoiding these tensions and may even be unaware of the precise cause of the discomfort. The mother waits upon its needs, communicates in an elementary way, and allays fear. Early in this process, an incipient social relationship is established between the baby and its mother, when the former cries and the latter responds.


The human being, though born with the potential for social life, must nevertheless undergo a long and often arduous process of socialization. He must learn first to live with others and then to participate in his society in satisfying and rewarding ways. This by no means requires the slavish acquisition of conventional values, it does require, however, that some ethics of self-discipline and self-respect be transmitted, not merely for the sake of the social order but for the sake of individual happiness(Alhassan, 2000:180).


For any society to survive, it is necessary, to transmit to all new members the system of shared meanings, language, customs, values, ideas and material goods that are called culture. Socialization refers to the process of growing up into a human being, a process which necessitates contact with other people. It is through this process that the growing child acquires the language and standards of the social group into which it has been born. Research studies indicate that deprivation of human contact in early life inhibits the development of normal social responses. Note that all human beings, except those born with severe physical handicaps, have the inborn capacity to become fully mature members of society but, in order for this capacity to be realized, the child has to have adequate social relationships with others. It is to be noted that social behaviour in humans is not inborn. In a very important sense, we have to “learn” to be human beings. Ogburn and Nimkoff (1964) describe socialization as a process whereby the individual becomes a person.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Will you say that social behaviour in human beings is inherited? Think very well about this. Respond now. Let us continue our discussion.
According to some psychologists, socialization includes the following aspects:
1. Imitation, identification, and role learning.
2. Acquiring internal controls or conscience, the self-concept; and social roles.
3. Development of various behaviour systems of dependency, aggression, and social affiliations.
4. The relation of the social structure to the processes of socialization, and to their effects (Mukherjee, 1978).

It is important for you to note that the term socialization is broad enough to cover all types of learning. In brief, these include the following:
1. Fundamental psychomotor skills, for example, walking.
2. The communication skills, for example, the ability to use a language. 3. Acquiring to use a language.
4. Other patterns of behaviour expected of an adult, for example,
independence from the mother and development of an awareness of
and control over self.
5. Social skills, for example, the art of conducting oneself among a group of strangers.
6. Ideas, attitudes and values either of the dominant group in society. 7. Occupational skills, for example, the ability to teach in a secondary school.
8. Ideas regarding specific status, for example, the rights and obligations of a husband (Datta, 1986:55).

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Will you say socialization and learning are one and the same process? Think before you respond.
Let us go on with our discussion.

3.2 Socializing Agents

The first point you must note in this section is that socialization is not accomplished, willy-nilly, in accordance with personal tastes. Every society has developed specific ways and means of accomplishing it. It may well be that probably all institutions are pertinent to the socialization processes because in all, new members are to be taught the do’s and don’ts of the established order. Obviously, some of them are more important than others to the individual’s induction into the value of his society. The major socializing agents are:


a. The Family: Everywhere, the family plays a central role in socializing the child. Typically, parenting includes a major responsibility for socialization. It is in the family that the child is

born, it is there he spends his early years and learns his first language. The family is the single most important agency for the inculcation of these basic social values and character traits, which make .for the child’s eventual responsible participation in the life of society. It is important for you to note that the recent history of the family represents a gradual but inexorable loss of function and importance in the larger community, but the job of child rearing still belongs to it. The family is of course responsible for the physical and material care of the young ones, but to it is also entrusted their moral
education. When things go wrong, as in juvenile delinquency, common sense tends to place the onus squarely upon the family and to look for shortcomings in the home. The ultimate origin of personality  and character is traced to the dynamics of the parent-child relation, and early childhood experiences within the home is seen as the most important single factor in formation of basic adult attitudes and behaviour. Because family life revolves around basic needs and satisfactions, both
physical and emotional, parents are in a position to inflict painful deprivations and thereby exercise considerable influence in moulding their children.
b. The School: Beginning with nursery school, the family now relinquishes the child to other people and other more impersonal institutions for a good part of the day and for almost the entire period of youthful dependence. The relinquishing of the family’s educative
role to the school is most important during adolescence and early adulthood, when the problem of relating to society and to people outside the family becomes acute. There are teachers at all levels of
the educational systems, and there are all those who are involved in the production of books, magazines, newspapers and television programmes all contributing individually and severally to the socialization process.
c. The Peer Group: Although relationship with parents and the school is important to the child, it is not the only influence in the socialization process. In recent years, psychologists have become
interested in peer relationships. Peers are children of roughly the same age who share similar interests. Children all over the world form peer groups. The young spend most of their time with one
another, and this strengthens their tendency to the approval of their peers at least as much as that of their family. When family ideas are in sharp conflict with peer group ideas, this creates tension between parents and children and tends to reduce the effectiveness of parental control.
The interrelatedness of age-mates in peer groups has come to have a new significance in modem society. Where the family is the important unit of social participation, relation cuts across the
generations. A peer group shelters and protects its members. It gives them psychological sustenance by meeting emotional needs of affection, understanding and acceptance. It invests individuals with
specific status. Since it comprises a small number of persons of equal rank, a peer group can operate as a medium of communication. In all these, it is not surprising that a peer group provides effective
learning situations. It transmits the culture of society in a diluted form, it teaches certain roles and social expectations, and conditions the attitudes and sentiments of its members. Datta (1986) observes that in Africa, much of the peer group socialization was achieved traditionally through the age set system where it was prevalent, though l in most other societies, peers had considerable influence on shaping the behaviour of young adolescents.
d. The Mass Media: The mass media print and electronic are playing an increasingly important role in the socialization process. One index of this is the increasing numbers of newspapers, magazines,
periodicals, and comic booklets that seem to be enjoying increasing patronage. The influence of radio is most pervasive, especially after the introduction of the battery-operated set. The radio has now
penetrated remote corners of every country in Africa. It is cheap to operate, and programmes in many indigenous languages are available. Hachten (1971) reported that the number of transmitters in
the whole of Africa jumped to 370 in 1964 from 151 in 1955. During the same period, the number of radio receivers increased from 350,000 to about 12 million. We can rightly say that the expansion of broadcasting is a measure of its popularity as a source of information. Remember that religious authorities have responsibilities for certain aspects of socialization. So do many others. You deserve commendation for active participation in our discussion. Now, we must go on.

3.3 Sociometry

Successful school work depends, among other things, on such characteristics as the pupil’s personal adjustment, attitudes, and social or group skills. It is therefore important that teachers know how to measure and interpret these personal and social factors and to use the test results in planning classroom activities. Sociometry is the study of patterns of interrelationship existing in a group of people. Essentially, from the measure of interrelationships it is possible to draw up a chart that will give a pictorial representation of some aspects of interpersonal relations. The teacher could generate sociometric data by asking the pupils different questions: for example, the teacher can ask the children to ‘list the person you would like to invite to your birthday party; ‘list the person you would like to sit next to you in class; whom do you prefer as the class game’s master’. The children may be requested to make a single choice or two or three choices. The teacher obtains different kinds of information about the pupil’s preferences from these differently focused questions. For purpose of illustration, suppose we ask twelve children, ‘Whom would you like to sit next to in class?’


Each child is allowed two choices. The teacher charts the answers she receives on a specially constructed table. The teacher then transfers the information from her table to a sociogram

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, yon have learnt significant processes. You have therefore learnt the concept of socialization. In addition, you have learnt agents of socialization and sociometry.

5.0 SUMMARY

What you have learnt in this unit concerns a significant process. You also learnt concept of socialization. In addition, you learnt major socialization agent: the family, for school, the peer group and the mass media. Sociometry is the study of patterns of interrelationship existing in a group of people.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT 

1.  How will you define socialization? 
2.  List 4 socializing agents? 
3. State 3 types of learning covered by socialization? 

PERSONALITY TRAIT INFERENCES ABOUT WHAT THE PERSON IS LIKE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In unit 2, we discussed understanding some important factors in person perception and impression formation. Also, the unit served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now describe person perception. You can also identify important factors in person perception and explain the most important aspects of impressions. We are now ready to discuss another interesting unit: personality traits inferences about what the person is like. We will now consider traits. Let us take a look at what other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. identify behaviour traits; and 
2. explain categorization 

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 From Behaviour to Traits

We will move from observable information, such as appearance, behaviour, even gestures, to personality trait inferences about what the person is like. Note that referring to traits is a more economical and general way of describing a person than is referring to behaviour. If someone asked you what your roommate (in the secondary school) was like and you had to recount each behaviour you could remember, it would take you a long time and the person to whom you were describing your roommate to might not become much better informed in the process. Instead, you would use traits to summarize aspect of your roommate.
He was a good-natured, sloppy night person with a penchant for loud rock music’.

This process appears to occur spontaneously, even automatically, as behaviour is perceived. These traits, in turn, can act as indicators for predicting future behaviour (Newman 1996). The fact that we move from behaviours to traits so quickly is compounded by the fact that traits imply each other. On observing a person patting a dog in a friendly manner, we may infer that she is kind, and from our inference of kindness, we may infer that she is friendly, warm, and helpful to her friends. From a very simple incident of behaviour, then we can infer almost a whole personality. The implications that traits have for other traits is called ‘implicit personality theory’.


People use traits to describe others form the moment they first observe them, although the more they know someone, the more likely they are to use traits to describe the person (park, 1986 cited in Taylor 2000). Nonetheless, there are individual differences in the degree to which people make trait inferences. People who demonstrate a high need for structure, that is a need to have organized and distinct patterns of information, are more likely to make continuous inferences than individuals who do not demonstrate this quality.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
a. Which traits will you use to describe the principal of your secondary school?
b. Which traits will you use to describe the English language teacher in your SSS III class?

Competence and Sociability

The traits inferences that we make about other people fall out along two important dimensions:
1. We tend to evaluate others in terms of their task-related qualities or intellectual competence.
2. We tend to evaluate others in terms of their interpersonal or social qualities.

It is important for you to note that within these general dimensions, we also make more detailed impressions or judgments about a person, such as how he treats his parents versus his friends or how good he is at physics versus music.

Central Traits

According to Asch (1986), debate has raged over whether some traits are more central than others. Let us cite examples to make our discussion clearer and more understandable. The pair of traits, warm-cold, appears to be associated with a great number of other characteristics, whereas the pair, polite-blunt is associated with fewer. Traits that are highly associated with many other characteristics have been called central traits.


In a unique demonstration of their importance of traits, Kelley (1950) gave students in psychology course personality trait descriptions of a guest lecturer before he spoke. Half the students received a description containing the word ‘warm’, and the other half were told the speaker was ‘cold’; in all other respects, the lists were identical. The lecturer then came into the class and led a discussion for about 20 minutes, after which the students were asked to give their impressions of him.

It is to be noted that there were great differences between the impressions formed by students who were told the lecturer was warm and those who were told he was cold. In addition, those students who expected the speaker to be warm tended to interact with him more freely and to initiate more conversations with him. Remember that different descriptions affected not only the students’ impressions of the lecturer, but also their behaviour towards him.

The Perseverance of Traits

Once we have made personality trait inferences about the meaning of another person’s behaviour, those inferences take on a life of their own. Let us cite an example. You may recall your impression of your friend as kind and helpful long after you have forgotten the specific instance when she helped the elderly person across the street. Asked if your friend is kind and helpful, you are more likely to refer to your more prior trait judgment than to a specific event. Trait inferences, then, ale made quickly, great virtually spontaneously, on the basis of minimal information about a person and then persists long after the information on which they were originally based has been forgotten. 

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

1.  Will you describe your best friend as ‘cold’? 
2. Will you describe your best friend as ‘warm’? 
3.  Will you describe your best friend as ‘cold’ and ‘warm’? 

3.2 Categorisation

Social’ categories, such as gender, tribe, religion, and social class influence our perceptions as well. Perceivers do not respond to salient stimuli in isolation; they immediately and spontaneously perceive stimuli as part of some group or category. Let us give an example. We do not see that unshaven, dirty, disorganized man in the pork with worn-out shoes and a couple of old shopping bags as just another human being; we immediately categorize him as a derelict. When we go to a basketball game, we usually categorize people immediately as members of one or another of five social groups: members of one team or the other, referees, cheerleaders, team supporters and spectators.

The categorization or grouping process is immediate and spontaneous and does not take any time or thought. At the crudest level we categorize on the basis of natural similarities appearance. We tend to assign people to the category of ‘men’ or ‘women’ on the basis of their physical characteristics, usually culturally defined differences in appearance (hair length, make-up, type of clothing.)

At this stage, we need to ask a relevant question. What are the consequences of categorization? Determining that an individual is a member of a particular category may lead to social judgments about that person that are consistent with the category-based stereotype. The observation that someone is a Yoruba may call up a stereotype about Yorubas in general. In addition, categorizing a person also speeds information processing time: For example, Brewer et. al. (1981 cited in Taylor, 2000) presented participants with photos of people in three categories -’grandmother’, ‘young woman’, and ’senior citizen’-along with verbal labels clearly identifying their category. Then they presented the participants with additional information about each target person and measured how long the participants took to incorporate the information into their impressions.

It is to be noted that if we place a person into category, often our impression of the person is based on that category, and the person's individual characteristics are assimilated to the overall impressions we have of that category.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, you learnt behaviours, you have therefore moved from behaviours to traits. In addition, you have learnt categorization and how social categories influence our perception.

5.0 SUMMARY

1.  What you have learnt in this unit concerns how we move from behaviour to traits. 
2.  You also learnt that social categories, such as gender, tribe, religion and social class, influence our perceptions. 
3. You have therefore learnt that perceivers immediately and spontaneously perceive stimuli as part of some group or category. 

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. . On what basis are traits inferences made? 
2.  If you go to a football game, state six (6) categories of people you will see and 
3. c. State how people use traits

HUMAN AGGRESSION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In unit 4, we discussed behaviour modification. The unit also served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now explain what is meant by behaviour modification and list and explain its major methods. We are now going to discuss another very interesting and very applicable unit: human aggression. We will now consider the important part of the human condition. Let us take a look at what other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
define the concept of aggression;

1. explain theories of aggression; 
2. describe additional determinants of aggression; and 
3. discuss how aggression may be managed. 

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Word Aggression

Semantically speaking, the word ‘aggression’ or the phrase ‘aggressive behaviour’ may arouse different, wide or varied connotative meanings to different individuals, though the denotative meaning of the word, according to the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, is simply ‘unprovoked attack’. To students of the science of behaviour, that denotative meaning of the word is not satisfactory since under aggressive behaviour, psychologists list a great variety of behaviour. Such behaviour may be both verbal and non-verbal where the apparent cause creating aggressive behaviour may or may not be present.


Freud and others argued that aggression is a primary instinct in the living species who have survived through the ages during evolution. There is some evidence as to show how pacifism, a supposed contrasting type of behaviour, has led to complete extermination of species including members of the human race. The primitives of Tasmania were renowned for their isolation and pacifist life style. Today they have been exterminated from the face of this earth. Another human race, the Veddas of Sri Lanka is nearing extinction and complete extermination due to their complete isolation and pacifist life style. Traditionally, an example can be quoted from the story depicted in the puppet theatre of the NTA Jos, Nigeria where the members of a town are all the time conspiring to get ‘the innocent man’ exterminated for his isolation and love for peace. We can cite many of such instances to show that pacifism leads to extermination of the species while aggression contributes towards survival.


Martin Luther King, Anwar Sadat, Mahatma Ghandi, Murtala Mohammed, Dele Giwa, Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane, and Bola Ige all died by the assassins’ bullets and all were known for their love for peace and goodwill. It is on record that King trained his followers (most of them workers and students) in the tactics of non-violence. He made them sign non-violence pledges and made them watch plays where the white man’s police brutalized the African-Americans without the latter raising a finger. We know also how Sadat tried to settle the Middle East crises peacefully through diplomatic maneuvers.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

From your personal experience, identify any three individuals known for their love of peace and avoidance of violence. Well done. Let us continue our discussion by looking at aggression from a psychological standpoint.


Psychologically speaking, aggression has been defined as a sequence of behaviour ‘the goal response to which is the injury of the person toward whom it is directed’ (Dollard, et. al. 1939:7). Most subsequent theorizing and research into aggressive behaviour have adopted injurious intent as an essential aspect of aggression. But we know that aggression serves more than the infliction of injury. Aggression is a normal component of sexuality, as indeed it is of any activity in which human beings express themselves. The failure of a love-relation is inevitably accompanied by hostility, as the pathetic records of divorce courts bear witness.


In point of tact, there are different types of aggression some of which are examine below:

Instrumental Aggression: This is aimed at securing extraneous (external) rewards other than the victim’s suffering. The Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) is a classic example of instrumental aggression -it was ‘used’ as an instrument for maintaining national unity and national cohesion by the Federal Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon. Any act of war is instrumental aggression.
Hostile Aggression: The sole aim of this is to inflict injury on others. Physical assertiveness is more likely to be defined as aggression if preformed by a female than by a male because such behaviour departs more widely from common expectations of appropriate female conduct. On the other hand similar assertiveness by boys in a delinquent gang would be underrated with respect to aggressiveness.
Displaced Aggression: This means aggressive behaviour directed against some object than the one actually causing the feelings. It is a defence mechanism and it is common in everyday affairs.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Which type(s) of aggressive is (are) widely manifested in Nigeria?

Now, let us go on with our discussion.

3.2 Theories of Aggression

Some psychologists still hold that aggression stems from biological or genetic causes, and should be viewed as a natural aspect of human behaviour (Johnson, 1972). Reports from the mass medial print and electronic of murder, and brutal assaults tend to suggest that violence is purely a random event one which strikes innocent victims from out of the blue without warning or even apparent cause. It is relevant for you to note that in some instances, this is certainly true. When armed robbers go on a
shooting spree during which they gun down total strangers, or when street- corner gangs attack and brutally beat innocent pedestrians on the streets of large cities, violence does indeed seem to be both pointless and random. It is to be noted that aggression does not occur in a social, vacuum: rather, it springs from specific conditions which pave the way for its occurrence. In the occurrence of aggression; three factors which have often been implicated are frustration, physical or verbal attack, and exposure to the actions of highly aggressive models.

Frustration-Aggression Theory

The most striking point that you must take note of with respect to the frustration aggression theory is that it sees the source of violence in a person’s relationship to his social environment. It states that aggressive behaviour of which violent conduct is a major form, results when purposeful activities are interrupted. The classical proponents of this theory often cite an example of a boy being prevented by his mother from getting an ice cream cone after the ice cream vendor’s bell has been heard and the boy is on his way to buy it.


You must note that the frustration aggression theory is frequently criticized for not explaining the circumstances under which frustration leads to aggression and under which it does not. Some children regress rather than aggress; for example, when toys are taken from them, they wet their pants rather than attack other children. In fact, the theory does not differentiate between aggression that is violent and aggression that is not (which may take the form of personal insult rather than physical assault):We also know that aggression may be evoked by other factors other than by frustration, for example, by boredom or by disrupting physiological and non- purposeful activities, such as sleep.


The frustration aggression theory is often cited to suggest that if people’s aspirations are kept from outpacing the opportunities available to them, violence will be less common than in our own frustrating world, where everyone is encouraged to strive for economic and social success but the avenues are not equally available to all. Taking the case of Hitler and Germany and the accusation of causing World War II, the British called it ‘unprovoked attack’. Germany was frustrated by the treaty of 1919 which stripped her of all powers. She became frustrated and took to aggression. Yates (1967) puts it that ‘an individual strongly motivated to reach a goal will be instigated to aggression and aggressive forms of behaviour if the goal is unattainable and the barrier to the goal is held constant in each case’.
In the trial of Adolf Hitler, Hitler’s defence counsel argued that Hitler should not be sentenced for causing World War II. He went further to say that war was a biological necessity and an indispensable regulator of mankind. He said, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’.


I can see that you are enjoying our discussion. Remember I told you that this unit was very interesting and applicable, let us continue.
We know that not all forms of aggression result from frustration. For example, soldiers often inflict greater harm and suffering on others in time of war when ordered to do so by their superiors, even in the total absence of frustration. Hired assassins (as has been witnessed in Nigeria from 1988) cold-bloodedly murder persons they have never met even on days when they are in particularly fine spirits, simply because they are paid to do so. Such cases indicate that aggression may stem from many factors besides frustration, and occur in total absence of frustration.


Then after watching non aggressive shows (Liebert & Schewartzberg, 1977). We can conclude that the high level of violence prevailing in many popular television shows has adverse effects upon the persons who view them, though not all experimental findings support this conclusion (Manning & Taylor, 1975). But the weight of existing evidence does seem to suggest that exposure to televised violence may weaken children’s restraints against attacking or harming others.

Let us now consider other sources of aggression.

3.3 Additional Determination of Aggression

Many individuals can readily be induced to inflict pain and discomfort on others by the command of an authority figure. Among the many other factors that can influence aggression are uncomfortable heat, heightened physiological arousal, exposure to unpleasant noise, crowding, and even darkness. Obviously, it is reasonable for us to conclude that aggression springs from many different sources, and is influenced by many different conditions. The occasional emotive outbursts in the national dailies by some Nigerians are certainly aggressive in connotations but they are also beneficial to the mental health of those individuals who by catharsis tend to release their emotion of anger and frustration. This point is worth taking notice of as it shows how different the Nigerian culture is from the Western culture where the training is to suppress or even repress emotions.
Alhassan (1981) writes that overcrowding is an environmental condition often involved as an aversive instigator of aggression. There are certain features of density groupings that could facilitate aggressive prowess. At the familiar level, children who live in cramped quarters are likely to spend more time on neighbourhood streets, than those residing in spacious households. To the extent that neighbourhood influences foster antisocial styles of life, the probability of developing aggressive conduct is thereby increased. Besides, note that parents who have to cope with many children in congested quarters are often forced to punitive measures to halt squabbles between family members who repeatedly get in one another’s way.


At the broader social level, the immense logistic problems of servicing hordes of people inevitably create annoyances. Crowding heightens competitiveness for services and desired resources as is commonly seen on Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Abuja and Kano streets where people really struggle every moment they are to catch a bus of the Lagos State Transport Service and those of other cities and towns: it is always exasperating. Dense1y crowded conditions not only increase the likelihood of interpersonal friction, but also pollute and otherwise intensify the aversive qualities of the physical environment. In addition to the irritants of crowded living, they foster a sense of anonymity and impersonality conducive to inconsiderate behaviour. Remember that the psychological consequences of overcrowding are difficult to isolate because it is usually associated with, among other factors, poverty, ethnicity, unemployment, and inadequate law enforcement, which compound the causes. At this stage, we need to ask a relevant question. What can we do to control aggression? Think about this. Let us go on.

3.4 Management of Aggression

It has often been suggested that neither punishing aggressors for their violent acts or merely threatening to do so may be a highly effective means of preventing these persons from engaging in such activities: For example, Walters (1966:69), a noted child psychologist, states that ‘it is only the continual expectation of retaliation by the recipient or other members of society that prevents many individuals from more freely expressing aggression’. It is apparent that punishment is sometimes quite effective in deterring aggression.


In addition, several experiments conducted with children indicate that the frequency or intensity of such behaviour can often be sharply reduced by even such wild forms of punishment as social disapproval (Brown & Elliot,

1965). Notwithstanding such findings, there are strong grounds for doubting that punishment will always serve as an effective deterrent to human violence as treatment often produces only a temporary suppression of punished acts. Individuals on the receiving end of punishment may interpret such disciplinary actions as attacks against them. It is to be remembered that aggression often breeds aggression and this may 1ead to an increase rather than a reduction in the overall level of violence. Direct punishment may often fail to reduce the likelihood of overt aggression: indeed, in some cases, it may actually tend to enhance such behaviour (Baron, 1973a).


As a practical system for controlling and making use of the competitive aggression which is so evident in political controversy, democracy still seems to be the best system yet devised in spite of its apparent drawbacks. Although slow and uncertain in operation, democracy has the decided advantage over other political systems of providing an opposition which not only acts as a check on government, but also asserts that political opponent, in countries where free speech is allowed, may be apparently friendly though bitterly antagonistic in reality.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, you have learnt an important part of the human condition. You also have learnt about the word aggression, the concept of aggression, and theories of aggression. You also learnt how the situation of aggression could be managed.

5.0 SUMMARY

What you have learnt in this unit concerns human aggression.
You also learnt theories of aggression.
In addition, you learnt additional determinants of aggression.
Finally, you learnt Strategies for managing aggression.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1.  Define the concept of aggression 
2. . List three types of aggression 
3.  State one weakness of the frustration aggression theory 
4. . Four other factors that can influence aggression are: 

IMPRESSION FORMATION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In unit 5, we discussed perception a basic process. The unit also served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now define the concept of perception. You can also identify and explain the factors affecting perception. We are now ready to discuss another unit you will find very interesting and applicable: impression formation. Let us take a look at what other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
state the general principles of impression formation; and
describe the type of information that you may use.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 General Principles

Two freshmen who are destined to be roommates arrive at college and meet for the first time. Each one’s personality -how easy each one is to get along with, how considerate each is -will have an important effect on the other’s life. In the first few minutes of their meeting, each tries to form an impression of the other because they know they will be spending a great deal of time together during the year. How late does each one stay studying at night? What kind of music does the other like? How does each feel about parties in the room? They try to find out as much about each other as they can. People use whatever information that is available to form impressions of others -to make judgments about their personalities or hypotheses about the kind of persons they are. In thinking about how people form impressions of others, it is useful to keep in mind six quite simple and general principles:

1. People form impressions of others quickly, on the basis of minimal information and go on to impute general traits to them. 
2.  Perceivers pay special attention to the most salient features of a person, rather than paying attention to everything. We notice the qualities that make a person distinctive or unusual. 
3.  Processing information about people involves perceiving some coherent meaning in their behaviour. To some degree, we use the context of a person’s behaviour to if infer its meaning, rather than interpreting the behaviour in isolation. . We organize the perceptual field by categorizing or grouping stimuli. Rather than seeing each person as a separate individual, we tend to see people as members of groups -a person wearing white lab coat is a doctor, even though she may have features that make her quite different from other doctors,  We use our enduring cognitive structures to make sense of people’s behaviour. Upon identifying a woman as a doctor, we use our information about doctors more generally to infer the meaning of her behaviour. 
4. A perceiver’s own needs and personal goals influence how he or she perceives others. For example, the impression you find of someone you meet only once is different from the impression you form about your new roommate (Shoda & Mischel, 1993). 

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Think of your arrival at the study centre for your Distance Learning Programme. You meet a fellow student who also intends to use the library where you also intend to work. You find out he registers for the same course as you. In the first minutes of your meeting, state the impressions you may have of the fellow student.

Well done. Let us continue our discussion

3.2 The Information we use to Form Impression

Our knowledge and expectations about others are determined by the impressions we form of them. A glance at someone’s picture or at an individual passing on the street gives us ideas about the kind of person he/she is. Even learning a name tends to conjure up-images of what its owner is like. When two people meet, if only for an instant, they form impression of each other. With more contact, they form fuller and richer impressions .that determine how they behave towards each other, how much they like each other, whether they will associate often, and so on. The following is worthy of note.

Physical Cues

As this discussion implies, generally we draw on other people’s appearance and behaviour to infer qualities about them. Such factors can lead us to form remarkably detailed impressions. The observation that a person is wearing conservative clothes, for example, may lead to the imputation of a variety of other characteristics, such as being conservative politically. We also use behaviour to draw inferences about people. We observe a fellow distance learner helping a primary school pupil across the street and infer that he is kind.

Salience

People direct their attention to those aspects of the perceptual field that stand out the figure rather than to the background or setting the ground. This is termed the ‘figure-ground principle’. In the case of impression formation, the main implication is that most salient cues will be used most heavily. If a distance learner appears at the study centre in a wheelchair the first day of the first semester, everyone else in the library, everyone else in the room is likely to form an impression that is most heavily influenced by the fact of the person’s physical disability. Clothing, hair style, and perhaps even age and sex will be secondary.


Let us ask ourselves a relevant question: What determines the salience of a cue as opposed to another? Brightness, noisiness, motion, or novelties are the most powerful conditions, according to the Gestalt principles of object perception (discussed before). A man in a bright red sweater stands out in a crowded classroom, and the sweater is his most salient feature. The student who stands up shouting in the middle of a lecture and leaves the room draws our attention because she is noisy and moving and almost everything else in the classroom is quiet and stationary. We can therefore say that anything that makes a cue objectively unusual in its context makes it subjectively more salient and more likely to be noticed.


It is to be noted that salience has a number of consequences for person perception. First, salient behaviours draw more attention than do subtler, less obvious ones, (Taylor& Fiske, 1978). Second, salience influences perceptions of causality in that more salient people are seen as having influence over their social context (Taylor & Fiske, 1975). Let us cite other example. The student who sits in the front row of the classroom and asks an occasional question is more likely to be perceived as dominating the discussion than we the student who sits 'in the back and contributes just as much.


Salience increases the coherence of impression. If the salient person is a member of a stereotyped group, such as ‘drug addict’, he/she will be seen as possessing other stereotyped attributes of that group, such as criminal tendencies, weak moral character, and a lack of honesty.


It is important for you to note that salient stimuli draw the most attention. They are seen as the most causally powerful, they produce the most extreme evaluative judgments. The effects of salience are sufficiently interesting and exciting to attract the perceiver’s attention.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

With the use of principles 1, think of situations where you can form impression of others?

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, you have learnt what the general principles of forming impressions of others are. You have therefore learnt the information we use to form impressions. The most important of this are physical cues and salience cues.

5.0 SUMMARY

 What you have leant in this unit concerns general principles of impression formation
 You also learnt the information we use to form impressions.

Amongst the most important of such information are physical cues and salience

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

 Explain any three general principles of impression formation. 2. Briefly describe physical cues and salience as some of the information we use to form impression.

THE POLICE AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Nigeria Police Force is a constitutional creation. It is saddled principally with maintenance of law and order and the prevention, detection and suppression of crimes in or society. It also has a principal role to play in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. From the complaint stage up to the point of trial and conviction, the police is involved.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. show that the Police Force is an important institution in Nigeria show that the Police Force plays a significant role in criminal justice administration in Nigeria 
2. explain that the functions bestowed on it by the enacting authority 
3. are intended for maintenance of law and order. 

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Historical Evolution

The Nigeria Police Force is a government agency whose sole responsibility is to enforce and maintain laws and orders. The Black’s Law Dictionary 6th Edition at p. 1156 defines the police as “The Branch of government which is charged with the preservation of public order and tranquility, the promotion of the public health, safety and morals, and the prevention, detection and punishment of crimes”. The Longman dictionary of Contemporary English defines the police as an official body of men and women whose duty is to protect people and property, to make everyone obey the law, to catch criminal etc.

The Nigeria Police has an antecedent that cannot be forgotten too soon. According to historical analysis, it is often said that even in the unrefined pre-colonial Nigeria, there existed institutions that played the roles of keeping the peace, preventing crimes.

This moved from the very unrefined era up to the twilight era. Writing in his book - Constitutional Law in Nigeria – particularly at p. 433 Professor Oluyele said it all thus “Although it is arguable, the tribes, individuals, communities and towns in the land area now known as Nigeria, had their own system of police force… the truth is that the Nigerian Police Force found in our statute books today, was introduced into this country by the British”. Therefore it is apt to opine that the origin, development and the role of the British inspired police system was shaped by the nature of European interest in this part of the world and the reactions of native communities. Thus when Mecoskry, the British Consul discovered that king Dosumu and his chiefs opposed the annexation of Lagos and situation was rather dangerous for his safety, he began to establish a police force. That exercise began the fist modern police force in the history of the colony of Lagos. It was also the first modern police force in the territories later designated as Nigeria.

3.2 Establishment

The Nigeria Police Force is established by section 214 of the 1999 Constitution and that section provides thus “There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provision of this section, no other police force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof”. 

Section 214(2) of the Constitution afore said provides that subject to the provisions of the Constitution (a) the Nigeria Police Force shall be

organized and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

Against the background of the foregoing there is the Police Ac, Cap 359 LFN 1990. Section 4 of that Act has spelt out in detail the duties of the police. That section reads “The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or without Nigeria as may be required of them by or under the authority of this or any other Act.”

From the above provisions of section 4 of the Police Act, it is apposite to say that the police is an indispensable tool in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. The duties of the police are summarized as follows

3.3 Arrest

This is the logical starting point in criminal proceedings. It is the act of securing the appearance of the offender before a court of competent jurisdiction. An arrest is effected by the police officer or officers making the arrest actually touching or confining the body of the person to be arrested, unless there is submission to the custody by words of mouth or action.


Except where the person to be arrested submits to the custody of the officer effecting the arrest when he is informed unequivocally that he is under arrest, an arrest cannot be effected by mere words of mouth. The person to be arrested must actually be touched or his body confined or whichever is suitable at any given circumstances. The case of Sadiq v. The State (1982) 2 NCR 142 graphically illustrate what constitute arrest in the eyes of the law. In that case, the accused was invited by a police officer to the police station for questioning over the commission of an alleged offence. The accused refused to accompany the police officer to the police station. Thereafter, other officers were sent to the accused and she was persuaded to accompany them to the police station. The accused was charged and convicted of the offence of resisting police arrest. On appeal against her conviction, the appellate court held that the appellant was never arrested by the police officers because there was no restraining of the appellant.


There are two ways by which an arrest can be made:
Arrest with Warrant and
Arrest without Warrant

3.3.1 Arrest with Warrant

A warrant of arrest is an authority issued by a court to a police officer to arrest an offender. It is directed to a police officer ordering such officer to arrest the offender and bring him before the court to answer the allegations made against him. It is usually issued by a magistrate or a judge of a High Court after receiving complaint on oath that a person has committed and offence. A warrant may be executed on any day including Sunday or a public holiday, at any time and in any part of the State other than within the actual court room in which the court is sitting. See section 28(1) and (2) of CPA cap80 LFN 1990, and section 63 of CPC, cap 81 LFN 1990.

3.3.2 Arrest without Warrant

This is the commonest method of bringing an offender before the court. In order to avoid any ugly situation of allowing offenders to escape arrest, powers to instant arrest are necessary for the effective administration of criminal justice. The police are generally and generously endowed with three powers by the CPA, CPC and the Police Act.
Furthermore, sections 10, 11 and 55 of the CPA, section 24 of the Police Act, section 26 of the CPC and column 3 of Appendix A to the CPC, collectively empowers a police officer or officers to arrest a suspect without a warrant of arrest.

Under section 10(1) of the CPA, any police officer may without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant arrest:
Any person whom he suspects upon reasonable grounds of having committed an indictable offence against a federal law against the law of a state unless a written law creating the offences provides that  an offender cannot be arrested without a warrant.

Any person who commits any offence in hi presence (I hold the view that in view of (a) above, (b) there should be properly re-couched in order to take care of the exception provided in (a) above).


Any person who obstructs a police officer while in the execution of his duty or who has escaped or attempt to escape from lawful custody.
Any person in whose possession anything is found which may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with reference to such a thing.
Any person whom he suspects upon reasonable grounds of being a deserter from any of the armed forces in Nigeria. See further sections, f, g, h, I, j of the CPA.
The power conferred on a police under section 10 (1)(b) of the CPA and section 26(a) of the CPC to arrest any person who commits an offence in his presence is an absolute power and therefore it is not subject to any limitation contemplated in section 10(1)(a) of the CPA. Thus even where the statute creating the offence provides that a person who commits the offence cannot be arrested without a warrant, that limitation is ineffective if the offence is committed in the presence of a police officer. See section 10(1) (b) of the CPA.


In exercising the power given in section 10(1)(a) of the CPA, the grounds for reasonable suspicion may be either a police officer’s own knowledge or facts stated to him by another person – see the case of IGP vs. Ogbomor (1957) WRNLR 200 where it was held that under section 10(1)(a) of the CPA, a police officer could arrest without a warrant a person on whom he knows there is a pending charge for an indictable offence, and for whom the police are looking, such knowledge affording the ground for reasonable suspicion.


Section 11 of the CPA and section 26 of the CPC gives the police the power to arrest any person suspected of having committed an offence who refused to give his name and address and may eventually give information that is false.
Section 55 of the CPA and section 26(e) of the CPC gives the police power to arrest any person known to be designing to commit any offence, it is appears to the officer that the commission of the offence cannot otherwise be prevented.

3.3.3 Life Span of Warrant of Arrest

A warrant of arrest once issued remains in force until the offender is arrested or the judge or magistrate vacates it or cancel it - see section 25(2) of the CPA and section56(2) of the CPC. It therefore does not cease to be valid after any period of time before its execution.
However, if any arrest has been made on its authority and the person arrested is later released, the warrant is no more a valid authority for re- arresting him. A new warrant has to be issued.

3.4 Searches

When a person is arrested by the police for having committed an offence, it may be necessary for the police to conduct a search of the person depending on the nature of the offence alleged against him. The search may be necessary in order to obtain evidence to be used at the trial of the offender.
A search may be conducted on persons and on things. With regard to search of a person, see section 29 of the Police Act provides “A police officer may detain and search any person whom he reasonably suspects of having in his possession or conveying in any manner anything which he has reason to believe to have been stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained”.
In conducting search, the police has the authority to remove everything with the accused apart from the apparel he was wearing – see section 6(1) of CPA and section 44(2) of he CPC.

Whenever it is necessary to cause a woman to be searched, the search shall be made by another woman. Further, the search of female suspect shall be with strict regard to decency. In other words, it is the female officers who should search female suspects.

Search of Premises

The general rule is that for a premise to be searched, a warrant must be obtained by the police. However, if a person to be arrested under a warrant of arrest is suspected of being in a premise, a search of the premise may be conducted for the persons being sought without a search warrant. See section 7 of the CPA and section 34 of the CPC. Thus, a warrant of arrest is also an authority to search a premise. A search warrant may be issued by a magistrate when he is satisfied upon oath and in writing that there is a reasonable ground for believing that any building, ship, carriage, receptacle or place is being used for the commission of an offence – see section 107(1) of the CPA.


A police officer of the rank of cadet ASP can issue a search warrant but this power is not wide as that of a magistrate. The reason is that he can only issue search warrants on any shop, warehouse or other premises which within the proceeding of 12 months was in occupation of any person convicted of receiving stolen property or harbouring thieves or fraud or dishonesty and is liable to be imprisoned – see section 24 of the Police Act.
On the time for execution of a search warrant, I refer you to section 111 of the CPA and for the execution of search warrant generally, see section 112 of the CPA and sections 78(1), 79 and 81(1) of the CPC. 3.5 Prevention of Crime
In order to play their role in the administration of criminal justice, the police is conferred with certain powers in relation to prevention of crimes by some statutes. Let us now examine them thus:

Section 4 of the Police Act provides inter alia that the police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crimes, the apprehension of offenders and the preservation of law and order.
Also, section 53 of the CPA provides that a police officer may intervene for the purpose of preventing and shall to the best of his ability prevent the commission of an offence.
For more see also sections 54 and 55 of the CPA.


Again, section 275 of the criminal code particularly in its 2nd limb says that is lawful for a peace officer or police officer who witnessed a breach of the peace, and for any person lawfully assisting him, to arrest any person whom he finds committing it, or whom he believes on reasonable grounds to be about to join in or renew the breach of the peace.

3.6 Granting of Police Bail

Any person arrested by the police without a warrant on suspicion of having committed an offence must be taken to court by the police within one day (24 hours) if there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of 40 kilometers of the place of the alleged commission of the offence. In any other cases, a period of two days (48 hours) or such longer period as in the circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable – see section 35(5) (a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution and section ---- of the CPA.

The issue of police bail arises after a person arrested without a warrant of arrest is taken to the police station. The officer in charge of the police station may admit the suspect to bail pending subsequent investigation into the matter. The suspect is usually granted bail upon his entering into a bond or recognisance with or without sureties to appear at the police station at such time as are named in the bond. See section 17 and 18 of the CPA. The bail granted by the police while investigations are continuing into the allegation against the accused is to enable him to secure his release on condition that he will return to or appear at the police station at the specified time in the bond.
But in practice where a capital offence i.e. murder is alleged against a person detained by the police, the police has certainly be detaining the person longer than 24 or48 hours as the case may be but this is against the provisions of the constitution (1999) and there should be a refrain by the police.

3.7 Institution and Conduct of Criminal Proceedings

This duty of the police is contained in section 35 of the Police Act which states “Subject to the provisions of section 150 and section 195 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (which relates to the power of AG of the Federation and AG of a state to institute and undertake, take over and continue or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person before any court of laws in Nigeria) any police officer may conduct in person all prosecutions before any court whether or not the information is laid in his name.
From the foregoing, a police officer can institute proceedings against any person in all courts of law in Nigeria, thereby undertaking his duty of due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which he is charged. But in practice, a police officer’s duty to institute criminal proceedings in the superior courts and sometimes in magistrate courts in serious cases.

4.0 CONCLUSION

This unit has stressed the importance of the Nigeria Police in the criminal justice system in Nigeria. It also stresses the reason behind the numerous statutory powers conferred on the Police i.e. power of arrest, search, prosecution, detain, grant bail, prevention of crime and the centrality of the Police to good governance and accountability.

5.0 SUMMARY

The Nigeria Police Force is created by law to maintain law and order in the society.
Section 24 creates the Nigeria Police Force.
The Police has authority to arrest suspected criminals.
It also has the power to search.
It prevents crimes in the society.
It can also grant bail whenever the need arises.
It has the power to institute and conduct criminal proceedings.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1.  Trace the historical evolution and establishment of the Nigeria Police Force. 
2. Under what circumstances can the police arrest a suspect without a warrant? 
3.  What are the duties of the Police Force in Nigeria? 

OBTAINING BY FALSE PRETENCE

In this unit, you will know that obtaining by false pretences is a felony whose main ingredient is intent to defraud and is geared towards anything capable of being stolen. This unit is patterned as follows:

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The offence of obtaining by false pretences is commonplace to the extent that it is gaining increasing notoriety in Nigeria. The offence is so widespread that governments at all levels are doing everything possible by way of legislation to check its wanton occurrence.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

What this unit seeks to achieve is for you to appreciate the ingredients of the offence of false pretence. This will enable you to have a firm grounding on the topic and also widen your intellectual frontiers within the greater regime of criminal law. The high incidence of the offence and the negative image it has given Nigeria in the international scene makes it imperative for you to be systematically instructed on it. At the end of this unit, you should be able to: expressly state what false pretense is.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Definition

Obtaining property by false pretence is committed when a person by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything capable of being stolen or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being stolen. The punishment for

obtaining by false pretences and the offence itself are contained in section 419 of the Criminal Code. It does not matter that the thing is obtained or its delivery induced through the medium of a contract induced by false pretence. The offender cannot be arrested without warrant, unless found in the very act of committing the offence.

3.2 Obtaining

For “obtaining” to take place, one must induce the owner of the property to transfer his/her whole interest in the property. The usual distinction which must be drawn is between “possession” and “ownership”. Thus if by an act of any accused person possession only is transferred, then the proper offence is stealing. If, however, both possession and ownership are transferred, then the proper offence is obtaining by false pretence – see Akosa v. Commissioner of Police (1950) 13 WACA 43.
Okonkwo and Naish submit that on the principle of Oshin (Supra), the case of State v. Osuafor (1972) 2 FCSLR 412, in which accused was convicted of obtaining by false pretence, was wrongly decided. They submit that the proper offence in Osuafor’s case was stealing because only possession was obtained by the accused.

The learned authors also submit that the case of Abasi v. COP (1965) NWLR 461 was wrongly decided because the offence committed was obtaining by false pretence and not stealing as was held by the court because both possession and ownership were involved.


The practice known as money doubling is offence of obtaining money by false pretence. See R. v. Adegboyega (1973) 3 WACA, 199. Compare this case with section 385 of the Criminal Code, which deals with fund under direction. If only a bailment of property is obtained, false pretence is not committed.

Illustration
If A by false pretence obtains the hire of B’s bicycle for a day and returns but does not pay the hire charge, this is not obtaining of the bicycle by false pretence because what A obtains was only a ride on the bicycle (possession) and not B’s entire interest (ownership) of it.
Furthermore, in R. v. Kilham (1870) 1 CCR 261, K obtained hire of a horse by false pretence, returned the horse without paying the cost of the hire. It was held that K’s conduct did not amount to obtaining by false pretence. See also the case of R. v. Boulton 1 Den. 508 and R. v. Chapman (1910) 4 Cr. App R 276.


If a person obtains a loan of money by false pretence even though he intends to repay it, the offence of obtaining by false pretence will lie against the offender or the accused because ownership in the particular money lent has passed to him. See R. v. Ogbanna (1941) 7 WACA 139. The property (ownership) in the goods must be obtained from the general owner or from someone who has power to pass the property. See R. v. Ball (1951) 2 KB 129. If the accused by false pretence obtains property from a bailee with intent to deprive the owner permanently, this is stealing.
The owner of land has special property (interest) in things found on his land and same is applicable to a finder of lost articles. It may be false pretence to induce them to give out their entire interest in such goods or articles.

If a customer pays a forged cheque into a bank account and the bank makes an entry crediting him with the amount on the cheque, he is not guilty of obtaining money from the bank by false pretence and this offence can only crystallize when the bank actually hands over or pays the money to the customer, irrespective of how much it credited in favour of the customer in his account because property in the money still resides with the bank. The offence under discussion cannot be examined properly without the expression “inducing deliver”. There is therefore, a great chasm between “obtaining and inducing deliver”. Obtaining means obtaining for oneself and inducing delivery covers a situation whereby A induces B to deliver to himself to C.
Inducing delivery in the crime of false pretence means inducing delivery of ownership and if there is merely a delivery of possession of accused that will amount to stealing.

3.3 The Pretence

A pretence is any representation which can manifest by words, writing or conduct, of a matter of fact,   either past or present, which representation is false in fact and which the person making it knows to be false or does not believe to be true. It is important to note however that a pretence can be inferred from the conduct of the accused and circumstance of the case.

3.4 Past and Present Matter

The representation must refer to a matter of fact either past or present. If it relates only to a future matter, the offence of obtaining by false pretence is not committed. Thus in Achonre v. Inspector General of Police (1958) 3 FSC 30, it was held that the accused was not guilty of obtaining money by false pretence because the representation related only to a future matter. Inneh v. Commissioner of Police (1959) WRNLR 204, it was held that the giving of a post dated cheque implies a future representation. But if the drawer has no account at all at the bank, then there is a false representation on an existing fact. If the false representation consists partly of a statement of a past or present matter and partly of a statement relating to the future, an offence is committed by false pretence, provided the former statement is a material contributory factor inducing the representee to part with his property.
In the English case of R. v. Jennison (1862) L & C 157, the accused, a married man, represented himself as being single and induced a girl to give him money promising that he would use the money to furnish a house and thereafter marry her. He was convicted of obtaining money by false pretence. In the above case, although there was a future promise, yet the statement that the accused was single related to an existing fact and was an important factor which induced the girl to part with her money.
Sometimes a promise to do something in the future may involve a false pretence that the promisor has the present means and ability to do that thing. If this is so, then there is representation of an existing fact. See R. v. Dent (1955) 2 ALL ER 806.

3.5 Falsity of the Pretence

The law is that the pretence must not only be false but it must be false to the knowledge of the maker, or at least, he must not believe it to be true. If the accused honestly believes in the truth of the statement which unfortunately turns out not to be so, this is no false pretence but merely an expression of opinion. It is only a statement of fact that cannot, which in law constitute a false pretence.
Illustration If a butcher represents the meat he sells as the best in the market and it turns out to be so, this is no false pretence but merely an expression of opinion. But if a trader knowingly makes a false statement of fact concerning his product, that is false pretence in the eyes of the law. The prosecution has a heavy burden of proving the falsity of the pretence and if the pretence is shown to be false, it is no defence that the person defrauded, parted with his property in order that it might be put to an unlawful purpose.

3.6 Intent to Defraud

There must be intent on the part of the accused to defraud, though it is not necessary to allege an intent to defraud any particular person. An intent to defraud is an intent to induce another by deceit, to act to his detriment or contrary to what would otherwise be his duty and it is immaterial that there is no intention to cause pecuniary or economic loss. See the case of Welhem v. DPP (1961) AC 103. Thus if A obtains money from B by false pretence, the intent to defraud is not negative by showing that the money so obtained is nothing more than a suitable reward for the services rendered by A to B. See the cases of R. v. Anijoloja (1936) 13 NLR 85 and R. v. Abuah (1961) All NLR 635. 3.7 Effect of Pretence

The law is that the pretence must have induced the owner to part with his goods. It must be shown clearly that the alleged false representation weighed on the mind of the representee and therefore made him to part with the goods. If the representations consist of variety of statements wherein one of such statements is false, by the authority of R. v. Jenisson (1862) L & C 157, the representee will be guilty if that false statement is an effective cause of the transfer of ownership.

Where there is no express request for the transfer of ownership, the pretence may be implied from the conduct of the accused. If the person to whom the false pretence or representation is made is aware that the said representation by the accused is false or where he is not deceived by it, but nevertheless, he parts with his property, the offence of obtaining by false pretence is not committed. At most, the accused may be convicted of attempting to obtain by false pretence. See Omotosho v. Police (1961) 1 All NLR 693.

4.0 CONCLUSION

We discussed S. 419 of the Criminal Code, which is obtaining under false pretence which is the unlawful and intentional making of a
misrepresentation which causes actual prejudice or which is potentially prejudicial. The effort here is to show that there are differences in the content of the offence of stealing and obtaining by false pretence.

5.0 SUMMARY

This offence is committed with false pretence. The owner of the thing or property must transfer his whole interest in the property to the accused. Obtaining by false pretences is different from stealing. The false pretence can manifest by words, writing or conduct. The representation must refer to a matter of fact either past or present. There must be intention to defraud. The effect of pretence is that it must have induced the owner to partwith the goods.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1.  Mr. A recently converted a warehouse belonging to him into his residence and resides there. At about 7p.m yesterday, Mr. B broke and entered the said warehouse with intention to steal and broke out this morning by 4.30a.m. What crime has Mr. B committed
2. How can you distinguish the offence of obtaining by false pretence from stealing
3. When can you say that a pretence is false and that there is intent to defraud?