A Study of Cultural Values and Reported Crime among Ethnicities in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study compared cultural values and reported crime among five indigenous ethnic nationalities in Delta state of Nigeria. Values, such as orderliness, hard work, and obedience, facilitate or defacilitate criminality among five indigenous peoples of Delta State. The method of research was ex-post facto, through the technique of content
analysis using police, prison records and in-depth interviews with divisional crime officers from the three politically designated senatorial zones in the state. The significant finding showed, among others, that more crimes were committed in the Central and South Senatorial Zones, where the marriage type is polygamous, and much
less in the North, where the marriage type is monogamous. This finding and others were situated in the Social Learning Theory through the concept of socialization process by learning and internalizing cultural values of conformity and ritualism in low crime North Senatorial Zone in contrast to innovation, retreatism and rebellion in high crime Delta Central and South Senatorial Zones. Studies reviewed corroborated these findings. It was recommended that mass media campaign to reconstruct thoughts, attitude and behaviour be embarked on. In bringing up children, parents should be mindful of emerging negative effects of urbanization and economic competitions.