Recreative sports in preventing child and youth crime

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to be able to make it clear that recreation serves as a buffer in preventing crime; recreational sports having a special place for young people in juvenile delinuency have an important place; and recreational activities that will be practised in the regions committing intense crime reduce the rate of crimes; but most importantly, sports recreation serves as a buffer for children and young people particularly in preventing the individuals from crime even before they commit.

While legally criminal corresponding activities and conradictions to social values are accepted as crime, research shows that criminal tendency mostly centres around youth. When young population over 26 million is regarded, the issue comes out to be such important for Turkey.

Juvenile delinquency shows an increasing tendency all over the world; however, Turkey remains at the head of the world with forty percent. Security General Directorate data shows that in 2006 there were 31.761 thinner and baly addicted young; aged 30 and below composed the fifty percent of drug addicted individuals, ranging 57 percent between 15 and 24 aged; smoking start age decreased to the age of 9-10 and alcohol drinking start age fell to the age of 12-14. According to the the report of Substance Research and Treatment Centre, volatile substance start age is 11-12, drug start age is 16-17 and heroin start age is 18-19.

When the research is examined, it is admitted that many countries use recreation as a buffer to reduce the rates and also prevent juvenile delinquency in the regions experiencing intense crime and that pretty good results and recoveries ranging to 90 percent are obtained from the applications.

Recreational activity in great demand among the young is generally sports. Recreational sports is used as a means of crime prevention. Research suggests that pursuit of recreational sports tends to deter the young from participation in crime. Crime rates decrease in the regions where recreational sports is applied while these rates increase in other regions.

Consequently, recreation and particularly sports recreation for the children and youth is one of the most effective and the cheapest method. The findings of many research absolutely prove that.

In Turkey, urgent precautions need to be taken to prevent rapidly increasing juvenile delinquency and concerned organisations should collaborate with particularly universities. Pilot scheme ought to be started in the regions which experience intensive crime and the use of  sports as a protective element for crime prevention should be generalized regarding the sports as the most widespread recreational activity among the youth.