'Our children are not criminals, they are shaped by their environment'
Namibia's boys are not inherently more prone to crime than girls but are being shaped by poverty, violence, trauma and harmful social expectations that leave many vulnerable to offending from an early age, psychologist Dr Shaun Whittaker has warned.
Speaking to the Namibian Sun, Whittaker said official figures showing that boys account for 91% of child offenders should not be interpreted as evidence that boys are naturally more criminal, but rather as a reflection of the environments in which many are raised. "Of course boys are not naturally more criminal. I think it has more to do with their socialisation, their gendered exposure and perhaps the structural inequality in society," he said.
Whittaker said boys are often socialised to be physically assertive, emotionally restrained and dominant, making them more susceptible to aggression, risk-taking behaviour and negative peer pressure. "Boys are socialised to be tough, to be dominant, to be unemotional and to be physically assertive," he said.
He added that boys also tend to spend more unsupervised time in public spaces, where gangs, conflict and risky behaviour are more common. "There is more peer group pressure from the male peer group, where defiance and rule-breaking are rewarded," he said.
According to Whittaker, juvenile offending cannot be separated from Namibia's broader socio-economic realities.
He pointed to poverty, food insecurity, unemployment, overcrowded households and widespread exposure to violence as factors that create stress and survival-driven behaviour. "Children grow up in households where there's food insecurity, unemployment and overcrowding," he said. "They are also exposed to violence at home, in the community and at school. Violence becomes normalised and children begin to think that's how problems are solved."
Whittaker said harsh discipline, emotional neglect and academic failure further increase children's vulnerability, while many boys lack positive male role models because of absent fathers. "Traumatised boys often act out because they don't have the emotional tools to cope. If there's no positive male role model around, it becomes very difficult for boys," he said.
His remarks come as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare unveiled its Strategic Plan 2025–2030, which prioritises strengthening support for the boy child, expanding psychosocial services, promoting positive parenting and improving child protection systems.
The strategy commits the ministry to ensuring reported child protection cases receive interventions, strengthening parenting programmes and developing new child protection policies to improve outcomes for vulnerable children.
Whittaker welcomed the emphasis on prevention, saying early intervention offers the best chance of reducing juvenile offending. "The earlier support is provided, the more likely a child's development can be redirected," he said.
He called for compulsory parenting education, stronger life skills programmes in schools, anti-bullying initiatives, more social workers and greater investment in youth centres, sport and safe recreational spaces.
"We need a very strong parenting movement. We need to teach parents non-violent discipline, emotional regulation and consistent routines at home," he said.
Whittaker stressed that long-term progress would ultimately depend on addressing poverty and inequality. "Our children are not criminals; they are shaped by the environment. In the long term, we need to take poverty reduction much more seriously," he said.
The ministry's strategy follows the release of the Namibia Child Care and Protection Statistics Report (2014–2023), which found that boys account for 92% of child offenders. The report also identified neglect as the most commonly reported form of child abuse over the reporting period.
The Namibian Sun sent follow-up questions to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare on how the strategy would specifically address the high proportion of boys entering the child justice system, including funding, implementation timelines and targeted programmes. No response had been received by the time of publication.
The newspaper also sought comment from the Namibian Police on trends in juvenile offending, the most common offences committed by children and the factors officers believe are driving youth crime. Police had not responded by the time of publication.
