THE AWARENESS AND CAPABILITY OF THE TEENAGERS IN DEALING WITH

DIFFICULT OR DANGEROUS CRIMES THAT HAPPEN WHEN THEY COMMUTE IN

MARIKINA CITY MAINLY IN CONCEPCION UNO
A Thesis Proposal
Presented to
The High School Department
St. Scholasticas Academy marikina

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
Introduction to Research Paper Writing

by
Haizel Agang
Raeven Davis
Rhiezel Diolaso
Gianina Gaspar
Gianna Lauengco
Carla Porto
Andrea Soriano
Jill Topacio
October 2014

CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction

One of the pressing issues in the Philippines nowadays is the

gradual increase of crime rates. Like working adults, teenagers also
travel on a daily basis since they go to school. In this case, the
number of commuters or those who travel by the use of public
vehicles, is adamant especially students in public schools. Because of
this, teenage victims of street crimes like assault, rape, robbery and
others, continues to rise. In 2002, the rate of crime victimization
for people aged 16 to 19 years (58.2 per 1000) and 12 to 15 years
(44.4 per 1000) is higher than other age groups. Teenage commuters are
viewed to be highly vulnerable than those older than them, so the
chances of them being victimized by such crimes is big. The problem is
that since their minds are still in the process of maturing, they
sometimes do not know what to do when faced with troubles in the road.
So in the end, they fall into victims by the criminals.
According to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, we need to feel safe
and secured not just in terms of livelihood, but also in our
environment and the people around us. With this being stated, the
teenage commuters especially the students, need to be aware, wellinformed, and educated about guarding their safety.
The local governments part is to ensure that the laws concerning
the safety and rights of citizens like teenagers, be strictly

implemented and followed. It is also the governments responsibility

to look after the students in the busy streets, and to educate them
regarding the precautionary measures in the road in any means.
Since teenagers are viewed with higher vulnerability than adults,
they need to be aware of their surroundings, and things to remember
when in public places. In their part, they have to raise their
responsiveness and knowledge about the outside world for them to look
after their own safety, because adults arent always there to watch
out for them.
Teenagers and students play major roles in our community. They
will someday become the leaders in our country and the hope of our
nation. So as early as now, we should heighten their awareness about
protecting their own safety for them to travel with comfort and peace
of mind.

Background of the Study

Street crimes are one of the leading index crime in the Philippines
particularly in the area of Metro Manila. Based on the data collected
by the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management
(DIDM), the National Capital Region (NCR) registered as the highest
total crime volume nationwide. It was accounted for 21 % (31, 022) of
the total 145, 056 crime volume in the country.
A Statistical Bulletin also shows that most of the victims of street
crimes are ages below 20 years old which are teenagers and children.

Some of the reasons are because of their innocence and unawareness of

their surroundings. In addition to this, being a victim is also
associated with psychological and emotional effects.

Theoretical Framework

Safety
(Domino Safety Theory)

Public Places
(Institutional Theory)

Street Crimes
(Sub Cultural Theories)

Awareness of students
(Attribution Theory)

Affecting Factors

People around

Environment

Figure 1 shows the Theoretical Framework of our thesis statement.

The thesis first articulated about safety. According to the Domino
Safety Theory of H.W. Heinrich, an accident takes place from a series
of events, just like a sequence of dominos. However, we can also apply
our

study

in

this

theory.

The

first

event

to

consider

is

the

background of the worker or in this study, its the victim of street

crimes. In particular, his/her lifestyle and personality are factors:
is he/she vulnerable to the specific crime? Second to consider, is the
personal characteristic of the victim. This is different from the
first one because this event considers the victims attitude, level of
knowledge,

physical

and

mental

conditions.

This

could

answer

the

statement of the problem: Is the teenager aware on what to do when the

crime happens? The third is the Unsafe Acts and Unsafe Conditions.
This represents the victims behavior and conditions that would make
him/her
wallet

more
when

vulnerable.
commuting?

(e.g.

Do

the

Does

the

teen

teen

talks

to

open

his/her

his/her

phone

bag

or

while

walking in the road?)The fourth event is the accident or in the study

is

the

crime

itself.

This

could

answer

one

of

the

researchers

questions: What did the teenager do during the crime? Lastly, the

injury happens when someone got hurt. In our study, this stage happens
after the crime where there are already victims of street crimes.
From

safety,

particularly

we

roads.

narrow

From

the

the

location

public

to

places,

public

we

can

places,
find

the

Institutional Theory which states that A widely accepted theoretical

posture that emphasizes rational myths, isomorphism, and legitimacy.
That

is

according

to

Scott

W.

Richards

Institutions

and

Organizations: Ideas and Interests, 2008 in Wikipedia. This theory

considers
routines

the
and

ways
the

in

which

normal

structures,
way

of

including

doing

things

schemes,
become

rules,

built

as

authoritative guidelines for social behavior. This could be applied to

the

government

of

Marikina,

especially

the

officials

of

barangay

Concepcion Uno. What is the crime rate of barangay Concepcion Uno? Do

they have ordinance that controls the crime rate in their barangay?
Then, as this study have been discussing, the figure narrows off
to

Street

Crimes.

In

this

area,

we

can

connect

the

sub

cultural

theories. In Sam Cooks post about Mertons work, he discussed: They

say

that

deviance

is

the

result

of

individuals

conforming

to

the

values and norms of a social group to which they belong, if you belong
to a social group whose norms differ from those of the main society
then you will become a deviant. When in Cloward and Ohlins theories,
Cook

stated

the

three

theories.

These

are:

Criminal

Subcultures,

Conflict Subcultures and Retreatist Subcultures. Criminal subcultures

stated that in an environment where adults tend to commit organized

crime, these adults serve as role models and unfortunately, the youth
also learn the adults crime. In Conflict Subcultures, there is little
or

no

presence

of

adult

doing

crimes

in

organization

hence,

the

teenagers do crimes with a gang. However, when the youth failed to

commit a crime or is called double failure, they tend to turn into
alcohol and/or drugs. Although these subcultures dont discuss the
victim, it tackles the youth who may either be a victim which became a
suspect. Nonetheless, we will focus on the victims of street crimes
and the teenagers awareness of it, as it was stated in scope and
delimitation.
Finally, the figure targets the aim of this study, the awareness
of students with regards to street crimes. According to Saul McLeods
article about Attribution Theory, this theory deals with how the
social perceiver uses information to arrive at causal explanations for
events.

It

examines

combined

to

form

what
causal

information
judgment

is

gathered

(Fiske,

&

and

Taylor,

how

it

is

1991).

In

simpler words, this theory talks about how and why ordinary people
reasoned out their actions. With this theory, this study can explain
the reasoning of the victims of street crimes, if they are really
aware about the situation or not.
After the awareness, it further goes deeper with the affecting
factors and branches out to two factors: the people around or the
society

and

the

environment.

Unfortunately,

the

researchers

find any theories on these last parts, even with street crimes.

didnt

Sources:
http://loggingsafety.com/content/domino-safety-theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_theory
http://revisesociology.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/3-subculturaltheories/
http://www.simplypsychology.org/attribution-theory.html
Conceptual Framework

Statement of the Problem

This

study

regarding

the

aims

to

determine

precautionary

the

measures

knowledge
of

and

teenagers

awareness

residing

Barangay Concepcion Uno when they experience street crimes.

in

For the

school year 2014 2015 as perceived by the principal, assistant

principal, teachers and the subject area coordinators.
The specific problems of this study are as follows:
1. What is the perception of the teenagers on the
Street crimes in their barangay on the following indicators?

1.1. Instruction
1.2. Assessment
1.3. Laws and Measures
B. At the end of this research endeavor, the researchers primarily
aim to:
This paper will inform teenagers about street crimes and what to do
when

they

are

awareness,

we

experiencing
may

be

able

it.
to

We

believe

lift

up

that

those

through
people

raising

who

were

victimized by this and regain their self-esteem. In short, we aim to

inform and lessen the trauma of teenagers from street crimes for
them to know what to do when they are in that situation.

Significance of the Study

This study is beneficial to the following:
The Students. Since they are the usual victims of these crimes, it
would be beneficial to them because we plan to increase the knowledge
of the students about the different precautionary methods.
Local Government.Through this study, the government will be able to
promote

new

and

effective

ordinances,

which

will

help

prevent

or

lessen the number of street crimes.

Future Researchers. The result of this study could be reference for
future study and the improvement of this study.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

Out of all the teenagers who currently reside in Barangay

Concepcion Uno, Marikina City, 150 teenagers were respondents
in the survey.

This study limits its coverage on teenagers who are aged 13-19
years old and reside in Barangay Concepcion Uno, Marikina City.
It's main purpose is to measure the awareness and capabilities
of these teenagers about astute things to remember when faced
in different crimes that may happen whenever they commute.

This study considers the personal experiences of the teenagers

who live in Barangay Concepcion Uno, Marikina City whenever
they commute and the experiences they've had when they face
real-life street crimes. Each of the respondents are given
same questionnaires to answer.