CONTRIBUTION OF COMMUNITY TO DEVIANT BEHAVIORS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TRANS-NZOIAWEST SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Deviant behaviors among secondary school going populations, the world over, are of concern to
educators, counselors and psychologists. This is because of the potential of deviant behaviors at the
adolescent stage to undermine the achievement of both personal and national goals. Your social
environment including your family, friends, school, and neighborhood influence your behavior. This
study assessed the contribution of social institutions (community) to deviant behaviors among
secondary school students. The study was anchored on the Social-control Theory by Travis (1960)
and Attachment Theory by Bowlby and Ainsworth (1991). Descriptive survey design was used
because the deputy head teachers’ guidance and counseling teachers’ and students’ attitudes were
sought. The target population was 6529 respondents. The sample size was 661 respondents. Simple
Random Sampling was used to select the schools and the students. Stratified Sampling was used to
select the zones then Purposive Sampling was used to select deputy principals and guidance and
counseling teachers. The researcher used questionnaires and behavior assessment tool as the
instruments to collect qualitative and quantitative data necessary for this study. The study was
carried out in Trans-Nzoia West Sub-County. Reliability was established by test-retest method in a
pilot study done in the neighboring sub-county. Validity was established by giving the instruments to
the experts in research field. Content validity was adopted for this study. Descriptive techniques of
data analysis such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were used. To
establish the relationship, Spearman’s rank was employed while t-tests were used to test for
significance. The data was subjected to Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17 for further
analysis. The study revealed the following: that the frequency of deviance in schools is low in the
study area. The community contributes to deviant behaviors by having poor neighborhoods, high
rates of violence lack of community norms and a culture of impunity in the society. Also, there is a
significant negative relationship between community and deviant behaviors among students. The
study recommended that the Ministry of Education should ensure that each school has a counseling
room and all guidance and counseling teachers be exposed to workshops and seminars to enable
them be effective in their work.