Thesis:

Relationship between psychosocial variables and delinquency among adolescents in selected public rehabilitation schools in Kenya

Teenage delinquency is a growing problem in Kenya and a major issue for society as a whole. Examining selected Kenyan public rehabilitation centers, this research seeks to understand the relationship between psychological variables and juvenile criminality. The study used a mixed-methods approach, drawing from both the "Storm and Stress" Theory and Social Learning Theory. In particular, we choose a convergent parallel research strategy because we think it will work well with our approach. At four specific public rehabilitation schools, 360 people—including students, administrators, instructors, and welfare officers—will be part of the target group. A total of 271 responders are chosen at random from this pool. While convenience sampling is used to pick managers, stratified random sampling, systematic random sample, and basic random sampling are used to select teachers, teenagers, and welfare officials, respectively. Managers and welfare officials conduct interviews and provide questionnaires to educators and students. A pilot study verifies the dependability of research instruments by producing Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha values higher than 0.7, indicating reliability. Asking supervisors for their professional views is another way to guarantee veracity. We use SPSS 25.0, a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, to do quantitative data analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics. In order to examine qualitative data in a way that was consistent with ethical issues, thematic analysis was used. During the indicated time, the demographic data showed that there were more male adolescents (65.7%) than female adolescents (34.3%) in these correctional facilities. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed the existence of a statistically significant association between delinquency and self-esteem, which was shown to have a positive correlation coefficient (R) of 0.826. Some teenagers had healthy amounts of self-esteem, whereas others didn't. In a similar vein, between stress levels and delinquency, there was a positive correlation (R = 0.07) and ANOVA analysis confirmed a statistically significant link (F = 0.065, p < 0.05). Results for all parameters in the one-sample t-test analysis of the family structure data were 0.000, suggesting statistical significance. The ANOVA analysis confirmed a statistically significant link (F value 0.025, p < 0.05) between impulsivity and delinquency, which was backed by a high positive correlation (R value of 0.77). These results are useful for probation officers, instructors, and administrators of rehabilitation schools when making policy decisions to improve the rehabilitation process. Counselors, clinical psychologists, adolescents, and probation officers may all benefit greatly from their ideas as they assist rehabilitating and reintegrating formerly incarcerated youth.