Relationship Between Duration Of Institutionalization, Attitudes Towards Rehabilitation And Psychological Coping Strategies Among Confined Adolescents In Nairobi County Rehabilitation Schools
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Date
2018Author
Mwangi, Diana Njoki
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between duration of institutionalization, attitudes towards rehabilitation and psychological coping strategies among adolescents in Nairobi County rehabilitation schools. A mixed method research approach with correlational design was used combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Multiple choice questionnaires were used for the quantitative study conducted among the adolescents who were confined in the approved schools. FGDs among the inmates and key informant interviews among the adolescents‟ caregivers were conducted as basis of qualitative study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized in analyzing the study‟s data. Results showed that majority of the adolescents (47%) adolescents were aged between 15-16 years. Also, most of the adolescents were male (54%), while 46% of them were female. Most of the adolescents (59%) had stayed at the institutions for more than a year, while 41% of them had stayed at the institutions for less than a year. Results indicated that majority (58%) of the confined adolescents had neutral attitudes towards incarceration for behavior change irrespective of the period they had been confined. The study‟s findings further indicated that there was a significant relationship between duration of institutionalization and the adolescents attitudes towards rehabilitation (P-value=0.022). Also, there was medium utilization of coping skills irrespective of how long the inmates had been confined, age, gender and the perceptions regarding the living environment. Majority of the adolescents utilized appropriate coping styles to deal with the reality of being confined. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between duration of institutionalization and utilization of various coping skills among the inmates (P-Value=0.019). The relationships between the independent variable and the two dependent variables were found to be significant when tested against a number of demographic factors. Findings further indicated that there was a weak positive relationship between inmates‟ attitudes towards rehabilitation and the level of utilization of the various coping skills to deal with the reality of being incarcerated. (P-Value= 0.001). Further, correlation coefficients of the 14 coping skills assessed showed that only active coping (r2-0.001), emotional support (r2-0.002), use of instrumental support (r2-0.001), and positive reframing (r2-0.004), had a positive relationship with attitudes towards rehabilitation. The correlation coefficients between attitudes towards rehabilitation and utilization of coping strategies were less than the perfect (+1), hence concluding that there was a weak positive relationship between respondents attitudes towards rehabilitation and the utilization of the various coping skills. The conclusion was that developing positive attitudes result to high utilization of appropriate coping skills for adolescents to benefit fully from rehabilitation and inhibit negative feelings and emotions. Also, rehabilitation programs provide an ample ground for the adolescents to understand the benefits, reflect on mistakes, revise beliefs regarding confinement, assess capabilities and commit to reform. In view of the current study, the current practice of rehabilitating adolescents for 3 years is helpful. Recommendations were that more studies in other approved schools would help shed more light on findings similar to the current study. Also, confined adolescents should be fully supported to adapt well in confinement so that majority, if not all of them have positive rehabilitation attitudes and maximum utilization of the appropriate coping skills. Finally, caregivers should maximize positive reforms for the confined offenders while at the same time completely address factors that can influence those confined for care and protection negatively
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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