Influence of Neglect on Attachment and Delinquent Behaviour Among Adolescent Boys in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The study focused on the influence of neglect on attachment to caregiver and delinquent behavior among adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi. The first objective of the study was to determine the extent to which neglect influences attachment to caregivers among adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi, the second objective was to investigate the influence of neglect on delinquent behavior among adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi and the third objective was to establish the relationship between attachment to caregivers and delinquent behavior among neglected adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi. The study’s first hypothesis was to assess the relationship between neglect and attachment to care givers among adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi. The second hypothesis was to assess the relationship between neglect and delinquent behavior among adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi and the third hypothesis was to assess the relationship between attachment to caregivers and delinquent behavior among neglected adolescent boys in Embakasi, Nairobi. The study utilized both purposive and snowballing sampling procedures. A sample of 112 street adolescent boys was used in the study. Purposive sampling procedure was used to attain sample for the Focused group discussions. Both descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square, T-test, Pearson’s correlation, and Regression) were used to infer the sample results from quantitative data. Qualitative data was coded and analyzed for emerging themes and presented through narrations. The findings of this study showed that there was no statistically significant association between neglect and attachment (χ2=2.6239, p=0.453) at the 5% level of significance 0% levels of significance. There was statistically significant association between neglect and delinquent behavior (χ2=9.3969, p=0.052) at the 5% level of significance. There was no statistically significant association between attachment and delinquent behavior (χ2=16.7704, p=0.158) at the 5% level of significance. This study concluded that neglect does not influence attachment formation, that neglect influences involvement in delinquent behavior which meant neglected boys have a high chance of indulging in delinquent activities and attachment style does not influence delinquent behavior among the adolescent street boys of Embakasi, Nairobi County.