The Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Conduct Disorder Among Incarcerated Adolescents in Kamiti Youth Corrective Training Center & Juvenile Remand and Kamae Girls Borstal Institutions, Nairobi County Paul Ng’ang’a Namu, , Social Sciences, Counseling Psychology (Mcp),

Abstract

The adolescence stage is when a child starts questioning parental rules and may defy them, resulting in conflicts between the two. This statement implies that parental care and love are paramount even as the parent supervises and raises a child at this very stage. The nature of parenting usually determines how a child relates with others and defines their social skills. The main objective of this study was to establish the effects of parenting styles on conduct disorder among the children in the Youth Corrective Training Center and at Kamae Girls Borstal Institution, both situated in Nairobi County for boys and girls, respectively. The researcher applied a correlational research design to undertake this very study. The target population for this study comprised youths aged between 12-22 from the two institutions mentioned above. From the target population of 275 individuals, the researcher picked a sample size of 169, comprising 46 girls and 123 boys. The study collected 143 questionnaires from the 169-sample population. The data was collected using a self-administered and structured questionnaire on conduct disorder and parenting styles. The data was thereafter analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The researcher tested the relationship between conduct disorder and perceived parenting styles using the Chi-square test of independence. The descriptive results identified the permissive style as the most prevalent parenting style, with a mean of 4.45 (SD= 1.08). Authoritative parenting comprised the least used parenting style (M=2.16, SD=1.37) among the respondents’ guardians and parents. Alternatively, the study found that 70 percent of the respondents had varying levels of conduct disorder, with 11 percent having a high probability of having severe conduct disorder. The inferential results revealed a significant relationship between conduct disorder and perceived parenting styles. Also, the study found no significant difference between female and male juveniles the in the two Kamiti youth corrective facilities. Thus, the study concluded that the permissive and authoritarian parenting styles affected children’s conduct disorder development. The study recommended that future studies on the subject matter should consider using experimental research design to ascertain the relationship between conduct disorder and parenting styles. The study also recommended conduct disorder screening at youth correctional facilities, the adoption of an authoritative parenting style among Kenyan parents, and the need for raising awareness of conduct disorder among the youth and Kenya in general.