Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Dysfunctional Behaviours Among Pupils in Selected Primary Schools in Mavoko Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

Behaviors among children can be functional or dysfunctional depending on the parenting style. However, the extent to which parenting styles are related to dysfunctional behavior varies.The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between parenting styles and dysfunctional behaviours among primary school pupils in Mavoko Sub- County, Machakos County, Kenya. Four specific objectives guided the study, namely to; find out the prevalence of various parenting styles, establish the prevalence of dysfunctional behaviours among pupils, determine the relationship between parenting styles and dysfunctional behaviours, and to suggest intervention measures that can be put in place to support pupils in primary schools in Mavoko Sub- County. Problem Behaviour Theory advanced by Jessor and Jessor (1977) was adopted by the study and descriptive survey research design was used. The target population was 38 public schools and 195 private schools in Mavoko Sub County. The strata used was public and private primary schools, the population size was all 233 primary schools in Mavoko Sub County with a total enrollment of 51,309 pupils, of which 25,294 are male and 26,015 are female. The researcher used the Gay (2000) sampling principal which states that in descriptive surveys the sample should comprise at least 10-20% of the population. Consequently, this study adopted the lower limit (10%) which yielded 23 primary schools.From the sampled public primary schools 160 pupils (80 boys and 80 girls) in grade five and six pupils were selected by simple random sampling, while in private primary schools 222 pupils were sampled (111 boys and 111girls). The teacher counselor and the discipline master/mistress in each school was purposively sampled and included in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the pupils, and an interview schedule for the teachers. A pilot study was conducted in two primary schools in the study locale, one private and one public school. The data obtained in the pilot study was used to compute the reliability of the instruments using Cronbach coefficient alpha of which a threshold of .7 above was taken to indicate the tools were reliable. The validity of the tools was ascertained by expert opinion by professionals in the field under investigation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of SPSS version 29, while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated authoritative parenting style was the most prevalent dysfunctional behaviours that included fighting, theft and lying. A positive weak relationship between parenting style and dysfunctional relationship was established. A negative significant relationship between authoritative and dysfunctional behaviour was reported, while authoritarian, neglectful and permissive parenting styles were positively and significantly related with dysfunctional behavior. Guidance and counselling, parental involvement, pupil motivation, spiritual guidance, open communication between school and parents and parents with children, positive role modelling are some of the interventions that can be put in place to support pupils. The findings could help parents, teachers and pupils in the endeavor to deal with dysfunctional behaviours. The results are presented in chapter four of the thesis.