Influence Of Selected Family Conflicts On Student's Early Pregnancies In Public Secondary Schools Of Gucha South Sub-County, Kenya
Statistics are alarming and shocking on the recent media reports of the high number of girls who have become pregnant during the lockdown of Covid 19 and has prompted the researcher to find out the reasons why these early pregnancies in Gucha South Sub-county have been increasing for more than a decade now with no solution so far. The study was governed by Joyce Epstein’s and Socialization theories. The study used mixed methodology and concurrent triangulation design in data collection Mixed methodology was used in this study since both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analyzed and the research design adopted was be concurrent triangulation. The target population consisted of all the seven 37 principals, 650 teachers and 15,865 students and 15, 865 parents totaling to 32,417 respondents in all the secondary schools in Gucha South sub- County. In this study 300 respondents were sampled purposively who included 24 Principals, 48 Guidance and Counselling teachers, 96 teachers, 48 parents who children have become pregnant or are affected by family wrangles and 84 girls, some who are pregnant or whose parents are involved in family conflicts. The research instruments included Questionnaires for guidance and counselling teachers and class teachers, interview guide for Principals and document analysis for the pregnant cases. The instruments were in piloted Bamachoge Sub-County for reliability, validity, dependability and credibility. Validity of the instruments ascertained through expert judgment and reliability was attained through test re-test and calculated using Cronbach alpha where internal consistency of 0.7 was be considered reliable. Credibility was ascertained through data triangulation and to ensure that the study findings was dependable every step was be well articulated and detailed. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically by identification of common themes and presented in narrative form along study objectives while quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferentially using the SPSS Version 23 and findings presented using tables and graphs The results of this research showed an existence of a correlation between family conflict and early pregnancies, this influence was determined using Karl Pearson’s coefficient correlation of 0.7. The study was able to establish that family conflicts play an important role in destabilizing the family and when children lack guidance, they can become victims of Erly pregnancies. These findings mean there is need for all sectors of the society from the church to assist in planning of marriages to its implementing and managing to be all inclusive and take care of emotional needs of these parents, as much as social and emotional aspects are considered so that the girls can complete their education. The government must also play its in ensuring the stability of the family which will lead to reduction in quarrels, better communication and minimal divorces.