Abstract:
Witchcraft is a world phenomenon. Some people do
belief in it on their daily life and this has brought a lot of anxiety,
fear from the threats given to the victims. This study investigated
the prevalence on witchcraft beliefs and psychological well-being
of elderly people in Nyakumbati Sub-location in Masaba South
Sub-count, Kisii County Kenya. The study adopted a mixed
method approach; a convergent parallel design was employed to
enable the researcher investigate the relationship between
prevalence on witchcraft beliefs and the psychological well-being
of elderly people. Simple random sampling was employed to
select a sample of 164 respondents from the 280 elderly people
receiving cash transfer from the Kenyan Government in
Nyakumbati Sub-location. Data was collected using
questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential
statistics using statistical Software Package for Social Science
(SPSS) version 22. Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was used to
ensure reliability of research instruments. The findings indicate
that majority of the elderly People belief in witchcraft (56.3%).
Many elderly people (48.3%) agreed that beliefs in witchcraft
have interfered with relationships in the community. Also
majority of the elderly people (60.3%) agreed that Witchcraft
practices are dangerous in the community. Witchcraft practices
are feared within the community this was taken by 61.6% of the
respondents. At the same time majority of the elderly people
(62.3%) agreed that Witchcraft practices are carried in hidden
manners and finally 41.7% of the elderly stated that they are
vulnerable to witchcraft activities. The findings on the
relationship between psychological well-being and witchcraft
beliefs show that there was: a weak relationship of 0.061 on selfacceptance, a moderate relationship of 0.331 on positive relations
and a moderate relationship of 0.530 on purpose in life. The final
findings show that there is a weak relationship between
prevalence on witchcraft beliefs and the psychological well-being
of elderly people. The study recommends and appeals to
government leaders, educators and church stakeholders to strive
further towards addressing witchcraft related issues.
Additionally, social workers, counselors and psychologists should
be assigned through the cooperation of church and government
to cater for the psychological well-being of the elderly people in
the community.
