VARIANTS OF EXPOSURE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON PUPILS’ BEHAVIOUR IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS, NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

A toxic home, characterized by domestic violence between parents, can affect a child’s behaviour and academic achievement in school. Children are exposed to domestic violence. The risk of exposure is higher in informal settlements. Exploring different dimensions of exposure will unravel the magnitude and address a knowledge gap on local studies. The study therefore sought to establish the variants of exposure to domestic violence and their influence on pupils’ behaviour in public primary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence and its influence on behaviour and academic performance; determine the influence of domestic violence incidences on pupils’ behaviour and academic performance; explore the influence of the type of exposure to domestic violence on pupils’ behaviour and academic performance and investigate the influence of age at exposure to domestic violence on pupils’ behaviour and academic performance. A correlational research design was utilised. The study population was 61,034 pupils in class 4, 5 and 6. The study sampled 390 pupils using formulae by Krejcie and Morgan. Purposive sampling was used to select 13 public primary schools in informal settlements and 39 teachers while random sampling was used to sample pupils. Two questionnaires were administered: Violence exposure Scale for Children-Revised (CEDV) to measure exposure to domestic violence and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure behaviour. An assessment record for the previous year (2017) collected data on academic performance. Reliability of the questionnaires was tested by computing Cronbach alpha coefficient that yielded an alpha coefficient ofα= 0.785 and α= 0.77 for CEDV and SDQ respectively which were considered reliable. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. Demographic information was presented in frequencies and percentages while Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (r) was used to test hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings failed to show a statistically significant relationship between prevalence of exposure and behaviour n=380, r=0.052, p=0.315>0.05; but a significant relationship with academic performance, r=-0.262, p<.005. There was no statistically significant relationship between incidences of exposure and behaviour n=380, r=0.023, p=.654>0.05; but a significant relationship on academic performance, n=380, r=-0.251, p<.005. There was no significant relationship on influence of type of exposure to domestic violence on pupils’ behaviour n=380, r=0.043, p=.408>0.05; but a significant relationship on academic performance n=380, r=-0.263, p<. 005.There was a significant relationship on influence of age at exposure on behaviour (n=380, r=0.130, p=0.011), and academic performance (n=380, r= -.279, p=0.000) at 0.05 level of significance. Major findings showed that there were more males than females exposed to domestic violence as both victims and witness. Further, those exposed as both witness and victim had more internalizing and externalizing behaviour compared to witness only or victim only. A conclusion of the study is that there was a weak positive relationship between types of exposure to domestic violence and behaviour. Major recommendation of the study is to institute prevention programmes in schools with a focus on gender to address specific gender needs in behaviour. Further research includes conducting further research to explore gender differences in types of exposure to domestic violence among pupils from informal settlements. Major beneficiaries of this study are pupils, parents, teachers and policy makers in education sector.