Assessment Of Effectiveness Of “Incredible Years Program” Compared To The Traditional Program In Behaviour Modification Among Juvenile Rehabilitees In Nairobi, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the ‗Incredible Years Program‘ (IYP) in reducing juvenile delinquency in Kenya. Juvenile delinquency in Kenya is on the increase. The number of children in conflict with law has risen significantly from 483 in 2006 to 927 in 2010. This necessitated the assessment of the effectiveness of this program. There was therefore need to conduct a research to determine whether the ‗Incredible Years‘ Program training for house-parents and teachers is effective in the rehabilitation of juveniles in Kenya. It is for this reason that the current research embarked on trying out the ‗Incredible Years Program‘ with a hope that it will improve juvenile rehabilitation services in Kenya and reduce the tendency of children falling back into crime. The design in this study was Quasi-Experimental research design. The target population in the study composed of all the children, house-masters/mistresses and teachers of Kenyan Rehabilitation Schools. Purposive sampling design was used in sampling procedure. A sample of hundred and fifty (150) children from two (2) Rehabilitation Schools took part in the study. Seventy five (75) from Dagoretti Girls‘ Rehabilitation School and seventy five (75) from Kabete Boys‘ Rehabilitation School. Both Rehabilitation Schools are in Nairobi. The two Rehabilitation Schools cater for medium-risk children. Medium-risk offences include being in bad company, being in possession of drugs and stealing. Low-risk offences are non-criminogenic in nature like dropping out of school. High-risk child offenders come in with murder, robbery with violence, arson and drug trafficking. Four House-parents and four teachers were also part of the sample, to make a total of 158. Two instruments were used to collect data. They included an adapted Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1999) which was filled by house-parents and teachers and an Observation Schedule filled by the researcher. A pilot study was also conducted in order to validate the research instruments. Data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations. The study findings indicated that there was a significant relationship between the ‗Incredible Years Program‘ and behaviour change among the rehabilitees. There were significant differences between ‗Incredible Years Program‘ and the Traditional Rehabilitation Methods and there was no significant relationship between effect of ‗Incredible Years Program‘ and gender of the rehabilitees.Concusively, results show that the ‗Incredible Years Program‘ is effective in the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents which was also indicated by other studies cited. This study has revealed salient features influencing rehabilitation outcomes that are amenable to change in terms of rehabilitation policy. If ‗Incredible Year‘s Program‘ is introduced in Kenya, the policy makers should ensure that it is implemented fully. The researcher recommends the following for further research: study on the behavior of children in the Juvenile Remand Homes, The role of the family in influencing conduct problems and the type of learning climate and its impact on offending.