University Students’ Perception on the Influence of family parenting style on vulnerability to radicalization in Kenya: Implications for Counselling

Abstract

The threat and likelihood of radicalisation and recruitment into violent extremist groups has increased in Kenya and internationally. Counter-radicalization programs which is the reliance on ‘soft’ or ‘smart’ non-coercive policies need to be used so as to win the hearts and minds of groups, individuals and communities most vulnerable to radicalisation. In Kenya, the government has promoted security oriented interventions to fight radicalisation and terrorism over the softer approach called Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). The provision of long term prevention oriented interventions to university students, that would involve counselling individuals who are vulnerable and guiding parents on good parental styles is the aim of this research. The students in public universities are vulnerable to radicalization because they are in a stage of individual search for a sense of self and personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals.  Failure to achieve an identity leads to role confusion where individuals get confused and helpless hence their hopes are crushed creating feelings of resentment and disillusionment. This may further result in maladaptive antisocial behaviour thus making them vulnerable to radicalization. The family during this stage plays a key role in the healthy psychological development of the individual. This study focused on investigating university students’ perception on the influence of family parenting style on vulnerability to radicalization in Kenya and implications for counselling. The mixed methods research design was used. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently. The target population comprised of all the 443,783 students enrolled in 31 accredited universities, 120 student counsellors and 960 student peer counsellors. Purposive sampling technique was used to select two public universities in Kenya. Determination of sample sizes were done using Yamane’s formula and then proportional sampling employed. The study sample size comprised of 644 respondents as follows: 216 students from University A; 184 students from University B; 26 student counsellors and 218 peer counsellors from the two public universities. Questionnaires, interview schedules and focus group discussions were used to collect data from the university students, student counsellors and peer counsellors, respectively. A pilot study was carried out at Egerton University, Njoro Campus and 65 respondents participated to establish the reliability of the instrument. In the study a reliability coefficient of 0.79 was established using Cronbach alpha. Both descriptive and inferential statistics (chi square) were used to analyze data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 and QSR NVivo 12 for Windows aided in data analysis. The study established that the three parenting styles that were considered in the study which are authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, had a moderate and significant influence on vulnerability to radicalization. The results of Chi-square test of independence (Likelihood Ratio (χ² (16) = 37.629, p<0.05)) revealed a significant association between authoritative parenting style and vulnerability to radicalisation. Cramer's V = 0.163 at an approximate significance of 0.004 indicates that authoritative parenting style had moderate and significant influence on vulnerability to radicalisation among university students in Kenya. The results of Chi-square test of independence (Likelihood Ratio (χ² (16) = 53.751, p<0.05)) revealed that there was a significant association between authoritarian parenting style and vulnerability to radicalisation. Cramer's V =0.206 at an approximate significance of 0.000 indicates that authoritarian parenting style had moderate and significant influence on vulnerability to radicalisation among university students in Kenya. The results of Chi-square test of independence (The Likelihood Ratio (χ² (16) = 44.632, p<0.05)) revealed that there was a significant association between permissive parenting style and vulnerability to radicalisation. Cramer's V =.170 and it is at an approximate significance of 0.001 indicates that permissive parenting style had moderate and significant influence on vulnerability to radicalisation among university students in Kenya. The study recommended that well‐designed family‐focused counselling intervention programs need to be implemented to decrease vulnerability to radicalization and counter violent extremism.

Keywords: Student’s perception, influence of family parenting style, vulnerability to radicalization, implications for counselling

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/15-10-10

Publication date: September 30th 2024