The Impact of the Rehabilitation Programme on Juvenile Delinquents Behaviour : A Case of Nairobi District, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya has through Ministry of Home Affairs and National Heritage. established rehabilitation institutions to respond to juvenile delinquency. Ever increasing juvenile delinquency affects not only socio-economic development and well being of the country. but also its security and safety The Children‘s Act 2001 (Cap 586. Laws of Kenya). identifies delinquents who are to be taken to rehabilitation institutions for care, protection. correction and later re-integration back into society. The purpose of this study was to establish the impact of the rehabilitation programme on juvenile delinquents behaviour in Nairobi district of Kenya. The study used an ex-post fizcro research design. The population of the study comprised 220 juvenile delinquents from .Nairobi‘s three rehabilitation institutions. 3 managers. l5 teachers, 8 social workers. I counselors and I instructors. Simple and stratified random sampling techniques were used in selecting the sample of 230 delinquents. Three sets of questionnaires were used to collect data. One set \\ as administered to delinquents. the second one was for managers and the third combined one was for teachers. social workers. counselors and instructors. The data was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 11.5 and presented using Descriptive statistics such as percentages. tables and frequencies. The results of the findings indicated that the rehabilitation institutions‘ programme through its activities maintained an average (50% response) towards delinquents‘ behaviour modification. More than 50% of the delinquents hailed from dysfunctional families. However, they showed satisfaction with the basic services provided for their needs in the rehabilitation institutions. In general, the delinquents’ attitude was negative about the programme. Rehabilitation institutions lacked behavioural modification programmes as indicated by their lack of a clear vision. mission and objectives. The staffs \\ere not trained in counseling and this impeded the rehabilitation programme. The lack of child intervention strategy based on Behavioural therapy also undermined the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programme. Based on these findings. _key recommendations were that the Ministry of Home Affairs and National Heritage should adopt a behavioural modification approach towards its rehabilitation programme. The staff be given professional training opportunities to upgrade their skills. In addition a sound and realistic vision and mission statement be formulated and frequently evaluated.