Comparison of students’ perceptions of societal and familial factors in their influence on Juvenile Delinquency in Secondary Schools in Homa Bay County, Kenya

Globaly, Juvenile delinquency is a major issue. Juvenile delinquents engage in antisocial behaviours such as theft, sexual assault, fights, school riots, and alcohol and drug abuse among others. This study compared students’ perceptions of societal and familial factors in their influence on juvenile delinquency in secondary schools in Homa Bay County. Mixed research approach was used in this study. Survey and correlational research designs were used. The target population comprised 64763 students and 1801 teachers in 295 secondary schools. Three hundred and eighty one students were randomly sampled while 15 teachers were purposively sampled from 15 sampled secondary schools in Homa Bay County schools. There was a questionnaire and an interview schedule to collect data from students and teachers respectively. Pilot study was conducted and the instruments were found to be valid and reliable. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (means) and paired t test. The findings of this study were presented in tables and a chart. It was hoped that the findings of this study would help policy makers to minimize juvenile delinquency. The results showed that there was significant difference between societal factors (mean, 40.97) and familial factors (mean, 39.21) in their influence on juvenile delinquency as paired t test revealed calculated t = 4.484, p = .000 (significance -2 tailed), critical t was 1.96. Since calculated t was greater than critical t, it was concluded that societal factors contribute more to juvenile delinquency among secondary school students in Homa Bay County than familial factors. It was recommended that sensitization be done to members of the society to make them be aware of how their behaviour influences juvenile delinquency so that they may change their behaviours. This study may as well be replicated in other parts of Kenya.