Abstract:
A stable family is required to nurture a child’s self-worth which enhances emotional
development. This has been challenged by family conflict which has been a global and
national social problem. Nakuru County in Kenya has recorded family conflicts that
potentially have had implications on every segment of the population consequently
affecting children’s emotional behaviour. The study therefore aimed at exploring the
influence of selected family conflicts on pupils ’emotional behavior in Nakuru North
sub-county in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study was guided by Client-centered theory
and Social Learning theory. The study used descriptive survey design with a target
population of 6793 comprising of pupils, teachers and child welfare officers. A sample
size of 463 respondents was selected by use of Krejice and Morgan’s sampling table.
Purposive sampling was used to select the respondents. Data was collected by use of
questionnaires. The content and construct validity of the instruments were affirmed by
experts in the department of psychology in Laikipia University. A pilot study confirmed
the reliability of research instruments with a correlation coefficient of 0.87.
Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics while quantitative data was
analyzed thematically. The results showed that 79.3% of the respondents agreed that
physical family conflict affected pupils’ emotional behaviour as attested by fights,
quarrels and verbal abuse. In regard to financial family conflict, results showed that
73.4% of the respondents agreed that this factor affected pupils’ emotional behaviour
due to unpaid fees and bills or lack of food, clothes and medical care. In regard to
whether the selected family conflicts affected pupils’ emotional behaviour by gender
and birth order, the results showed 65.6% and 72.1% influence respectively. Further,
girls were more affected than boys, displaying negative emotional behaviour such as
withdrawal, anxiety and fear, while firstborns were more affected than their siblings.
The study thus concluded that physical and financial family conflicts influenced pupils’
emotional behaviour with girls and firstborns being affected the most. The study
therefore recommended that schools through teachers and counsellors should
strengthen counselling program for victimized pupils and put emphasis on helping girls
and firstborns on how to deal with their emotional behaviour. The community through
parents and Nyumba Kumi initiatives should be educated on intervention skills for
handling family conflict as the government strengthens implementation of policy in
regard to child protection as well as integrating family conflict education in the school
curriculum.
