Psychosocial Factors Influencing on Deviant Behaviours among Male Prisoners in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

A lot of studies have established that deviant behaviours are on the upward trend among prisoners. Studies done on deviant behaviours among inmates have focused on social factors. This study sought to establish the influence of psychosocial factors on deviant behaviors among male prisoners in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study specifically focused on how selected psychosocial factors; demographics, peer pressure and coercion, influence deviant behaviours among the prisoners. Two theories namely; deprivation and social learning theories were used to explain the link between the study variables. The study utilized descriptive research. Simple random sampling was used to select 323 male prisoners from a total of 1078 male prisoners who had served a term of more than 15 years. Data were collected using questionnaires. The validity of research instrument was established by observing content validation. Reliability was established by ensuring that the cronbach value was at least 0.7. Data were analyzed by use of means and standard deviations by use of SPSS version 23 and presented in form of charts and tables.The study findings revealed that peer pressure, with the highest mean of 4.170 and standard deviation of 0.788, coercion, with the highest mean of 4.271 and standard deviation of 0.677, and demographic factors, contributed to deviant behaviors among male prisoners in Kiambu County. The findings also established that interventions such as vocational training, farming, formal learning and pastoral training were used to engage the inmates so as to empower them with skills as they get paroled. The study concluded that social affiliations within prison contributed to peer pressure which was a great contributor of deviant behaviours.The study recommended on the need for professional counselors to offer guidance and counseling so as to help inmates deal with deviant behaviours.