Factors influencing adherence to counselling ethics among church based counselors in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Counselors, like other members of the caring professions, are required to practice within an ethical framework, at least in so far as they seek professional accreditation. Thus, the purpose of the study was to assess factors influencing adherence to counseling ethics among church based counselors in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to: establish the level of awareness of counseling ethics among church based counselors and examine the socio- demographic factors influencing adherence to counseling ethics in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The information provided by this research will benefit policymakers, community members and academicians. The study adopted Humanistic Psychology Theory, employed descriptive survey research design and targeted a population of 164 persons comprising of 158 counselors from 99 Churches and 6 Key Informants drawn from Uasin Gishu County who were all involved in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews guides. The instruments were validated by the supervisors. Reliability of the instruments was determined through a pilot study where Cronbach‘s alpha coefficients of 0.796 was obtained. This indicated that the instruments were reliable. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics and presented in tables, while qualitative data from interviews was organized into themes and sub-themes. The study established that there is a significant association (p=.000) between the levels of awareness of counseling ethics among church based counselors and adherence to counseling ethics. The study also revealed that more males at 69.3% had excellent adherence as compared to female, most (77.2%) of the respondents who had excellent adherence were married, most (90.9%) of the respondents who had excellent adherence were 60+ years old, all (100.0%) respondents who had excellent adherence were those who had post graduate qualification and most (82.1%) of the respondents who had excellent adherence were from Main line churches. It was concluded that there is an association between socio-demographic factors such as marital status, age, level of education and denomination and adherence to counseling ethics. Moreover, there is a significant association between the levels of awareness of counseling ethics among church based counselors and adherence to counseling ethics. The Church, policy makers and the government should come up with a policy that incorporates the socio- demographic factors such as gender, age, marital status, denomination as they are found to have association with the adherence to ethics in counseling