Assessment of Nexus between features of School Culture and Student deviance in Schools within Bungoma County, Kenya

Abstract

Whereas many schools have been known to exhibit strong school cultures that seem to drive academic excellence, deviant behaviour in schools continues to be a matter of global concern. Knowledge of the role school culture plays in mitigating deviance is vital for any prevention programme yet this has been missing. The study sought to address this gap by examining influence of features of school culture on student deviant behaviour in secondary schools of Bungoma County, Kenya. A sample size of 79 secondary school management was used from a study population size [N] of 504. Mixed research design was employed while sampling strategy was a blend of multiphase, stratified and purposive sampling. The data for the study was obtained through questionnaire, interviews, document analysis and direct observations. Results were analyzed using cross-tabulations, frequency tables, Chi square and simple linear regression. The sampled features of school culture were being applied in schools within Bungoma County and Chi-square tests revealed a significant relationship between features of school culture and student deviant behaviour prevalence in schools. However, regression analysis revealed a weak to moderate relationship between features of school culture and deviance levels. The study concludes that features of school culture influences student deviant behaviour prevalence hence other than direct punishment of deviants, school cultures with features loaded with preventive and corrective aspects should be embraced. The findings strengthen empirical view to education sector towards packaging school culture as an important variable to mitigate student deviance.