Delinquency in Urban Kenya Secondary Schools: Implications for Parenting

Adolescents’ delinquency is on the rise in Kenya, yet most of the studies in Kenya have focused on status finding than alleviating the problem among adolescents. This paper is a presentation of the findings on prevalence of adolescents’ delinquency in urban Kenya secondary schools and the implications for parenting. A study was carried out to determine the links between parental behaviors and adolescents’ delinquency with a view to mitigating the parental behaviors associated with teenagers’ anti-social. The research was informed by Baumrind Parenting models theory, Social Control theory and Ego identity versus Role Confusion theory. The study participants comprised 219 female and 191 male students selected through stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The researcher employed self-designed questionnaire and a self-report behavior checklist to gather data which measured adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ behaviors and their delinquent behaviors. A correlational survey design was employed. Parental conflicts significantly positively linked to adolescent non-illegal and generalized delinquency, while parental increased alcohol use positively related to non-illegal and minor-illegal delinquent behaviors at p