Antisocial Attitude as a Correlate of Serious Offending Behavior among Juveniles within Kenyan Borstal Institutions

Serious delinquency among juveniles of school going age is a major concern worldwide as demonstrated by the rising rates of juvenile recidivism in many countries. Recidivism among juveniles has been associated with seriousness/gravity of criminality. Several studies have linked it to inadequate preventive and rehabilitation processes and programmes for juvenile delinquents. The issue poses a threat to the realization of access to quality education for every child. In Kenya the challenge of serious juvenile delinquency is a drawback to the milestones achieved in the realization of quality education for all. Therefore, the problem requires strategic intervention in order to safeguard the right to quality education for every child and their holistic well-being. The purpose of the study was to establish the correlation between antisocial attitude and serious juvenile offending behavior. The objectives guiding the research sought to establish the relationship between antisocial attitudes and serious juvenile offending behaviour incarcerated within Kenyan Borstal institutions. The study was guided by the Cognitive Behavior Theory proposed by Beck. Correlational research design was used. The researcher targeted to draw inferences from a male population of 250 serious juvenile offenders at Shimo la Tewa Borstal institution, 26 from female serious juvenile offenders from Kamae Borstal Institution and key informants from both institutions. 49 male juvenile and 26 female juveniles were selected. Simple random sampling was used. Denver Youth Survey and Self Report Delinquency Survey tools were used. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were utilised. The results indicated; a moderate positive significant correlation between antisocial attitudes and serious juvenile offending behaviour (r = 419, p = .000 ≤ 0.05 level of significance). Subsequently the study recommends a multifaceted approach to safeguarding learners from serious offending behaviour in the education and other child protection sectors.