Abstract:
The study investigated the relationship between paternal involvement and adolescent delinquency. The three dimensions of paternal involvement investigated were paternal
accessibility, paternal behaviors, and paternal parenting style. A mixed-method research
design has guided the study. A census sample of 71 respondents was drawn from YCTC
Juvenile Prison (male) and Kamae Girls Juvenile Prison (female) both of Kamiti prison. A
questionnaire, drawing from multi-dimensional parenting scale, parental authority questionnaire, and the delinquency check list was used to collect data. Interviews were also used to collect qualitative data. Descriptive content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, while descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze quantitative data, using STATA. Multiple regression was used to establish the relationship between paternal accessibility (presence and absence), paternal parenting behaviors, and paternal parenting styles on adolescent delinquency. The study found that more nearly half of the respondents grew up without a father figure because parents were either divorced, deceased, not living together, or unmarried. Further, the adolescents exhibited delinquency problems, including engagement in delinquent roles, substance abuse, parental defiance, and assaultiveness. The multiple regression results indicate a statistically significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and the development of delinquent behaviors (p=0.002). The relationship between permissive style (p=0.372), and authoritarian/flexible style (p =0.138) was not statistically significant. There was no significant relationship between paternal accessibility (p=0.126) and paternal behaviors (p=0.688) and adolescent delinquency. The study recommends the strengthening of child-inclusive interventions for single-parent families to deal with the issue of absent fathers, as well as the expanded role of male models both in the extended family, and social institutions, such as the church, to offer a father-figure presence and guide children from single-parent families.