The influence of peer pressure on adolescent misbehaviour in   schools     MEMOIR CHIM WAMUROMBE A mini-thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Magister Artium in Child and Family Studies Supervisor: Dr Nicolette Roman August 2011 1 Abstract A favourable school atmosphere, in which adolescents behave positively, is one of the   greatest concerns for teachers, administrators and parents. Although there are several   different pressures leading to adolescent misbe haviour at school, the most contributing factors are peer pressure and the socio-econom  ic status of the school. As adolescents enter the school, the peer group then functions as an important socializing agent for them. As peers socialize within their different school environments, individuals are forced to conform to the practices and opinions of the group. Usually this conformity is unconstructive and clashes with the parents’ and teachers’ expectations. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of peer pressure on adolescent misbehaviour in advantaged and disadvantaged schools. A quantitative methodological approach was used to conduct the study. The study was conducted with adolescents aged from 13 to 17 years in both advantaged and disadvantaged secondary (high) schools in Windhoek, Namibia. A sample of 300 participants was randomly stratified across the schools. The Exposure to Peer Pressure Control Scale (Allen & Yen, 2002) and Child Behaviour Checklist questionnaires (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1987) were used to collect the data. Ethical considerations were carefully considered before and during the research procedure of data collection. The reliability of the instruments was checked by means of a pilot study. The data was analysed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 to reveal descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed a significant positive relationship between peer pressure and adolescent misbehaviour in schools. In addition, misbehaviour was also positively predicted in both advantaged and disadvantaged schools, with disadvantaged schools being significantly more influential. When comparing peer pressure and adolescent misbehaviours in both advantaged and disadvantaged schools, adolescents in i disadvantaged schools engaged significantly more in misbehaviour activities and also responded positively more to peer pressure than their counterparts in advantaged   schools. Implications for further research were suggested.       ii Declaration   I declare that the current study examining the influence of peer pressure on adolescent   misbehaviour in Windhoek schools (Namibia) is my own work. It has not been submitted   before for any degree or examination in any university, and that all the sources I have used   have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references. _________________________ Memoir Chimwamurombe August 2011 iii In loving memory of my late mother Eunice Julia Nhekairo and My ever encouraging father Billiard Mike Tichaona Nhekairo I thank you for making me the person I am today. For your endless love, guidance and your confidence in me and being my inspirational source in my life. For what I am today is because of your words of wisdom. With all the good memories, I RESPECT the two of you. iv Acknowledgements   Firstly, I would like to thank God for giving m e the power, determination, courage, wisdom   and passion to accomplish this academic task. I am also thankful for His endless grace and   blessings and for granting me with the opportunity to complete my studies without any major objections. Though it was a very challenging journey, God has taken me this far through His mercy and grace. Secondly, I take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people whose love, prayers, encouragements and contributions have carried me throughout this process. I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed, supported and encouraged me throughout this study. My most gratitude and thanks go to the following people:  My incomparable supervisor, Dr. N. Roman, who provided her best support, guidance, love, encouragement and constructive input throughout the research process. Thank you dear Doc, for all your effort and hard work. This research would not have been possible without all the thoughtful input from you. I really appreciate it.  My husband, Dr. Percy Maruwa Chimwamurombe, for his unlimited support and for standing by me when the pressure was mounting. I really owe him a special thank you for his encouragement, patience and wisdom and I thank him for his help and understanding throughout the course of this research process. I truly appreciate his love.  My children, Prosper, Promise and Progress Chimwamurombe, for the times I have deprived them and the moments when I failed to be the mother I should be due to the v demands of this research. I really appreciate their calmness when I emptied my study frustrations on them at times, especially my two year old Progress. She is such a   darling. Words are never enough to express my appreciation for your effortless   sacrifices endured alongside me through  this challenging journey.  Dr. Kazhila Chinsembu for his tutoria ls on how to use SPSS, and his wife Grace. Their house was always open when I needed assistance. May the Lord bless them abundantly.  Prof. Isaac Mapaure and Wife Winmore, for their words of encouragement, support and prayers.  Mr. and Mrs Andreas Smith, for their words of encouragement and prayers. They are friends to be cherished. I sincerely thank you.  Then to my brothers and sisters for their small encouragements through phone calls and messages, I am truly grateful for the love and interest in my well-being and academic performance.  My editor Moses Magadza for his input.  I would like to thank the school principals, teachers and learners who received me with their two hands and planned accordingly for me to be able to collect data. I would like to thank them for their time and consideration. I humbly thank you all!!! vi Table of Contents   CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1   1.1 Background / Rationale 1   1.2 Theoretical Framework 2 1.3 Problem Statement   3 1.4 Research Questions 4 1.5 Aims and Objectives 4 1.5.1 Aims of the study 4 1.5.2 Objectives of the study 4 1.5.3 Hypotheses 5 1.6 Research Methodology 5 1.7 Significance of the Study 6 1.8 Definition of Terms 6 1.9 Overview of chapters 7 CHAPTER 2 THE ROLE OF PEERS IN ADOLESCENTS' MISBEHAVIOURS IN SCHOOLS 9 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 The adolescence stage of development 9 2.3 Theoretical Framework 12 2.3.1 Self efficiency 17 2.4 Misbehaviour in adolescents 17 2.5 Risk factors for adolescent misbehaviour 20 2.5.1 Peers / Peer pressure 20 2.5.2 The influence of the environment- The school 22 2.5.3.1 The socio-economic status of the school 24 2.5.3.2 The school as a socialisation agent 26 2.5.3.3 A permissive school environment 27 2.5.3.4 A authoritarian school environment 28 2.5.3.5 A authoritative school environment 30 2.5.3.6 Educators 32 2.5.3.7 Disciplinary measures within the school 35 2.6 Conclusion 36 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 37 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Research Design 37 3.3 Sample 38 vii 3.4 Research Instrument 39 3.5 Pilot Study and Results 40   3.5.1 Results of the pilot study 41 3.5.2 Changes to the instrument 41   3.5.3 Application of the instrument 42   3.6 Data Collection 42 3.7 Data Analyses   42 3.8 Ethical Statement 43 3.9 Significance of the study 44 3.10 Conclusion 45 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS 46 4.1 Introduction 45 4.2 An Overview of the Analyses 46 4.3 Internal Consistencies of Measures 47 4.4 A Description of adolescents’ demographic Set-up 48 4.4.1 Living Arrangements 48 4.4.2 Head of Household 49 4.4.3 Household Size 51 4.5 Prevalence of Misbehaviour in Schools 51 4.5.1 Descriptive statistics of the variables 51 4.6 Comparison between Exposures to Peer Pressure Exposure Child Behaviour Checklist 59 4.7 Comparing Peer Pressure Exposure, Child Behaviour Checklist and School environments 59 4.8 Summary 60 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 62 5.1 Introduction 62 5.2 Adolescents and Misbehaviors 62 5.3 Peer Pressure 64 5.4 The Risk Factor-The School Environment 65 5.5 Peer Pressure, The School environment and Adolescent Misbehaviour 67 5.6 Relevance of Social Cognitive Theory 69 5.7 Limitations of the study 70 5.8 Conclusions 71 5.9 Recommendations 72 REFERENCES 75 APPENDICES 86 Appendix A: Consent letter 86 Appendix B: Consent form 87 Appendix C: Demographic Questionnaire 88 viii Appendix D: Exposure to Peer Pressure Questionnaire 89 Appendix E: Child Behaviour Checklist Questionnaire 91   LIST OF FIGURES     Figure 4.1: Head of house 50   Figure 4.2: Household size 51 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Reliability statistics .................................................................................... 42 Table 4.1: Internal consistencies of Peer Pressure and Behaviour Checklist .................. 48 Table 4.2: Demographic descriptions of adolescents-Living arrangements .................... 48 Table 4.3: Demographic descriptions of adolescents – Head of house ........................... 49 Table 4.4: Means and SD of Items for Exposure to Peer Pressure .................................. 52 Table 4.5: Means and SD of the Items or Child Behaviour Checklist ............................. 55 Table 4.6: Means and SD of the Entire Sample .............................................................. 57 Table 4.7: Means and SD of the Total Scores for Advantaged Schools Sample ............. 58 Table 4.8: Means and SD of the Total Scores for Disadvantaged Schools Sample 58 Table 4.9: Paired Differences of Mean Scores for EPP and CBCL 59 Table 4.10.: Means and SD of the t-Test Results for the School Environments 59 Table 4.11: Comparisons of EPP versus CBCL versus School Environment Influence 60 ix