Abstract

Nowadays, problem behaviours are prevalent and rampant among adolescent students in secondary schools. Some of the problem behaviours are acts of indiscipline that lead to rustications, suspensions and exclusions of students in secondary schools. This study therefore was conducted in order to explore the effects of parenting styles on behaviours of adolescent students in Malawi’s sampled secondary schools. The study was guided by the theory of parental acceptance-rejection, also commonly known as a theory of socialisation. A descriptive-correlational research design was used to conduct the study. A sample of 266 students from Secondary School 1 and Secondary School 2 in Salima District were randomly selected to participate in the study. Descriptive statistics, mean and computing correlation co-efficient were used to analyse data of the study. Findings of the study were as follows: Problem behaviours are prevalent among adolescent students, of which the evidence is cases of rustications, suspensions and exclusions as observed in the Malawi’s sampled secondary schools. Besides biological parents, adolescent students in secondary schools are also raised by different persons who include: uncle, aunt, brother, sister, grandparent. Most of the adolescent students in secondary schools are raised by authoritative and authoritarian parents, who demonstrate characteristics of demandingness (control and strictness) and responsiveness (love and warmth). Permissive (indulgent) and neglect (uninvolved) parenting styles are rarely practiced in the homes of adolescent students as observed in the two sampled secondary schools. School administrators do not keep comprehensive parenting records for adolescent students, and instead focus mainly on school rules.This makes it difficult to understand adolescents’ behaviours in secondary schools. A majority of adolescent students as observed in the two sampled secondary schools were well-behaved and not prone to indiscipline cases, perhaps due to good parenting styles of authoritativeness and restrictiveness by their parents. The study further showed that most of the behaviours adolescent students exhibit in secondary schools can be linked with their parenting styles being experienced at home. However, it is suggested that authoritative upbringing of children is the optimum parenting style having a positive effect on students’ behaviours. Some of the implications of the study are: parents should adopt effective parenting styles, such as authoritative or democratic parenting style in raising their children if problem behaviours among adolescent students in secondary schools are to be reduced. In addition, school authorities should keep comprehensive records on parenting for adolescent students in secondary schools so that the educators should understand well the behaviours of adolescent students. They can also be used effectively during guidance and counselling services in secondary schools.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2023

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