Abstract:

The study investigated the Effect of Social Skills Therapy on Delinquent Behaviour Manifestation among Upper Basic Education students’ in Calabar, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design with non-randomized pretest-posttest control group. The population of the study consisted of the 26,925 Junior Secondary School one to Three (JSS I - JSS III) students duly registered in public secondary schools during the (2018/2019 Session) in Calabar Metropolis. However, JSS II students were the participants for the study. A total of 108 Junior Secondary School Two (JSS II) students, 41 males and 67 females; two intact classes (experimental and control groups) were used for the study. One research question and one null hypothesis guided the study. Two valid and reliable instruments were utilized for data collection. One was a 27 item questionnaire titled: "Student Behaviour Profile Questionnaire" (SBPQ) developed by the researchers. The second was the Social Skills Therapy which consisted of lesson on social skills (communication, assertiveness, self-control and empathy skills). An observation logbook was also utilized. The experimental group was exposed to social skills therapy for 8 weeks (16 sessions) while the control group had the normal counseling period on the school’s routine. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) was used to answer the research question, while inferential (Multivariate Analysis of Covariance - MANCOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis at .05 alpha level. Result showed that social skills therapy was effective in reducing manifest delinquent behaviours (dishonest, destructive behaviour, bullying and truancy) of the subjects in the study. The study concludes that social skills therapy proved effective against delinquent behaviour manifestation among upper basic education students in Calabar – Nigeria. It is highly recommended that public schools be equipped with functional counseling services where highly trained professionals can administer social skills therapy in order to eliminate the identified delinquent behaviours among the students.

Keywords:

Social skills therapy, delinquent behaviours, students, Calabar, Nigeria.