Violence against Children in Kenya (eBook)

Book Cover 1
Preface 6
Acknowledgements 8
Tabel of Contents 10
List of Figures / List of Tables / List of Appendices 13
List of Acronyms 14
Introduction 15
Overview of study context 15
The nature of the study 18
Thesis structure 20
Chapter One: Violence Against Children 21
Overview 21
1.1 Childhood – The space where children happen 21
1.1.1 A short glimpse at the ‘history of childhood’ 21
1.1.2 Deconstructing childhood – The sociological and the psychological perspectives 22
‘Childhood’, ‘children’ and ‘the child’ 22
The changing nature of childhood 23
1.1.3 Childhood in the Western society 24
1.1.4 Childhood in Eastern Africa 25
1.1.5 The emergence of the ‘universal childhood’ 27
The deficits of a universalized notion of childhood 29
1.2 The social construction of violence 30
1.2.1 Social constructionism 31
Who defines violence? 32
Definition of violence 33
1.2.2 Typologies of violence 35
History and origin of typologies of violence 35
Interpersonal violence 35
1.2.3 The nature of violence 37
Physical violence 37
Sexual violence 39
Psychological violence 41
Neglect of children 42
1.3 What is known about violence against children in Kenya 44
1.3.1 Kenya’s demographic and historical setting 45
1.3.2 Violence against children in Kenya – Empirical studies 45
The scope and methods of the reviewed studies 46
1.3.3 Emerging concerns about violence against children 50
1.3.4 Situating Kenya in the broader context of East Africa 51
Summary and definition 53
Chapter Two: The Ecological Model of Socialization 56
2.1 Defining socialization 56
2.2 The ecological model – Its roots 58
2.3 The social ecology of violence against children 60
2.3.1 Microsystem – The individual child factors 61
2.3.2 Mesosystem – The family and relationship factors 62
2.3.3 Exosystem – The community factors 64
2.3.4 Macrosystem – The societal factors 65
2.4 Applying the ecological model in researching violence 66
2.5 Implications for the research questions 68
Chapter Three: The Research Design 70
Chapter overview 70
3.1 The research design 70
3.2 The research methods – Qualitative, quantitative andmixed methods 71
3.3 The case study – Explaining and describing “how” and “why” 71
The notion, choice and limitation of case study 71
Defining the case and sampling the respondents 74
3.4 Tools and techniques for data collection 82
Interviews 82
Interview guidelines for the parents and informants 85
Components of the interview guidelines 86
Key questions – Interviewing parents and informants 86
Questions 86
Observation methods 87
Field notes 88
Focus group discussion 89
Document analysis 90
3.5 Qualitative data analysis in grounded theory 90
Coding and the coding system 91
3.6 Ethical considerations, validity, reliability and findings validations 95
Seeking informed consent and doing no harm 95
Ethical dilemmas 97
Validity and reliability 98
Validation of the data by the respondents 99
Chapter Four: The Risk Factors and the Consequences of Violence Against Children in Kenya 100
Chapter overview 100
4.1 Profiling the thirty children sampled and interviewed 101
4.2 Risk factors perpetuating violence against children 106
4.2.1 The microsystem risk factors – The individual child 107
Age as a possible risk factor 107
Mental health and special needs factors 108
Violated for being a girl 109
Violated for being an orphan 110
4.2.2 The mesosystem risk factors – The family level 111
Family conflicts and separations 111
Poor parenting 112
Children of single parents and commercial sex workers 113
The size of families 114
Living with a relative or guardian 115
4.2.3 The exosystem risk factors – The community 116
The effects of culture, beliefs and practices 116
Female genital mutilation 117
Sex with minors – ‘Cure for AIDS’ 118
“It is your turn to sleep with the man” – Childhood marriages 118
Lack of income and unemployment – Relative poverty 119
4.2.4 The macrosystem risk factors – The society 121
The effects of absolute poverty 121
Excessive alcohol and drug use 122
The ‘Cinderella effect’ – Step-child vulnerability 123
The gaps in the legal systems 124
4.3 The consequences of violence against children 126
4.3.1 Microsystem consequences – The individual child 126
Lifelong health complications 126
Death of the children 127
Infection with HIV/AIDS 128
How it felt to be violated – Children and their feelings 128
4.3.2 Mesosystem consequences – The family 130
Family conflicts and separations 130
Medical costs and financial loss 130
Stigmatization of the family 132
4.3.3 Exosystem consequences – The community 132
The emergence of the informal justice negotiators – Home settlement 132
The culture of silence – ‘No witness’ 133
The community acquiescent to violation of children 135
Insecurity and high crime rate 136
4.3.4 Macrosystem consequences – The society 137
Lost confidence in the judicial systems – Inability to reinforce the law 137
Cultural practices inflaming violence against children 138
Disruption of schooling and behaviour difficulties 139
High cost of justice – Tolerating corruption at the police and the judiciary 141
Chapter summary 142
Chapter Five: The Responses to Violence and Projects Preventing Violence Against Children in Kenya 144
5.1 Profiling projects preventing violence against children 144
Chapter overview 144
5.1.1 Defining programmes and projects 145
5.1.2 Definition of a project management cycle 146
5.2 Violence prevention projects 148
5.2.1 The Child Link Project Kisumu 149
5.2.2 KUAP-Pandipieri Children’s Services Project 152
5.2.3 Brydges Centre Children’s Home 156
5.2.4 Solidarity with Women in Distress – SOLWODI KENYA 159
5.2.5 Projects analysis – Emerging trends 162
Conceptualisation of the projects 163
Project planning 163
Project implementation 164
Project evaluation and termination 165
5.3 Profiling policies for violence prevention 166
5.3.1 From international laws to national policies 166
5.3.2 The concept of a policy life cycle 167
5.3.3 Stages of the policy cycle 169
STAGE I: The agenda setting 170
STAGE II: Policy formulation and decision-making 170
STAGE III: Policy implementation 171
STAGE IV: Policy evaluation and termination 171
5.4 Prevention of violence against children: Policies and strategies 172
5.4.1 Emerging trends in policy development processes 175
The agenda setting 175
Policy formulation and decision making 176
Policy implementation 176
Policy evaluation and termination 177
Section summary 177
5.5 Responses to violence against children 178
5.5.1 Responses at the microsystem level concerning the individual child 179
Children’s agency 179
Rescue – Removal from perceived violent conditions 180
Medical and psychosocial support 181
5.5.2 Responses at the mesosystem level concerning family and relationship 182
Response by parents and guardians 182
Family reunification and support 184
Inculcating appropriate parenting skills 185
5.5.3 Responses at the exosystem level concerning the community 186
The community response to violence 186
Working with communities to prevent violence 187
Legal support 188
5.5.4 Responses at the macrosystem level concerning the society 189
The society’s response 189
Advocacy and sensitization 190
Changing laws and unchanging mind-sets 191
Chapter summary 192
Chapter Six: Summary and Conclusions 194
Chapter overview 194
6.1 Summary of key findings: Risk factors and consequences 194
6.1.1 The risk factors 195
6.1.2 The consequences 198
6.2 Summary of key findings: Responses and violence prevention projects 200
6.2.1 Responses to the violation of children 200
6.2.2 Projects preventing violence against children 201
6.3 Significance and implications of the study findings 203
6.3.1 Implications for theory 203
6.3.2 Implications for practice 205
6.3.3 Implications for policy 208
6.3.4 Future research 211
6.4 Study limitations and achievements 212
References and Appendices 215
References 215
Appendices 226
Appendix I: Seeking the children’s informed consent – The process 226
Appendix II: Consent form for children’s interviews – English version 227
Appendix III: Fomu ya idhini ya watoto kushiriki katikamahojiano – Kiswahili version 228
Appendix IV: Interview guidelines for children 229
Appendix V: Observation guideline – Semi-structured 231
Appendix VI: Field notes guidelines 232
Appendix VII: Guidelines for focus group discussion 233
Appendix VIII: Information for participants and organizations 234
Appendix IX: Taarifa kwa washiriki na mashirika 235
Appendix X: Children participating in the study 236
Appendix XI: Watoto wanaoshiriki katika utafiti 237
Appendix XII: Guidelines for reporting and data validation workshops for respondents 238
Appendix XIII: Framework for documenting violence prevention projects 241