ABSTRACT
The isolation of a child by his peers during his junior secondary school years may influence the child’s participation in school activities and this in turn may influence his overall performance in school and his performance later in life. To this effect, the study sought to investigate the effects of individual and group counselling on the adjustment of social isolates among secondary school students. The study was guided by five research questions and five hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. A true experimental study which adopted the pretest and posttest only design was adopted for the study. A total of 20 identified social isolates were used for the study, using purposive sampling technique to draw subjects from 2 co-educational schools. The instrument for data collection was an 18-item questionnaire which was titled- Social Isolates Adjustment Scale (SIAS). The instrument was validated by three experts, all from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Crobnbach Alpha statistics and an estimated value of 0.83 and 0.85 were obtained for the two clusters. The isolates in the two experimental groups were pretested with SIAS before receiving appropriate treatments on individual and group counselling. After the treatments, SIAS was re-administered on both groups as posttest. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the five research questions generated while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the five hypotheses posed. It was found that: there was no significant difference in the effects of treatment using individual and group counselling on social isolates mean adjustment scores, however, the two treatment groups had positive effect on the adjustment of social isolates as shown by their pre-test – post-test mean gain scores. Also, gender and location had no significant influence on the adjustment of social isolates. It was recommended that curriculum planners, educational psychologists and school guidance counsellors should plan a programme of intervention based on the principles of individual and group counselling training techniques for isolates in school; and the federal and state Ministries of Education should organize and sponsor workshops and seminars for educational psychologists and school guidance counsellors on how to implement individual and group counselling training techniques.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Human beings by nature have a need for group life or social contact. Indeed, there are certain goals or projects that require efforts of others to achieve, and because humans need social and psychological support from their fellows in certain conditions, they naturally tend towards the formation of themselves into social group. As a social animal, man maximizes his potentials and reaches his full capacity in development only in the context of association with others (Igbo, 2003). Social isolation, on the contrary, tends to stifle human development and leads to physical, mental, and emotional retardation.
Social isolation is the act of withdrawing from society in general (Adams, 2007). In such situation, there is usually not much interaction with other people; illness and phobias are major factors in social isolates. According to Ifelunni (1997), an isolate is the individual who is psychologically distant from other members of the class or group. He may have an inferiority complex and because of that people disregard him. However, this individual makes some choices, that is, he is ready to associate with others but no person is ready to associate with him. It is a pitiable situation and the alert teacher or counsellor should be aware of this.
Isolate behaviour is a social phenomenon that has a number of important implications for students as well as institutions. Isolate behaviour, according to Nwoye (2007) is a form of social problem where an individual continually distant himself from a given social group of which he ordinarily belongs. Such a group could be an institution, peer group or academic. Therefore, a social isolate is that individual who distances himself from society as a result of psychological problem such as inferiority complex, anxiety, panic attacks, among others. Social isolation can contribute towards many emotional, behavioural and physical disorder including: heightened anxiety, panic attacks, eating disorders, addictions, substance abuse, violent behaviour. This affects the physical and social needs of children.
The physical and social needs at birth and at later stages of development have far reaching effects upon individuals in their later lives (Chidume 2003). These needs sometimes create a stage of restlessness or tension in the individual and are only reduced when an appropriate satisfier is reached. According to Blair (2006), defects, such as poor eyesight, defective hearing, diseased teeth, defective speech organs and other physical deformities can greatly influence the learning adjustment of school children. The child who possesses some physical defect or disease is frequently affected by the psychological consequences of his physical
condition, and such a child might be rejected by his playmates and as a result of his rejection, the child might withdraw or isolate himself from
associating with other children and consequently fail to learn the social skills necessary for later adjustment.
Adjustment is a renewal to emphasize the individuals struggle to get along or survive in his or her environment (Nweze 2001). According to Maslow and Mittleman (2001), the adjustment of a person is the characteristic way in which the individual involved perceives, reacts to, and solves the main problems of life. In other words, the essential characteristic of the concept of adjustment is that, it is the solution of problems. Adjustment in the context of this study is the application of the essential skills to triumph over life contingencies. This involves how people live a healthy and emotionally balanced lifestyle. It also involves how people relate well with the demands of the individuals to strive to satisfy their personal needs as well as deal with the demands and constrains that are placed on them by their environment such as the school. The school has a lot of impact on the adjustment behaviour pattern of the students. Thus, no learning can take place without proper adjustment. School adjustment therefore, refers to the ability of students to cope effectively with the internal and external demands of school environment. Such internal and external demands includes; obeying rules and regulations, neatness, punctuality, taking instructions, participating in all school activities both curricular and extra-curricular activities including contacts and acceptance from others.
Children need acceptance by their age mates and by adults. Children need to feel important and to have their accomplishment admired by others, and children need to feel that they are part of a group, that is, they need to have a sense of belonging (Igbo 2003). Clearly, an overwhelming account of a child’s total school experience involves social contacts with other pupils – contact that produces many kinds of social learning and many diverse influences on his developing personality and adjustment. Adverse social influences manifest themselves in social failure, unhappiness and maladjustment (Igbo 2003). This could lead to poor performance.
Personal and research experiences indicate evidence of poor performance and maladjustment occasioned by social isolation among secondary school students in Nsukka. The result of the pilot study conducted by Eze (1999) indicates that the major reason junior secondary school students in Nsukka zone are socially isolated by their peers is because of inferiority complex. The isolation of a child by his peers during his junior secondary school years may influence the child’s participation in school activities and this in turn may influence his overall performance in school and his later life performance. Many children in Nigeria who are isolated by their peers at the early stage in life may become frustrated, develop inferiority complex and consequently lose self-confidence. The cost of this on the nation’s social and economic stability cannot be overlooked. As a result of these, there is the need for individual and group counselling in Nigerian schools, especially at the junior secondary school level. To do this, social isolates must be identified and counseled for positive adjustment. Counselling is therefore important to help them to explore their abilities, skills, interests, as well as their limitations. This is necessary to make them develop self confidence and be acceptable to their peers.
