ASSESSMENT OF THE INFLUENCE OF EMPLOYMENT ON PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES IN ELGEYO-MARAKWET COUNTY, KENYA

William Kibet Kurumei, Collins O. Ogogo, Edward Kochung, Cecilia Kimani

Abstract


Disability is a natural part of the human experience and therefore should not affect the rights of individuals to live independently, contribute to society, enjoy full inclusion in education and pursue a meaningful career. However, youth with disabilities (YWDs) in Elgeyo Marakwet Kenya face socio-economic discrimination communally. Exclusion, isolation, abuse and lack of educational opportunities exist in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. They do not enjoy the same human rights or equal access to goods and services as their peers without disabilities. The main objective of this study was to assess the influence of employment on personal development of youth with disabilities in Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenya. Two theories, Catherine Sanderson’s (2010) theory of socio-cultural perspective and Adams Stacy’s (1965) equity theory were studied to enable an understanding of the influence of the socio-cultural support services on personal development of youth with disabilities. A mixed methodology, using a triangulation design with both quantitative and qualitative research was employed in this study to realize the objectives. The study targeted a total population of 492 of youth with disabilities, 320 parents of youth with disabilities in and out of school and 19 government officers. Sample size determination formula by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) was used to obtain the required sample of the youth with disabilities and their parents. Simple random sampling was used to select youth with disabilities and parents while purposive sampling was used to select government officers (key informants). A sample of 289 youth with disabilities, 175 parents and 19 government officers were picked for the study. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview schedule and an observation checklist. To determine content validity of the instruments, the supervisors were presented with the research instruments prior to the actual study. Their comments were adopted in modifying the instruments. The reliability of the instruments was established through a pilot study where a coefficient of Cronbach’s Alpha was determined, which was 0.741. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analysed thematically as the themes emerged. Employment contributed 19.7% to personal development of youth with disabilities. The study recommended, among others, funding of youth with disabilities support groups, initiating follow up support programs for youth with disabilities and wholly focusing on services that ensure that the ‘best’ is offered to the youth with disabilities as per government’s policies. The findings of this study may help in improving the education policy to have a focus on transition plans for youth with disabilities after school.

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


youth with disabilities, employment, personal development

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), advances in experimental psychology pp. 267-299. New York: Academic Press.

African Union of the Blind (AFUB) (2007). State of disabled people’s Rights in Kenya Report: AFUB Secretariat, Nairobi Kenya.

Anderson E. (2004). Public Policy Marketing process: Praeger publisher USA page 2

Borg, J., Berman-Bieler, R., Khasnabis, C., Mitra, G., Myhill, W., & Raja, D. S. (2015). Assistive Technology for Children with Disabilities: Creating Opportunities for Education, Inclusion and Participation. (pp. 6-8). UNICEF.

Bound, J., and R. V. Burkhauser (1999). Economic Analysis of Transfer Programs Targeted on People with Disabilities. In Handbook of Labour Economics, vol. 3C, 3417-3528. North Holland: Elsevier Science.

Cyr, N. and Schirle, T. (1999). The Employment and Income Assistance Program: Removing Employment Barriers and Disincentives to Work. Winnipeg: Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities.

Enns, Henry (1999). “The Historical Development of Attitudes Toward the Handicapped: A Framework for Change”. An excerpt from Perspectives on Disability and the Helping Process. Chapter 11:175-186, in David S Freeman and Bary Trute, eds, Treating Families with Special Needs, Ottawa, Alberta Association of Social Workers.

Government of Canada, (1999). Future directions: To Address Disability Issues for the Government of Canada. Working together for full Citizenship.

Groce, N. E. & Kett, M. (2014). Youth with Disabilities. Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre: working Paper No. 23

Hollar, D. (2005). Risk behaviors for varying categories of Disability in NELS: 88. The Journal of School Health, 75(9), 350-359.

Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) (2002).Advancing the Inclusion of Persons With disabilities. Hull, Quebec International Labour Organization. (2002). Information Note. ILO/Japan Technical Consultation Meeting on Vocational Training and Employment of People with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific. 14-16 January 2003. Bangkok. Available at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/ability/back ground.htm

Kett, M. (2012). Vocational s development for youth living with disabilities in four developing countries. Background paper prepared for the Education for all Global Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO. Accessed May 9, 2014. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002178/217882e.pdf

Luecking, R. & Fabian, E. S. (2000). Paid Internships and Employment Success for youth in transition. Career development for exceptional Individuals.

Mcloughlin, Cave S., J. Garner, B., Callahan, M. (1987).Getting Employed, Staying Employed: Job Development and Training for Persons with Severe Handicaps. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.

Mitra, S., and Sambamoorthi, U. (2008). Disability and the Rural Labor Market in India: Evidence for Males in Tamil Nadu. World Development 36(5):934-952.

Roggero, P., Tarricone, R., Nicoli, M., & Mangiaterra, V. (2005). Employment& Youth with Disabilities: Sharing Knowledge and Practices. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Samhall (2018). About Samhall. Retrieved from Swedish Company: https://samhall.se

Sanderson, Catherine A. (2010). Social Psychology. New York, John Wiley & Sons.

Schartz, H. A., Hendricks, D. J., & Blanck, P. (2006). Workplace accommodations: Evidence based outcomes. Work, 27, 345-354.

Scheer, J; Groce, N (1990). Impairment as a Human Constant: Cross Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Variation. Journal of Social Issues, Vol 44(1): 23-37.

Swedish Government. (2018, January). Dignity and democracy in Sweden. Retrieved from Sweden's disability Policy: https://sweden.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Disability-policy-in-Sweden-high-res1.pdf

UNICEF (2013b). Fact Sheet on Children and Young People with Disabilities. New York: UN. Accessed May 8 2014. http://www.unicef.org/disabilities/files/Factsheet_A5__Web_NEW.pdf.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v7i1.3819

Copyright © 2015 - 2023. European Journal of Special Education Research (ISSN 2501 - 2428) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).