Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Youth in Kenya'

Despite the elaborate intervention strategies and huge emphasis on AIDS and orphan hood, there is a looming danger that might create a lost generation of young people who are growing up without role models, parental guidance, warmth, love and proper care. Young people in these times of AIDS are charged with the responsibility of caring for their infected parents until they die; and thereafter to care for their siblings. Despite playing these important roles coupled with their complex developmental issues young people face as they negotiate their independence towards adulthood, there is generally a lack of concern as far as the psychosocial issues experienced by youth who are orphaned due to AIDS is concerned as evidence by paucity of published literature. This research therefore, focused on the psychosocial issues of youth orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Western Kenya. This comparative study compared youth who have lost their parent(s) to AIDS, to those who have lost parent(s) through other causes and youth from intact families. The study explored the daily hassles and uplifts as experienced by these three categories. Their psychological well-being was studied in a bid to understand how this phenomenon has impacted on the orphaned young people emotional well-being. The extend to which self-efficacy (resilience), perceived social support and good coping strategies buffer young people from HIV/AIDS impact were studied. Data was obtained from 156 students at the Moi University. One way ANOVA test used to test the mean hassles and mean uplifts scores revealed there were not significantly different across the participants' status. Investigations to determine whether the mean scores for anxiety, self esteem, and depression depend on participants' status; a further one way ANOVA was carried out, which revealed based on overall F-test the mean self esteem and depression scores are significantly different at 5% level of significant.;A pair- wise Pearson correlation was performed to investigate whether anxiety, depression and self esteem scores depend on the coping skills, self-efficacy and perceived social support. Results indicate depression significantly associated with social support, while self esteem is significantly associated with self-efficacy. The qualitative data further validated these findings by revealing that orphaned youth by AIDS were depressed and had poor self-esteem.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2008.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In response to the declining interest and participation of youth in urban churches in Africa, with a specific focus on churches in Nairobi, this study investigates a missiologically related problem of ecclesial praxis that seems to ignore or fail to address the social needs of youth, particularly concerning the need to belong. The churches in Nairobi, as in other parts of Africa, have inherited ecclesial praxis that was shaped in the dualistic cultural context of the Western Enlightenment and the clerical paradigm of Christendom. This dualistic view of reality has dichotomised the understanding of the gospel by compartmentalising it into a spiritual sphere while failing to address the social and cultural dimensions of human life. Consequently, the church hermeneutically understands its primary mission as saving souls and meeting the spiritual needs of its members through the institution of clergy and laity. In order to address the problem, the study proposes the praxis of discipleship based on a community approach that correlates three integrated dimensions of mission (worship, fellowship, and intentional mission) with a community structure guided by specific urban context, cultural values and missional theology. This constitutes the thesis of this research study and also provides a methodological framework for organising the study. In the first chapter, discipleship is conceptualised in the comprehensive missional understanding of the church as missionary in its nature and calling, sent by Christ into the world for the redemption of the world. In that sense, the proposed discipleship community must be understood as missionary in nature. The second chapter focuses on understanding the urban context. It examines some of the urban features of Nairobi that could be typical of other African cities, like rapid urban growth, high proportion of youth in the population, housing problems, unemployment, increasing poverty, family disintegration, crime, violence and disease. In that context, the study assessed the church’s youth ministry by gathering primary empirical data through observation and personal interviews with youth pastors and leaders. The findings confirmed that most youth ministries are based on the clerical paradigm and are driven by programmes. Participation by youth has been found to be low in most churches. Many churches do not seem to address their real needs. Often the youth ministry is seen as a marginal ministry in the church. In response to understanding the community from an African cultural perspective, the study investigated the traditional African community on the basis of literature and by using the ancestral anamnesis (remembrance of ancestors) as the interpretative framework for analysis. In traditional African society, the community is understood as the heart of the culture, the stage where the whole of life is dramatised. Even those who live in modern urban contexts carry with them African community values which have their origin in the traditional African community. Some of the African community values were measured among the urban youth through a survey questionnaire; most of the young people regarded these as important in their lives (Chapter Five). Empirical findings have shown the validity of considering cultural factors in constructing any kind of model for community-based discipleship. The importance of community was also validated theologically and missiologically by demonstrating the normative praxis of discipleship through community structure in the life of the early church. Theologically, the early church understood itself as the community of Christ on the basis of the concept of koinonia, a fellowship based on common faith in Christ. Missiologically, the church perceived itself from its inception as a missionary community sent into the world to witness to the gospel. The research demonstrated that community was the means through which the normative praxis of discipleship formation was carried out in the early church. There was no sense of dichotomy between the spiritual and social dimensions of the gospel as it is normally understood in today’s church. The importance of community as a means for the formation of identity and character was demonstrated through this having been the cultural norm in traditional African society and the theological norm in the life and praxis of the early church. Through the empirical research, the study also confirmed the positive perception of community values among the urban youth. Based on the evidence that was gathered, the study confronts the church in Nairobi and elsewhere to examine its present praxis critically and consider approaching its youth ministry from a community perspective in response to the present missiological problem in youth ministry. In order to construct youth ministry on community foundation, the study suggests a model called the covenant model. It takes the form of a small group existing as a part of the local church but coming together specifically as a community guided by a discipleship covenant that integrates three missional dimensions. The group seeks to adapt in its specific urban context and integrate cultural values that complement the gospel. The covenant model assumes that the urban context is complex and diverse. It allows each group to develop its own shape and features, informed by its context, culture and tradition. It calls for diversity in cultural and contextual expression while maintaining unity as God’s people in Christ. The early church exemplified it in being one, holy, catholic and apostolic.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In reaksie op die afname in belangstelling en inskakeling van die jeug in stedelike kerklike aktiwiteite in Afrika, toegespits op gemeentes in Nairobi, wil hierdie studie ’n missiologiesverwante probleem ondersoek. Die vraag is of die ekklesiologiese praksis daarin slaag om te beantwoord aan die die jeug se sosiale behoeftes en spesifiek die behoefte aan gemeenskap, om te behoort aan ‘n sosiale groep. Die kerke in Nairobi, soos in ander dele van Afrika, het ’n ekklesiologiese praksis geërf wat gevorm is aan die hand van die dualistiese kulturele konteks van die Westerse Verligting en die geestelike paradigma van die Christendom. Hierdie dualistiese uitkyk op die werklikheid het ’n tweeledige karakter aan die evangelie verleen. Aan die een kant is daar ’n spirituele sfeer, aan die ander kant word die sosiale en kulturele aspekte van menslike bestaan kwalik verdiskonteer. Gevolglik interpreteer die kerk haar primêre missie hermeneuties as synde die red van siele en die aanspreek van die spirituele behoeftes van haar lidmate met die gevolg dat lidmate leke bly en die kerk institusionaliseer. In ’n poging om hierdie probleem aan te spreek, stel die studie ’n praksis van dissipelskap gebaseer op ’n gemeenskapsgeoriënteerde benadering voor, waardeur drie geïntegreerde dimensies van gestuurdheid (aanbidding, gemeenskap van die heiliges en die bewuswording van gestuurdheid) aan die orde kom. Die gemeenskapsgeoriënteerde benadering se strukturele ontwikkeling word ontwikkel op grond van die ter sake konteks, kulturele waardes en missionale teologie. Dit vorm die basis waarop die navorsing van hierdie verhandeling gerig is, insluitend ’n metodologiese raamwerk vir die aanpak van hierdie studie. In die eerste hoofstuk word die begrip dissipelskap gedefinieer teen die agtergrond van ‘n omvattende missionale verstaan van die kerk as synde missionêr in haar aard en roeping. Christus het die totale verlossing van die wêreld in die oog en die kerk het daarin ‘n wesenlike rol. In dié sin word die dissipelskapsgemeenskap beskou as wesenlik missionêr. Die tweede hoofstuk fokus op die verstaan van die stedelike konteks. Daarin word tendense kenmerkend van Nairobi wat ook ten opsigte van ander Afrika-stede tipies kan wees, ondersoek. Voorbeelde hiervan is versnellende verstedeliking, pro-rata ’n hoë persentasie jong mense, behuisingsprobleme, werkloosheid, toenemende armoede, gesinsverbrokkeling, misdaad, geweld en siekte. Binne dié konteks en aan die hand van empiriese data verkry deur observasie en persoonlike onderhoude met jeugdiges, pastors en leiers, het die studie die kerk se jeugbediening ondersoek. Dit het aan die lig gebring dat die jeugbediening basies binne ‘n predikantskerkparadigma asook programgedrewe funksioneer. Deelname van jongmense in kerklike aktiwiteite is laag. Gemeentes spreek nie die jeug se basiese behoeftes aan nie. Die jeugediening skyn eerder ‘n terloopse bediening te wees. Ten einde gemeenskap vanuit ’n kulturele Afrika-perspektief te verstaan, is voorvaderlike anamnese (terugroeping in die herinnering) as interpretatiewe raamwerk in hierdie studie aangewend. Dit is gedoen op grond van ’n toepaslike literatuurstudie. Volgens die tradisionele Afrika-samelewing word die gemeenskap beskou as die hart van die kultuur, die plek waar die lewe sigself afspeel. Selfs diegene wat hulself in moderne voorstedelike omgewings bevind, dra die Afrika-gemeenskap se waardes wat hul oorsprong in die tradisionele Afrikagemeenskap het met hulle saam. Van hierdie waardes is geïdentifiseer deur vraelyste wat onder die voorstedelike jeug versprei is - die meeste van die jongmense het hierdie waardes hoog aangeskryf (Hoofstuk vyf). Empiriese bevindinge het getoon dat die inagneming van kulturele faktore noodsaaklik is vir die skep van ’n model vir ’n gemeenskapsgeoriënteerde dissipelskap. Die belangrike rol van die gemeenskap is ook teologies en missiologies gestaaf aan die hand van die normatiewe praksis van dissipelskap in die gemeenskapstruktuur van die vroeë kerk. Teologies het die vroeë kerk haarself beskou as die gemeenskap van Christus op grond van die begrip koinonia, ’n gemeenskap gebaseer op ‘n gedeelde geloof in Christus, Missiologies het die kerk haarself van die begin af ervaar as ’n missionêre gemeenskap wat in die wêreld ingestuur word om die evangelie uit te dra. Navorsing het getoon dat die normatiewe praksis van dissipelskap in die vroeë kerk binne gemeenskapsverbande uitgedra is. Daar was nie toe sprake van ’n tweeledigheid tussen die spirituele en sosiale dimensies van die evangelie soos dit vandag algemeen in die kerk voorkom nie. Die belangrike rol van die gemeenskap ten opsigte van vorming van die identiteit en karakter van sy lede is gedemonstreer deurdat dit die kulturele norm in tradisionele Afrika en die teologiese norm in die lewe en praksis van die vroeë kerk was. Deur empiriese navorsing is die positiewe gesindheid van die voorstedelike jeug aangaande die gemeenskapswaardes gestaaf. Op grond van bewyse versamel, konfronteer dié studie die kerk in Nairobi en elders om die heersende praksis krities te ondersoek en dit ernstig te oorweeg om in die lig van die heersende missiologiese probleem ten opsigte van die jeugbediening, dié bediening vanuit ’n gemeenskapsgeoriënteerde perspektief te benader. Ten einde die jeugbediening op ’n gemeenskapsbasis te vestig, stel hierdie studie ’n model bekend as die verbondsmodel voor. Dit kom daarop neer dat ’n kleingroep as deel van die plaaslike gemeente as ’n gemeenskap saamkom, saamgesnoer deur ‘n dissipelskapverbond wat die drie geïntegreerde missionale dimensies van die kerk se roeping verdiskonteer. Die groep streef daarna om aan te pas in hul bepaalde voorstedelike konteks en om kulturele waardes wat by die evangelie aansluit, in hul lewenswyse te integreer. Die verbondsmodel maak voorsiening vir die kompleksiteit en diversiteit van die voorstedelike konteks. Dit laat elke groep toe om ’n eiesoortigheid op grond van konteks, kultuur en tradisie te ontwikkel. Dit vereis diversiteit ten opsigte van kulturele en kontekstuele uitdrukking, terwyl die eenheid as God se mense in Christus gehandhaaf word. Dit is deur die vroeë kerk gedemonstreer in die funksionering as een, heilige, katolieke en apostoliese kerk.

The present study examines rural youth perceptions of farming and their decision of whether or not to work as a farmer by paying special attention to personal career aspirations, social (peer and parental) influences, and structural (land, finance, market, and agricultural education) constraints as the “push” and “pull” forces of farming. Interviews were conducted with 59 youth in six villages of Kiambu County, Kenya. Findings revealed that non-agricultural career aspirations, such as engineering and teaching, may create the desire to migrate away from farming. While many youth held negative perceptions of farming, which were reinforced through peer and parental influence, a sub-set of youth expressed a passion for farming and considered farming an attractive career path. However, the existence of structural barriers and the difficulties in overcoming them, especially access to land, limited their participation in farming.

The HIV epidemic and political violence in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990’s have changed structures of care as orphans become caregivers and socioeconomic resources are depleted. As a result, the number of youth who head households has dramatically increased in the region. The dissertation explores how young women who head households in two areas (one urban, one rural) of Nakuru County, Kenya experience sexual ill health and violence in gendered ways, how they embody suffering, and how they respond to suffering amid shifting systems of care in their social environment. Drawing on participatory and community-based research with 58 youth (29 young women; 29 young men) who head households aged 15 to 24 years, I document the interactions of youth with social actors in their environment. Drawing on theories of social suffering and structural violence, I describe their daily-lived experience and the perspectives of youth and community members on the causes and potential methods for alleviating suffering and improving sexual health. I elaborate upon the ways that young women experience and embody violence and suffering in their daily lives. Analysis reveals the relational nature of youth’s suffering and how they navigate supportive and exploitive social relations in daily life. The dissertation makes a contribution to the understanding of sexual health and social suffering of socially vulnerable young women in sub-Saharan Africa by showing the social, physical, moral, political and symbolic ways in which young women embody suffering. Amid exploitive and stigmatizing experiences, social support is shown to be critical to sustaining and increasing the young women’s life force, as they seek to endure and to create opportunities for themselves and their dependents: their siblings, children and ailing adults. The dissertation concludes that young women work to ‘re-create’ structures of support that maintain family relations and stresses the importance of social support in improving their sexual health and wellbeing. It is suggested that programs and policies should be reoriented to support young women in their caregiving roles and to create a supportive social environment by allocating resources to strengthen extended family and community relations.<br>Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies<br>Graduate

The voices of youth are typically absent in research on African communities. The assumption is that children are not really active subjects, and that adults can speak and act on their behalf. This study addresses the walls of silence between children and parents; teachers and learners and between boys and girls, on matters of gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS. Within these walls, youth construct and re-construct their roles as either feminine or masculine. We see them challenging social constructs and reclaiming their voices and their right to be heard as experts about their own gendered and sexual lives. Using interviews and focus group discussions, a tri-site study was carried out in Kenya, and the findings presented illustrate how boys and girls construct their identities, negotiating, adapting to and resisting common articulations of masculinity and femininity. It demonstrates why it is wrong to constantly associate gender with women and girls, focusing on masculinity and femininity, not in isolation of each other, but as relational identities which derive their meaning from each other. "Breaking Silence" focuses on gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS risk amongst youth, demonstrating how youth can empower themselves to steer their agenda and articulate what it means to be particular boys or girls, while developing strategies to deal with their issues.

This exploratory study was inspired by the author’s voluntary work with streetconnected children and youth in Kenya. It develops an understanding of the experiences of young people leaving the street in two provincial Kenyan towns. Although there has been extensive research concerned with street-connectedness, there has been a limited focus on young people’s transitions away from the street. Participants were identified with the help of three organisations: fifty-three young people, aged 12 -28, participated in semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and visual methods, during two field research visits to Kenya, in 2012 and 2013. The study found that their experiences of leaving the street were influenced by their day-to-day interactions with family, friends and other members of the communities into which they transitioned. These interactions influenced how accepted the young people felt and the extent to which they believed they were supported economically, physically and psychosocially, especially with regards to their relationships with family members. The participants’ interactions with school-based peers and teachers were particularly important in schools and training centres, where they struggled to develop a sense of belonging. Being street-connected is an integral part of the identities constructed by young people after they leave the street and establish places for themselves in their families, schools, local communities, and wider society. Such street-connectedness can be a strength: the resilience and skills developed on the street are useful attributes in adapting to new situations, potentially providing income-generating opportunities later on. However, the stigmatisation and resulting marginalisation they experienced on the street can have lasting effects. Barriers to inclusion experienced on the street influence a young person’s ability to develop a sense of belonging to their new situation after leaving the street. This study makes a conceptual contribution. Street-connectedness begins when a young person first arrives on the street, and continues until what could be years after they leave it. This street-connectedness can be characterised by three liminalities. The first is associated with living in the physical space defined as being on the street: a physical embodiment of liminality. The second, describes the process of being in transition as a young person newly arrived on the street, or having recently left the street: each being a liminal phase. The third liminality is described by an identity-forming social space, associated with being, and having been, street-connected: a liminal identity. This liminal identity, associated with being street-connected, impacts upon young people (re)entering home communities and, in particular, education, and highlights a need to consider and address the effects of these impacts.

Youth participation habits changes constantly. Efforts to keep up with new forms of political participation is seen in international organizations, national governments and the academic community. How do young people themselves regard their participation in these new forms? One alternative form of political participation is youth organizing. This study uses a multi-case research design by interviewing Kenyan and Swedish young people who have participated in one of two youth organizing programs, organized by the non-governmental organization Fryshuset. This study aimed to uncover what youth value with youth organizing as a participation form, what goals they have with their participation and how their self-organized initiatives reflect said goals, by applying theories on empowerment, delieration, agonistic pluralism and factors affecting political participation. What youth value with youth organizing is personal development, meeting new people and getting the opportunity to make a local impact. Furthermore the study found that the primary goal of their participation was to strengthen their local community. Finally the findings show how youth preferred deliberative means to achieve their goals.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the gender differences in the experiences of Kenyan youth living with HIV-AIDS and their decisions in relation to the disease in Kenya. There is need for counselors, educators, related professionals, and other stakeholders to have knowledge and awareness of the gender differences in the experiences of youth living with HIV-AIDS and their decisions in relation to the disease. To capture the distinctive meanings each youth has assigned to his or her experiences and decisions related to the disease, the study used a qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA). Four focus group interviews were conducted with 33 18-24 year old Kenyan youth (17 female and 16 male) who were living with HIV-AIDS. The youth receive HIV-AIDS support services in the Thika and Kiambu District/County Hospitals' HIV-AIDS Comprehensive Care Centers (CCCs) in Kenya. Five main themes emerged from data analysis including: (a) Self-Portraiture as Youth; (b) Reactions to a Positive HIV-AIDS Diagnosis; (c) HIV-AIDS Contraction Context; (d) Day-to-day Life While HIV-AIDS Positive; and (e) Sexual Behavior While HIV-AIDS Positive - Prevention. Implications for theory, research, and practice are suggested.

This thesis analyzes how children and youth being resettled from Kenya and Sudan were prepared for their upcoming resettlement to Sweden, through cultural orientation programs (COPs). COPs are held for refugees who have been granted permanent Swedish residence and are undergoing resettlement to Sweden. The Swedish Migration Board, in charge of resettlement, carries out COPs as a means to inform and prepare refugees for the move to Sweden. This thesis is based on ethnographic work carried out during COPs held in Kenya and Sudan in 2011. Through video-based observation of the meetings between the Swedish delegations and children and youth, current thesis examines what notions of resettlement and refugeeness inform the delegations work, and how does the children’s agency come about during these meetings? The thesis includes three articles. Article 1 examines how the delegations make use of images in order to establish certain ideas of Sweden and the ideal citizen specifically tailored for the group being resettled. Article 2 explores children’s agency within the COPs, focusing on how the children and youth manage the meetings and sometimes resisting being positioned in certain ways by the delegations. Article 3 analyzes how notions of gender equality are drawn upon by the delegations during their work, a topic frequently highlighted by the delegations in various implicit and dilemmatic ways. The thesis shows how the delegations’ work is carried out in paradoxical ways. Their quest to bring forth the ideal future as a means to instill hope among the children simultaneously ends up categorizing them as different and as others. The representatives draw  n ideas that the children need to be socialized in order to be incorporated into another “us”.<br>Avhandlingen undersöker hur barn och ungdomar förbereds inför sin vidarebosättning genom så kallade Sverigeprogram. Avhandlingen är baserad på en etnografisk studie där video observationer genomförts av Sverigeprogram som hölls utav Migrationsverket i Kenya och Sudan för familjer som var på väg att vidarebosättas till Sverige. Som ett led i vidarebosättningsprocessen informeras och förbereds flyktingar inför flytten till Sverige. Syftet är att informera och presentera Sverige, skapa dialog och verka för flyktingarnas aktiva medverkan i sin vidarebosättningsprocess. Sedan några år tillbaka har speciella program genomförts för barn och ungdomar. Avhandlingen visar hur de två delegationerna arbetar med bilder och information med syftet att presentera en positiv bild av Sverige i ett led i att inge barnen hopp. Praktiken av att presentera idealbilden av Sverige hänger samman med socialiseringsprocess av barnen som stundtals positioneras som avvikande från svenskheten. Delegationernas arbete med att presentera bilden av den fria individen går hand i hand med en vilja att inkorporera barnen i en ny gemenskap, ett nytt ”vi”. I artikel ett undersöks hur delegationerna arbeter med bilder som visas upp genom olika praktiker för att förmedla en viss bild av Sverige samt den ideala medborgaren som ansvarstagande och aktiv. Artikel två fokuserar på barns agens och hur de under mötena med delegationerna förhandlar och gör motstånd mot stereotypifiering men också ställer egna frågor om framtiden när utrymme ges. Artikel tre fokuserar på hur delegationerna pratar om jämställdhet med unga tjejer som deltar i programmen med utgångspunkt i att stärka tjejerna och informera de om rättigheter men hur arbetet med att presentera ett liv i frihet går hand i hand med att även presentera hur detta liv bör se ut vilket paradoxalt nog positionerar tjejerna som ojämställda och annorlunda.

This thesis examines the teaching and learning of deaf primary-school learners in Kenya in order to explain their poor examination performance and to find ways of better supporting their learning. While language and communication are perceived as the main problems encountered by deaf children, it is assumed that if teachers and learners are able to communicate through sign language, deaf learners can learn. The main argument of this thesis is that although proficiency in sign language among teachers does play a great role in the education of deaf learners, it is not sufficient in offering quality education in this context. Other needs of deaf learners should be addressed during the teaching and learning process through appropriate teaching and learning materials and teaching and assessment approaches. The thesis reviews literature looking at the relationship between language, thought and learning in the education of deaf learners. The study was partly informed by Vygotsky's theory of social learning and language which recognises that children learn through their interaction with the social environment. A discussion on the difference between the concepts: ‘special education', ‘integration', and ‘inclusive education' is raised in the review of literature leading to the discussion of whether deaf learners require ‘special' pedagogy. Different views have been held regarding the type of pedagogical approach used in the teaching and learning of deaf learners in Kenya who learn in specialist units attached to mainstream schools: whether this is ‘special', integrated or inclusive education. The research took an exploratory approach and focused on the teaching and learning of Social Studies in specialist units in urban and remote rural areas in Kenya. Data were collected mainly through lesson observations and semi-structured interviews with deaf and hearing education stakeholders including learners, teachers, education officials and representatives of deaf people's organisations. Kenyan Sign Language and English were the main languages used in data collection. The study found that although textbooks were mostly available for learners in the units, they did not benefit from them due to their design which did not respond to their learning needs. However, some textbook design features that would benefit the learners were identified by the deaf teachers and learners. In addition, while deaf teachers did not generally encounter communication problems in teaching, most hearing teachers lacked sufficient proficiency in Kenyan Sign Language (the language of instruction), a phenomenon that affected dialogue in teaching,. Assessment practices seemed not to be suitable for deaf learners to express what they knew. Although teaching and learning took place in sign language, assessment was through reading and writing in English. A combination of a general quality improvement of educational resources which would be relevant for all learners and some deaf-specific interventions for deaf learners is an approach that would support deaf learners to achieve more in their learning. Recognising the expert knowledge of deaf teachers gained from their experiences as teachers and formerly as deaf learners, and their proficiency in sign language would contribute towards providing the learners with opportunities to learn more.

<p>Physical inactivity together with overweight and obesity has emerged as a major health risk factor for chronic disease of lifestyle as coronary heart disease, diabetes type 2, and hypertension affecting adolescents with physical disabilities in developed countries. This has contributed to the increase of social and economic costs of healthcare and social services in these countries. Review of literature has revealed that little has been documented about the status of adolescents with physical disabilities in developing countries. This study, therefore, aimed at establishing the degree of physical inactivity among high school adolescents with physical disabilities in Kenya.</p>

Latin American telenovelas have been exported to more than a hundred countries across the globe. While they are popular in their country of production because their messages resonate with their audience’s everyday experiences, their popularity amongst global audiences with whom they share neither a social nor a cultural history is unexplained. Kenya has been importing and airing Latin American telenovelas since the early 1990s, and telenovelas have permeated many aspects of Kenyan daily life, when compared to other foreign globally-distributed media products that are aired on Kenyan television. As global media products, telenovelas remain open to criticisms from the media imperialism thesis. This research adopts an ethnographic approach to the study of audiences, and looks at the reception of a Mexican telenovela, Cuando Seas Mia, by a group of young Kenyan women in Nairobi. It reflects upon the media imperialism thesis from an African perspective by investigating the meanings that these women make from Cuando Seas Mia, and how these shape their changing local identities and cultures. The young women in this study, most of whom have moved to the city from the rural areas, are influenced by traditional, patriarchal Kenyan society and by the modern, Western influences of an urban environment. They experience a tension between their evolving rural and urban roles and identities and are drawn to telenovelas because their exploration of rural-urban themes holds a relevance to their own lives. They negotiate their contemporary African youth identities, gender roles and heterosexual relationships in relation to representations in the telenovela, questioning and destabilising African and Western definitions. These women select aspects from their traditional, African cultures and from their modern, Western experiences (and consumption of global media) and reconstruct them into a transitional youth identity which suits their day to day lives as young women living in an urban African environment.

Having a healthy population is certainly an essential characteristic toward the sustainable development of any nation. Currently, however, AIDS has become a crucial factor throughout the globe, particularly for developing nations such as Kenya. In fact, Kenya has the highest count of AIDS cases throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Traditional practices observed in Western Kenya, particularly among the Luo people, are glaring in the literature as increasing one’s risk of AIDS. Certainly the meeting of traditional culture and Western oriented knowledge related to AIDS are problematic toward the prevention and mitigation of AIDS, especially as it impacts young people who are most vulnerable. This dissertation analyzed the relationships between gender, culture and education as determined by AIDS related knowledge, beliefs and practices among secondary school students in Kendu Bay, a rural area in Western Kenya. Data were collected from questionnaires administered to the students, focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews with public health specialists, teachers and elders who traditionally socialized youth. The study showed that, as revealed in the literature, gender, and culture were statistically significant to AIDS related knowledge, beliefs and practices. It found that youth rely on Western oriented sources for their sex education information versus traditionally based sources. It also found that although respondents were well aware of traditional Luo practices, they were also well informed about Western-based AIDS information. In addition, the research found that the majority of respondents were sexually active, but did not always practice safer sex, or use condoms. Based on the literature, research findings, and observations made by the researcher, a community based, family life education initiative is recommended. This initiative should attempt to bridge gaps between age groups and across the gender divide. This study has major implications for public policy, implementation and design of AIDS awareness and prevention endeavors and will enhance health and development literature.

Based on the narratives of young people this research explores the rise in youth violence in Kenya's secondary school system and wider society and the potential for peacebuilding to address youth violence. Of particular concern is the gradual change in the profiles, patterns and intensity of the conflict, as evidenced by the increase in the number of youth militias. This increase is often attributed to unemployment and poverty - yet, to date, no systematic research has been produced on the extent to which the youth participation in violence occurs through choice or coercion, or indeed both. Worryingly, a significant number of young people involved in this violence are secondary school students. The findings of this research indicate that despite responses to youth violence in the school and wider Kenyan society, the violence is unabated. Notably, approaches continue to be top-down, generic, superficial and ineffectual. By marginalising the narratives of the youth who participate in and/or observe the violence, current institutional policies and approaches are decontextualised - from both the particular and the wider Kenyan context. This leaves intact the root causes of the violence. This research raises important questions concerning generic, top-down, quick-fix, outmoded cultural paradigms, hierarchical and questionable homogeneous pedagogical approaches to peacebuilding in both the schools and wider Kenyan context. In attempt to address these deficiencies the research seeks to find out approaches to peacebuilding and the Kenyan education systems that can respond to youth violence. This research proffers three key dimensions that can be incorporated in order to ensure effective and sustainable peace: experiences, worldviews and attitudes of the actors. The research, which utilises a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006), was conducted in fourteen secondary schools in Nairobi and the Rift Valley provinces - two provinces that have been at the centre of youth violence and militia activities. These provinces were also selected in order to reflect the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic character, and the different types of schools in Kenya.

Contraceptive use has far-reaching social and health benefits for women in low and middle-income countries. While socioeconomic factors are known to be associated with contraceptive use, few studies on this topic have focused specifically on young women, whose reproductive health is a target of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Family Planning 2020 agenda. This study used the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey to examine the association between three social determinants (wealth, education, and residence) and two contraceptive outcomes (modern method use and long-acting reversible contraceptive [LARC] use) in women ages 15-24 in 2008-09 (n=3,211 women) and 2014 (n=4,982 women). Results showed increases in the prevalence of modern method use and of LARC use. Low wealth was associated with non-use of LARC methods, and the same wealth pattern emerged for all modern method use between the two timepoints. An education gradient was observed for both outcomes. This study provides some evidence that the urban-rural gap is closing for contraception; however, rural residence continues to be a strong predictor of non-use of LARC methods. Results indicate that continued work is needed to ensure equitable progress in contraceptive use and method choice to contribute to improved reproductive health for young Kenyan women.

Le thème de la socialisation des jeunes est un sujet de préoccupation pour toutes les sociétés du monde entier. Ceci est dû principalement au fait que l'avenir des communautés repose, en partie, sur l'efficacité avec laquelle elles accomplissent les tâches de préparation de cette composante importante de leur population, à devenir des adultes productifs qui contribueront au bien-être de leurs communautés. Dans les pays en voie de développement, caractérisé par un changement social rapide, une adaptation à des modes de vie non conventionnelles de la part des générations futures, dont les trajectoires croisent des contextes entièrement différents, l'explication minutieuse des déterminants de la socialisation des jeunes est incontournable. Au Kenya, les changements sociétaux et les comportements, exacerbés par les vulnérabilités associées au développement, créent souvent une confluence de facteurs qui placent les jeunes devant de grands risques. Par conséquent, la nécessité de transformer les institutions sociales ordinaires de la société, en tant que cadres de socialisation, pour les rendre pertinentes dans la préparation des jeunes aux défis de l'avenir, est inévitable. Portant sur une société du Kisii rural, Masaba Sud – Ouest, l'étude a cherché à établir comment le changement de la famille et celui d'autres institutions sociales clés, telles que l'éducation, la religion et les médias, ont un impact sur la socialisation de la communauté des jeunes. Le modèle écologique pour le développement humain (Urie Bronfenbrenner, 1994) et l’examen des parcours de vie ont été adoptés comme modèle conceptuel et méthodologique de l'étude. Les résultats de l'étude offrent une vue particulièrement nuancée des défis de socialisation pour une période de changement sans précédent dans un cadre rural du Kenya. Il est démontré que les socio-valeurs culturelles et les normes communautaires qui influencent le processus de socialisation ne sont pas constantes, mais qu’elles changent toujours et d’une façon parfois contradictoire et qu’elles sont perçues différemment par les jeunes et les membres plus âgés de la société, affectant ainsi négativement la capacité des parents et des autres anciens de réguler les jeunes. En outre, il est démontré que l'adoption de nouvelles structures sociales, conduisant à l'interruption de la transmission de comportements spécifiques, ne donne pas lieu à l'échec de la socialisation, mais offre de plus grandes voies pour favoriser un comportement positif. Au niveau national, la politique en charge du développement de la jeunesse est pleine de lacunes, en termes de politiques suivies, d’autant que les interventions n'ont pas été fondées sur une évaluation éclairée des problèmes. De même, les programmes pour les jeunes ont constamment été guidés par la philosophie du déficit et par des approches orientées. Ainsi, l'idéologie qui sous-tend le développement des jeunes, a souvent mis l'accent sur les projets centrés sur la transmission des compétences professionnelles et l'accès aux services financiers des jeunes, alors que fait défaut une politique familiale explicite. L'étude apporte une contribution à une recherche qui vise à comprendre les entraves structurelles, les nouvelles voies et transitions des jeunes à l'âge adulte et les chemins de développement personnel basé sur de nouvelles façons et attitudes, marquées par l'interaction humaine<br>The subject of youth socialization is a concern for all societies worldwide. The future of communities rests, in part on how effectively they accomplish the tasks of preparing this important component of their population to become productive adults. In developing countries, characterized by rapid social change, the adaptation and unconventional life patterns of future generations, whose growth trajectories will occur in an entirely different context, calls for careful explication of the determinants of the socialization young people. In Kenya, the societal shifts and behavioral patterns, exacerbated by the unique developmental vulnerabilities often create a confluence of factors that put youth at great risk. Hence, the need to transform the ordinary institutions of society, as socializing contexts to make them relevant in preparing young people for the challenges of the future role taking is inevitable. Set in a society in rural Kisii, Masaba South – Western Kenya, the study sought to establish how the changes in the family and that of other key social institutions such as education, religion and the media impact the socialization of the youth in the community. The ecological model for human development by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1994) and the life course framework have been adopted as the conceptual model for the study. The results of the study offer an unusually nuanced view of socialization challenges in a time of unprecedented change in Kenya’s rural setting. It is shown that socio- cultural values and community norms that influence the socialization process are not constant, but always changing and sometimes contradictory and are perceived differently by young people and older members of society, thereby adversely affecting the capacity of parents and other elders to regulate the youth. In addition, it is shown that the adoption of new social structures though leading to the disruption of the transmission of specific behaviors, do not result to failure in effective socialization, but offers greater pathways for imparting positive behavior. At national level, the policy with regard to youth development is full of gaps, in terms of policy and reality, especially since the interventions are not predicated on informed assessment. Similarly, youth programs have consistently been guided by the philosophy of deficit and problem oriented approaches. Thus, the ideology that underpins the development of young people often focuses on projects focusing on imparting vocational skills and access to financial services for young people that have already “fallen off the cracks”. More critical, the country lacks an explicit family policy on whose lenses issues affecting the family and its various population segments, especially the youth could be examined. The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of the emergent area of research aimed at understanding the structural obstacles to young people’s transition to adulthood by creating new channels and orientation for seeking pathways to personal development based on new ways and attitudes of human interaction

Kutoka elimu ya lugha tunajua kwamba kila mtu aliyenena ana ujuzi maalum - kama John Lyons alivyoeleza katika kitabu chake Language and Linguistics (1981), katika sura kuhusu lugha na utamaduni wa wasemaji. Lyons anatueleza kwamba kila mtu hushika ujuzi huo kwa njia ya kufunzwa lugha na huutumia ujuzi, huuongeza na huubadilisha kwa muda wa maisha yake yote; ni jinsi yake ya kujua mambo ya ulimwengu. Katika maelezo yafuatayo napenda kuonyesha ujuzi uliomo katika habari nilizopewa na kijana, jina lake ni Timothy Lawrence ambaye alikuwa na umri wa kumi na tatu siku zile. Ujuzi wake ni juu ya maisha yake ya kipokomo na pia ni ujuzi wa kumweleza mgeni mambo hayo - yaani ujuzi au uwezo wa kuzisimulia habari hizo. Habari zake zinatuonyesha vizuri simulizi ya maisha ya binafsi (au autobiographical narrative) ni nini, yenye ujuzi gani na jinsi gani ya kutazama maisha kwa macho ya mwenyeji kijana.

Media in Nairobi is segmented when it comes to news and information; different media target different audience groups in the society through their preferred channels in search of news and information.     In Kibera, the biggest slum area in Nairobi and in whole East Africa, the urban slum community radio station Pamoja FM only works for the citizens living within Kibera. We aimed to find out how the youth in Kibera perceive the efficacy of the radio station as a viable source of news and information. We wanted to establish how important this radio station is to them as a tool of empowerment and knowledge to the youth.   Through semi-structured interviews with the youth in Kibera we carried out a qualitative research study during ten weeks, from October until December in 2011. We walked the field in Kibera to gather as much data as possible, and our findings were very interesting.   Key theories used in this study included the participatory communication model, the media dependency model and the uses and gratifications model.   The findings indicated that Pamoja FM has a great influence in the community as it is considered the most important source for news and information for the youth in this slum, and provides a platform that meets their needs as active participating audiences to the content supplied by the radio station. The radio is accredited to have changed the citizens´ way of thinking about tribalism since the post-election violence in 2007; the young women have assertively declared their space by playing a more proactive role in the community and audiences are empowered with home-grown problem solving skills that have bettered their lives and in pursuit for peace.

This thesis examines the well-being of Kenyan-Canadian parents and youth living in ethnically- and racially-mixed families in Montreal. The objectives of the thesis are to determine whether there are challenges unique to immigrants belonging to small ethnic communities and living in racially- and ethnically-mixed families, and to educate policy makers and health practitioners as to needs that may be specific to this understudied group. The participants generally seem to be adapting well to life in Montreal, although the experience of racism and difficult y with language policies do generate some stress. Notably, the parents have taken advantage of possibilities afforded by other immigrant communities with greater institutional completeness to promote the well-being of their children. This suggests that an important role can be played by established immigrant communities in welcoming and assisting individual migrants without a receiving community, even when ethnic affiliation may be lacking.<br>Cette thèse s'intéresse au bien-être de parents et d'enfants canadiens originaires du Kenya et vivant à Montréal dans une famille mixte sur le plan ethnique et racial. L'objectif de la thèse est de déterminer si les immigrants appartenant à une communauté immigrante de petite taille et vivant dans un contexte de famille culturellement mixte font face à des défis particuliers. Les retombées permettront de sensibiliser les décideurs politiques et les professionnels de la santé aux besoins particuliers de cette population encore peu étudiée. Les participants à l'étude ont, de façon générale, réussi à bien s'adapter à leur vie Montréalaise et ce, malgré un certain stress associé à des expériences de racisme et aux difficultés inhérentes aux politiques linguistiques. Les parents vivant en famille mixte ont quant à eux pu profiter des possibilités offertes par la communauté du conjoint, et ainsi eu accès à une plus grande complétude institutionnelle ce qui a favorisé le bien-être de leurs enfants. Ce constat met en lumière le rôle important qui peut être joué par les communautés immigrantes bien établies dans l'accueil et le soutien des immigrants qui ne peuvent compter sur une communauté d'accueil et ce, même si l'affiliation ethnique s'avère inexistante.

Thesis advisor: Belle Liang<br>Social scientists are increasingly interested in the life experiences of youth in developing countries. Moreover, positive youth developmentalists posit the need to understand well-being, strengths, and resiliency in addition to maladjustment, pathology, and deficits. Guided by relational cultural theory (Jordan, 2001; Miller and Stiver, 1997) and models linking stress to psychopathology (Bowman and Yehuda, 2004), the current study examines the associations between stress, psychological symptoms, and relational health in a sample of Kenyan youth (N = 254) using cross-sectional data from an ongoing preventative intervention. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine how well stress and relational health predicted psychological symptoms and MANOVA were used to test the hypotheses that gender differences exist in youth reports of psychological symptoms and exposure to stress. Findings indicated that exposure to certain types of stress were associated with psychological symptoms. Specifically, exposure to violence was correlated with depression. Number of stressful events, which captured exposure to many different types of stressors, was also correlated with depression. Although boys and girls did not report differences in exposure to stressors, small effects were found for differences in depression scores, with boys reporting greater levels of depression than their female peers. Gender moderated the relationship between stress and depression, with stress impacting female youth more than male youth. Although quality relationships with a peer and with the school community did not moderate the relationship between stress and depression in the present sample, main effects were found such that relational health was negatively correlated with depression. No significant effects were found for PTSD in any of the analyses. These results suggest implications for theory, research, clinical and community-based practice, and educational policy. Suggestions for improving validity and reliability in cross-cultural research are also included, with particular attention to measurement issues that arise when applying existing instruments among diverse populations<br>Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013<br>Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education<br>Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology

La violence chronique qui caractérise la Somalie depuis plus de deux décennies a forcé près de deux millions de personnes à fuir. Cette ethnographie étudie l’expérience de l’asile prolongé de jeunes Somaliens qui ont grandi au camp de Kakuma, au Kenya. Leur expérience est hors du commun, bien qu’un nombre croissant de réfugiés passent de longues années dans des camps pourtant conçus comme temporaires, en vertu de la durée des conflits et de la normalisation de pratiques de mise à l’écart de populations « indésirables ». Nous explorons la perception qu’ont ces jeunes de leur environnement et de quelle façon leur exil structure leur perception du passé et de leur pays d’origine, et de leur futur. Ce faisant, nous considérons à la fois les spécificités du contexte et l’environnement global, afin de comprendre comment l’expérience des gens est façonnée par (et façonne) les dynamiques sociales, politiques, économiques et historiques. Nous observons que le camp est, et demeure, un espace de confinement, indépendamment de sa durée d’existence ; bien que conçu comme un lieu de gestion rationnelle des populations, le camp devient un monde social où se développent de nouvelles pratiques ; les jeunes Somaliens font preuve d’agentivité et interprètent leur expérience de manière à rendre leur quotidien acceptable ; ces derniers expriment une frustration croissante lorsque leurs études sont terminées et qu’ils peinent à s’établir en tant qu’adultes, ce qui exacerbe leur désir de quitter le camp. En effet, même s’il existe depuis plus de 20 ans, le camp demeure un lieu de transition. L’expérience de jeunes Somaliens qui ont grandi dans un camp de réfugiés n’a pas été étudiée auparavant. Nous soutenons que cette expérience est caractérisée par des tensions entre contraintes et opportunités, mobilité et immobilité, isolation et connexion ou victimisation et affirmation du sujet – et des temporalités contradictoires. Cette étude souligne que des notions comme la convivialité ou la pluralité des appartenances développées dans la littérature sur la cohabitation interethnique dans les villes ou sur l’identité des migrants aident à appréhender le réalité du camp. Cette ethnographie montre également que, loin d’être des victimes passives, les réfugiés contribuent à trouver des solutions à leur exil.<br>Chronic violence has characterized Somalia for over two decades, forcing nearly two million people to flee. This ethnography studies the experience of protracted exile of Somalis who were raised in Kakuma refugee camp, in Kenya, and are now young adults. Their experience is relatively uncommon, although increasing numbers of people spend long periods in camps conceived as temporary, due to the length of conflicts and the normalization of excluding populations deemed undesirable. I explore how young people perceive their living environment and how growing up in exile structures their view of the past and their country of origin, and the future and its possibilities. In doing so, I regularly shift perspectives from the specificities of the context to the global environment, to understand how people’s experience is shaped by (and shapes) the social, political, economical and historical dynamics in which it is embedded. My observations can be summarized into a few broad statements: regardless of how long it has existed, the camp is and remains a space of containment; conceived as a rationally organized space to manage populations, the camp becomes a messier social world where new practices develop; young Somalis display agency and interpret their experience in a way that makes the present bearable; frustration grows when Somali youth complete their education and struggle to establish themselves as adults, catalyzing their determination to leave Kakuma. Indeed, although refugees have been living there since the early 1990s, the camp remains a space of transition. Although there have been a number of studies on refugee camps in Kenya, no study has focused on the experience of Somali youth raised in a refugee camp. I argue that this experience is traversed and shaped by tensions between constraints and opportunities, mobility and immobility, isolation and connectedness, victimization and affirmation of the subject, citizenship and refugeeness – and by conflicting temporalities. This ethnographic study highlights the fact that notions such as conviviality or the multiplicity of people’s belongings developed in the literature on interethnic cohabitation in cities or the ethnic identity of migrants, help us to understand the camp experience. This research also shows that, far from being powerless victims, people actively contribute to finding solutions to their exile.

While many non-governmental organizations provide leadership training in inter-ethnic conflict management to Kenyan youth, relatively little is known about what goes into such training. This dissertation is a case study illustrating how the training structure operates. The purpose of this dissertation is to address the challenges associated with youth leadership training in inter-ethnic conflict management, how these challenges are managed, what differences the training makes, and how it is transferred back into the real-life of the youth. To better understand these issues, a two-month qualitative study was conducted divided in two phases involving trainers, youth participants, program designers, and community leaders. Twenty two interviews and 2 focus groups were completed. Results demonstrated four communicative challenges involved in the design of youth leadership training were: (1) audience analysis, (2) material resources, (3) participant challenges, and (4) diversity. Results showed that trainers addressed the communicative challenges by using the following management strategies: needs assessment, financial management, stakeholder education, and dialogue facilitation. The analysis suggested that the conditions that facilitate transfer of training were: participatory models, training organization, and trainee motivation. Similarly, conditions that inhibit training transfer included: resource constraints, youth motivation, environmental conditions, and diversity. Finally, results also suggested that the differences that leadership training made in the lives of the youth were: behavioral transformation, participant input, improved peaceful relationships, and skill development. Successfully managing the communicative challenges in the design and implementation of the training were the main goals of trainers, and the more they took ownership of these goals the more likely the training would be successful. This dissertation suggests that managing the communicative challenges associated with the design and conduct of youth leadership training is the first step to ensuring the training transfer for youth participants and achieving a workable leadership training in inter-ethnic conflict management.

An understanding of individual cognitions that influence both behavioural intentions and the enactment of actual behaviours is provided by the conceptual model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour, with the added variable of perceived risk, to predict Kenyan students’ intention to use HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centres within the country. We conducted a survey questionnaire with 200 students, aged 13-15 years, within high schools in the Nairobi and Nakuru districts in May 2009. Chi-squared analysis showed no relationships between age, school, school level, knowledge of a VCT centre, or past sexual experience with intention to uptake HIV counselling and testing. Pearson product-moment analysis revealed a small positive correlation between attitude and subjective norm and a medium negative correlation between perceived behavioural control and perceived risk. One-way analysis of variance showed a relationship between perceived behavioural control and intention. Results of block entry logistic regression analysis indicate that perceived behavioural control and perceived risk were significant predictors of intention to use VCT services in the TPB model. The present study suggests that Kenyan teens’ perceived ease/difficulty in performing a specific behaviour is the most influential aspect in predicting their subsequent intention to carry through the behaviour. A theory-based intervention program should focus on reducing practical barriers related to the use of VCT services.<br>Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2009-12-04 10:06:25.104

Drug abuse is becoming an increasing problem in Kenya. A number of studies carried out in the country show that almost every Kenyan youngster at one time or another experiments with drugs, especially beer and cigarettes. The major cause of concern is that a significant proportion of these young people eventually get addicted posing a threat to their own health and safety, while creating difficulties for their families and the public at large into difficulties. This study sought to establish the current trend of drug abuse among students in Kenyan secondary schools, and to analyze the strategies used to address the problem. The ultimate aim was to propose a programme for prevention and intervention. The study is a descriptive survey. In view of this, the field survey method was adopted to collect quantitative and qualitative data, using questionnaires and interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in data analysis, thus there was a mixed model research design approach to data analysis. The analysis of structured items was mainly done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The key findings from the study were that drug abuse among students is common; both boys and girls have abused drugs with the majority being in boys‟ schools; the greatest ratio of drug abusers to non-abusers among the sampled schools are aged between 20 and 22 years; there is a significant relationship between drug abuse and age, use of drugs by other family members and easy access to drugs. A variety of factors contribute to drug abuse with the majority of students citing curiosity, acceptance by peers and ignorance as to the dangers of drug abuse as the main reasons. Both the school administrators and teachers face a number of challenges in an attempting to curb drug abuse in schools. The study makes a number of recommendations for policy and further research. A number of guidelines are proposed for developing a programme for prevention and intervention.<br>Educational Studies<br>D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009.<br>Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Eyamba Bokamba. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 296-316) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, the University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Epidemiology in the field of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. March,2018.<br>Background: Kenya is among the fifteen countries contributing more than 75% of the global HIV prevalence and incidence. In these countries, clustering of risk behaviour across geographical space and population sub-groups such as young people contributes significantly to the disease burden. Low levels of knowledge on HIV and rejecting attitudes towards HIV infected people influence sexual risk behaviour among young people. Objectives: The primary aim of this research study was to determine and compare the relationship between sexual behaviour and the spatial distribution of HIV among young Kenyans across two-time periods, 2003 and 2008. The secondary aim was to investigate the direct and indirect determinants of HIV distribution. Methods: Secondary data analysis was performed using cross-sectional data obtained from two two-stage population based surveys conducted in Kenya. The main outcome investigated was HIV status among young people aged 15-24 years. The study employed Bayesian-based multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for both non-spatial and spatial random effects. A conceptual framework based on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) was the basis of a generalised structural equation model (GSEM) fitted to investigate the complex relationship between sexual risk behaviour and HIV status. Results: Among 2,650 and 2,857 young people aged 15-24 years in 2003 and 2008 respectively, 3.6% and 2.9% were HIV positive with the majority being female. The level of comprehensive HIV knowledge increased from 42% to 78% between 2003 and 2008. In both years, there was county spatial variability in HIV prevalence among young Kenyan people. Having a partner with concurrent sexual partners had the greatest direct effect on the odds of HIV infection (adjusted OR 2.26; 95%CI 1.63-3.12), but this was indirectly affected by knowledge levels during the latter survey year. Conclusion: This study revealed significant spatial variability in the HIV prevalence among young Kenyan youth and significant association between HIV knowledge, high-risk sexual behaviour and HIV infection. Interventions targeting sexual behaviour in this age group should focus on the counties with the greatest disease burden before implementing a wider national approach. Keywords: HIV, young people, spatial analysis, GSEM, Kenya.<br>LG2018