Appraisal of Social Skills Training Therapy on Aggressive Behaviour among Secondary School Students in Lagos State

Abstract

This study was carried out to appraise social skills training therapy (SSTT) on aggressive behaviour among secondary school students in Lagos State, South West Nigeria. To this end, a randomized two group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design was adopted as the blue print for the study, which requires the experimental group to be treated with SSTT. The sample consists of 84 students in senior secondary school three (male=42; female=42) drawn using the simple random sampling technique from two schools in Education Districts 1 in Lagos State. An adopted Measures of Aggression Checklist (MAC) was the instrument used for data collection. Section A of the instrument elicits demographic information, while section B consists of 94 items on different forms of aggression. MAC was face validated by a panel of three experts in Educational Psychology in Lagos State University for content and criterion related validities. Their suggestions were used in appropriating the structural composition of the instrument. The test retest method was employed in establishing the reliability of MAC after validation, with two weeks interval between the first and second administrations. Data obtained were correlated using the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, which yielded an R-value of 0.93. Data collection was carried out by administering MAC on participants in both experimental and control groups, after which the treatment was administered on the experimental group for eight weeks and this was followed by a post administration of MAC on participants in both groups again. Data collected were collated and analyzed using the Univariate Analysis of Variance at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that Social Skills Training Therapy is an effective aggression reduction strategy among secondary school students in Lagos state. It was therefore recommended that SSTT be integrated into both junior and senior secondary school curricula in the country.