Social Adjustment Patterns of Tribal Students: Exploring Family Dynamics

Abstract

This research delves into the intricate aspects of social adjustment among Scheduled Tribe students within the secondary school environment. The study explored the influences of family related factors (family dynamics) such as gender, family type, number of siblings, father’s education and occupation, and familial monthly income on the social adjustment abilities of these students. Based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on randomly selected 310 bengali medium secondary school students from three subdivisions of Purba Medinipur District in West Bengal, the study revealed compelling insights. Bengali translated version of the Bell’s Adjustment Inventory (Social Adjustment Subscale) was used as research instrument. Data were analysed through independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. The gender-based analysis highlights that female (Mean=7.64) students within the Scheduled Tribe community face more significant adjustment challenges and exhibit lower social adjustment compared to their male counterpart (Mean=6.20) (P=.000). The influence of family type is also substantial, with students from nuclear families (Mean=7.22) encountering higher adjustment difficulties and more downward social adjustment than those from joint families (Mean=5.86) (P=.000). The examination of family size indicated that students with two siblings (in comparison to students who are single child, having one sibling and having three or more siblings) experience heightened adjustment difficulties and lower social adjustment (P=.025). Furthermore, the study underscored the role of socio-economic factors, revealing significant relationships between the father’s occupation (P=.04) and educational qualifications (P=.05) with students’ social adjustment abilities. While overall differences in familial monthly income did not prove statistically significant (P=.134), selected pairwise comparisons were also showed variations. Collectively, these findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the factors shaping social adjustment among Scheduled Tribe students. The implications extend to the development of tailored interventions and support systems that address the unique needs of these students within the educational context.