ABSTRACT This research intended to investigate how the community feels about the learners in the . . . . . . Machakos Rehabilitation School and aimed at how to cultivate a positive acceptance to them. The researcher followed a simple survey design to venture into the community attitudes by collecting data from the chosen local parents through the use of a questionnaire. The data was collected from three different villages and targeted twenty parents. Data was analysed using frequency counts and relative frequencies through frequency tables. The findings indicated that 70% of the respondents were aware of the presence of difficult children in their area, the biggest challenge difficult children face is lack of parental care (65%), but other. problems include poverty, unemployment, community negligence, sexual molestation, environment hostility etc. Difficult circumstances in children caused by a number of factors (85%) and these include among others death of parents, peer influence, lack of parental care etc. In the rehabilitation school a lot is provided (85%) and a big percentage (90%) of the respondents showed that difficult children to a greater extent do not take patt in communal work. The researcher concluded that most people in this are aware of the needy school in their area but such children need extra care from both the parents and other stake holders like the government, local leaders and NGOs. The researcher recommended that to reduce negative attitude towards these children, the family should treat the child with dignity and respect. This would help in raising his/her self esteem and encouraging the child. Also, create more awareness in the community about the plight of children experiencing difficulties.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... 1 

APPROVAL ................................................................................................................................................. II 

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................ III 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................................... IV 

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ V 

LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... VII 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................. VIII 

DEFINITION OF TERMS .................................... : ........................ : .................. : ... :.: .................................. IX 

ABSTRACT ..•...............................•...................•..•................................•........................................................ X 

CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................................... I 

BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................... I 

J.0 INTRODUCTION ..............................•...................................•..........................................•...........•... I 

I.I BACKGROUND INFORMATION .............................•..............•..•...........•.............••...................•.....•.. I 

1.2 STATEMENTOFTHEPROBLEM .....•..•...........................•.............••............•..........................•......... 3 

1.3 PURPOSEOFTHESTUDY ••.....•••.............•.....••......•..•....•......•.......•.....•..............•.......••................... 3 

1.4 OBJECTIVEOFTHESTUDY ....................•.•.....•......•.......••.•...•.......•......•......................•.................. 3 

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................••.•......•.....•......••......••.....••......•..............•.......••......................... 4 

1.6 SIGNIFICANCEOFTHESTUDY .•..............•.......•..............•......•......•.•............•.......•.......•...........•..... 4 

CHAPTER TWO ..........................................•.......................................•.•..........•......•.......•.............•............... 5 

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................•......•......................•...................•....... 5 

2.0 INTRODUCTION ....•..............•.....................................•......••.............•.....•....................................... 5 

2.1 THEORETICAL REVIEW ................•............•.....•...............•.......•.......•..•.........••.•....•.......•.............•........... 5 

2.2 COMMUNITY·CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE INCLUSIONS OF CHILDREN-LIVING IN DIFFICULT 

CIRCUMSTANCES .......•..........•..................•.......•......................•.....•.......•......•.......•......•........•......•...........•... 6 

2.3 ATTITUDE OF THE COMMUNITY TOWARDS CHILDREN LIVING IN DIFFICULTC!RCUMSTANCES. 7 

2.4 REHABILITATION ..............................................•.......•..............•......•......................•.....•............... 7 

CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................................... 8 

METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 8 

3.0 INTRODUCTION .......•....................•..........•...........••......••.....•......••...............•.................................. 8 

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................................... 8 

3.2 POPULATION TARGET .•......•.....•.•.....................••.....••.....•••......•....••......••.....•••......••...........••.......... 8 

3.3 SAMPLING PROCEDURE ..••.....••..........•..•.......••.............••......••.....•.....•.•.....••.....•••......••....••....••...... 8 

THE RESEARCHER USED A QUESTIONNAIRE AS A RESEARCH TOOL TO COLLECT DATA FROM THE LOCAL 

PARENTS, BY USE OF CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS AND OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS. FOR THIS MA TIER, FEW 

WERE SELECTED BECAUSE THOSE WHO COULD READ AND WRITE WERE NOT EASY TO FIND ............•........... 9 

3.4 PROCEDUREOFTHESTUDY ........••......•.....•.•......•.......•......••.....••.•...••...................................•....... 9 

3.5 DATA ANALYSIS •.......................•............................•.......•.......•.............•......•................................. 9 

CHAPTER FOUR ...............•........•.............•.....................••.............•.......••.•..•.......•......•................•....•.......... IO 

DA TA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION,. .....•.....•....•...••.•......•........................•. I 0 

4.0 INTRODUCTION ...........•............................................................................................................... l 0 

4.1 DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS .............................•............................................................................ l 0 

4.2 COMMUNITY AWARENESS ABOUT CHILDREN LIVING IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES ....................... l l 

4.3 PROBLEMS FACED BY DIFFICULT CHILDREN ...................................•.......•........................................... 11 

4.4 CAUSES OF DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES IN CHILDREN .........................................................•............. 12 

V 

4.5 COMMUNITY VIEWS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS CHILDREN IN MACHAKOS REHABILITATION SCHOOL 

································································································································································· 13 

4.5.1 ACCEPTANCE OF DIFFICULT CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY ..................•........................................ 14 

4.5.2 BEST PLACEMENT FOR DIFFICULT CHILDREN ............•...............•.•.......................................•........... 15 

4.5.3 COMMUNITY VIEWS ABOUT MACHAKOS REHABILITATION SCHOOL ..•...................................... 16 

4.5.4 IMPORTANCE OF MACHAKOS REHABILITATION SCHOOLS •........•....•...........................••.................... 17 

4.5.5 SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT OF DIFFICULT CHILDREN .....................•............•.....................................•.... 18 

CHAPTER FIVE ...................................................•....................................•................................................. 20 

SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...•...................................... 20 

5.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 20 

5.1 SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS ........................•....•......•.......•..............•.•.•..........•.............................. 20 

5.2 DISCUSSION ........•..............................................................................•..•......................•...................... 21 

5.3 CONCLUSION ....................................•...................................................•......•...................................•... 22 

5.4. RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................•...................................•.......•. 23 

REFERENCES ............ ." .......................................... ." ........................ ." .................. : ... : . ." .................................. 24 

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................. 25 

APPENDIX A: TRANSMITTAL LETTER ......................................................................................... 25 

APPENDIX B: ACCEPTANCE LETTER ............................................................................................... 26 

APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE .......................................................................................................... 27