CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AS FACTORS MITIGATING INSECURITY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTHEAST, NIGERIA: A CORRELATION ANALYSIS

Abstract

The study determined conflict management strategies as factors mitigating insecurity in secondary schools in Southeast, Nigeria. Three (3) specific purposes, corresponding research questions, and three (3) null hypotheses guided the study. A correlation research design was adopted for the study. The study involved 420 teachers from 420 schools drawn from three states of Ebonyi, Enugu and Anambra in Southeast geopolitical zone. Two instruments, the Conflict Management Strategy Questionnaire (CMSQ) and the Secondary Schools Insecurity Questionnaire (SSIQ), developed by the researchers, were used for data collection. The internal consistency reliability index obtained using Cronbach's alpha was 0.82. Data collected were analyzed using simple linear regression analyses through SPSS version 26.0. The findings of the study revealed that 28.7% of the variation in factors mitigating secondary schools insecurity can be attributed to the conflict management strategies, which is statistically significant. Also, 19.9% of the variation in factors mitigating secondary schools insecurity can be attributed to collaborative strategies, which is statistically significant. Also, 8.21% and 2.3% variations in factors mitigating secondary schools insecurity can be attributed to compromising and avoiding conflict management strategies respectively, which is statistically significant. Principals should mitigate insecurity and build safer secondary school environment for all stakeholders using conflict management strategies.