Factors Leading Young Christian Adults to Elope in the Anglican Church of Kenya, Taveta East Archdeaconry

Abstract

This study sought to establish factors leading young Christian adults to the practice of eloping in the Anglican Church, Taveta East  Archdeaconry. The Human Psychosocial Development Theory, Ecological Model, and Moral Development Theory guided it. It adopted a  descriptive research design. The target population was 110 youth who had eloped, were aged 20 - 40 years, had five clergies, and had 61  parents. The study used a purposive sampling method. The study’s sample size was 176. Face-to-face interviews were used for the clergy.  Focus group discussions were used for the parents. The questionnaires' accuracy and reliability were verified by the inter-rater  method. Data cleaning and analysis were conducted. The analyses made use of the statistical package for social sciences version 28. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, mean and percentages. Qualitative data was organised into themes for  analysis. The study findings include eloping factors such as peer influence, financial difficulties in a family, little guidance and counselling  in church, parents’ support for the eloping practice, use of phones and youth failing to embrace the Christian faith. The language barrier  posed a challenge to some respondents. Some were more conversant with Kiswahili than English, prompting the translation of  questionnaires from English to Kiswahili. Questionnaires require more time to reach the respondents, fill them out, and return them. This  was solved by early communication to clergy and timely distribution. The number of respondents per focus group in some parishes  was less than expected. This was solved by increasing the number of respondents in another station.