IMPACT OF VIOLENCE ON THE PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS IN THE BUEA MUNICIPALITY AMIDST THE ANGLOPHONE SOCIO-POLITICAL CONFLICT

The researcher investigated into “the impact of violence on the psycho-emotional development of students with visual impairment in the Buea municipality, amidst the Anglophone socio-political conflict”. The objectives of the study were to examine the impact of militarization and indiscriminate killings, burning of property, rape and other forms of sexual vioelence, and kidnappings on the psycho-emotional development of students with visual impairment (VI) in the Buea municipality, amidst the Anglophone socio-political conflict. The quantitative approach was adopted and the ex post facto research design was employed in the study. The population of the study was made up of all students with VI in the Buea municipality, and 17 students constituted the sample which was gotten using the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected with the use of the closed ended questionnaire which is like the Likert scale type. The validity of the questionnaire was gotten using content validity index while the reliability of the instrument was ensured through the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient Reliability Test. Validity and reliability were ensured through the framework for four criteria (as part of constructivism paradigm paralleling validity and reliability in quantitative research) proposed by Guba and Lincoln (1994) to ensure trustworthiness. Data collected from the field using the questionnaire were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data analysed indicated that there is a significant relationship between violence amidst the Anglophone socio-political conflict and the psycho-emotional development of secondary school students with VI in the Buea municipality. The findings revealed that militarization and indiscriminate killings, and kidnappings were not significant predictors of the psycho-emotional development of students with VI while burning of property, and rape and other forms of psycho-emotional development were significant negative predictors of their psycho-emotional development. The findings were discussed and it was concluded that violence amidst the Anglophone socio-political conflict adversely affected the psycho-emotional development of secondary school students with VI in the Buea Municipality. It was therefore recommended that strategies should be implemented to enhance the psycho-emotional wellbeing of students with VI by improving on teachers’ motivational strategies, intensification of counselling and rehabilitation measures and the employment of realistic measures to de-escalate and eventually resolve the conflict.