CONFORMITY TO MASCULINITY NORMS AND ALCOHOL USE AMONG MALE TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MURANG’A COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study looked at how male teachers in Kenya's Murang'a County reacted to masculine norms and their usage of alcohol. The specific research goals were to: (1) assess alcohol use prevalence and severity; (2) investigate the relationship between alcohol use and the success obsession norm; the restricted emotionality norm; the inhibited affections norm; the exaggerated self-reliance norm; and the control norm; and (3) identify intervention strategies that can mitigate the influence of masculinity on alcohol use among male teachers. The integrated mixed methods research design was used in a mixed-methods research strategy. 2,642 male instructors working in 313 public secondary schools spread over 8 sub-counties of Murang'a County made up the target group. From a sample of 422 male instructors drawn at random from six sub-counties, 42 were chosen for in-depth interviews because of their heavy alcohol usage. While structured interviews were used to get qualitative information, questionnaires were used to gather quantitative information. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS's descriptive statistics, standard deviation, correlation, and regression analyses, while qualitative data was analyzed with content analysis. According to the results of the study, over half of the participants (47.2%) suffered from a severe alcohol use disorder. There was a negative correlation between alcohol consumption and high standards of achievement, self-reliance, control, restrained emotion, and repressed empathy. Additionally, the findings showed a substantial correlation between participant alcohol use and masculinity norms. These results underline the need for initiatives targeted at males to lower alcohol consumption and encourage men's responsible drinking. The study makes recommendations for the Kenyan national government and the county government of Murang'a, including the creation of rules regulating alcohol use among secondary school teachers, the dissemination of knowledge about the negative effects of alcohol use, and the provision of specialized care and treatment for those teachers who abuse alcohol due to masculinity norms. A learning paradigm that emphasizes alcohol from a feminist viewpoint is also suggested as a way to deal with the problem. Also recommended is a comparative research looking at how feminist norms affect alcohol use.