Theological Foundations of Chaplaincy Intervention in Child Upbringings for Students and Staff in Crisis at Babcock University High School, Nigeria.

Abstract

The persistence on criticism and social rejection in our African communities poses lots of challenges to children with disciplinary issues and their parents. As they seek care and compassion in the school, they sometimes experience further failure reminders that lead to depleted sense of worth and feelings of social neglect. The secretive pain they experience make their grieving to be incomplete. There is need for evaluation of chaplaincy services that will holistically address the needs of such children. Thus, the purpose of this study was to accentuate the value of chaplaincy services at Babcock University Staff School. Ten children with their parents and ten chaplains were interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The researcher adopted a qualitative paradigm. The investigator utilized phenomenological and ethnographical approaches in arriving at the conclusions. Giorgi’s approach was used in analysing the data. Several children and parents in this study experienced many negative emotions that made them feel worthless. They could not conform in the company of other children who had better upbringing and discipline records. They also felt like social rejects under the eye lenses of the community and often attributed their situation to being spiritually and environmentally induced. Being compassionate in correcting and handling the children with disciplinary issues was seen as essential. This included the selection of words for addressing these children and their parents. Adequate counselling was viewed as imperative for the children and also for the teachers who oftentimes used abusive words on the children. Education and awareness were seen as very useful in lowering the stigma attached to this challenge. The continuous use of chaplaincy services for care-giving in Babcock University High School was comprehended as indispensable, if these children were to receive holistic child care.