Identification of Main Verbal Indicators of Mental Status of University Students’ at Onset of Unrest.

Abstract

Many factors which includes biological or environmental, influence variation in the mental status of an individual if he/she is exposed to them. Negative factors are the root cause of mental status at the onset of unrest and this can have specific manifestations. During social unrest, people’s entire way of life is torn apart. These problems may exhibit themselves verbally since the body’s verbal dispensation is a reliable sign of internal state of affairs. Several research findings show that University students’ unrest is a common phenomenon all over the world and that most Universities are focused on the aftermath of students’ unrest. However, studies have not been done on identifying verbal indicators of mental status of University students’ at the onset of students’ unrest and then implementing appropriate preventive measures to forestall University students’ unrest. The objective of the study was to identify the main verbal indicators of mental status of University students’ at onset of unrest. It was a survey research design which used mixed research method approaches. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. The research population included Security officers, secretaries, of selected public Universities in Kenya. Simple random sampling was used which gave a total sample size of 145 which was obtained from a target population of 177. The quantitative data collected was analyzed using SPSS programme into frequency counts, percentages, means and independent ttest analysis. From the findings, the main verbal indicators of mental status of University students’ at the onset of unrest were identified as:the use of the word ‘comrade’ in speech being the most common, followed by a ‘threatful speech’, the use of the word ‘power’ in speech, increased talkativeness in speech, loud speech tone, very fast speechrate and hurtful speech, in that order.