Chege, Elizabeth2024-05-072020-08-092024-05-072017-10https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/handle/123456789/2965.2The main purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between personality traits and aggressive behavior among adolescent girls in correctional institutions. The study location was Kirigiti Girls Rehabilitation Centre and Kamae Girls Borstal Institution Kiambu County, Kenya. Specific objectives were to find out the relationship between the caregiver‟s socio-economic status and respondent‟s aggressive behavior, to identify the common forms of aggressive behavior among the respondents and to determine the relationship between personality traits and aggressive behavior. The study was informed by the General Aggression Model. Spearman‟s correlation analysis was used to assess the level of association between personality traits and aggression. Chi-square was used to test if there was any significant difference in the characteristics of Kirigiti and Kamae Girls centers. Simple random sampling technique was used at Kirigiti to sample 61 adolescent girls while census study was done for the 25 girls at Kamae Girls. A structured questionnaire was used to undertake the survey. The study established that there was no significant variation in the composition of the girls in both centers. A very weak correlation existed between socio-economic variables and aggression indicating that socio-economic status does not influence These included family type (r = 0.008, n=86, p=0.945), female caregiver‟s education level (r=-0.133, n=86, p=0.240), male caregiver‟s education level (r = 0.033, n=86, p=0.791), female caregiver‟s source of income (r=-0.021, n=86, p=0.854) and male caregiver‟s source of income (r=0.103, n=86, p=0.396). The personality types presented were extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. Extraversion had a significant positive correlation with verbal aggression (r=0.282, n=86, p=0.008) implying that the more extraverted a girl was the more verbally aggressive she was likely to be. Findings showed that the girls‟ level of agreeableness was not significantly correlated to the manifestation of physical aggression (r=0.001, n=86, p=0.996). Conscientiousness type did not have a significant relationship with aggression. The correlation analysis showed that emotional stability had a significant negative correlation with physical aggression (r=-0.257, n=86, p=0.017), an indication that emotionally stable girls were less likely to display aggressive behavior. Emotional stability and verbal aggression also had a significant negative correlation (r=-0.241, n=86, p=0.026). Emotional stability also revealed a significant negative correlation with hostility level (r=-0.369, n=86, p<0.001), probably suggesting that emotionally stable girls were likely to be less hostile. The forms of aggression presented in the study are physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility. Findings showed that 54% of the girls were physically aggressive, 52% verbally aggressive, 41% manifested anger aggression, while 64% registered hostility form of aggression, There was no significant difference between the girls in the two centers as far as aggression was concerned. It was recommended that counseling psychologists be brought on board to work together with the juvenile justice system and other stakeholders, in coming up with a family based therapeutic approach that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of the girls and their caregivers. Further research could be conducted establishing the relationship between personality traits, family and other contextual factors and aggressive behavior among adolescent girls.enRates of aggression and violence in girls,Socio-economic status and aggressive behavior,Forms of AggressionThesis