Traditional Values and Adolescent Sexual Orientation in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigates the traditional values and sexual orientation of adolescents in secondary school in Delta State. The theoretical frame for the work is the Social Bond Theory. The study is carried out using both quantitative and qualitative research. A descriptive research design and in-depth interviews (IDIs) are used for the study. The study area is the Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. The population of public secondary schools is 26, with about 16,783 senior secondary school students. The sample size is 520 senior secondary school students. The questionnaire titled "Traditional Values and Adolescent Sexual Orientation of Secondary School Students" is used for data collection. It has a reliability of 0.78. A median item is used to answer the research question. The benchmark of acceptance for any item is 2.5, and anything below 2.5 is rejected. The content analysis is applied to the in-depth interviews. Findings from the study revealed that adolescents might not directly support same-sex behaviour due to the traditional values in place emanating from stigma. Also, some students might get involved in same-sex practice if they are opportune to travel out of the country; this implies that the only obstacle to such practice is traditional values. A recommendation was made that parents should educate their children about sexual orientation about our traditional values from infancy until adolescence and stop seeing it as taboo.