ABSTRACT
Clinicians and researchers alike are turning attention to how families from different cultural and social backgrounds achieve positive ways of functioning in adapting to serious threats, crises or the strains of significant life changes. These have led to the emergence of some interventions aimed at helping families overcome their problems. Therefore, this study was conducted to establish the influence of Conjoint and Transgenerational family therapies on dysfunctional families in Kafanchan, Kaduna State. The main objective was to determine the influence of the therapies under study, that is , Conjoint and Transgenerational Family Therapies, on dysfunctional families in Kafanchan. Quasi experimental research design, using specifically the Nonequivalent control group design was employed for the study. A sample of twenty (20) dysfunctional families were used for the study. Fifteen families served as the experimental group while five families served as the control group. Questionnaire was used to obtain relevant data. Data collected were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, weighted mean, paired and independent t-test and ANOVA.F iv e null hypotheses were stated and all were tested at 0.05(P<0.05) level of significance. The result of the findings revealed significant positive influence of Conjoint and Transgenerational or combination of both therapies on dysfunctional families. The result also revealed that there was no significant difference in the treatment outcome of both family therapies on dysfunctional families. Also the findings showed that there was significant difference in dysfunctional families treated with the family therapies studied and the control group. The study also showed addiction to alcohol by one or both parents and the use of threat and application of physical violence on children as the types of family dysfunction found in the area of study. It was also observed from the findings that authoritarian parenting is one of the causes of family dysfunction in the area where the research was carried out. Researcher?s recommendations among others were that (1) religious bodies and NGO?s should help with enlightenment campaigns by organizing seminars and workshops for married couples on parenting so that they will know the type of parenting that promote the types of dysfunction found in Kafanchan, (2) relationship education should be introduced into the senior secondary school curriculum and marital therapy in the tertiary institutions curriculum to help equip the young ones and also those already married with knowledge on relationships and marriage and prepare them for martial life or help them to live healthy marital life. The researcher concluded by stating that it was established that family dysfunction is found among some families in Kafanchan and the importance of Conjoint and Transgenerational Family Therapies in treating and bringing stability to dysfunctional families cannot be over emphasized. Therefore, Conjoint and Transgenerational Family Therapies had significant positive influence on dysfunctional families in Kafanchan.