Group Therapy Approaches to Managing Examination Malpractice Behaviour Among Secondary Students in Kaduna State

This study investigates the effectiveness of group therapy approaches in managing examination malpractice behaviour among senior secondary school students in Kaduna State, North West Nigeria. Examination malpractice remains a pervasive challenge in Nigerian secondary education, undermining assessment integrity and normalising dishonest academic conduct. The study employs a quasi-experimental design involving 120 SS3 students identified through school disciplinary records as having engaged in examination malpractice, drawn from six secondary schools in Kaduna North and Zaria Local Government Areas. The experimental group participated in eight group therapy sessions focusing on values clarification, integrity-building, academic self-efficacy, and consequence awareness. The Academic Dishonesty Attitude Scale and a researcher-developed malpractice risk assessment were used as instruments. Data were analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and analysis of covariance. Findings reveal that students who participated in group therapy demonstrated significant improvements in academic integrity attitudes and reduced malpractice risk profiles compared to controls. Peer discussions within the therapeutic setting were identified as particularly effective in challenging social norms that trivialise malpractice. Socioeconomic pressure and fear of failure were cited as the most persistent internal drivers of malpractice behaviour. These findings support group therapy as a rehabilitation complement to punitive disciplinary responses. The Kaduna State Ministry of Education is advised to integrate therapeutic malpractice prevention programmes alongside examination security measures and to ensure that counsellors are included in school examination integrity committees. Keywords: group therapy, examination malpractice, secondary school, Kaduna State, academic integrity.