Psychological Challenges of Women in Maiduguri Metropolis Internally Displaced Persons’ Camp: Counselling Implications

The study determined the psychological challenges of women in Maiduguri Internally Displaced Persons’ camp and its implication for counselling. Three objectives guided the study. With a descriptive survey design, the population of the study comprised 1,100 internally displaced women from Wulari IDP camp located within Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State.  This study utilized non probability convenient sampling technique to get the sample for the study. Data for the study were collected from100 willing internally displaced women through an instrument titled “Psychological Challenges Identification Questionnaire (PCIQ)” designed by the researchers. Test-retest reliability method utilized for the instrument provided a reliability coefficient of 0.85 using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, frequency count and percentage. The findings of the study revealed that the leading sources of psychological trauma among IDP women were prolonged stay in camp, loss of loved ones, threats constituted by Boko Haram in the camp and abandonment by the government. It was further revealed that 61% of the respondents are psychologically challenged with living in constant fear, constant nightmares, feeling depressed and insomnia as major psychological challenges experienced by these women. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that women were psychologically challenged as a result of insurgency attack. Hence, it was recommended that professional counsellors and psychologists should be deployed to all the IDP camps in the state to assist the women overcome their psychological challenges and live a fulfilled life. Keywords : Psychological Challenges, Internally Displaced Women, Internally Displaced Person’s Camp. DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/56-06 Publication date: February 29 th 2020