School Counsellors’ Cultural Competence and the Management of Anti-Social Behaviours among Students in Public Secondary Schools in Fako Division of South West, Cameroon

Cultural competence is a critical predictor of the effective management of anti-social behaviours by school counsellors in secondary schools. In fact, counsellors with higher levels of cultural competence are more likely to successfully mitigate anti-social behaviours amongst students. This paper investigated the relationship between school counsellors’ cultural competence and the management of anti-social behaviours in secondary schools in Fako Division of Southwest, Cameroon. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical techniques. The convergent parallel mixed-methods design was adopted for the study. The sample was made up of 232 practicing school counsellors randomly selected from 33 public secondary schools in localities in Fako Division. A survey questionnaire was administered to a sample of 212 school counsellors, while 20 others granted in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that the predictor variable, cultural competence does not account for a statistically significant portion of the variance in the management of anti-social behaviour. The quantitative findings revealed that cultural competence is not a significant predictor of the management of anti-social behaviour (β = -0.10, P-value 0.311>0.05). Other findings from descriptive analysis revealed a mean of 2.65, indicating that participants possess moderate cultural competence in the management of anti-social behaviour. The qualitative findings however revealed that cultural competence supports the effectiveness of other competences (student support competence and consultation competence). This shows that cultural competence appears to play an indirect and direct role in the management of anti-social behaviour. This means that approximately 0.5% of the variance in the management of anti-social behaviours can be explained by the cultural competence of school counsellors. Based on the findings, although cultural competence did not emerge as a statistically significant direct predictor, its supportive role suggests it underpins the effectiveness of other competences. Educational institutions should therefore integrate cultural competence development as a foundational component of behaviour management training rather than treating it as an isolated skill. Given that cultural competence enhances student support competence, schools should embed culturally responsive practices into counselling, mentoring, and psychosocial support services. Practitioners should consider learners’ family values, community norms, and cultural expectations when designing intervention strategies.