THE EFFECT OF MARITAL CONFLICTS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENT
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Study Marital relationships exist between a man and a woman when the two of them agree to live together and to establish their own family and live together until the end of their lives or till death separates them. Hornby (1978) said that marriage is a union of man and a woman as husband and wife, most societies establish certain procedure and activities that must be followed before a marital relationship between a man and a woman can take place. These procedures include a period of courtship, the introduction of the man to the woman and vice versa. There will be a marital dowry. All these are done to make the marital relationship a lasting and happy one. But all these notwithstanding, one finds that some marital relationship do not go along well with each other. Even though they had made a serious vow to live happily together either by the church or the traditional rite. Conflicts occur in all human societies but, it occurs in various degrees, marital conflict is that situation between man and woman. This is where husband and wife have different opinion about issues, events or activities which cannot be mutually resolved. Marital conflict usually arises mostly due to lack of understanding between the man and the woman. This comes in different ways such as difference in education and social backgrounds, physical maintenance, love making, extra marital affairs. Conflict can be defined as the lack of peace in an environment. Conflict in a family therefore refers to a situation whereby the smooth interaction and relation among members of a family is disrupted because of one thing or another. It can be between the two parents or between parents and their children. Marital conflict in a family can be as a result of lack of trust, drunkenness, lack of dialogue, lack of respect, joblessness and idleness. It comes in form of fights, quarrels, spouse battering, child abuses and child molestation. It can result to a bad atmosphere in the home, separation or even divorce. According to Walker (1999), studies carried out have shown that when one form of violence was found in the marriage, other forms were more likely to also occur and that violence in the family has a direct relationship to community violence and other forms of aggression and gender based violence. Murphy and O’Farrell (1994) highlighted the view that parents play a central role in shaping the child’s development through their influence. Thus if parents keep having conflicts in their homes, children are bound to be affected as they grow up. They also asserted that children learn through imitating and identification with the parents and other significant adults. If the children grow up in a family where violence is a common phenomenon, they may end up doing the same in their families, unless intervention is carried out. The first important influence on children is the family but children and families are interactive members of a large system of social institutions, such as the school, the workplace and community. Parental involvement and education improve both family and child functioning. It has been found out that parental involvement in a child might have lasting effects on its behaviour. Steinberg (1996) assets that conflict is a critical aspect of family functioning that often outweighs the influence of family structure on the child’s development. He also reports that studies carried out have found that children’s healthy and social development is most effectively promoted by love and at least some moderate parental control. According to Seifert and Hoffnung (1997), children who have lived for years in situations of neglect or abuse suffer severe stress. They also state that students often receive long term support from parents or other adults at home as well as strong support from teachers and others at school. Involving parents in learning activities with their children at home is one kind of parental involvement that many educators believe is an important aspect of the child’s learning. If the family is undergoing conflict, parents will not have time for their children. Men, who more often use violence, do so in order to obtain and maintain power and control over others. 1.2. Statement of the Problem In Nigeria today, hardly a week goes by before it is reported in the media that a child or its parents or both have been hospitalized or killed as a result of family conflicts. Other cases reported are those whereby a woman packs and leaves her matrimonial home with her children because she can no longer tolerate her husband’s behaviour. There are even cases whereby it is the men who move out of their homes to look for peace elsewhere. There have also been cases of suicidal killings, where the head of the family kills his wife and children before killing himself. There is also the case of street children, some of whom are on the streets because they have run away from violent home environments. These incidents take place not only in rural areas but also in urban ones. Bwari Municipality has also recorded some of these incidents. When families are in conflict, it affects children in their physical, cognitive, affective and even spiritual growth. Their lives are enclosed or imprisoned if they continue being exposed to a violent environment. For some, such an environment means that they have no access to formal education and their cognitive and affective developments are tampered with. This study, therefore, sought to find out the impact of marital conflicts on students academic performance 1.3. Objectives of the Study 1. To examine the relationship between marital conflict and prompt payment of students s fees. 2. To examine the relationship between child-parent attachment and students academic performance. 3. To examine the relationship between marital conflict and students dropped out in secondary school. 1.4. Research questions 1. What is the relationship between marital conflict and prompt payment of students s fees? 2. What is the relationship between child-parent attachment and students academic performance? 3. What is the relationship between marital conflict and students dropped out in secondary school? 1.5. Statement of the hypothesis 1. There is no significant relationship between marital conflict and prompt payment of students s fees. 2. There is no significant relationship between child-parent attachment and students academic performance. 3. There is no significant relationship between marital conflict and students dropped out in secondary school. 1.6. Significance of the study The importance of this study is that the society as a whole will stand to benefit greatly in the sense that, it will aim at bringing out the effects marital conflict people in the society will have less marital and psychological problems and as such, they will be able to contribute their maximum potential to the benefit of the community. This research will help the members of the society to know those things that bring about marital conflicts between married people so as to avoid divorce. And also quest to keep a simple eye and avoid competitive living. 1.7. Justification of study The findings of this study may be of help to teachers and parents and it will add knowledge to the body of literature on marital conflict. The study will be of help to parents and especially those who experience problems in their marriages. They will understand how problems in a family can affect their wards short-term life and to some extent, their future. 1.8 Scope of the study The scope of the study covers the geographical location of the study area of the present study on marital conflicts on students academic performance. 1.9 Definition of terms Study
