RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BROKEN HOMES AND EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the Relationship between Broken Homes and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in To guide the study three research objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses were raised. correlational research design was employed to carry out the study. The proportional sampling technique was used to select a sample of 274 students from a population of 902 students of the sampled schools. Two instruments, Broken Home Inventory (BHI) and Emotional Adjustment Inventory (EAI) questionnaires were used for the data collection. Data collected was subjected to statistical analysis using Pearson (r). Three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Analysis of data shows that there is significance relationship between parental separation and students emotional adjustment (r=0.739, p=.0002.) and there is also significant relationship between single parenting and students emotional adjustment (r=0.633, p=0.004.). Where there is also significant relationship between parental divorce and students emotional adjustment. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that counsellors, educational psychologists, teachers and administrators, school authority should organize conferences and workshops that would include parents, stakeholders, the clergy men of the society in order to enlighten the society about the effect of single parenting, divorce and separation among secondary schools students. At the same time counselling sessions should be organized for the students who came from broken homes for proper counselling.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1        Background to the Study

Emotional adjustment can be described as the behavioural process by which human being maintains equilibrium among their various need or between their need and the obstacle of environments. Mallinckrodt (1994). A sequence of adjustment begins when a need is felt and ends when it is satisfied. Hungry individuals, for instance are stimulated by their physiological state to seek food. Therefore, they reduce the stimulating condition that impelled them to activity and there by adjust to this particular need, emotional adjustment is an important task because adjustment during emotions leads to a normal behavior where as maladjustment leads abnormal behaviour. (Baker & Sriyk, 1984b)

The concept of adjustment refers to an individual‘s general adaptation to his environment and the demands of life such as the way he relates to other people that is interpersonal behaviour, handle his responsibility, deals with stress and meet his own needs and life‘s satisfaction. The society is dynamic and change is the only constant thing, so the individual‘s ability to review his attitude and behaviour is an essential ingredient of adjustment, Emotion on the other hand is described as the prime movers of behaviour. Human being is considered as a rational being, but in the grip of emotions people behave like immature. Some people may breakdown completely, others cannot take proper decision and many people even collapse in severe emotional arousal. It may also hamper the studies of students and occupations of people. In some people emotion may lead them commit crime because people lose reasoning power and their ability to control behaviour is hampered. Hence, emotional control and management is very essential for an adjusted life (Elliot, 2005).

Adjustment in school has been described as a very important aspect of students life. The primary purpose of education is to train students to be well adjusted in their emotional life. Human beings have the capacity to adapt to new situations, they do not only adapt to physical demands, but also adapt to emotional pressure, as such emotional pressure plays and important role in the choice students make (Elliot, 2005).

However, a home can either be stable or broken. A stable home is the one in which both parents (mother and father) live together with their children while a broken home is the one in which one or both parents are not living together with the children. It is the level at which the home operates that determine the emotional adjustment of the child in school. Broken homes influence to a very large extent the adjustment of the child. Children that have suffered from neglect or lack of love (in a broken home) are known to be emotionally imbalanced to face the realities of life. When there is disunity in the family, or a conflict between a mother or father, the child is caught up in the middle and will be at disadvantage/receiving end. According to Blackby (1999), adequate research needs to be conducted in this direction to ensure smooth transition of children from early stages to adulthood.

Abdulganiyu (1997), for example added that researches have shown that children differ in various ways as a result of variables of their home background such as socio-economic status, parental attitude to school and child rearing practices. These home background variables as listed above are also found to be positively related to children’s academic achievement. Similarly, Giwa (2005), has investigated the factors within the student’s home background or family that influence their performances in school; variables such as socio-economic status, family size, birth order, parental attitude, child rearing practices, parental absence or presence have been found to affect social and intellectual learning experiences of children in schools. This is so, because children are born with some emotional and intellectual needs such as need for love and security, the need for new experiences, the need for praise and recognition and the need for responsibility. Many of these needs are not offered to the children from broken homes as such affect their emotional adjustment. The extent to which these needs are met during the formative years of children between birth and the age of six or seven has a significant influence on their success in school. Emotional aspects of schooling.

Adjustment is associated with what is called living system, like system of organs. Group of individuals and social systems such as organization; such system as open system (Baker &Sriyk, 1984). In the process of adjustment, force is balanced naturally within the system with force originally from the environment. In this regard, adjustment is served as a state of equilibrium, a form of balance in the person‘s own internal system. The equilibrium concept is related to the idea of tension reduction, and lead to the definition of adjustment as a process rather than a satisfaction of need, reducing tension particularly when usual ways of meeting the need are blocked (Elliot, 2005).

1.2         Statement of the Problem

In Nigerian society, children are sometimes exposed at an early age to all sorts of dangers arising from malnutrition, diseases and various temptations of surviving due to the absence of one or both of their parents. Student’s life in broken homes is observed by research to be associated with emotional stress that can impair intellectual development, thereby giving way for such children to grow up without being trained properly.

However, the absence of one or both parents deprives young children of the stable love, care, security and total support they have been accustomed to. They also tend to make children different in the eyes of their peer group. If children are asked where the missing parent is or why they have a new parent to replace the missing parents, they become embarrassed and ashamed. They may also feel guilty and may think they are unwanted by the society. Such stressful situations can lead to emotional and intellectual imbalance in growing children. Hence, it becomes necessary to investigate the relationship between broken homes and emotional adjustment with a view to minimizing them for emotional wellbeing of children in our society.

Furthermore the study examines the relationship between broken home and emotional adjustment among secondary school students in Gusau metropolis. In this regard, there is the need to establish a conducive and qualitative environment, where there is collective responsibility and effect interpersonal relationship at home and school. However, it is observed by the researcher that absence of one or both parent deprives the young children ‗from having love, care, security and support, which also lead them to emotional anxiety. This situation may in-turn have effect on their emotional adjustment especially at secondary school level where collective and cardinal academic relationships are to be created and to enhance learning among the young children. As such, the need for empirical study becomes pertinent to find-out the relationship between Broken Homes and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis, Zamfara State, Nigeria.

1.3         Objectives of the Study

The following are the objectives of the study, that is to:

1. Determine the Relationship between Parental Separation and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.
2. Determine the Relationship between single Parenting and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.
3. Determine the Relationship between parental divorce and Emotional Adjustment among Students in Gusau Metropolis.

1.4         Research Question

The following are the research questions of the study

1. What is the Relationship between Parental Separation and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis?
2. What is the Relationship between Single Parenting and Emotional Adjustment among secondary school in Gusau Metropolis?
3. What is the Relationship between Parental divorce and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School in Gusau Metropolis?

1.5         Null Hypotheses

The following hypotheses guided the study:

1. There is no Significant Relationship between Parental Separation and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.
2. There is no Significant Relationship between Single Parenting and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School in Gusau Metropolis.
3. There is no Significant Relationship between Parental divorce and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.

1.6         Basic Assumptions

1. It is assumed that Relationship may exist between Parental Separations and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.
2. It is assumed that Relationship may exist between Single Parenting and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.
3. It is assumed that Relationship may exist between Parental divorce and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students in Gusau Metropolis.

1.7         Significance of the Study

The findings from the study will be of immense benefits to students, teachers, counselors and psychologists, curriculum planners, policy makers, Government and the society at large. The findings of the study will be of great help to students of divorced homes to see how broken homes affect their emotional wellbeing and about the need for them to share their problem with other family members and social welfare officers for assistance instead of indulging in any anti-social behavior like: drug abuse, delinquency, cultism, teenage pregnancy and many more. It will be of help to the teachers so as to understand the student with emotional adjustment problems as a result of broken home and how they can help those students through enlightenment on the effect of broken home.

At the same time the community will know how they can render help to the affected children of divorced homes. By organizing public lecture, symposium and conferences for the community in order to know the effect of broken homes on school children. Furthermore, it will create the awareness of the school counselors and psychologists on the relationship between broken home and emotional adjustment of student by organizing seminar presentations on the effect of broken homes to the students‘ emotional wellbeing and to develop appropriate counselling strategies to counsel the victim of broken homes on how they can adjust.

It is also hoped the findings will help the government to know the strong influence of divorce is effecting the children and there is need for the government to provide help for these children out of the problems by giving out means and support to schools in other to provide counselors and the necessary assistance. The curriculum planners will understand the need to incorporate the negative effect of broken homes on emotional adjustment of students, and the coping strategies from such problems into curriculum, and the education policy makers will also be of great help to impalement special educational programs and services, for example family life educational programme (FLEP), should be given more priority in secondary schools.

1.8         Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study will cover all the secondary school students in Gusau metropolis, but due to the time factor it will be delimitated to JSS11 students who came from broken homes. The study involve both males and females students across the eight schools in Gusau metropolis. The study focus on Relationship between Broken Homes and Emotional Adjustment among Secondary School Students.

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