ABSTRACT
The descriptive survey research was
adopted in this study. It is an attempt to investigate the impact of
single-parenting on academic performance of students in selected secondary
schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State. A sample of 200
randomly selected students were used. Another sample of 50 randomly selected
parents and teachers were also used. A 4 point Likert scale type questionnaire
containing 20 items and 20 questions on social studies was administered to the
students. The content of the instrument were face validated by my supervisor
and other experts in the department. While the reliability was ascertained at
0.5 significant level.
Two null hypotheses were postulated and
tested using the independent t-test. The first and second hypotheses were
analysed at 0.05 level of significance. The result from this study showed that
single-parenting have a negative impact on academic performance of students.
An offspring from a broken home should have
regular contact with both parents in order to avoid having negative feelings
towards them. Teachers and caregivers should be encouraged to act as role
models for children in terms of sharing affection, meaningful and healthy
relationship and discipline.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vii
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1
1.1 Background to the study 1
1.2 Theoretical Framework 4
1.3 Statement of the Problem 7
1.4 Purpose of the Study 8
1.5 Research Questions 9
1.6 Research Hypotheses 9
1.7 Significance of the Study 10
1.8 Scope of the Study 11
1.9
Delimitation of the Study 11
1.10
Limitations of the Study 12
1.11
Definition of Terms 12
CHAPTER TWO: Literature
Review 14
2.1
Family Models, Influences and
Achievements 14
2.2
Global Demographic Trends of
Single-Parenting 17
2.3
Mother-only and Father-only Families
and Academic
Performance
of Children 19
2.4
Challenges of Single-Parenting and Children’s Academic
Performance 21
2.5
The Effects of Single-Parenting on
Children’s School Achievement 23
2.6
Socio-Economic Problems of
Single-Parenting and Children’s
Academic
Performance 24
2.7
Home and Its Effect on Students
Academic Achievement 27
2.8
Empirical Review of Research Evidence 29
2.9
Summary of Review 31
CHAPTER
THREE: Research Design and Methodology 33
3.1 Research Design 33
3.2
Area of Study 33
3.3
Population of Study 33
3.4
Sample Size and Sampling Procedure 33
3.5
Research Instrument 34
3.6
Validity of Research Instruments 34
3.7
Reliability of Research Instruments 35
3.8
Procedure for Data Collection 35
3.9
Administration of Instruments 35
3.10
Data Analysis Procedure 36
CHAPTER
FOUR: Data analysis and presentation of results 37
4.1
Introduction 37
4.2
Descriptive Analyses of Biographical
Data of Respondents in
Tabulated
Form 37
4.3
Descriptive Analyses of Teachers’
Responses to Questionnaire
Using
the Research Questions 43
4.4
Descriptive Analyses of Parents’
Responses to Questionnaire
Using
the Research Questions 47
4.5
Descriptive Analyses of Students’
Responses to Questionnaire
Using
the Research Questions 51
4.6 Testing
the Hypotheses 55
4.7 Summary
of Findings 58
CHAPTER FIVE: Summary, Recommendations, Suggestion for Further Studies and
Conclusion 59
5.1
Introduction 59
5.2
Summary of the Study 59
5.3
Recommendations 60
5.4
Suggestion for Further Studies 61
5.5
Conclusion 61
References 62
Appendices 69
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the study
Single-parent families can be defined
as families where a parent lives with dependent children, either alone or in a
large household, without a Spouse or partner Popenoe (1997). According to Adams
(1998), there was rapid increase in the number of single-parent families in the
latter half of the twentieth century. This change has been used by some to
argue, that there is breakdown of the family values (defined as a married
couple residing with their dependent offspring) with negative effects on
children, families and the larger society in general. Singh (1999), and Talib
(2000), suggest that single-parent families have been present in all societies
over time and should not be viewed as deviant or problematic rather, as an
alternative family form. Regardless of how family diversity is viewed, the
increase in and prevalence of families headed by one parent (father only or
mother only) has a major influence on the social, economic moral and political
context of family life.
The expression
"single-parenting" actually connotes a one-parent household Cox and
Martins (2001). The expression single-parenting, was first formulated in 1970s.
There is a general assumption that having one parent only in a household must
be deficient and therefore, by definition, bad.
As Osarenren (2005) puts it,
“single-parenthood is a situation where the upbringing of a child/children in a
family is carried out by one parent either the father or the mother”. The
single parent in Nigeria according to her, is usually the woman. Osarenren
(2005) identified different types of single-parents:
·
Single-parenthood arising from the death of the other
partner.
·
Couples may decide to separate or divorce.
·
Teenage pregnancy may lead to single-parenthood in a
situation where the man responsible denies ownership of the pregnancy or he may
not be ready for marriage or his family may be opposed to the marriage.
·
Sometimes, the decision to have a child outside wedlock is
voluntary especially when a woman considers herself to be on the wrong side of
age and still not married.
·
There is a growing number of women who become single-parents
by choice. They have never been married and they will never contemplate
marriage. They are economically comfortable and they tend to believe that they
do not need a husband. They only want one child or two children because they
feel they can cater for such children because of their high socio-economic
status and achievements.
Akinbade (1993) and Akinloye (1991), are
of the opinion that single-parents face more than the ordinary
difficulties in raising children. According to them, single-parents usually
adopt or establish adult sexual relationships that will not hurt their
children, in order to provide role models to the opposite sex and to deal with
the feelings of not being "normal family". Onuoha (1995) opines that
single-parents have to play the roles of two parents, but unfortunately, they
do not possess the greater financial and psychological reserves at the disposal
of two parents. Again, the problem in single-parenting is that, if the dominant
parent has poor parenting skills, the child has another person to turn to in
intact family which is not the case in single-parent families.
Researchers such as Akinboye (1987),
Bakare (1993) and Uche (1998), have shown that many single-parent families lack
many basic necessities of life because of lower income. These researchers
opined that women are usually granted the custody of their children in the
event of divorce and the bitterness they feel towards their partners do not
allow them to accept any financial assistance from their partners who may not
even want to provide for her and the child/children. This is to the detriment
of the children's welfare and education. For instance, in a single-parenting
families where the father or the mother is handicapped financially, children in
those homes find it difficult to pay their school fees as at when due; pocket
money may not be given to the children, school uniform may not be provided,
textbooks and educational materials may not be possessed by the children due to
lack of finance in the home. The resultant effect in this situation is that the
children most often dropping out of school or exhibit truancy and absenteeism
which may lead to poor academic achievement Nnah (2000).
Nwanna (1991) and Onwuchekwa (1988)
postulate that women who become single-parents by choice do not have financial
problems because their high socio-economic status is actually the motivating
factor for their choice, although, they do
not have enough psychological reserve to sustain their children. They
are career-oriented and high-achieving women. Their career remains their
priority, thereby neglecting the psychological needs of the child. They usually
have more than enough provision of their physical needs. But they face greater
denial of a father figure because often times this category of single-parents
do not relate or get in touch with the fathers of their children, The effect is
that the children probably grow up not knowing who their father really is.
1.2
Theoretical
Framework
Some theories of families have been
postulated by some family sociology scholars. Family exist in every society in
one form or the other. There are various definitions of family include –
Biological, Psychological and Sociological.
According to George Peter Mudlock cited
by Schulz (1976), “Family is a social group which characterised by common
residence, economic, co-operation and reproduction. It includes adult of both
sexes, at least two who maintain socially approved relationship with one or two
children or adopted”.
Ely Chinoy borrowed from American
College Dictionary, “Family is define as parents and their children dwelling
together, any group of person closely related by blood, as parents, children,
uncles, aunties and cousins.
1.2.1
The Functionalist
Theory of the Family
In any type of human relationship, the
functionalists stress the integration of parts within a whole and the social
system to which the parts belong.
The functionalist emphasized the
resources that the individual brings to the relationship and the functions that
he or she performs in the relationship. They also emphasized three major areas
of functions in the study of the family. They include:
a.
The relationship between the family and the larger society.
b.
The relationship between the family and the social
institutions.
c.
The relationship between the family and the individual
person.
In discussing the relationship between
the family and the larger society, the functionalists focused on the role that
the family plays in the socialization of new members of the society. They
assert that only a small unit like the family can carry out this function on
behalf of the larger society. This is the function of socialization of children
which is done through parent-child interaction. The emphasis in the discussion
of relation between the family and other social institutions is on the
relationship between the family and social institutions like economies,
education, government, etc. The functionalists assert that each and everyone of
these institutions affect the family and they in turn are affected by the
family. In the relationship between the family and the personality of the
individual, the functionalist stress the effect of the family on the
individual, that is, the family influences the individual and how the
individual can influence the family. The functionalist also emphasized the
division of labour for the maintenance of the family. This point is more
pronounced in the work of Talcot Parsons, Bales Slates and others. Talcott
Parsons and his colleagues pointed out that the division of labour or role
different exists among all members of the family between the husband and wife,
between the parents and children and between adults and younger members of the
family. They are of the opinion that adequate performance of the differentiated
roles, work well for the stability and good maintenance of the family as a
social unit.
1.2.2 Piaget’s
Cognitive Developmental Theory
Most scholars who work with children
believe that development is sequential and gradual. The famous Swiss
Psychologist Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) propounded an important theory of
cognitive development. Piaget’s theory states that children activity construct
their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive
development namely. The Sensory-motor stage (0 – 2 years), Pre-operational
Stage (2 – 7 years), the Concrete Operational Stage (7 – 11 years) and the
Formal Operational Stage (11 – 15 years). Piaget (1954) believe that we adapt
in two ways, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when
individuals incorporate new information into their existing knowledge.
Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information. Piaget thought
that assimilation and accommodation operate even in the very young infant’s
life. New born reflexively suck everything that touches their lips
(assimilation), but after several months of experience, they construct their
understanding of the world differently. He postulated that each of the stages
is age-related and consists of distinct ways of thinking.
Like Piaget, Russian Lev Vygotsky (1896
– 1934) also believed that children actively construct their knowledge.
Vygotsky emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of language, and social
relations. Three claims capture the heart of Vygotsky view Tappan (1998):
(1)
The child’s cognitive skills can be understood only when
they are developmentally analysed and interpreted;
(2)
Cognitive skills are mediated by words. Language and forms
of discourse, which serve as psychological tools for facilitating and
transforming mental activity; and
(3)
Cognitive skills have their origins in social relations and
are embedded in a socio culture backgroup.
1.2.3 The Social Orientation of Children
Socialization is not a process unique
to childhood. According to the sociological theory known as symbolic
interactionism, socialization is required for each new role an individual
acquires over the life-course. Nevertheless, most of us generally understand
socialization to mean the process of creating socially responsible beings out
of primarily asocial beings – that is, infants and children (asocial in the
sense that they are ignorant of the rules and roles of the society and must acquire
these over time). Socialization is considered to be more general than either
enculturation, or acculturation. Enculturation refers to the specific process
of transmitting a particular culture from one generation to another (e.g.
minority members of a society teaching their children about minority issues
such as discrimination). Acculturation refers to the process of acquiring a new
or different culture (e.g. as an immigrant to another country) Denver (2000).
Parkeand (2000) described socialization
as “the process whereby an individual’s standards, skills, motives, attitudes,
and behaviours change to conform to those regarded as desirable and appropriate
for his or her present and future role in any particular society”. Each of this
definition leaves open the possibility that adults, in addition to children,
can be socialized into new roles and responsibilities.
Most approaches focus on parental-child
relations in infancy, childhood, or adolescence, ignoring ongoing parent-child
relations across the life-course (for an exception) see Pillemer and McCartney
(2001). The focus of this entry is primarily on socialization-both formal and
informal of children in different contexts, and in different countries around
the world.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
For sometime now, especially, in the
last decades, there was rapid increase in the number of single-parent homes
i.e. mother only families and father only families. In Nigeria, single-parent
families case are quite rampant. During the course of my teaching practice, I
found out that students from single-parent homes tend to suffer a lot of
denials, they lack parental care, have low social adjustment, suffer
inferiority complex and suffer from juvenile delinquency syndrome. Another,
children brought up in single-parent families play truancy, come late to
school, most of them are delinquent and lack academic materials.
Osarenren (2005) said that many
children who were reared in either mother-only or father-only families suffer
set backs in their academics achievement than those brought in intact homes due
to the absence of one parent.
Single parenting homes have failed to
effectively play the role of both parenting families and this has in many ways
affected the child academically, mentally, morally and socially. The area
boys/girls phenomenon is a factor that stands out as a problem in the society
and is often associated with single-parenting families Nnah (2000).
1.4
Purpose of the Study
This study therefore investigated the
effect of single-parenting on academic achievement of students in Mainland
Local Government Area schools and how they affected in the academic performance
of students in schools.
The following undermentioned are the
specific objectives of this study:
(1)
To establish whether students’ attitude to academic work is
influenced by single-parenting.
(2)
To evaluate the academic achievement of students from intact
home and those from single-parent homes.
(3)
To ascertain if students from single-parenting exhibit
juvenile delinquency syndrome in our society.
(4)
To determine whether students from mother-only families
perform better academically than those from father-only homes.
1.5 Research
Questions
For effective conduct of this study,
the following research questions were raised:
(1)
Does single-parenting have any effect on students’ attitude
to academic work?
(2)
To what extent is students’ academic achievement affected by
the type of home?
(3)
Can single parenting cause juvenile delinquency syndrome in
our society?
(4)
Do students from
mother-only families perform better academically than those from father-only
families?
1.6
Research Hypotheses
The undermentioned hypotheses will
assist the conduct of this study:
(1)
Students academic achievement will not be affected by the
type of home.
(2)
Students from mother-only families will not perform better
academically than those from father-only families.
1.7
Significance of the Study
This study is focus on the beneficial
of the following individuals:
Students:
The findings and recommendations of
this study will assist boys and girls who live in their father-only or
mother-only homes to cope with the situation of single-parenting, as well as
keep out of marital conflict between their parents.
This study equally will assist girls
who live with either father-only or mother-only families to cope with the
situation in which they find themselves. Also, students should made to
appreciate the value of education.
Parents:
The findings and recommendations of
this study will be of great benefit to widows who were rendered single-parents
due to the death 'of their spouses in that they would understand better that
widowhood is not the end of life.
It would also enable husbands whose
wives are dead (widowers) to cope with the unfortunate situation of fathering
their children and becoming single-parents due to the death of the spouses. The
recommendations of this study will help such husbands to brace up and encourage
themselves in bringing up their children in such a way that they will be able
to perform well in their academic careers.
The
Teachers:
Teachers would be beneficiaries of this
study, because, the study will afford them the golden opportunity of knowing
how to detect students who come from single-parent homes and how to help them
in teaching and learning activities.
The teacher should take note of
individual differences in the classroom and the academic performance of their
students from various homes such as intact and single-parent homes and try to
provide adequate remedy through the use of different teaching techniques and
extra lessons in order to help them.
Government:
The solutions provided by this study
will go a long way in helping the government and the Ministry of Education to
tackle the problems of single-parenting and the resultant poor academic
performance of many children brought up in that type of homes.
1.8
Scope of the Study
This study covered the impact of
single-parenting on academic performance of students in selected secondary
schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.9
Delimitation of the
Study
The study focused on the impact of
single-parenting on academic achievement of students in selected secondary
schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
This study is limited to five secondary
schools in Mainland Education District, which has been chosen as an ideal
target for the study.
Another delimitation is that of time,
there was no enough time for the study to have covered the other secondary
schools in Lagos State. Finance was another delimitation. A larger amount of
money would have been needed for the researcher to undertake the study to other
secondary schools in Lagos State. The financial constraint on the researcher
limited the study to only the chosen five secondary schools in Mainland
Education District.
1.10
Limitation of this
Study
The study is limited to all secondary
schools in the Local Education District of Lagos, being chosen as an ideal
target for the study.
However, all data collected and
analysed are related only to the five chosen public secondary schools in
Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State. Thus it is much doubtful whether
the findings of this research work could be appropriate applied to the private
schools in Lagos State.
Another limitation is that for want of
time. I could not compare the public schools in Mainland Education District to
those of the private schools. Hence, it is difficult to infer that the findings
of this study are peculiar to the government owned secondary schools.
Though the findings could have direct
relationship with other public secondary schools whose organisational structure
and condition are the same with Mainland Education District of Lagos State. It
is easy to infer that the findings of this research are applicable to the other
public owned secondary schools in Lagos State. Therefore, the recommendations
from the findings will to some extent help improve students who come from
single-parent home to understand their problem and how to improve in their
academic performance for a better society.
1.11
Definition of Terms
1.
Delinquent: Young people
showing tendency to commit crime.
2.
Juvenile
delinquency:
Young people, not yet an adult, who is guilty of a crime.
3.
Home: This is a place
where one lives. It pertains ones usual place of residence.
4.
Education: It is the process
of imparting or transferring knowledge from the teacher to the learner.
5.
Population: This is the total
number of people in a geographical area at a particular time.
6.
Performance: This means to
carry out an action into effect.
7.
Single-Parenting: It is a situation
where the upbringing of a child/children in a family is carried out by one
parent either the father or the mother.
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