ABSTRACT
This study examined the influence of
fathering style on social adjustment among adolescents in Surulere LED of Lagos
State.
Four hypotheses were formulated to
guide the study.
To achieve this aim, the researcher
formulated four hypothesis to guide the study:
There is no significant influence
of fathering styles on social adjustment of adolescents.
There is no significant impact of
fathering styles on proneness to early pregnancy among female adolescents.
There is no significant cultural
impact on fathering style on social adjustment of adolescents.
There is no significant influence
of religious impact of fathering style on social adjustment of adolescents.
The sample comprised two hundred
(200) participants selected through stratified random sampling from four senior
secondary schools in Surulere LED of Lagos State. A well structured
questionnaire was administered and used to solicit responses from the
respondents.
The analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used to analyse the result at 0.05 level of significance. Fisher’s
protected t-test formular was used to do a pairwise comparison of differences
in-group means (X) resulting from influence of fathering styles on social
adjustment of adolescents. The result of the data analysis obtained indicated
as follows:
There is significant influence of
fathering styles on social adjustment of adolescents. It was also found out
that there is no significant religious impact in fathering style of social
adjustment of adolescents.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
CHAPTER ONE 1
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1
Theoretical Background 1
1.2
Statement of the Problem 7
1.3
Purpose of the Study 8
1.4
Research Questions 9
1.5
Research Hypotheses 9
1.6
Significance of the Study 10
1.7
Scope of Study 11
CHAPTER TWO: Literature
Review 12
2.0
Introduction 12
2.1 Concept and Nature of Fathering 12
2.2
Theories of Fathering 15
2.3
Historical Perspectives of Fatherhood 17
2.4
Fathers Across the Life Span 21
2.5
Determinants of Father Involvement 24
2.6
Divorced and Single Fathers 28
2.7
Culture and Fatherhood 29
2.8
Consequences of Fathers for Men themselves and their
children 31
2.9
The future of fatherhood 32
CHAPTER THREE: Research
Design and Methodology 34
3.1 Introduction 34
3.2
Research Design 34
3.3
Population 34
3.4
Sample and Sampling Technique 35
3.5
Research Instrument 35
3.6
Procedure for Data Collection 35
3.7
Validity and Reliability of Instrument 35
CHAPTER FOUR: Data Analysis, Hypotheses Testing and Interpretation of Result 37
4.1
Introduction 37
4.2
Hypotheses Testing and Interpretation of Results 37
4.3 Summary of Findings 45
CHAPTER FIVE: Discussion of the Findings, Summary,
Conclusion and Recommendations 46
5.1
Introduction 46
5.2
Discussion 46
5.3
Summary 49
5.4
Counselling Implications 51
5.5
Conclusion 52
5.6
Recommendations 53
References 55
Appendix 58
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 Introduction
Early pregnancy is a situation whereby a girl-child
is impregnated as a result of premarital sexual activity. Many girls these days
are in the habit of being involved in premarital sexual acts due to
civilization and education. There is no doubt that the traditional values have
been overthrown in favour of liberal sexual attitude. According to Abe (1996),
63% of adolescents do not think that virginity was important, but old-fashioned
recreational sex seems to be the way of many youths and the resultant effect of
early pregnancy, abortion and consequently death or destruction of the
reproductive organs.
Nwobi (1997) describes the family as the
network of persons intimately held together by a bond of social or blood
relationship. The family comprises the father as head and breadwinner, the
children who must take orders or directions from the father. Therefore, for the
father to raise meaningful and responsible children in the society the needs to
adopt a certain style of leadership or parenting.
1.1 Theoretical
Background
Arione, (1994) used two typologies to
describe fathering styles: demandingness and responsiveness; that when crossed
yields four fathering styles. According to Arione, authoritative fathers are
both responsive and demanding. They set clear reasonable standards for
responsible behaviour that are consistent with children’s development and
provide explanation for their positions. They are also kind, warm, loving and
responsive to children’s needs and will negotiate their expectations.
Authoritarian fathers are only demanding
but not responsive. They only place values on obedience to rules and discourage
give-and-take between father and child and do not take their children’s needs
into consideration. Permissive fathers are also indulging, they are responsive
but not demanding.
These fathers are warm, accepting and
tolerant of the child’s impulses. They also make few demands on the child for
mature behaviour, but do not use much or no punishment and avoid exerting their
authorities. More recently, permissive fathers have been separated from
neglecting-rejecting ones, who also do not make many demands because they
are disengaged and they are neither
demanding nor responsive. Thus this has caused the girl child who could not get
what she wants from her father to use what she has to get what she wants
outside the home. The resultant effect has been early sexual activity which is
the result of early pregnancy of the child.
Sexual indiscipline among adolescents in
secondary schools includes increasing rates of premarital sex, promiscuity,
prostitution, teenage pregnancy, teenage marriage and motherhood, illegal
abortions, child abuse and abandonment and premature death for teenage mothers
as a result of abortion. The Newswatch (1985),main feature was the increasing
rate of teenage pregnancy captioned “Children Having Children”. The situation
has assumed a greater dimension because sexual indiscipline is closely related
to criminal acts – such as abortion and child abuse.
Teenage pregnancy sometimes leads to
teenage marriage or what is usually called the “Shot gun marriage”. This option
is often frought with both medical, social and psychological dangers and
problems. For one thing, a girl’s body
is still growing and if nutrition is deficient such teenage girl is a poor obstetric
risk. For another there are psychological problems associated with teenage
marriage such as “Shot gun” marriage, leading t dropping out of school,
humiliation and degradation suffered by the adolescents and their families.
There are the financial implications and lack of psychological support system
for the adolescent mother. The attendant dropping out of school for the girl
usually forces into poverty cycle, while high increasing rate of illegitimate
pregnancy exacts a heavy financial toll on tax payers.
Finally, single parenthood seems to be
increasing among adolescents as a result of early pregnancy due to premarital
sexual activity with/its implication for the proper psychological well being of
the child and the mother, and on the long run, with social implications for the
society (Kuforiji, 1998).
It is a well known fact that more
teenagers are engaged in sexual intercourse at earlier ages. Rafiu (1994) found
that in a sample of 100 students in secondary schools 48% boys and 36% girls
stated that they had sexual intercourse by age 15. A large proportion of the
girls indicated that they had partners who were old enough to be their fathers,
while only a small fraction of the male sample indicated that they had sex with
older girls. Thus the problem of “Sugar daddy and sugar mummy” is a major one among adolescents. The adult
society that preaches sexual morality and delayed gratification is thus
creating more problems.
As a primary socializing agency the
family’s impact on man is total. According to Onyejiaku, (1991) no child born
into the world with the knowledge of right and wrong, rather it is when he
internalized the societal norms and values that he begins to relate with people
around him effectively. The responsibility of raising up a child to become
socially and psychologically well adjusted adult is mainly that of the father.
According to Lamb (1997) a father is a man who begets a child, a male parent,
the founder of a family or race, one who exercises parental care over another,
a guardian or protector.
Nwadinigwe (2004) postulates that within
the family, role sharing among the parents exist. The father is expected to
discipline the child and ensure he is brought up in proper way. A father
according to Clinton (1995), is a man stabilizing influence upon his children,
providing means by which his children may face the outside world with
confidence. The must significant figure in a family setting and the head of the
house in all issues of paramount importance. Scholars theorized on individual
behaviour, socialization process, fathering process and their influence on
adolescents. When children watch the behaviour of model, especially, their fathers, they
quickly tend to imitate both the specific responses and generalized response
patterns of the model, the father or
mother as fathers are viewed as models worthy of emulation by their children.
Similarly, a child may face trauma of
neglect when the father who is supposed to be supportive and involved is not
around to give appropriate model, care, comfort and supervision to the child.
Fathers who adopt the I-don’t-care
attitudes or styles in bringing up their children especially during their
formative ages will end up having wayward, recalcitrant, rascal family and the
immediate community or society. For instance, a girl child whose father does
not meet up with her demands or needs may go out to form allies with the peers
who would obviously misadvice, mislead and misdirect her into joining gangs of
sexual promiscuous persons, women of easy virtues who are in the ha its of
using their bodies to acquire what they lack from their homes. The gradual
process of promiscuity could graduate the child into being a mother at tender
age, prostitution and the loss of educational career cum opportunities in
future.
Also fathers who are too rigid or
authoritative, may produce children whose characters are deceptive. These
children may be sheep in homes but wolves in the outside world. In any case,
they are pretenders who hide their characters in the presence of their autocratic
fathers, but tend to live another pattern of life entirely from the ones they
exhibit in the home. At home they are quiet and innocent, outside the home,
they are wayward , sensuous and promiscuous. This hide and child to premarital
sexual activities and consequently unwanted or even abortion and loss of
precious tender life (Uzoma, 1998).
The sociological theory of symbolic
interaction posits that children and infants are ignorant of rules and roles of
the society when they are born and to turn them to socially responsible beings,
they must acquire new roles by their interactions with significant others
especially, their fathers, mothers and siblings.
Through interaction with the father
who disciplines directs and nurtures the child, the child acquires social
norms, values and skills within the culture.
The father’s roles in traditional
perspective is being aloof and distant. A situation whereby the father is
respected but feared by the children who never learned to know him very well,
unlike the mother who care for the home and raised the children. It in this
light that Osarenren (1998) claimed that the process of socialization starts in
early life and is a life long process.
Moreover, Howels (1985) saw the fathers as
inculcating attitudes and behaviours that their children needed for
educational, moral and vocational development and that if father fail to bring
up their children, especially the girls, it leads them to adopt traits and
negative behaviours that are inimical to the societal norms.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
The most turbulent state of human
development is agreeably the adolescent stage. The adolescent is characterized
by identity crisis, aggressive, hostile and manifest destruction behaviour.
This problem is related to father’s attitude and style in reaching out to the
adolescent since it affects his confidence level in relating with people he
comes across. When he becomes withdrawn, feels rejected, depressed and
frustrated (Nwadinigwe, 2004).
Fathering styles have correlation with the
up bringing of their children. For instance, fathers who adopt the I-don’t-care
attitudes in nurturing their children especially the girl-children, will end up
fathering children who are wayward, recalcitrant, rascal and maladjusted in the
family and the immediate community or society. For instance, a child (girl)
whose father does not meet up with her demands or basic needs may go out to
meet her peers who would misadvice, misdirect and mislead her into joining a
gang of sexual prostitutes or women of easy virtues who use their bodies to get
material things they lack at home. When fathers neglect to rear their children
very well, it leads the girls to engage themselves befriending men, the
opposite sex who they feel will protect them like their fathers and provide
them what they lack in fathers. This association could lead to promiscuity,
premarital sex, unwanted pregnancy and abortion which consequently lead to
termination of life and career of the adolescent. It is in this vein that
Clinton (1995) saw a father as a man stabilizing strong influence upon his
children, providing means by which his children may face the outside world with
confidence.
1.3 Purpose of
the Study
The purpose of this study is mainly to
examine the influence of fathering styles on social adjustment among
adolescents in Surulere LED, in Lagos State.
Other specific objective are:
1.
To determine whether fathering
styles influence adolescents’ social adjustment.
2.
Examine the extent gender
difference exists due to fathering styles.
3.
To find out whether religion affect
the fathering styles of parents.
4.
Determine whether cultural impact
on fathering styles affects the social adjustment of children.
5.
To identify different types of
fathering styles.
1.4 Research
Questions
The following questions were raised
for the conduct of this study:
1.
Will fathering styles influence the
early pregnancy of girls?
2.
Does fathering styles influence
adolescents social adjustment?
3.
To what extent does gender
difference in fathering style affect the academic achievement of the girl
child?
4.
Will religion affect the fathering
styles of parents?
5.
To what extent will cultural impact
on fathering styles affect the social adjustment of adolescents?
6.
How can we identify types of
fathering styles?
1.5 Research
Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses
were formulated to conduct this study:
1.
There is no significant influence
of fathering styles on social adjustment of adolescents.
2.
There is no significant impact of
fathering styles on proneness to early pregnancy among female adolescents.
3.
There is no significant cultural
impact of fathering styles on social adjustment of adolescents.
4.
There is no significant influence
of religious impact on fathering style on social adjustment of adolescents.
1.6 Significance
of the Study
The study will be significant in several
ways thus:
1.
Fathers: This study will
enable fathers to be more aware of the fact that they need to gather their
children, especially the girls very well so as to avoid premarital sexual
activities, pregnancy and abortion which may claim their lives. This study will
help fathers to know the different patterns of rearing a child and to adopt the
best pattern they deem fit.
2.
The Findings of this study will help adolescents, especially, girls to know that they need to be
nurtured by their fathers and to come to terms with the fact that they could
end up in becoming mothers if they re badly brought up or nurtured by poor
fathering style.
3.
The findings and recommendations of
this study would assist teachers who are themselves parents, to imbibe the
culture of training their children/wards very well, bringing them up in the
normal way that could make them adaptive to normal systems of the society and
to grow as responsible adults.
4.
Counsellors will see this study as
reference material in that it will help them to use the recommendations in this
study to help adolescents who have different problems as a result of being
under the yoke of bad fathering.
5.
Society will find the
recommendation of this study as important in making them to draw inference on
the best way of fathering a child. Also, scholars and neophytes in research
will find this study a reference and relevant material in doing further work on
related issues.
1.7 Scope of
Study
The study will cover the influence of
fathering styles on social adjustment among adolescents in Surulere LED, of
Lagos State.
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