Marital Conflict, Divorce and Single Parenthood as Predictors of Adolescents’ Antisocial Behaviour in Ibadan

Abstract

Manifestation of antisocial behaviour among adolescents in secondary schools in Nigeria is escalating day by day, threatening the peace and security of the society. It has been speculated in many quarters that the menace of unstable families is likely to be the cause. Hence, this study investigated the predictive effects of marital conflict, divorce and single parenthood on antisocial behaviours among secondary school adolescents in Ibadan. Three hundred adolescents were randomly selected from Ibadan metropolis. Three research questions were raised, and the Crime Behaviour Factor Battery was used to collect data. The result revealed that marital conflict, divorce and single parenthood correlated positively and significantly, and they jointly contributed a total of 74.8% in the total variance of adolescents' antisocial behaviours. Also, single parenthood had the highest relative contribution as revealed by the Beta weight (.887), followed by divorce (.280) and lastly, marital conflict (.272). It was recommended that intervention programmes should be put in place that will facilitate family adjustment, family stability and family cohesion that can forestall the incidence of marital breakdown and separation, especially for the sake of the young ones so as to reduce the rate of incidence of antisocial behaviours among the adolescents.

Predictive Potentials of Some Psycho-Socio-Personal Variables on Divorce among Couples in Ibadan Nigeria

“…This is not the case anymore. All over the world, divorce rate is on the alarming increase for which many studies have been focused (DeMaris, 2000;Animasahun, 2013Animasahun, , 2014. Most of these studies investigate the common causes of divorce.…”

“…The practice often lack the essential steps and stages in the establishment and solemnization of a marriage, whereby both the primary and secondary agreements as well as the legal injunctions are well observed before establishing a marriage (Animasahun, 2013). Such practice is regarded as an imported idea from other sources that are beyond the African concept of marriage (Animasahun, 2014). This issue has been found to be a significant factor and cause of divorce in modern African society.…”

“…This factor is strongly connected with wrong pillars of marriage which refers to situation whereby a couple's relationship is firmly established and based on certain selfish and covetous factors such as lust, beauty/handsomeness, talent, fame, status, position, wealth etc. (Animasahun, 2013(Animasahun, , 2014, which are often ephemeral. Unfortunately, most modern relationships are established on these.…”

“…Sexual intimacy refers to not just the emotional force of the male's own feelings of entitlement but to a more pervasive attitude of ownership and control toward social relationships with intimate partners. Engaging in legal satisfactory sexual deal is one of the major reasons for entering into marriage (Mahoney & Williams, 1998;Mahoney, Williams, & West, 2001;Animasahun, 2013Animasahun, , 2014. However, many women resist their spouse's sexual demands in a variety of ways, such as: arguing, protesting, abusing or fighting back (Bachar & Koss, 2001, Bennet, 2004.…”

“…Every family needs independence, privacy and confidentiality to keep going. However, when these rights are blocked or denied, a marriage may hit the rock (Animasahun, 2013(Animasahun, , 2014. Billings (1979), Bradbury & Finchan (1990) found that the act of divorce caused by in-laws directly affects the structure of a network by removing or altering an existing tie.…”