INFLUENCE OF FAMILY DYSFUNCTIONALITY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SOCIAL STUDIES.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The home of a child lays a more formal and belonging place to be and emotionally, suitable for exercising all forms of knowledge. A home has a lot of influence on the life of a child among which includes socialization of the child, child care, protection, emotional and social support (Acs, 2017). The adolescent and families are interactive members of a large system of social institutions, such as the school, the workplace and the community (Dwairy, 2014). The family provides environment where adolescent learn the culture of the society which they belong to. The home is volitionally teaching the adolescent the horoscope with the aspects of culture as values, norms and languages. The home is said to be safe harbor, a supportive environment for personal growth and expansion.
The home executes necessary duty of giving a child or an adolescent a name and rules in the society. When we hear a deserted child or adolescent, one wonders: whose child or adolescent are theirs and where do they come from? A child’s family is able to provide a positive feeling of worth that is fundamental to functional emotional development that meets the basic needs for love, affection, company, and security. This could not be found in a family that experience otherwise. The family has been very instrumental to development of culture and nations (Bianchi and Casper, 2000). It is also being the primary social institution for raising of adolescent. In most societies, social unit as family is the principle institution for socialization for adolescent. The family gives a child an identity, a cause of belonging and a feeling of being valued. Carolyn (2017), stated that family is pictured as a place of refuse from the trial and tribulations of everyday life. But some families are faced with a lot that believe these values. One of the primary functions of family is providing a frame work for the development of persons emotionally, socially, and mentally. Sharing one’s life with a happy functional family is for many people, sound vital goals. These primary functions include effective communication, appreciation, spending time together, commitment, good coping skills, values and convictions. Functional families for some reasons lack these qualities and that brings about a lot of friction in the family unit thereby leading to dysfunctionality.
Family disruption has been defined in various ways, including recurrent residential moves, separation from parent figure and marital dissolution or divorce (Adam & Chase-Landdale, 2012). The adolescent as a result, acquire early knowledge or facts among members of the family. Agulana (2000) pointed out that the family lays the moral, spiritual and psychological, foundation in the overall development of the child or adolescent. Child or adolescent are an essential union consisting of nuclear family. If the functional group refused to uphold their responsibility to the adolescent or adolescents the family might suffer. Poor home administration from parents will affect a child or an adolescent’s behaviour, insufficient monitoring, poor supervision and inconsistent discipline are common in dysfunctional families but not found in functional families (Kumpfer and Alvarado, 2013).
Structurally, family functioning comprises of functional or dysfunctional family. Functional family can be said to be a family that is stable, healthy and ideal. Functional family is that family that lives in harmony and have good coping skills as challenges arises. Walsh (2013) defined functional family as a key factor prosocial development of adolescent and adolescents. He supported this by saying functional family provides an early and sustained impact on family bonding, conducting orders, choice of peers and absences of delinquency. According to Daiad (2015) extremely supported functional family because is the social unit of the formative years of early childhood. Functional family serves as avenue of arousing knowledge from both parents, as both parents are there providing physical necessities.
A dysfunctional family can be seen as a family of instability due to non-acceptance of one’s failure. According to Frazer (2014), psychological family conditions mainly arise from illegitimate adolescent, from divorce or broken homes and parental denial. These situations in the family bring devastating effects academically on the adolescents. A dysfunctional family often means parents fail to adequately provide for their adolescents emotional, psychological or physical needs. According to Hart (2017) adolescents often suffer from low self-esteem all their lives.
El–sheikh (2021) explained that family dysfunctionality can have a devastating effect on adolescents because the more discord the adolescence perceptions of their parents’ improved health lower stress, but even mild levels of stress were found to be harmful. In dysfunctional families, adolescents are pushed into conflicts; they may be ignored, discounted, criticized or abused. The parents also may be inappropriately intrusive, overly involved and protective. Many adolescents of dysfunctional families criticize the attitudinal behaviour of their parents with regards to emotionally distance and uninvolvement. Some adolescents may be physically abused or emotionally abused and sent out of the house. Most adolescents get angry, leave home at a very beginning age because dysfunctionality affects adolescents most.
Most cases of dysfunctional families are as a result of terrible transgressions which is not limited to habitual drunkenness of parents, abandonment, among others. In the past, adultery and physical cruelty were mostly the only basis for divorce among couples. The influence of dysfunctional family on adolescents results to many factors which drug abuse and negative behaviours are not an exception. The truth is that every adolescent need and deserves the love, care and provision from a mother and father. This means also that ideal home is that which provides a child or an adolescent an identity, growth, discipline, care, support and education that are essential for their individual development. According to Chiu and Ho (2021) reported that adolescents from dysfunctional family earned lower grade and their peers rated them as dull students. Chiu et al (2021) further stated that parental relationship in a family plays a significant role in determining acquired knowledge of their adolescents in schools. This attitude could contribute to the reasons for lack of effectiveness and efficiency of the adolescents.
An adolescent has been said to be a person between childhood and maturity. Roberts (2015) stated that adolescence is associated with teenage year. The onset of adolescence is considered as a crucial period of their life. It exhibits or typify the critical transition in the life span and is characterized by a tremendous space in growth and change. The adolescent depends mainly on their parents for economic, social, emotional support and direction. Adolescence have a unique stage in every person’s life. The puberty stage is considered as a trial time of their life; it exhibits one of the most critical transitions in the life span and is characterized by a tremendous space in growth and change (Kadurumba, 2015).
Roberts (2017) stated that adolescence is generally agreed to be the period within ages of ten to eighteen (10- 18), it is a period among humans where lots of physiological as well as anatomical changes take place resulting in reproductive maturity in adolescents. Many adolescents manage this transformation process successfully while others experience major stress of their time and find themselves engaging in behaviour such as sexual experimentation that place their wellbeing at risk. Exploration, curiosity, experimentation and identity search are what adolescence is known for. Part of such a quest involves the use and abuse of substance, some risk-taking, which are drugs that exert their major effects on the brain resulting in stimulation or change in mood of the individual (Okoye, 2011). However, all of the developmental changes experienced by adolescents prepare them to experiment with new behaviour. In some countries, adolescence is generally agreed to be the period between the ages of thirteen (13) to Nineteen (19) years (Aldgate, 2020). In Nigeria it is agreed to be the ages of thirteen (13) to nineteen (19) years (Okapko 2014). An adolescent is said to be the last stage or period before early adulthood. This study adopted 12-19 years as adolescent in line with (Ukoha, 2015). At this period, a lot of challenges occur as a result of dramatic physiological changes they experience. The advert of these physical changes affect adolescent’s life in every aspect.
The way and manner the adolescents try to face challenges has probably given rise to their peculiar behavioural patterns which in turn positively or negatively interrupt in their academics. Anderson (2012) found that adolescents from single parent families were involved in higher rates of eloquent behaviour and that minorities from single parent families were especially enveloped completely to certain types of delinquency than other adolescents. According to Aremu and Sokan (2013) stated that there is deficiency in or insufficient related to low motivational orientation, low self-esteem, emotional problems, poor study habit, and poor interpersonal relationships, from dysfunctional family. Past researchers reported that adolescents who are exposed to high level of parental conflict had more problems in academic compared with adolescents who had not experienced parental conflict. Adolescents found in this type of family are in the likelihood of leaving school (Kelly, 2000).
Academic achievement is synonymous with academic performance. Academic accomplishment comes from education. It is the range at which students, teacher, or institution accomplished their educational or instructional achievement or results. The social and economic development of the parents is directly linked with adolescent’s academic performance. Adolescent’s academic measurement has received attention to research, it is challenging aspects of academic literature (Hussain, 2021). He went on to say that adolescent’s academic performances are measured through several ways like test result, exams result through the result of particular subjects. According to Desforges and Abouchaar (2013) parental absence among other variables seemed to affect learning experience of adolescents in schools. This is so because adolescents are born with some psychological, emotional and intellectual needs such as need for love and security, the need for new experience, the need for praise, acceptance and recognition, and need for unavoidably, influences adolescent’s performances academically. Academic performance of students are ranked in terms of educational achievement. It is how people fair in their studies as compared to others among the class.
Scortt (2021) stated that academic performance of students is shown by what they were able to accomplish their studies. Grades are used as an indicator or means of academic achievements. Grades most frequently go with average of an assignment and test scores. Grading methods differs by school; common scales used in most secondary schools in Nigeria are percentages or systems of letters A - F. Rodgers and Rose (2011) examined the relationship between family factors and academic performance among a sample with mean age 15 years old from functional, divorced and blended families. The study revealed that adolescents of divorced families reported less parental support and monitoring which strongly predicted their deficiency in academics. The intention here is on how to improve academic performance of the adolescents from the dysfunctional families since education starts from home.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In Nigeria, most families are not intact as a result of issues of incompatibility of the couples (parents). The parents should provide the necessary needs for the adolescent and the entire family. This has resulted in the separation of couples and adolescent. In some states in the federation, especially in the ---------------- local government area of ---------- State states, out of 80% and above married, there is 14% increase of divorce/separation rate as of 2014-2018 (Igbinosa, 2014), and some men who travel abroad, abandon their homes and would not communicate with the families back-home, so adolescent from such homes are in dilemma, especially in terms of adjustment. However, the effects of dysfunctional family may impact greatly on the internal organization of the family and by extension affect adolescent emotion, wellbeing, and academic performance.
Unfortunately, most students in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria secondary schools are in greater risk of poor academic performance in both internal and external examinations (WASSCE and NECO). There is a growing concern of the society about the realization of secondary education objectives due to doubt that there has been steady decline in student’s academic performance in external examinations. Worse still, experience and observation have it that some of these students that performed came from dysfunctional families. When families are in conflict, it affects adolescents in their physical, cognitive, affective and even spiritual growth. Their lives are enclosed or imprisoned if they continue being exposed to a violent environment (Lisa and Cecilis, 2016). For some, such an environment means that they have no access to formal education and affective developments are tampered with, thereby making them to indulge in dirt activities like stealing, burglary, raping and prostitution, teenage pregnancy, street fighting, pipeline vandalism among others.
The problem becomes more compelling when one discovers that the influence of dysfunctional family on academic performance of adolescents in public secondary school in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria has not been investigated. Bearing in mind the role of the family in adolescent’s education, the failure of the family to perform its duties could hinder the adolescent’s academic performance. Any nation that is desirous in advancing technologically will no doubt ensure that the future of her future leaders (the adolescents) is well guided, protected and guaranteed.
However, no work has been done in the area of dysfunctional family and academic performances in public secondary school South South geo-political zone. Therefore, it is the intention of this study to fill this gap.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of the study is to examine dysfunctional family and academic performance of adolescents in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria.
Specifically, the study vis;
1. examined the features of dysfunctional family
2. discovered the physical effects of dysfunctional families on academic performance of adolescents
3. determined the social effects of dysfunctional families on academic performance of adolescents
4. identified the economic effects of dysfunctional families on academic performance of adolescents
5. ascertained the emotional effects of dysfunctional families on academic performance of adolescents
6. determined the extent dysfunctional family influences the academic performance of adolescents in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria
7. strategies for averting dysfunctional families.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What constitutes dysfunctional families?
2. What are the physical effect of dysfunctional families in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria?
3. What are the social effect of dysfunctional families in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria?
4. What are the economic effect of dysfunctional families in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria?
5. What are the emotional effect of dysfunctional families in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria?
6. To what extent does dysfunctional family influence the academic performance of adolescents?
7. What are the strategies for averting dysfunctional families?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses were tested at 5% level of significance.
Ho1: There is no significant difference in the mean response of junior and senior secondary students on the effect of dysfunctional family on physical wellbeing of adolescent’s students in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria
Ho2: There is no significant difference in the mean response of junior and senior secondary students on effect of dysfunctional family on social wellbeing of adolescent’s students in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria
Ho3: There is no significant difference in the mean response of junior and senior secondary students on effect of dysfunctional family on economic well-being of social studies students in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria
Ho4: There is no significant difference in the mean response of junior and senior secondary students on effect of dysfunctional family on the emotional state of the social studies students . in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria
Ho5: There is no significant difference in the mean response of junior and senior secondary students on extent dysfunctional family influences the academic performance of adolescents in Junior Secondary Schools in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings of the study will be beneficial to the following group of people; adolescents, students, family, parents, religious bodies, counselors, home economists, future researchers and government.
The study will be beneficial to adolescents especially the adolescents in public secondary school students in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria who are experiencing poor academic performance as a result of dysfunctional family issues. They (social studies students ) will be counselled on their academic challenges in the counseling unit of their respective schools and instructed on how to surmount their challenges and perform well in school. The adolescents can also be taught in schools to appreciate the need to be of good conduct both at home and the society for optimum academic performance.
The findings should help the family comprehend that family dysfunction negatively affects the academic performance of social studies students , and so empathize and treat their adolescents with love and care. The results and findings will equally help to stabilize a lot of families that are dysfunctional through public campaigns in the market squares, churches, mosque and sensitization meetings, thereby reducing many irresponsible acts in the family. This means that both parents and adolescents should have fathomed their different roles in the family and appreciate family values and understand how to handle problems as they arise in the families and never allow any problem to be there unresolved.
The findings of the study should help parents realize that there are some forms of problems in the family that may require an expert (home economists and trained counselor in schools for them to overcome it and stop believing that they know it all and can handle all problems in the family. Examples of the experts are marriage counselors. This will be achieved through church meetings and parent teachers meeting (PTA).
The findings of the study should be used by counselors for family dysfunction in seminars and workshops for both couples and singles to sensitize them on the danger of dysfunctional families and the need to have stable families. This can be achieved through health talk, and marriage counseling in churches, mosque, and at crusades or conventions.
The findings will equally be useful to Home Economists by organizing workshops, seminars and conferences on family and adolescent’s academic performance. The findings can add to literature in the teaching of the course as one of the objectives of Home Economics Education at the tertiary level, which is to train and raise good home makers and family counselors.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study was delimited to the dysfunctional family and its effects on academic performance of social studies students secondary school in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria. It ascertained the constitutes of dysfunctional families. The study emphasized at the physical, social, economic, and emotional effects of adolescents from dysfunctional families in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria.
Finally, the work reviewed the influence of dysfunctional and academic performance of secondary school in ---------------- local government area of ---------- State of Nigeria and the strategies of reforming the dysfunctional families.
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