CORRELATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL FACTORS AS CORRELATES OF MARITAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG COUPLES IN IJEBU-ODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Marital relationship is the foundation of family life because it involves the union between a man and a woman as husband and wife. Marriage is a component part of the culture usually formalized by the custom, law and occasionally solemnized by religion. It is a means by which physiological, procreation, social, emotional and security needs are satisfied. (Ebenuwa-Okoh, 2003)
Human society is essentially developed from marital relationship when married persons are wedded, they always make commitment to remain in the bond of unity and love “until death do us apart”. However, available statistics of marital breakdown show that many married persons who make such vows do not keep them to the end (National Centre for Health statistic, 1994). Marital relationship has now become a global phenomenon referencing the position of father, the mother and the children, from the royal families of princes and princesses down to the peasant farmers in our contemporary time. The happenings among Nigerian married persons in the present day make one to believe there is absolute joy attached to marriages. On the other hand, marital maladjustment can exist in a situation married persons frequently nag, quarrel or fight, which may eventually lead to separation and divorce in extreme cases. Divorce is the end result of a malfunctioning marital relationship. Its traumatic effects on the society are numerous (Riches, 1991). A close look at this implications shows that some family life and marriage that does not take into cognizance adjustment in their marital status, are in for serious trouble but the aggregate understanding of individual differences as made the sustainability of such marital status much more suitable for survival(Banjo, 2001). In the same vein, Statistics have shown that in America, for example, one out of every two marriages contacted end in a divorce (National Centre for Health Statistics, 2006). This situation is not significantly different in other parts of the world, Nigeria inclusive. For example, in Nigeria, divorce statistics from the federal high court, Benin-city; showed that 99 divorces were granted within 4 years of marriage which as given rise in .
