EFFECT OF MARITAL PROBLEMS ON THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF JOS NORTH LGA PLATEAU STATE)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Marriage is a basic institution in every society designed by God as a social agreement between two individuals to become husband and wife (Becker, 2002;
Uka, Obidoa & Uzoechina, 2013). It is an institution that gives legitimacy to sexual relationship and reproduction for legitimate children (Ryan & Powelson,
2010). Marriage involves joining in matrimony two individuals of different
gender to become one flesh as husband and wife, given the need for
companionship, procreation, continuing and sustaining family ties (Gbenda & Akume, 2002; Abane, 2003; Bumpass, 2009). Nevertheless, marital instability in
the present day society is of huge concern as it is associated with separation, divorce and widowhood (Omoniyi-Oyafunke, Falola & Salau, 2014). According to
Uka, et al., (2013), marriage is a legalizing of a special relationship between a man and woman to which the society gives approval; and it places partners
under legal and social obligations to themselves and the society. Although the concepts of marriage and family are one used synonymously, they are not
same but have distinct meanings. The term family is defined as any two people who are related to each other (Sarker, 2007). To Onwuasoanya (2006) the
family is the household and those who live in one house, and a network of persons such as the couple, their offspring and kin intimately held together by a
bond of social and kinship relationship. The significance of the family devoid of instability is recognized by researches locally and worldwide (Becker, 2002;
Sarker, 2007; Uka et al., 2013; Omoniyi-Oyafunke et al., 2014). This is because the family without instability grows and is one where positive relationship is
promoted and sustained. As a consequence, Sarker (2007) refers to marital instability as the interpersonal association and interaction within the marital
relationship. Moreover, Lesmin and Sarker (2008) defined marital instability as the process whereby marriages breakdown through separation, desertion or
divorce. Hence, the increasing incidence of marital disharmony such as the occurrence of divorce shows that there is marital instability in a number of
families in the Nigerian context (Ezennay, 2006). Marital instability occurs as an attempt of one individual or partner to checkmate the behaviour and
anticipations of the other (Uka et al., 2013). This threatens the household stability as well as the well-being of the children, as it one impacts on their
academic adjustment and achievement. A number of people in the contemporary society believe that the educational system has failed, but evidently, the
schooling system has not failed but rather it is the partnership that has failed, with schools taking on the responsibility that families, communities once
assumed (Castro-Martin & Bumpass, 2009). The family stability one
has a marked influence on the student‟s motivation for learning and on her to cope with
academics. The home environment is a strong pointer to the academic adjustment and achievement of children. This is because a number of children‟s
academic potentials are now confronted with increasing diiculties
as a result of parental marital instability (Sarker, 2007). The contact between the parent,
teachers and students makes a lot of impact on the academic performance of the students. So those who do not regularly attend lectures because of lack of
proper monitoring by the parents could experience challenges adjusting academically (Bumpass, 2009). Parents are thereby faced with the problem of
enriching their home environment so as to establish a positive eect
on the student‟s academic performance in schools (Castro-Martin & Bumpass, 2009).
