ATTITUDES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LLORIN METROPOLIS TOWARDS WIFE BATTERING

Discussion

Drawing upon cognitive dissonance and social learning theories, two hypotheses were formulated to identify variables of attitudes toward wife battering, conceptualized here as wife battering liberality. Tests of these hypotheses yielded some findings which merit discussion.

The observation that the family is perhaps the most violent social group in our community today and the home the most violent social setting (Mowaiye-Fagbemi & Idowu, 1997), can no longer be contested. One is most likely to be hit or killed in his or her home by another family member than anywhere else (Gelles & Straus, 1979). As a matter of fact, beatings, stabbings, kicking, chokings are common occurrences in many families. These violent acts most often than not occur between husbands and wives. In such cases, the children of the marriage are converted to helpless and inevitable spectators with all it portends.

The result of this study shows that students who reported incidence of wife battering in their own family background have higher acceptability of wife battering. This is evident in the t-test analysis performed on the scores of the students. The analysis showed that the students who reported incidence of wife battering in their own family background have mean score (37.52) which is greater than the mean score (34.82) of those students who did not report incidence of wife battering in their family of orientation.

This finding is in line with the major tenets of social learning theory which suggests the proposition that a familiar history of wife battering tends to make the child more liberal towards wife abuse (Omari, 1969). Through observations of parents as role models, a child who is brought up in a family where wife battering is the order of the day tends to see wife battering as part and parcel of marriage relationship. It is therefore not surprising that this attitude is carried on to adult life.

The results of this study also reveal that sex has significant effect on attitudes toward wife battering. The result in Table 2 showed that the t-value of 4.17 was significant at 0.05 level of significance, hence, the conclusion that a significant difference exist between the attitudes of male and female students toward wife battering. A further analysis of this result revealed that male students with a mean score of 64.640 have higher acceptability of wife battering than female students whose mean score (54.735) is lower.

The reason for the female's lower scores on the attitudes toward wife battering scale is not far fetched. At least being the recipient of wife battering, no woman would whole-heartedly support wife battering in a family relationship. The results of the study may also reflect the erroneous belief by some men that women are their toys and personal property who must be treated as second class citizens.

Supporting this view, Aro (1986) posited that the relationship between husband and wife in the traditional setting is such in which the basic social principles affirmed the subordination and subjection of female to male authority and superiority. The authority, however, are sometimes carried to extreme with men inflicting untold physical harm on their wives. The case of a husband (in Frank Olize's NTA Newsline) who poured concentrated acid on his wife to "check" her infidelity is just one of the examples of violent acts against women.

Our National dailies are replete with cases of similar wife violence. It is no longer news to neighbours and relatives for a husband to beat his wife (Mowaiye-Fagbemi & Idowu, 1997).
Abstract:          Introduction:          Research Questions:          Discussion:          Implications for Counselling:          References:

Announcement: You must be 18+ to be eligible to use TGSFORUM.Goto-HomePage.