IMPACT OF FAMILY CONFLICTS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF PUPILS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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IMPACT OF
FAMILY CONFLICTS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF
PUPILS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
Information
1.2
Conflict can be defined as the lack of peace
in an environment. Conflict in a family therefore refers to a situation whereby
the smooth interaction and relation among members of a family is disrupted
because of one thing or another. It can be between the two parents or between
parents and their children. Conflict in a family can be as a result of lack of
trust, drunkenness, lack of dialogue, lack of respect, joblessness and
idleness. It comes in form of fights, quarrels, spouse battering, child abuses
and child molestation. It can result to a bad atmosphere in the home,
separation or even divorce. According to Walker (1999), studies carried out
have shown that when one form of violence was found in the family, other forms
were more likely to also occur and that violence in the family has a direct
relationship to community violence and other forms of aggression and gender
based violence. Law enforcement in many countries will not intervene in what is
often called a “domestic quarrel” even though psychological research indicates
that without such intervention, abusers are unlikely to seek help to stop their
battering behaviour. Research has found a strong relationship between violence
in the home and violence in the community. Golden (2000) reports that it has
been found that prior history of abuse can increase the likelihood of abusive
behaviour. According to Steinberg (1996), parental conflict and aggression or a
conflict atmosphere in the home is related to offspring’s personal or violent
crimes. Murphy and O’Farrell (1994) highlighted the view that parents play a
central role in shaping the child’s development through their influence.
Thus if
parents keep having conflicts in their homes, children are bound to be affected
as they grow up. They also asserted that children learn through imitating and
identification with the parents and other significant adults. If the children
grow up in a family where violence is a common phenomenon, they may end up
doing the same in their families, unless intervention is carried out. The first
important influence on children is the family but children and families are
interactive members of a large system of social institutions, such as the
school, the workplace and 2 community. Parental involvement and education
improve both family and child functioning. It has been found out that parental
involvement in a child might have lasting effects on its behaviour. Steinberg
(1996) assets that conflict is a critical aspect of family functioning that
often outweighs the influence of family structure on the child’s development.
He also reports that studies carried out have found that children’s healthy and
social development is most effectively promoted by love and at least some
moderate parental control. According to Seifert and Hoffnung (1997), children
who have lived for years in situations of neglect or abuse suffer severe
stress. They also state that students often receive long term support from
parents or other adults at home as well as strong support from teachers and
others at school. Involving parents in learning activities with their children
at home is one kind of parental involvement that many educators believe is an
important aspect of the child’s learning. If the family is undergoing conflict,
parents will not have time for their children. Men, who more often use
violence, do so in order to obtain and maintain power and control over others.
The APA task force on violence and the family defined domestic violence as a
pattern of abusive behaviours including a wide range of physical, sexual and
psychological maltreatment used by one person in an intimate relationship
against another to gain power unfairly or maintain that person’s misuse of
power, control and authority.
Berk (1999)
asserts that problematic school performance is among the more common problems
associated with child abuse and neglect. Such children often experience
difficulties with social relationship, problem solving and the ability to cope
with new or stressful situations. According to studies carried out, some abused
or neglected children develop aggressive behaviour patterns, others become
withdrawn while others even get PTSD or major depression. Kiura (1999) asserts
that a healthy relationship between husband and wife depends on
selfunderstanding, understanding spouse, balance between individuality, mutual
relationship, proper management of conflicts, sexual harmony and sound skills
in mutual dialogue and communication. He also says that parents need to assume
responsibility for their children’s eternal destiny, educate them, prepare them
for life and guide them towards the right way. If parents are not in harmony,
it follows that their children will suffer too. They not only suffer at home
but also when they go to school or visit friends by carrying the burden of
their parents with them.
3 1.2
Statement of the Problem
In Kenya
today, hardly a week goes by before it is reported in the media that a child or
its parents or both have been hospitalized or killed as a result of family
conflicts. Other cases reported are those whereby a woman packs and leaves her
matrimonial home with her children because she can no longer tolerate her
husband’s behaviour. There are even cases whereby it is the men who move out of
their homes to look for peace elsewhere. There have also been cases of suicidal
killings, where the head of the family kills his wife and children before
killing himself. There is also the case of street children, some of whom are on
the streets because they have run away from violent home environments. These
incidents take place not only in rural areas but also in urban ones. Nakuru
Municipality has also recorded some of these incidents. When families are in
conflict, it affects children in their physical, cognitive, affective and even
spiritual growth. Their lives are enclosed or imprisoned if they continue being
exposed to a violent environment. For some, such an environment means that they
have no access to formal education and their cognitive and affective
developments are tampered with. This study, therefore, sought to find out the
impact of family conflicts on a pupil especially on his or her academic
performance and relationship with peers. 1.3 Purpose of the Study The purpose
of this study was to investigate the impact of family conflicts on the academic
performance and interpersonal relationships of pupils in public primary schools
in Nakuru Municipality.
1.4
Objectives of the Study
This study
was guided by the following objectives:
(i) To
determine the extent to which conflicts in a family affect pupils’ academic
performance.
(ii) To
establish the nature of the relationship between pupils who experience family
conflicts and their peers.
(iii) To
establish whether it is the male or female pupils who are more affected by
conflicts in families.
(iv) To
establish the nature of the relationship between pupils who experience family
conflicts and their teachers. 4
(v) To
determine the attitude of the pupils who experience family conflicts towards
their parents, peers and school.
(vi) To
determine the role of the school’s counsellor in assisting pupils who
experience family conflicts.
1.5 Research
Questions
This study
aimed at answering the following questions:-
(i) To what
extent do conflicts in a family affect pupils’ academic performance?
(ii) What is
the nature of the relationship between pupils who experience family conflicts
and their peers?
(iii) Who,
in terms of male or female, is more affected by conflicts in families?
(iv) What is
the nature of the relationship between pupils who experience family conflicts
and their teachers? (v) What is the attitude of pupils who experience family
conflicts towards their parents, peers and school?
(vi) What
role does the school’s counsellor play in assisting pupils who experience
family conflicts?
1.6
Significance of the Study
The findings
of this study may be of help to teachers and parents and it will add knowledge
to the body of literature on family conflict. The study will be of help to
parents and especially those who experience problems in their families. They
will understand how problems in a family can affect their pupils’ short-term
life and to some extent, their future. This will encourage such parents to
embrace dialogue and understanding in an effort of trying to solve their
problems. In instances where the problems are severe, they can engage the
services of a counsellor so that harmony prevails. The study will also
contribute to the body of literature on family conflicts and its influence on a
primary school pupils’ academic performance and interpersonal skills with specific
reference to primary schools in Nakuru Municipality. This study dealt with
primary schools and thus it will make an improvement to the related situations.
5 It may also be of benefit to counsellors, especially those stationed in
schools. They can be able to offer intervention measures to pupils who come
from families that experience conflict in an effort to help them concentrate on
their studies and build good relationships with other pupils. The findings may
be useful to teachers especially because they spend more time with the pupils
at school. They can intervene by referring pupils to the school counsellor or
by calling the parents of the pupil and discussing the pupil’s behaviour and
academic performance. 1.7 Scope of the Study The study was carried out in
Nakuru Municipality, Rift Valley Province. It involved ten public primary
schools within the municipality. Two teachers per school and 384 pupils in
class seven and eight were involved in filling in the questionnaires. The study
was concerned with the impact of family conflicts on pupils in their academic
performance and interpersonal relationships. The research was limited to Nakuru
Municipality.
1.8
Limitations of the Study The study had the following limitations:-
i) It was
limited to public schools only.
ii) It was
limited to primary schools in Nakuru District which means results can only be
generalized with caution.
iii) It
looked at how family conflicts affect a pupil’s academic performance and
interpersonal relationships. There are other reasons that affect pupils’
performance and relationship with others.
1.9
Assumptions of the Study
The study
was based on the following assumptions:-
(i) The
pupils would be willing to honestly fill in the questionnaires
(ii) The
teachers would be willing to provide the correct information on their various
experiences with different pupils.
6 1.10
Definition of Terms
The
following terms, which were important to the study, had the following
operational meanings:- Academic Performance: This is how pupils are ranked in
terms of educational achievement. In this study, academic performance means how
the pupils fair on in their studies as compared to others in the same class.
Child Abuse:
The act of harming a pupil in a physical, sexual or emotional way. In this
study, child abuse refers to any harm that pupils in public primary schools
undergo, be it physical, sexual or emotional.
Conflict: It
is a mutual opposition or difference between two parents or between parents and
their pupils in a family. It is a state of disagreement or argument in a
family. In this study, conflict means the disagreements or oppositions that
pupil under study face in their families, either directly from their parents or
indirectly when they witness their parents’ arguments.
Delinquency:
Bad or Criminal behaviour, usually of young people. In this study, it means bad
or criminal behaviour practised by public primary school pupils. Family: It is
a social unit made up of people related to each other by blood, birth or
marriage. In this study, family is a social unit made up of public primary
school pupils and their parents or guardians.
Family
Conflict: This refers to problems, oppositions or differences that occur within
the family set up. In this study, it refers to problems, oppositions or
differences that public primary school pupils face within their families.
Family Violence: Physical force that is intended to hurt or kill within the
family set up. It is characterized by serious physical injury, profound
psychological trauma or sexual violation. In this study, family violence means
physical or psychological injury that pupils experience within their families.
7 Impact: This means to have a powerful effect on something or someone. It can
also refer to a force that drives someone into behaving in a certain way. In
this study, it means the force that drives pupils to act in a certain way.
Interpersonal Relationships: This is how someone communicates with others; the
way a person relates to others in a family or school. In this study, it refers
to the way pupils communicate with peers in school and family members at home.
Maltreated Children:
These are
children who experience cruelty from their parents. Maltreatment is
characterized by minimal physical or sexual harm. In this study, it refers to
pupils who are treated in a cruel way by their parents or guardians. Primary
School: School for those pursuing the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.
It begins from class one to eight. In this study, primary school refers to
those public primary schools within Nakuru Municipality. Pupil: This is
anybody, child or adult, who is enrolled in a primary school or who is pursuing
the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education. In this study, the pupils include
those who come from families where there is conflict and those whose families
do not experience conflict.
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