Perceived Influence of Divorce and Separation on Children Upbringing in Port Harcourt Local Government Area

Abstract

This study examined the Perceived Influence of Divorce and Separation on Children Upbringing in Port Harcourt Local Government Area. The factors under investigation include: how emotional and psychological trauma due to divorce and separation, how educational outcomes due to divorce and separation, how familial relationships due to divorce and separation influence the upbringing of children in Port Harcourt Local Government Area. The study made use of descriptive survey design. The population of this study consists of all the registered male and women in Rumuwoji Community Male and Women Organization and Rebisi Community Male and Women Organizations in Port Harcourt Local Government Area with a total population size of 360 registered members. The sample size of the study was 360 registered male and women in the Community Based Organizations which is the entire population. This is because of the manageability of the population size. The instrument for data collection was a self structured questionnaire titled “Influence of Divorce and Separation on Children Upbringing Questionnaire”. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions while the null hypotheses were tested using z-test statistical tool at 0.05 level of significant. Based on the analysis, the findings of the study revealed that emotional and psychological trauma, educational outcomes and familial relationships due to divorce and separation influence the upbringing of children. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that: government through the school and community leaders should organize workshop programme for parents and children on how to overcome emotional and psychological trauma that may come as a result of divorce and separation and that school management should always have a preferential treatment for children that came from divorce or broken home hence it affect their academic performance or achievement.

Key Words: Children, Divorce, Educational Outcomes, Emotional, Influence, Perceived, Psychological, Separation, Trauma, Upbringing

Introduction