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
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 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 young 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 practized 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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