INFLUENCE OF PARENTING CHILDREARING STYLE ON IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENT DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IN ILORIN METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT

This research work is carried out in order to investigate childrearing styles on in-school adolescent deviant behaviour in Ilorin metropolis. This study sought to determine the parenting childrearing styles on in-school adolescent on the basis on democratic, authoritarians, authoritative and laise faire styles (Ilorin metropolis). A self-developed questionnaire tagged questionnaire on parenting childrearing styles on in-school adolescent deviant bevehaviour (PCRTSADB)) was used to collect data from the respondents for the study. Five research hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance, data collected were analyzed through analysis of variance (ANOVA). From the finding, the study revealed that parental childrearing style can influence in-school adolescents to deviant behavior when children are not allowed to do wrong thing, the wishes of children are treated with maturity and when the children are allowed to express their feelings among others and there were no significant differences in the influence of parental childrearing on in-school adolescent deviant behaviour in Ilorin metropolis on the basis of gender, educational qualification, age, religion and family type. Therefore, the following recommendations were made that counsellors should develop strategies to handle influence of parental childrearing style on in-school adolescent deviant behaviour in Ilorin Metropolis and counsellor should encourage the formation of club that will promote safe and responsible of children against deviant behaviour (peer counselling)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education is the medium by which an individual achieves success in his/her life, in the society and in the world, and it lays the foundation of personality (Kumar, 2017). According to the Mauritian Ministry of Education and Human Resources (2014), the secondary school provides an education that enables the fulfilment of the four pillars of the Delors Report, namely learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together. It should also provide the adolescent student with the necessary skills that allow him/her to adjust easily and smoothly to the rapid physical, emotional, mental and social changes (Garcia & Santiago, 2017).

Indeed, every child is unique in itself and has its own pace of growth and development. As the child grows up, his emotions and social functioning changes and continues till adolescence. Adolescence is that critical period of human development during which rapid biological, psychological and social changes take place. This period marks the end of childhood and sets the foundation for maturity. Adolescence is defined as the period of transition between childhood to adulthood that involves biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional changes. During this period, parents expect more self-regulation and initiative at the very time that their early teenagers are beginning to experiment with all kinds of risky behaviors (Barber, 2002). Anecdotal evidence and self-report data suggest that, children seem to become progressively self-conscious and concerned with other people’s opinions as they go through puberty and the period of adolescence (Steinberg, 2011).

Adolescents begin to assert more autonomous control over their decisions, emotions and actions, and start to disengage from parental control. At the same time, the school context involves an intense socialization process during which adolescents become increasingly aware of the perspectives of classmates, teachers and other societal influences (Berzonsky and Adams, 2003). Right from infancy, children learn and acquire traits and behaviours that they exhibit throughout their life time. During socialization, parents and significant others in the society endeavour to form children in such a way as to make them acquire worthwhile virtues cherished by the society. It is believed that there are some roles that are better performed by parents which children tend to accept most readily than any other person in their life. Since parental roles are essentially formative, their influence in the socialization of children cannot be over-emphasized. Researchers are of the view that the type of family a child comes from and the parenting style of the child’s parents is likely to influence the child’s social behaviour (Olds & Papilia, 2011; Baltus, 2012). One of the basic components of the society is the family. The family is the first institution of the socialization and from where the child learns cooperation and other social skills. This is the first family unit for the child.

According to Macionis & Plummer (2007), a family unit is a social group of two or more people related by blood or adoption that usually live together. Individuals are born into a family. Eke (2000) defined a family as a social unit or group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. The family therefore includes adults of both sexes, two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship with one or more children biologically owned or adopted. Berndth (2007) stated that, the single parent family has been one of the fastest growing types in most parts of the world. Single parent family has come into existence as a result of divorce, dissertation, death, separation and out-of-wedlock births. Children from such families may suffer from guilt and loneliness, feelings of anger to mention a few. Young ones in single parent families’ contend with intense emotions due to their parents’ abrupt departure or death. For many adolescents, the absence of one of the parent’s seems to have profound negative effect on them. Another family type is the stepparent family, Berndit (2007) pointed out that, this type of family comes into existence as a result of either a parent’s divorce or death. He further stated that children in this type of family are found not to be well adjusted at school. They manifest behaviour problems and perform poorly at school, and their behaviour is like those of single parent families. The Children tend to react negatively if one of their divorced parents remarries and they become part of a new family described as step family. Problem arises because children at this stage of development are expected to be under authority to be carefully monitored. Also in step parent’s family, monitoring is inadequate; the children suffer from a number of behavioural disorders (Berndit, 2007).

Parenting styles are persistent approaches, strategies and standards parents use in bringing up their children. They involve how parents respond to children’s psychological and material needs, and what parents’ demands from their children. Parenting styles are unique and evolve as children develop their personalities (Eriega, 2014; Collins as cited in Olds and Papilia, 2011). Most of the studies on parenting styles have emphasized that the kind of parenting style adopted by parents has monumental impact on children’s attitude, academic achievement, social life and career choice (Maccoby & Martin 2013). This underscores why children raised in entirely different environments with the same kind of parenting tend to exhibit similar characteristics and behaviours. Different parenting styles produce different characteristic traits of children including those demonstrated at school. Research suggests that parenting styles and the quality of a parent and adolescent relationship may have an impact on the social development of adolescents.

An adolescent’s emotions, autonomy, achievement, and identity are all brought about by the parenting style adopted by the adolescent’s parent. The manner in which children are raised is crucial to their total development. The way parents respond to children’s needs and relate with them has a tremendous impact in the development of their personality and their interaction with society resulting to deviant behaviour. Angel (2015) opined that deviant behaviour is any behaviour that lacks conformity and acceptability of people in the society.