Abstract

The present study was intended to find out the effect of divorce on adolescent psychosocial development. Specific objectives were to examine parental separation and adolescent psychosocial development. The effect of emotional instability on adolescent psychosocial development, single parenting, and adolescent psychosocial development and financial constraint and adolescent psychosocial development.

The study adopted a correlation research design. Questionnaire measures the impact of divorce on adolescent psychosocial development were administered to 60 students of the University of Buea; 30 students were selected from the faculty of Education and 30 in the Faculty of Social and Management Science who were selected using the simple random sampling technique.

The descriptive analysis in particular frequencies, percentages, averages, and pie charts was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicated that; parental separation affects adolescent psychosocial development as the parents are uninvolved, have less supervision, less emotional support, less monitoring, and less socialization.

How emotional instability affects adolescent psychosocial development since they suffer from emotional behaviours like indecisive, stress, aggression, self-consciousness and argumentative. Single parenting affects adolescent psychosocial development since they are being neglected by parents their gender specific and role model being robbed. Financial constraint significantly affects adolescent psychosocial development since their physical, psychological needs are not met which may lead to personality disorders.

The researcher design used is the sample survey design. Based on those findings, some recommendation was made to counselors, teachers, and parents to provide loving, caring and supportive environment and social background for their adolescent, also involve in their children activities, monitor them, socialize highly with them which will help in reducing negative social behaviours.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

This chapter presents the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the objective of the study, research question, significance of the study, justification of the study scope and delimitation of the study, and operational definition of terms.

Background to Study

Divorce over the years has been a serious problem on the psychosocial development of adolescent students as it affects their psychological, emotional, social, and even economic lives. Separation frees parents from the burden of child-rearing (Caye, 1996) Aprons et al. (1987) describe divorce as a process that entails psychological risk as well as the opportunity for the development of the stake’s holder. Psychological development can be defined as the relationship one has towards the society that will help to enhance his or her development.

According to Erikson development at the adolescent level cannot be achieved if one does not undergo rapid physiological changes to produce a new body with familiar sexual urges and social pressure, especially peer pressure. The peculiarities of this adolescent period make it unique from another aspect of development that is adolescents try to integrate the various identity.

It is a transitional period from childhood to adulthood and it requires an atmosphere full of love and understanding because this is a period adolescent faces crisis so they need a stable family, an effective school system and a supportive peer group that will help in reducing these crises.

In Cameroon today, many adolescents are getting into problems simply because of how they were nurtured and what they were exposed to in the course of growth that is the environment hence parenting, education, status, economic and culture, a neighborhood play a key role in the adolescent development.

Growing up in Buea sometimes depends on the type of homes and parents one has. The economic status of the home whether low or high may likely contribute to the positive or negative development of the adolescent. The home too whether loving, caring, and supportive may contribute enormously to the proper development of the adolescent child. A loving caring and supportive home entails that the family of the adolescent should be stable by creating a supportive relationship with the adolescent.

The well-being of every adolescent starts from home. The home is the first agent of socialization. The family is the first place where socialization of the child starts when they interact with siblings, relatives, and the home environment to learn altitude, values, and behaviours required in the society need proper nurturing.

For it to fulfill its obligation to the members by becoming a full member of the society. Adolescents benefit enormously when one or both parents are highly involved in their upbringing. The act or nurturing the young ones to the adolescent stage is a great task for every parent to fulfill. Up to bring of adolescents starts from attending to their physical needs based on the various physical development.

These physical needs are shelter, food, warmth, drink, sex, protection, love, belongingness, and self-esteem help in adolescent biological changes of puberty which signal the end of childhood result in rapid growth, weight, and size. They are experiencing. Apart from upbringing, lack of warmth and seizure from the parents may affect the development of self-control that is controlling their ability, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-concept as an adolescent. An environment characterized by love and good health is expected to promote the well-being of adolescents.

According to conger and Chao (1996), adolescents from divorced families are more likely than adolescents from intact homes to have fewer intimate relationships with their parents. Sometimes they also drop out of school because of a lack of concentration.

They could become sexually active at an earlier age because they may not be properly mentioned of their behavior. Apart from this, they sometimes take drugs and associate with anti-social peers and this may lead to having lower self-esteem. All of these happen due to a lack of support and care from their families.

According to Furstenberg et al (2001) the family needs to be intact for adolescents to experience the warmth and nurture of a loving family. Behavioural and emotional problems like argumentative, indecisive, self-consciousness, stress, aggression may stem from the parental conflict before and after divorce as well as from separation itself.

In the view of Young et al (1997) a smooth functioning family can provide support and nurture to an adolescent during times of stress and crisis. Adolescents from divorced families tend to do worse in school and got into trouble with school authorities more than adolescents from 2 parents’ homes perhaps because single parents find it difficult to monitor their children on top of their responsibilities.

The adolescent is sometimes referred to as a period of storm and stress due to some biological changes like change in body proportion and forms and the attachment of sexual maturity and the sharp increase is referred to as adolescent “growth spurt” it generally begins for girls at about 9.5 years and begins  14.5 years for boys between 10-16 years and last for 2 years.

It includes hair on the public area for both girls and boys deeper voice, muscular growth for boys while the increase in hips and growth of breasts in girls. The maturation of productive organs comes with the monarch (1st menstruation) and spermicide (production of sperm in boys). They do experience in their bodies if the stressors are in increase by parents marital breakdown, then adolescent concern may be stressed the more.

As noted by Nelton and Forehand (2001) The family becomes a source of stress as a result of divorce. Both parents have a role to play in the lives of adolescents and these roles cannot be over-emphasized. Cooney and Mortimer (1999) observed that divorce may be a kind of distraction that disrupts the functions of parents to their children.

The absence of a father in the home may lead to aggressive behavior and adjustment during the teenage years. Since the father is the head of the family, he is respected and heard whenever he talks or gives instruction so he helps to adjust some behaviours in a home. The father often assumes the primary responsibility of disciplining the male and not the female adolescents who sometimes exhibit more antisocial disorderly conduct, smoking of cigarettes or marijuana, intake of harmful drugs, sexual intercourse. Since they spend more time with peers and less time with parents.

They can easily be influenced by peers, especially from violent neighborhood. Adolescents turn to peers for companionship and intimacy but still look up to parents for the secure base on which they can operate.

According to Mcloycl (2000), the financial strength of the home is worsened by divorce since both parents are no longer together. The financial stand of the home is left in the care of the mother whose financial strength may not be able to support the children. Such mothers are more distressed than their counterparts in intact homes. They often show lower support, nurture, and involvement with their children.

Divorce generally has effects on both sexes of adolescents but in different ways. Kelly (2000) affirmed that there are a lot of negative effects of divorce on males than females.

Wolfinger (1998) found out that adolescent males are prone to drinking problems due to parental divorce on the other hand girls from single parents are more likely to leave home after school. Both girls and boys from divorced families turn to be depressed according to Simons (1999) than their same-aged peers from intact families.

Makind (2004) asserts that the function of marriage is to provide happiness, security, cultural growth that is to say marriage is meant for both couples to be happy, secure each other and it improve cultural diversity and the development of a sense of responsibility for enhancing continuity and social perpetuation.

Marriage is seen as a permanent union of a man and woman done freely, founded on love and designed companionship procreation and proper upbringing of the children. It can only be naturally dissolved by death. Divorce is usually perceived as the solution to different marital relationships irrespective of the repercussion on the couple, children, adolescents,s and society at large.

Divorce is one of the most stressful life events a person can experience regardless of whether one sought the divorce or was unprepared for the divorce. When adolescents are involved the stressful events are even more complex.

Theoretical Framework

The scope and nature of divorce became a central part of many human personality theories and basic adolescent psychosocial development which include;

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of need Theory

Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory in psychology was proposed in 1968 being a theory on human motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to involve his observation of human innate curiosity. He used the terms physiological, safety, belongings and love, esteem, and self-actualization to describe the pattern that human motivation generally moves through.

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is relevant to this study because all adolescents need some basic social needs like love and belongingness, self-esteem, safety, and physiological need for life to move smoothly. The more the needs are met, the more adolescents will develop psychosocially.

The Ecological Systems Theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner

This theory explains how a child’s development is affected by their relationship and the world around them. Bronfenbrenner believed that a person’s development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment. He divided the person’s environment into five different levels which are the Microsystems, the mesosystem, the macro system and the chemo system.

The relevance of this theory to the study is that the environment where adolescent finds his/her self has a role to play in his/her psychosocial development. Adolescents need to experience warmth, nurture and a loving family to affect their lives positively than adolescent from a divorced home who comes from an environment which is not conducive to him or her. Adolescents whose environment be it the immediate or the outermost environment is conducive for day-to-day activities will be affected positively.

The Ecological Systems Theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner

This theory explains how a child’s development is affected by their relationship and the world around them. Bronfenbrenner believed that a person’s development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment. He divided the person’s environment into five different levels which are the Microsystems, the mesosystem, the macrosystem and the chem system.

The microsystem is the innermost level, the one that is closest to the child having direct contact with. The microsystem consists of contexts like the family, peer group, school, and neighborhood where the proximal processes occur. Any practice here will affect the child’s psychosocial development. This layer has the most immediate and earliest influence on the child. The relationship at this level can be as Bronfenbrenner calls it; bi-directional since the child’s family can influence the child’s behavior. For practical purposes the micro-level variables of early child development.

The Attachment Theory

The attachment theory is another important framework that is related to this study. It is a theory (or a group of theories) about the psychological concept of attachment. Attachment is a long-life distinguished behavioural system whose goal is proximity caretaker. It was first conceptualized by John Bowlby and later refined by Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton 1992) The theory contends that a strong emotional bond with at least one primary caregiver is crucial for healthy child development. Healthy attachment brings love, security, and joy while unhealthy attachment brings anxiety grief and depression.

Relating the theory of attachment to the research topic, we will see that when an adolescent knows that he/she is given affection and love by the primary caregivers being the parents will promote well being of the adolescent. It makes the adolescent feel secure in his/her environment. In a situation where an adolescent comes from a divorced home where he/she may have an insecure attachment, she may suffer from anxiety.

Statement of the Problem

The family which is the most important social unit that provides social and economic security to its members such as children is under threat due to rising cases of divorce. Divorce impacts the adolescent’s behavior and socialization in school and environment, peer group, and even the society at large. The family structure is altered and thus affected many divorces are emotional and can even draw the children into the conflicts between parents.

Adolescents facing problems of family dissolution have more different times with behavior and social expectation at school among peers and the society than children from conflict-free families. In order to fill this gap this study aims at investigating the influence of divorce on adolescent psychosocial development in some selected secondary schools in the University of Buea.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of divorce on adolescents at the University of Buea.

Specific Objectives

1. To find out the extent to which parental separation affects adolescent psychosocial development.
2. To find out the extent to which emotional stability affects adolescent psychosocial development
3. To find out the extent to which single parenting affects adolescent psychosocial development
4. To find out the extent to which financial constraints affect adolescent psychosocial development