Domestic Violence and Effective Strategies for Tackling its Consequences on Students’ Educational Aspirations in Kwara State, Nigeria

This is a descriptive study that examined the prevalence of domestic violence and effective strategies for tackling its consequences on students’ educational aspirations in Kwara State, Nigeria. The sample for this study was made up of 200 students and 150 teachers drawn from ten secondary schools which spread across Kwara Central senatorial district, totaling 350 respondents for the study. Data for this study was collected through a questionnaire, two research questions were raised and answered and three research hypotheses were postulated and tested. Findings revealed that the prevalence of domestic violence among couples includes pouring acid on one another, the cutting of the manhood by the wife, stabbing one another, pouring hot water on one another, poisoning one another through food or other means, beating, kicking, and slapping the wife. Findings further revealed that effective strategies for tackling domestic violence in Kwara Central are tolerance, patience, an anti-domestic violence sensitization forum, avoiding third party involvement, and the creation of a guidance and counseling unit. Other strategies include the situation where the husband should be held responsible, extra marital affairs should be avoided, husbands should avoid acquiring many wives with a low income, family interference should be avoided, and couples should learn how to say sorry to each other. These would all help to tackle domestic violence in society. It was recommended that the Government should set up an enlightenment campaign for couples to help eradicate domestic violence. There should also be a punishment for those that violate the rules and regulations of tackling the menace of domestic violence. Religious leaders should intensify efforts to fight against domestic violence in the society at large.


Introduction
The world today is experiencing domestic violence in all spheres of society. The act of domestic violence is a behavioral disorder that manifests itself among couples at the current time. In Nigeria, for example, there are reports of married couples engaging in the cutting of the manhood when the husband adds more wives, the pouring of acid on a partner, the stabbing of one partner with either a knife, or broken bottle, the pouring of hot water on a partner, the poisoning by the wife or husband, as well as slapping, beating, and kicking each other (Abdulaziz, Iyekolo & Balogun 2018).
Violence is defined by the world health organization (WHO, 2010) as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened against a person, or group or community which either results in or has a high livelihood of resulting to injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation. Many forms of domestic violence involving children and the elderly for instance, can result in physical, psychological and social problems that do not necessarily lead to injury disability or death. These consequences can be immediate as well as latent and can last for years after the initial abuse. Abdullahi (2011, p. 57) defined violence as "any behavior directed towards harming human being". Violence is considered as any behaviour in which an organism intentionally seeks out to harm any other organism. The intention to inflict harm, be it physical harm or a verbal affront, is therefore an important element in identifying violence and crime against women. Ajibola (2019) opined that the causes of domestic violence in society include a man with many wives who has a lower income, intolerance between the husband and wife as well as a lack of trust and a lack of patience. Avoiding responsibilities by the husband or wife, engaging or moving around with a concubine (i.e., extra marital affairs) by both parties, family interference in a couple's life, third party involvement in a couple's life, and the level of poverty in the family's lifestyle also determines the level of domestic violence in the family setting.
Driessen (2017) stressed that domestic violence takes many forms including physical, sexual, emotional and mental. Traditionally, domestic violence is committed against women in society. He further said that common forms of domestic violence in Nigeria are rape, attack, molestation, beatings and corporal punishment. Abdulaziz, Iyekolo and Balogun (2018) reported that a 29-yearold mother with four (4) children experienced domestic violence when her husband picked up a hammer and hit her on the head. She was rushed to the hospital. She eventually found that her four months' pregnancy had been affected by this violence.
The Punch Newspaper of June 30, 2020, reported that a woman poured acid on her husband because the husband added a second wife. The Nigerian Tribune of March 6, 2020, reported that a man in Badagir Lagos state beat his wife to death on the account of the absence of food when he came back from work. Agbolahan (2020), reported that a secondary school teacher in Lagos state raped a 17-year-old girl on the school premises after the closing hour while she was waiting for her parent to pick her. Subsequently, the man has been arrested by the Nigerian police and charged, and will be sent to court for prosecution.

Consequences of Domestic Violence in Society
The World Health Organization (2010) pointed out that the following are the consequences of domestic violence on individuals in society. They include sudden death, sickness, injury, disability, emotional disorder, psychological trauma, mental disorder, depression, anger, suicide, separation/ divorce, homelessness, and shame. Pouring acid or hot water on a partner or engaging in the beating, kicking, or slapping of the wife by her husband, are also results of domestic violence.

Educational Aspirations
The term 'educational aspiration' refers to the existence of realistic aspirations or expectations and idealistic aspirations that are fulfilled at certain educational levels by children. In society, the education of a child can be attained through the full support of the parents and their economic status. In this regard, if parents are not together as a result of domestic violence, this situation would affect the entire life of a particular student (Abdullahi, 2011).

Criminological Theories
Strain Theories postulate the existence of a social structural disjuncture between socially desired goals and the means for achieving those goals. This disjuncture between goals and means produces a social -psychological strain within the individual, who is then forced to escape the strain through various adaptations. Merton delineated four such adaptations ritualist, innovators, realist, and rebel (Hewitt, 1993).
Control Theories focus on the factors that insulate individuals from crimes rather than those which propel individuals with crime. Proponents of these theories include Briar and Poliaran (1998). Their argument is that insofar as criminals are bound to the conventional order, they are free to commit criminal offence acts.
Conflict theory and radical criminology are two schools of thought which are distinguished in their conceptualization of the nature of social order: (1) conflict theory tends to adopt a pluralistic conflict perspective of society as an aggregate of diverse interest groups competing for power; and (2) radical criminology tends to adopt an instrumentalist-Marxian perspective of contemporary society as dominated by a unified, capitalist ruling class (Sell, 1980).

Statement of the Problem
Many scholars have written in different capacities on the various problems emanated in society. Amoli (2018) opined that not only do men beat women, but women also beat men especially where the woman has power over her husband in terms of strength and body type. In other research, it was pointed out that ladies also rape as men do rape, but ladies tempt men and rape men depending on the situation and circumstances of where they are (Agbolahan, 2020). Conklin (2007) postulated that intolerance and impatience are difficult aspects, both of which leads to domestic violence in society among couples, particularly when the couple are from different backgrounds and experienced different upbringings.
None of these studies have actually investigated the prevalence of domestic violence and effective strategies for tackling its consequences on students' educational aspirations in Kwara State. This is the part which the researcher intends to fill.

Research Questions
1. What are the most common types of domestic violence among couples in Kwara Central, Nigeria?
2. What are the available effective strategies for tackling its consequences on students' educational aspirations in Kwara Central Nigeria?

Hypotheses
Ho1: There is no significant difference in the availability of domestic violence tackling effective strategies available among parents of public and private secondary schools. Ho2: There is no significant difference among parents of students of private and public schools and teachers' perception of prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara State, Nigeria. Ho3: There is no significant difference in private and public secondary school students' perception of prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara Central, Nigeria

Methodology
This is a descriptive survey study that examined the domestic violence and effective strategies for tackling its consequences on students' educational aspirations in Kwara State. The population for this study comprises all secondary school teachers and students in Kwara State. However, the target population were students and teachers of one hundred and fifty-three (153) private and public secondary schools located within Kwara Central. A random sampling technique was used to select ten secondary schools (five public and five private secondary schools), which was spread across the local government in Kwara Central. From these ten (10) schools, a random sampling technique was used in sampling fifteen (15) respondents that were teachers from each of the ten (10) schools. The total teacher sample was one hundred and fifty (150). On the other hand, simple random sampling was used to sample twenty (20) students from senior classes from each of the ten randomly sampled schools. Thus, the researcher sampled two hundred (200) students (20 students each from 10 schools) from SS I to SS III classes. In all, 350 sample individuals participated in the study. The collection of data was carried out with the use of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was titled as "Domestic Violence and Effective Strategies for Tackling Questionnaire" (DVESTQ). The questionnaire has three sections: A, B, and C. Section A. elicits teachers' and students' perception on the prevalence of domestic violence, section B elicits responses on the availability of domestic control mechanisms (i.e., management) in Kwara Central. Section B of the instrument was structured with options ranging from Frequent (F), Fairly Frequent (FF) to Non-Frequent (NF). Since at the first level of analysis, the sample respondents were analyzed using a descriptive statistic (percentage), the Items were scored by frequency of respondent's opinions (analyzed Item by Item). At the other level of analysis, the responses was scored following F = 2, FF =1 and NF = 0. Responses to Items in Section C was also first analyzed using percentage to answer Research Questions 1 and 2.

Validity of the Instrument
The validity of the instrument was done using a content and face validity approach, that is, the instrument was given to two lecturers in the Social Sciences Education Department (SSE), University of Ilorin for correction. The corrections and suggestions were used to prepare the final draft of the instrument.

Reliability of the Instrument
The reliability was determined using the test-re-test approach. The reliability of the instrument was determined using test-retest technique. The data generated were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics and coefficient of 0.83 was obtained which made the instrument reliable for the study.
The researcher approached the Ministry of Education to seek permission for access into various secondary schools located within the metropolis. After this, the researcher went around the schools selected in person to administer the questionnaire. Research assistance were used for data collection. However, the researcher put all machinery in place to avoid loss or non-response to Items on the questionnaire. This was achieved through the use of teachers in the school as research assistants. The data obtained through the use of questionnaire were collected on the statistical coding sheets, and to answer research questions 1 and 2. Research questions 3, 4 and 5 have corresponding hypotheses and were tested with the use of t-test statistical technique. Therefore, all the hypotheses postulated were tested with the use of t-test statistical technique, at 0.05 level of significant.

Research Questions
Research Question 1: What are the most common types of domestic violence among couples in Kwara Central, Nigeria? The reaction of teachers to Item 4 (the pouring of hot water) shows that 24 (16.0%) picked frequent, 59 (39.3%) picked fairly frequent, while 67 (44.7%) picked not frequent. On the other hand, students' reaction to the same Item shows that 94 (47.0%) picked frequent, 60 (30.0%) picked fairly frequent, while 46 (23.0%) picked not frequent.
The reaction of teachers to Item 5 (the poisoning of one another by the parents) shows that 28 (18.7%) picked frequent, 74 (49.3%) picked fairly frequent, while 48 (32.0%) picked not frequent. In the same vein, students reacted to the same Item which showed that 80 (40.0%) picked frequent, 60 (30.0%) picked fairly frequent, while 60 (30.0%) picked not frequent.
The reaction of teachers' reactions to Item 9 (lack of food supply for the family by the head of the family) shows that 80 (53.3%) picked frequent, 52 (34.7%) picked fairly frequent, while 18 (12.0%) picked not frequent. Students responded to the same Item which showed that 96 (48.0%) picked frequent, 64 (32.0%) picked fairly frequent, while 40 (20.0%) picked not frequent.
Research Question 2: What are the available effective strategies for tackling the consequences of domestic violence on educational aspiration of students in Kwara Central, Nigeria?  Table 2 shows that out of 150 teachers and 200 students that responded to Item 11 (tolerance within the family) in the schools, 59 (39.3%) teachers and 146 (73.0%) students picked available while 91 (60.7%) teachers and 54 (27.0%) students picked not available.
The reactions of teachers and students to Item 16 (Adequate responsible at home by the husband) showed that 75 (50.0%) and 110 (55.0%) picked available, while 75 (50.0%) and 90 (45.0%) picked not available. Responses of the respondents (teachers and students to Item 17 (avoidance of extra marital affairs) showed that 76 (50.7%) and 132 (66.0%) picked available and 74 (49.3%) and 68 (34.0%) picked not available. The reactions of teachers and students to Item 18 (avoidance of many wives with low income) showed that 94 (62.7%) and 124 (62.0%) picked available while 56 (37.3%) and 76 (38.0%) picked not available The responses of the respondents (teachers and students to Item 19 (reporting of family matters to external persons) showed that 98 (65.3%) and 117 (58.5%) picked available, while 52 (34.7%) and 83 (41.5%) picked not available. The reaction of both teachers and students to Item 20 (respect each other with sorry to avoid domestic violence among couples) showed that 110 (73.3%) and 126 (63.0%) picked available, while 40 (26.7%) and 74 (37.0%) picked not available.

Hypotheses Testing
Hypotheses 1 to 3 postulated earlier for this study were tested with the use of the t-test statistical technique, at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1:
There is no significant difference in the availability of domestic violence tackling effective strategies available in both the parents of students in public and private secondary schools in Kwara Central, Nigeria.  Table 3 shows that the calculated t-value is .231, while the critical t-value is 1.960 with 148 degrees of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated t-value is less than critical t-value therefore, the hypothesis which stated that there is no significant difference in the availability of domestic violence management strategies in public and private secondary schools is accepted.

HO2:
There is no significant difference among parents of students of private and public schools and teachers' perception of the prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara Central, Nigeria  Table 4 shows that the calculated t-value is .281 while the critical t-value is 1.960 with 148 degrees of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated t-value is less than critical tvalue therefore, the hypothesis which stated that there is no significance difference in private and public school teachers' perception of prevalence of delinquency in secondary schools is accepted.

HO3:
There is no significant difference in private and public secondary school students' perception of prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara Central, Nigeria  Table 5 shows that the calculated t-value is .471 while the critical t-value is 1.960 with 198 degrees of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated t-value is less than critical tvalue therefore, the hypothesis which stated that there is no significant difference in private and public secondary school students' perception of prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara Central is accepted.

Discussion
The prevalence of domestic violence (i.e., the pouring of acid on one another by the couples) in Kwara Central is 'highly frequent' according to the responses of the student respondents with a result of 80 (40.0%), while the teachers were of the opinion that pouring acid on one another by the couples was 30 (20.3%). The available effective strategies for tackling domestic violence activities in Kwara Central according to the student respondents was tolerance within the family with the score of 146 (73.0%), while the teachers had a score of 59 (39.3%). The findings of the study from the three hypotheses formulated and tested were discussed according to each hypothesis using t-test statistical analysis at the 0.05 level of significance.
The first hypothesis stated there is no significant difference in the availability of domestic violence tackling effective strategies available among parents of public and private secondary schools. This implies that both teachers and students shared the same view of the domestic violence tackling strategies in Kwara Central. This finding is in line with the studies carried out by Conklin (2007) who noted that the availabilities of management strategies of domestic violence could help children in promoting educational aspirations in society.
Hypothesis Two stated that there is no significant difference among parents of private and public school teachers' perception of prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara Central, Nigeria. This study revealed that the pouring of acid on a partner, beating pushing, poisoning and kicking were very prevalent in society these days. This is in line with the view of Driessen (2017), who noted that domestic violence included physical, sexual, emotional, and mental aspects and that they are commonly prevalent mostly among couples in society. Hypothesis Three stated that there is no significant difference among the parents of private and public secondary school students' perception of prevalence of domestic violence in Kwara Central, Nigeria. This is in line with the view of Ajobola (2019) who pointed out that the major causes of domestic violence in society are intolerance among the couples, a man with many wives with low income, lack of trust, and poverty.

Conclusion
The following conclusions were based on the findings of this study. The prevalence of domestic violence is the pouring of acid on one another by couples, the cutting of the manhood by the wife, the stabbing of one another by the couples, the pouring of hot water on one another, the poisoning of one another through food or other means, and beating, kicking and slapping the wife in Kwara Central are high. The available strategies for tackling domestic violence in Kwara Central are tolerance, patience, an anti-domestic violence sensitization forum, avoiding third party involvement, a guidance and counseling unit, the husband should be responsible, avoiding extra marital affairs, the husband should avoid many wives with low income, family interference should be avoided, and couples should how to say sorry to each other to tackle domestic violence in society.

Recommendations
The following recommendations were based on the findings of this study: Sociologists, being experts in crime analysis and control, should be involved in managing disciplinary acts among couples in Nigerian registries. The sociologists can be employed as consultants to be able to manage the affairs of the couples at the wedding ceremony and at the registry department in the Ministry of Women Affairs in each state of the federation. The government should embark on enlightenment campaign programs to educate parents on adequate ways of catering for themselves. It is essential for the government to enact codes of conduct to deal with the parents who violate the rules and regulations towards tackling the menace of domestic violence in society. The government should also sponsor the training of more counselors and social workers to be able to effectively monitor and treat domestic violence in society. Religious leaders should put up more efforts to fight against domestic violence in the society at large.