Domestic Violence Among Married Secondary School Teachers: Examining Differences by Gender, Educational and Family Background in Rivers State

Abstract

The study assessed the difference of gender, educational background and family background on domestic violence among married persons in senior secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three corresponding hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlational survey design and was conducted in selected senior secondary schools across the three senatorial districts of Rivers State. The population comprised 3,186 married secondary school teachers in 323 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. A sample of 540 married teachers was selected using a multi-stage random sampling technique, while 513 properly completed questionnaires were used for data analysis. The instrument was validated by the researcher's supervisor and two experts in Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling. Reliability was established using the Cronbach Alpha method, yielding an overall coefficient of 0.81. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while the independent samples t-test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that gender, educational background and family background had no statistically significant difference on domestic violence among married persons in senior secondary schools in Rivers State. The study concluded that domestic violence was not significantly influenced by these demographic characteristics. The study recommended that counselling services, emotional intelligence training, conflict resolution programmes and public awareness campaigns be strengthened to promote healthy marital relationships and reduce domestic violence among married persons in Rivers State.