Gender Perception, Female Downgrading and Domestic Violence among Married Couples in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate gender perception, female downgrading and domestic violence among couples in Cross River State. the ext-post factor research design was used in this study. The major independent variables for the study were gender perception and female downgrading while domestic violence was dependent variable. Four research hypotheses were formulated to guide the research in this study. The sample for the study was 800 married couples, made up of 546 males and 254 females, a stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to get the subjects for the study. The major instrument for the data collection was four-point likert type scale called Gender Perception and Female Domestic Violence Questionnaire (GPFDVQ). The responses obtained from the instrument were coded, scored and analyzed statistically; group means and standard deviation were calculated. The independent t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used to analyze the data. All the four hypotheses were tested at 0.5 level of significance based on the result of data analyzed. The following findings were made: (1) couples with negative self-concept, (2) there is a significant positive relationship between gender perception and the level of domestic violence among couples. The higher unfavourable perception of gender the higher the level of domestic violence among couples and (3) there is a significant negative relationship between female downgrading and the level of domestic violence among couples. Counselling implications as well as conclusion were made to make for a happy family life.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p423