A Socio-Legal Inquiry into the Perception of Divorce among Married Couples in Irhirhi Community, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

The rate at which people seek for the dissolution of their marriages in Nigeria is becoming quite alarming. Why would a couple who celebrated their union with so much fanfare, pomp and pageantry suddenly find themselves incompatible? The study was carried out in Irhirhi Community, Southern Nigeria using a triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of four hundred and fifty respondents and thirty-five interviewees were sampled. The study used the functionalist perspective to explain the perception of married couples on the issue of divorce. The findings of this study revealed that there were several causes of divorce amongst which are childlessness, adultery, financial difficulties and incompatibility of the couples. It was also discovered that divorce does not occur at the snap of the fingers but is an accumulation of happenings which were left unattended to. Interestingly, the study found that the married couples in Irhirhi Community, Southern Nigeria are basically not aware of the existence of laws on divorce. Based on these findings, the study recommended that the Religious, Non-Governmental Agencies, the family and the mass media should wake up to their responsibilities by inculcating the right family values in their members.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4p454