Occupational Roles of Couples and Wife Battering among Residents of Anambra State, South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

Wife battering, an aspect of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has remained a global concern for many decades. However, the situation has become more problematic in the 21^st century despite various legislations against all forms of violence against women. This study was conducted to examine occupational roles of couples and wife battering among residents of Anambra State, Nigeria. Frustration- aggression theory was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. Mixed methods research design was employed in the study. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting respondents in the study. A sample size of 400 was generated using Yamane formular for determining sample size. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data while in-depth interviews were used to collect the qualitative data for the study. The quantitative data collected were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, simple percentages and graphic illustrations. On the other hand, the qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. Findings of the study indicated that the major consequences of wife battering include: depression and trauma, low self-esteem and social withdrawal, poor academic performance, low self-esteem and sense of insecurity on the part of the children, as well as high rate of divorce, loss of social relevance within the community and collapse of the family system. It was recommended that there is need for various social welfare and non-governmental agencies concerned with women development to reinforce policies that could help to address cultural issues that alienate the female gender from socio-economic opportunities in various communities so as to ensure that females have relatively higher access to skills and job opportunities that would help to curb the issue of wife battering. Also, existing laws on wife battering and other forms of violence against women should be strengthened.