CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Births out of wedlock simply refer to births made by a woman who was not married from the conception to the date of birth of the child or they are births that the court have determined to have been made during marriage but not the issue of that marriage (added by P.A.1980, NO. 54). Births out of wedlock are births made by parents who are not married to each other by the time of those births. In any local law, ordinance or resolution, or in any public or judicial proceedings or in any process, notice, order, decree, judgment, record, or other public documents or papers, the term bastard or illegitimate child shall not be used but the term child born out of wedlock shall be used in substitution therefore and with same force and effect.(source: Law 1941, c) Consent is not necessary from the father of a child born out of wedlock, unless they has acknowledged his paternity by a written document filed with the court, has expressed paternal interest by registering with the Wisconsin Paternal Interest (Putative Father). Registry at any time prior to the issuance of a final adoption decree.

This chapter is a general introduction of the research which will examine aspects that concern this chapter. This chapter will examine aspects like background to the study, statement of the problem, the objectives and research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study and definitions of terms. The investigation is to find out the effects of births out of wedlock on the psychological development of such children born out of wedlock. This is important in that it will help to limit the number of births out of wedlock, hence reducing the number of children who go through these effects of births out of wedlock during their development.

Background to the Study

Historically, births out of wedlock have soared. In 1965, 24 percent of black infants and 3.1 percent of white infants were born to single mothers in America. By 1990, the rates had risen to 65 percent for black infants and 18 percent for the white infants. Every year about one million more children are born out of wedlock or into fatherless families. If we have learned any policy lesson well over the past 25 years, it  is that for children living in single-parent homes, the odds of living in poverty are great. The policy implications of the increase in births out of wedlock is staggering. Not all solutions to non-marital births are to teenagers. In fact, 70 percent of all births out side marriage are to women over the age 20 years. It is for this reason that some people argued that a focus only on teenagers will fail to addressed the real problem and that much attention needs to be given to preventing childbearing , or raising marriage rates, among single women who have already entered their adult years. But there are some more emphasis on teenagers. Although a large proportion of non- marital births are to adult women, half of first non- marital births are to teenagers. Thus, this pattern tends to start in the teenage years, and once teens have had a first child outside marriage, many go on to have additional children out of wedlock at an older age. Teen child bearing is very costly and challenging. Although almost all single mothers face major challenges in raising up their children alone and are seriously disadvantaged. The children of teenage mothers face far greater problems than the children born to older women.

Conceptually, births out of wedlock are births made by women who have not been married from the time of the conception up till the date of the births of the children that the court have determined to have been made during the marriage but not the issue of that marriage.( added by P.A.1980, NO. 54) Births out of wedlock are births made by parents who were not married to each other by the time of the births. Most children born out of wedlock suffer from similar psychological effects during their development. A good number of these single parents go through a lot to be able to grow up these children into better persons in life socially, cognitive and emotionally. Births out of wedlock nowadays have been become very common because of the worsening moral decadence of the society and economic hardship. Youths who have not yet secured a permanent job, get themselves involved into illegal unions or cohabitations that their parents are not aware of. This is commonly referred to in pidgin language as “come we stay”. It is from these type of illegal unions that we have births out of wedlock. The number of births out of wedlock have increased grammatically in the recent years especially in the North West and South West regions semi-Urban and Urban areas as a result of the Anglophone crisis or the socio-political crisis rocking these two regions. Many other births out of wedlock have been caused as a result of girls and women fleeing from the rural areas that are badly hit by this crisis and they search for refuge in what so ever shelter they could find in Urban and mini-Urban areas of the North West and South West regions, other regions of the country or even out of the country. The killing of parents especially the father may be as a result of the crisis can cause the children to the deceased to suffer similar effects like children born out of wedlock. Divorce by couples who were already having children can cause similar problems to their children like those of children born out of wedlock. The problems of children born out of wedlock are poverty, shelter, school fees, lack of sponsorship, malnutrition, medical care, lack of parental concern and many others.

Contextually, according to Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data from 25 countries, an average of one in every five women in sub Saharan Africa had a Birth before marriage.(Garenne and Zwang, 2006) Garenne (2008) computed  that, from 1950 to 2000, the proportion of premarital births in the region have increased about 2 percent. Out of wedlock childbirths have been become more common worldwide since the 1960s, but with wide variations among and within countries. Increasing economic independence and education combined with modern birth control methods, have given women a more control over family planning. In about 25 countries, including China, India, and much of Africa, the proportion of births is typically around 1 percent explains Joseph Chamie, a demographer and a former director of the United Nations Population Division. In another 25 countries, mostly Latin America, more than 60% of Births are out of wedlock, a big jump from just 50% years ago. The rates such births often coincide with public responses which range from severe punishment and stigmatization of children to celebrations and government assistance. In most countries, marriage still provide extra economic protection for parents and children, and governments struggle on how to respond to the “marriage have become less necessary for women’s financial survival, social interaction and personal wellbeing, and government policies have been slow to keep pace “Chamie notes “like it or not out of wedlock births. ln transition worldwide and create challenges for many societies “out of wedlock childbirth has soared worldwide since the 1960, and many governments struggle to respond.

In Cameroon, about 25 percent of reproductive aged women (15-49 years old) have started their motherhood with births out of wedlock. There are some Non-Governmental Organizations that make some efforts to support single mothers by offering them some gifts, school materials for their children and some even go as far as training those single parents with a trade and buying for them the necessary machines that they need in order to successfully carry out that trade. However, children born out of wedlock remain a heavy burden to the single mothers or the whole family. Children born out of wedlock are registered under the surname of the mother only, unless the biological father acknowledges paternity of the child and both the father and the consent to the registration of the child under the father’s surname.

Theoretical orientation of this study was provided by Robert. J. Willis’s theory (1997) of out of wedlock child bearing. On his theory, fathers can shift the cost of child rearing to single mothers if females are in excess supply and have sufficiently high incomes, a marriage market equilibrium may exist in which children are within marriage to high income parents where as in low income groups, men father children by multiple partners out of marriage.

The theoritical orientation of this study was provided by Jean Piaget’s theory (1936) of cognitive development, Erick Erickson’s theory (1963) of psychological development, and Maslow’s theory of hierarchical needs. Jean Piaget’s theory (1936) of cognitive development suggest that children move through four stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding, how children acquire knowledge but also need to understand the nature of intelligence. The four stages of cognitive development are; Sensory motor stage, Pre- operational stage, Concrete operational stage and the formal stage. He believes that children take an active role in the learning process acting like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations and learn about the world.

Erick Erickson’s theory also offers theoritical orientation to this study. Erickson (1963) was a stage theorist who took Freud’s controversial theory of psychosexual development and modified it as a psychosocial theory. Erickson emphasized that the ego makes positive contributions to development by mastering attitude, ideas and skills at each stage of this mastery helps children grow into successful contributing members of the society. During each of Erickson’s eight stages, there is a psychological conflict that must be successfully overcome in order for a child to develop into a healthy well-adjusted adult. This research will focus on the third stage of Erickson’s theory which is industry versus inferiority. During this stage (ages 6-12years) children face the tasks of industry versus inferiority. Children begin to compare themselves with their peers to see how they measure up.

Maslow’s theory (1943) of hierarchy of needs also offers theoritical orientation to this study. It explains the progressive complex needs which must be met in order to grow and live well beyond basic needs survival. The hierarchy of needs is made up of five different areas that are related to human beings and their development. These needs in order include physiological needs, security and safety needs, the need for love and belongings, esteem needs and self-actualization needs.

Statement of the Problem

Children born to unmarried parents and are abandoned to one parent cannot cope effectively with the outside world like children who have been born and breed by both married parents together. This is because these children are affected psychologically as they cannot have access to most of their needs and making them always reserved, worried and backward in verbal intelligence. This is so because poor health and little stimulation resulting from inadequate care which can affect these children’s psychological development. In addition, these children’s ability to interact and socialize with others as well as develop their cognitive ability is often hindered due to inadequate or lack of support from all the two parents. Some of these children do not even have the opportunity to go to school or learn a trade due to lack of a viable person to sponsor them. They also lack adults who can help follow them up at home in order to enable them develop their writing and reading skills. When these children do not have the opportunity to go to school or learn a trade, they will not be able to develop their social skills through play. Emotionally, children from births out of wedlock usually feel unhappy and ashamed maybe because they feel that they are not well dressed, hence affecting their emotional development.

Objective of the Study

One main objective and three specific objectives were developed to guide this study.

Main Research Objective

The main research objective of this study is to investigate the effects of births out of wedlock on the psychological development of such children.

Specific Objectives of this Study were:

• To find out the effects of births out of wedlock on children born before marriage.
• To ascertain the effects of births out of wedlock on bastard children.
• To investigate the effects of births out of wedlock on adopted children.

Research Questions

One main research question and three specific research questions were developed in order to guide this study.

The Main Research Question

The main research question of this study is: what are the effects of births out of wedlock on the psychological development of such children?

Specific Research Questions.

The specific research questions were:

• What are the effects of births out of wedlock on children’s cognitive development?
• What the effects of births out of wedlock on children’s emotional Development?
• What the effects of births out of wedlock on children’s social development?