Dr Olowolabi Segun & Sunday Jacob Okiti
Abstract
The study examined the perceived influence of domestic violence on family relationship among couples in Ondo State. It was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The sample for the study was one hundred and twenty (120) couples who were randomly selected from all the couples in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State. The instrument used for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire which was developed by the researchers. Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using frequency counts and mean. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study showed that cultural disparities ( =2.65), alcoholic involvement by couples ( =2.94), lack of faith and trust ( =2.87), financial difficulties ( =3.08), use of hard drugs ( =3.27) were some of the causes of domestic violence among couples in Ondo State. The result also revealed, among others, that there is a significant influence of domestic violence on family relationship among couples. It was therefore recommended among others that marriage counselling should be made compulsory for all intending couples as this would help reduce domestic violence.