Parental Socio–Economic Status As Correlate Of Child Abuse And Neglect In Ibadan, Oyo State Of Nigeria

Abstract

This empirical study investigated educational level and socio-economic status as correlates of child abuse and neglect. One hundred and forty-four Junior Secondary School (JSS) students (72 males, 72 females) randomly selected from four Secondary Schools in Ibadan metropolis participated in the study. The instrument employed was Child Abuse and Neglect Inventory with psychometric property of .68. Two null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance. Results showed that JSS students whose parents had lower educational level were significantly abused and neglected than their counterparts whose parents had higher educational levels. It was also found that JSS Students with lower socio- economic background experienced significant abuse and neglect than JSS students with higher socio-economic background. Based on these findings, recommendations were advanced towards curbing child abuse and neglect in the nation.