changing context of family life in nigeria: issues and

African Journal of Pure and Applied Science Education Volume 18, Number 1, pp121 – 135, July 2020 www.ajopase.com; [email protected] ISSN 11187670

Ideyi, C. O AJOPASE, Vol. 18, No 1, July 2020

CHANGING CONTEXT OF FAMILY LIFE IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILD

WELFARE

IDEYI CHIJIOKE O. General Studies Department, Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos State

[email protected]

Abstract

Family is a basic unit and the building block of every society. It is expected to provide adequate welfare,

love and affection to the children and lay the foundation for the child's proper socialization. This Paper

discussed the changing context of family life in Nigeria: issues and implications for child welfare. The paper

basically used secondary data: Information from relevant books on family, online sources, and reports on

family from Lagos State Ministry of youths and Social Development. The paper also discussed the role of

Lagos state in child welfare specifically through Adoption, foster and placement. Some family challenges

that lead to child's abuse such as lack of welfare and neglect were identified. Equally, functionalist theory,

conflict theory were used to explain the concept of family and relationship with welfare. Based on these

reviews the following recommendations were made: that families should be strengthened through social

intervention by the states. Adoption should be made easier than its current practice in states and that

family life education should be introduced as lifelong Education. Above all marriages should be legalized.

Key words: Family, Welfare, Adoption, Placement, Foster.

Introduction

The family is the cornerstone of society. It is the first window through which the child sees the world. It

has other functions but primarily it is to reproduce and socialize children by providing needed care and

helping them to imbibe the relevant social values as prescribed by societal culture, providing the needed

care and protection to children is the biological and legal responsibility of families in society: However,

across the world, many children are at risk from neglect, domestic violence, abuse of various kinds and

exploitation. The above have forced many of children not just in Nigeria but globally to flee their families

and confront the dangers of been street children with its attendant consequences on society. It is

mailto:[email protected]




therefore the purpose of this paper to examine the changing context and structure of family life in Nigeria

and how it affects children’s welfare.

Family Defined

The term family has no generally accepted definition it depends on whether it is being defined in social,

biological, cultural or statistical sense (Hodgson, 2017). This paper however defines it from socio-cultural

perspective. There exist many definitions of family from this perspective but that of Murdock (1949) cited

in Haralambos & Holborn (2004), Kornblum (2010), suffices. According to them, family is a social group

characterized by reproduction and common residence. It includes adult of both sexes legally married who

maintains a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children – biologically reproduced or

adopted. Alison (2010) added that the family owns the children legal duty of care and protection from

infancy, childhood, adolescence to adulthood. Haralambos & Holborn (2004) concluded by arguing that

family is universal in terms of existence, but vary in terms of structure and context.

Theoretical Explanation of Family

Two macro theories are used to properly put the paper in theoretical perspectives. These are:

Functionalist theory and Conflict theory.

Functionalist Theory

According to Parson (1937), cited in Haralambos (2004), Functionalist claims that society is in a state of

balance and kept that balance through the functions of society’s component parts. Social phenomenon

can be studied by analyzing what specific function is performed by any specific part. Stability and progress

is maintained when all the parts or sub-systems are performing its function. The theory is therefore used

to diagnose social problems and devise solutions to restore order, balance and stability within the system.

It is mostly used to study order and disorder, Peace and Justice, Marriage and divorce, Normal and

abnormal family experience, just to mention a few areas of applicability.

Conflict Theory

This theory was propounded by Karl Marx and Engel (1902) in their book the “Origin of the Family, Private

Property and the State” (Kornblum 2010). This theory claims that society is in a state of perpetual conflict

and competition for limited resources. It assumes that those who “have” perpetually try to increase their




wealth at the expense and suffering of those who “do not have”. Life is power struggle mostly won by the

wealthy and lost by the common man or the weak in the society.

Conflict theory is especially useful in understanding war, wealth and poverty, political strife, exploitation,

divorce, discrimination, domestic violence, rape, child abuse etc.

Functionalists agree with conflict theorists that order breakdown in society and that unfair treatment of

others is a common occurrence. These breakdowns are social dysfunctions, resulting in society and its

part being in disequilibrium. Applying the two theories to family and child welfare is appropriate as family

is stable when it takes care of the welfare of the children, and others. Conversely, it is unstable and

dysfunctional when the children are abused, neglected, exploited and denied of welfare.

Structure and Changing Context of Family

Family as an integrated and functional unit of society is accepted as a universal concept however it exists

in different forms and context in society. Haralambos and Holborn (2004), Kornblum (2010), defined a

family as a unit of two or more persons, united by marriage, blood, adoption, or consensual union. The

authors identified different structures of family all creating different context of social interaction: these

are nuclear family, extended family, polygamous family and monogamous family

Nuclear Family

Singer and Sonawat, (2010), explained that the word “nuclear” was borrowed from physics to explain

family and that nucleus is the center of an atom which consists of protons and neutrons. Thus a family will

be incomplete without marriage which is the nucleus. A man and a woman therefore form the proton and

a neutron and without each other, each will exist in a solitary state.

Extended Family Structure

An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family. It consists of Father, Mother,

Children, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Cousins who sees themselves as one and interacting on regular

basis. Murdock (1949) citied in Haralambos & Holborn (2004) observed that the structure of the family

varies from society to society. According to them, the nuclear family is the smallest family unit which

consists of a husband and a wife while Units larger than the nuclear family are usually known as extended

families, such units may be due to vertical extension or horizontal extension they explained further that

vertical extension exists when spouses’ parents are added to the nuclear family, while horizontal units

exist when the family of husband brothers or wife brothers is added to the nuclear family. This implies




that extended family structure exist when many nuclear families are living in the same household

(Kornblum, 2010). In his explanation of extended family pointed out that extended family structure can

also exist not necessary through vertical or horizontal addition but through polygamy, polygyny or

polyandry. Polygamy is the system of marrying more than one wife at a time. Polygyny is the most

common and accepted form of polygamy. It entails the marriage of a man with several women while

polyandry is another form of polygamy in which women practice having two or more husbands at a time.

However Ajayi (2010) and Gottainer (2014), all pointed out that polyandry is not common in many parts

of the world. Besides monogamy and polygamy, Amato (2017) identified many other variations in family

structure.

These are: single parent family, and gay families, and multifocal families, and communal families.

Summary of Different Types of Families, their Witnesses Strength, Weaknesses and Impact of Welfare

of Children

Cherlin, (2015) summarized families in their different forms and identified some of their strengths and

weaknesses, these are:

Nuclear Family

Nuclear families, also known as elementary or traditional families, which consist of two parents and their

children. Nuclear families may have one or more children who are biological or adopted, but the main

idea is that the parents are raising their children together in the family home.

Strengths of Nuclear Families:

It is believed to be financially stable, as both parents usually work and pull resources together for

the welfare of the children

Children are raised in a stable parenting context

Nuclear families can be strong and successful, with both parents being great examples for their

child. These child often have many advantages over other family structure, which can help them

to robust and balanced development

Weaknesses of Nuclear Families:

1. The exclusion of extended family can lead to isolation and stress

2. Nuclear families can become too child-focused, and families neglecting other important things in

relationship


https://www.britannica.com/topic/nuclear-family



Single Parent

Single parent families consist of one parent with one or more children. In these cases, the parent may not

have married, is widowed, or divorced.

A mother or father raising child alone is no longer new in contemporary society anymore, and like any

other family type single parent homes have their strength and weaknesses.

Strengths of Single-Parent Families:

(1) Family members can become very close

(2) Household duties can be shared among members

Weaknesses of Single-Parent Families:

Single parent family may struggle economical to provide adequate welfare for the child

It may be difficult for parents to work full-time and still afford quality childcare

Parenting can be inconsistent, especially if a child goes back and forth between parents

Being a single parent raising a child can be challenging psychologically, emotionally and socially to both

parent and children

Extended Family

While most people in the world identify nuclear families as being the 'traditional' family type, in different

cultures extended families are much more common especially in Africa. Extended families are families

with two or more adults who are related through blood or marriage, usually along with children.

Typically, extended families live together for social support and to achieve common goals. For example,

parents may live with their children and their children's grandparents. This gives the family the ability to

provide care for their elderly, and in turn, the grandparents may be able to help with childcare while the

parents are at work.

Strengths of Extended Families:

More families members are around to help with chores, child care, in case of emergencies and

Social support

Weaknesses of Extended Families:

Financial issues can occur if parents are supporting several other adults and children without any

extra income this can lead to child neglect, abuse, and poor welfare.

Stepfamily


http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/single



A stepfamily exists when two separate families merge into one. This can happen in several different ways,

like two divorced parents with one or more children blending together, or one divorced parent with child

marrying someone who has never been married and has no child this is similar to extended family.

Grandparent Family

The last family type identified by Cherlin (2000) and the least common of them all is the grandparent

family. A grandparent family is when one or more grandparent is raising their grandchild or grandchildren.

In these situations, the grandparents step up and act as parents to their grandchildren. Although the

situation isn't ideal, but the grandparent would rather take on the responsibility than see their

grandchildren end up in orphanage homes (David. and Caroline 2018),

Structure of Family Types, Strength, Witnesses and Impact on Child Welfare

Figure 1: Possible family structures. Source: adapted from Tassoni 2000.P.272

The above diagram shows some possible structures of family globally in diagram, though it is not

exhaustive as there are some structures that are not captured. In spite of increase research attention on

family structure by scholars, important gaps remain in literature in the relationship between family

structure and child welfare (Brown, 2010). However (Nwanna 2015) in Challenges of Lagos State child

Rights Law. Observed that when the child’s welfare is compromised, neglected or abused it causes

significant harm to the child’s growth and development. Many other scholars such as: (Popoola

andAdeoti2016) in Child welfare Deprivation in Nigeria. (Lawrence 2014) in Principles of child protection.

(UNICEF 2016) reporting on Child Protection Strategy. (Amato 2017) in Children adjustment to separation


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4301429/#R4



and divorce. Ajayi (2010) in Family Structure, Family Stability and Early Child Wellbeing all agreed that

monogamous or nuclear families provide more welfare for the children. Also this is followed by

polygamous or extended families. While Step families or reconstituted family -where the father or mother

had married after separation or divorce is considered the worst form of family structure. The least in child

welfare is co habitation, and nomadic families. This is explained by the fact that either of the parent could

walk away without any legal obligation but only moral obligation for child welfare. In the case of Nomadic,

as exemplified by the “Almajiris” all over Northern Nigeria (Alkali, 2015) while Nwanna (2015) concluded

that homosexual families are not publicly allowed in Nigerian culture. Popoola & Adeoti (2016) agrees

with the above conclusion and observed that children in Nigeria often face different degrees of problem

depending on their family structure and level of education of parents. The identified problems includes:

poor health, lack of access to education, food and social security as well as emotional support from

parents or care givers. On the other hand, Report from Lagos State Ministry of Social Development (2012)

revealed that out of 200 children studied from different families in Lagos Mainland Local Government,

120 of the children left to the care of a father within a broken home suffer neglect while the 20 others in

the care of their mother are well cared for, as a result of re-marriage by the father to another woman.

This is explained by the fact that most step-mothers favor their own biological child or children to the

neglect of children from the first marriage. Family court Report (2012) (Popoola & Adeoti, 2016), Report

on Lagos state implementation of the convention on the rights of the child (2015). It was also reported

that often times such children were literally forced out of the family house to become street Children.

This view agrees with Popoola & Adeoti, (2016) as they observed that children in step families face a lot

of challenges, both emotional and physiological. They concluded that remarriage does not generally

improve child welfare. Similarly Willie and Reddick (2010) discovered that among children who had

experienced a parental separation, those whose mother remarried exhibited more behavioral difficulties

in society than children who were born and breed in single parent family. This means that single parent

family is more stable than a broken family due to separation or divorce. Also Robinson (2010) reported

that parental constant conflict impacts negatively on child welfare as constant conflict especially in

polygamous homes result in child neglect, poor mental health of every member of the family and

compromised parental practices.




However, Kornblum (2010) found only modest support for the existence of more deprivation, child abuse

and child neglect for any particular type of family structure but rather concluded that neglect of child

welfare depends on the economic condition of the family not necessarily on the structure, However David

and Caroline (2018) added that where neglect and abuse is reported to the state authorities, the state

through its appropriate Agencies usually intervene to protect the child and ensure that the child welfare

is protected. They observed that many parents neglect their responsibility to their children due to lack of

knowledge of effective parenting, which can be obtained through Family Life Education. They explained

that Family Life (FLE) is educational processes that focus on prevention, strengthening of families and

enriching individuals and their families with the right parenting attitude. FLE empowers family members

by providing it with relevant information on child wellbeing and welfare that will help prevent child abuse

and neglect. They suggested different ways this can be achieved: News Letters, Workshops and Seminars

on the right attitude to parenting and family life but concluded that it should be lifelong education which

should be included in Adult education curriculum. According to them, this type of education will help to

prevent child abuse, child neglect and reduce the issue of adoption.

Nigerian Families and Family Life.

In Nigeria, the two dominant types of families are monogamous family and polygamous families. And by

extension nuclear and extended families. Oguniran (2013) explained that religion and cultures plays

significant role in the structure of the family in Africa, while Christianity encourages faithful members to

be monogamous, Islam allows members to be polygamous same as traditional religion. However, besides

religion, economic realities also promote monogamy even among Islamic adherents.

Another unique feature of Nigeria families identified by Oguniran (2013) is the tendency to have many

children. According to him, in Nigeria, demographic studies shows that having many children is

fashionable and is often seen especially in rural areas as a status symbol, in spite of the fact that large

families brings a greater economic burden, in providing for the children’s welfare, which often times

results in neglect and abuse. This agrees with the view of (Nwanna, 2015) who pointed out that “across

various cultures, obligations to children are usually weaker in polygamous or extended family structures

relative to monogamous or nuclear structures in term of welfare. (UNICEF 2016) further identified the

absence of family life education as contributory factors to family inability to provide effective welfare for

children.




Family and Child Welfare

In Africa, Nigeria inclusive, the express purpose of family is to produce children (Ajayi, 2010) and provide

adequately for their protection and welfare.

The children are needed to perpetuate the family name and take care of their parents at old age. This

explains the agony and misery of couples without children after a long period of marriage Ajayi (2010).

The joy of having children is followed by the responsibility to provide for the children’s welfare.

Child welfare involves the laid down system of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the child in families

(this involves providing their basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing as well as emotional needs of love).

Families are primary care givers to children and the first window through which the child sees the world.

The personality and orientation of a child is significantly shaped by the structure and context of the family

that provides primary socialization. This explains why government sometimes intervenes in the private

life of some families to protect and preserve the child. In all, child welfare is a system or the norm involving

public and private roles that are focused on ensuring that children are in safe and stable social

environment that support their wellbeing (Popoola & Ade 2016). Children are regarded as the most weak

and vulnerable in society. Consequently their welfare is the index of social and economic development

(UNICEF2016), defined a child as any one between the age bracket of one to seventeen (1-17) Year. In

Nigeria, Child Right Act (2007) as domesticated, the Nigeria constitution 1999 all agreed with UNICEF as it

defines an adult as anyone from eighteen (18) years and above. Children in our families deserve adequate

welfare for proper development to adulthood. When child welfare is compromised, neglected or abused

it causes significant harm to the child’s growth and development.

State Intervention in the Welfare of Children: Adoption, Foster and Placement

The state through its government is not only an institution that maintains law and order in society, it is

also an institution of welfare for its citizen both adult and children. The state protects vulnerable, abused

and neglected children by removing them from their biological homes and taken them to welfare centers

in preparation for adoption, foster or placement.

Adoption is a legal processing which a child’s legal right and duties toward its natural or biological parents

are terminated and similar rights are substituted with adopted families in a family court session in Nigeria

(Lagos Family Court, 2012).Thus, it is an order vesting the parental right and duties relating to a child in

adopter’s family made on their application for adoption by an authorized family court.




On the other hand, Fostering and Placement is a form of adoption in which a child is placed in a home

temporally for welfare and protection. According to Report by Lagos State Ministry of Sport and Social

Development (2018), many families that apply for adoption complained that to adopt a child especially in

Lagos state is as difficult as a camel passing through the eye of a needle and that it takes many years after

about six (6) month Of oral interview and approval letter in the ministry of sports and social development.

The Report concluded that this explains the existence of many “babies’ factories” in different part of the

country as well as trafficking in children even in orphanage homes. Most orphanage homes are registered

Non-Governmental Organizations under different state ministries in charge of adoption.

According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN, 2018) the Northern parts of Nigeria prefers fostering to

adoption example Bauchi, Bornu, Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe state respectively. NAN reported that

whereas there are people in dire need of a child in their families through adoption, authorities in the

Northern state prefer allowing applicants to serve as foster parents to provide temporal welfare for the

child. According to Haruna (2013) as the Director of Social welfare department in 2015 observed that

Adamawa State has no law for adoption but has provided for foster parent policy. On the other hand,

most Southern States provide for both foster and adoption (Lagos child Right Act 2007 Family Court 2012).

This implies that while providing for temporary means to take care of the welfare of the child, the

Southern States desire that children should grow up in families with parents. In Lagos States, the Child

Right Act invests the responsibility of implementing adoption policy on the ministry of Youth and Social

Development, in Enugu state; it is domiciled in the ministry of Gender Affairs. In Oyo, Ogun and other

South West States, adoption and placement is in the ministry of youths and social development just like

in Lagos State. While in South East States of Abia and Ebonyi, adoption matters is in the ministry of women

affair, the same applies to South South States to mention a few. Adoption, fostering or placement is the

sole responsibility of government through its relevant agencies in collaboration with orphanage homes.

Orphanage Home

Orphanage homes are temporary residence for orphans. Registered orphanages play the role of

temporary homes for adoptable children; it is a transition home for children waiting for adoption or

placement. (Akutu, 2019). An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care and welfare of

orphans and other children who were separated from their biological families as a result of deaths of

parents, abuse, mental illness, that would be detrimental to the child’s welfare




(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wilk.) Lagos State family court observed that most children who live in

orphanages are not orphans as at least four out five children in orphanages has at least one parent or

extended family members who are not willing to provide welfare (Akutu, 2019) observed that although

adoption is the sole responsibility of government it is sad that government do not consider orphanage

home relevant in the process of adoption, placement or fostering. However the Orphanage Homes still

plays significant role to the children. She pointed out that homes still feels a sense of responsibility for

adopted children. According to her, the homes monitor the welfare of the children and report to relevant

ministries until the child is eighteen years. Above all, the orphanage home serves as a temporary home

for abandoned children. She concluded that it is unfair to relegate orphanage homes to the background

in child adoption.

Issues Raised from Extant Literature Reviewed and Reports

The first major issue observed centered on the structure of the family and it is impacts on the

welfare of the children. While many scholars and schools of thought agreed that family is universal

(Haralambos & Holborn, 2004; Amato, 2007 and Popoola & Adeoti, 2016). There was no

agreement on the structure that provide the best welfare for the child.

Equally contentious was the concept of child welfare Amato (2007) opined that child welfare is a

relative concept; many philosophers defined it simply as life going well or wellbeing which

includes good health, happiness, quality education, emotional stability, quality nutrition or

balanced diet etc. Even those in their natural parent’s home hardly afford all these in Africa. On

the other hand, Deiner (2009) observed that the concept of child welfare is subjective as a general

evaluation of child’s quality of life. He viewed welfare from four perspectives: cognitive appraisal,

pleasant emotion, low level of negative mood and adequate satisfaction of basic needs. All these

to him simply imply meeting a child’s basic needs, psychological needs and sociological needs.

According to him, inability to meet a child’s basic need may be due to poverty, family disharmony

etc. He however advocated government intervention to stabilize families and provide easy

adoption and placement for abused children.

Another issue raised was the relevance of government intervention in the life of family. Many

scholars (Amato (2007), Haralambos and Holborn (2004), Popoola and Adeoti (2016), Deiner

(2009) all agree that family should not be an area of intervention by government as citizens have


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wilk



constitutional. Rights to their family and private life (Nigeria 1999, Constisution). However they

all agreed that when a child is abandoned government should intervene by picking them to

government owned orphanage homes or that of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) with

strict supervision to avoid commercialization of adoption process.

Issue of Adoption, Placement and Fostering: This was also contentious especially between

Northern and Southern Nigeria. The Northern States favor fostering and placement (Haruna,

2013), while the Southern States favor placement, fostering and adoption but prefers adoption.

(Lagos State Ministry of Sports And Social Development (2005), and Family Courts Reports (2012).

According to the reports, children in dysfunctional homes identified as families where there are

no love, care and affection from biological parents, or when both parents are aware and a child

abandoned such children should be given out for adoption to credible families.

Issue of Family Life Education (FEL) by David and Caroline (2018). This issue though considered a

novel idea for stabilizing families (Daramola, 2019) was not generally accepted as a practical

solution by many authors such as Wood head (2010), Popoola & Adeoti (2016) and Dawson

(2011), these authors are of the opinion that they should be part of Adult Education Curriculum.

Conclusion

This paper defined family as the union of a man and woman and their children, together with relatives

related to this union by marriage, kinship and blood. Marriage is considered as the nucleus of the family

Children welfare is a substantial part of family responsibility in every society irrespective of the structure

in place. In modern society, many families have failed in their responsibility and this explains the reason

for existence of street children, street urchins, and even the Almajiri system in the Northern Nigeria

(notwithstanding the influence of culture and religion). In all, Family is the building block of society and it

is seriously threatened and seriously believed to be in decline in modern society. There is therefore the

urgent need for a system that will help to strengthen vulnerable families and by extension promote the

welfare of children.

Recommendation

Based on literature reviewed and Reports as well as practical observation, the following recommendations

are made to enhance child welfare:




- Vulnerable families in Nigerian should be strengthened through social welfare system to help in

family stabilization with particular interest on child welfare. Thus family support policy should be

adopted by various state government using appropriate ministries and agencies

- All marriages should be legalized to promote and protect the children’s welfare.

- Adoption should be encouraged as against fostering and placement.

There should be a National Policy on Adoption in Nigeria as against the current state base system

and the process should be made easier for verified families that truly needed children due to their

inability to have their own naturally. This will help to discourage “baby factories and trafficking

in children.

The Nigeria National Population policy of 1988 of one woman and a maximum of four children in

the family should be enforced.

Where tradition, culture and religion permits, monogamy should be encourage through court or

Registry marriages.

Orphanage homes should be effectively supervised to avoid exploitation of families that desires

to adopt and provide adequate welfare to an abandoned child.

All responsible citizen of Nigeria and officers of government in every state should promote those

measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as a fundamental unit of society.

FLE should be incorporated into the curriculum of Adult Education

References

Ajayi, S (2010). Diversity in families, unpublished University of Lagos, Master’s thesis.

Akutu, G (2019, September 8) Guardian Newspaper .Guardian Press.

Akwara, A.F, Souino, A.G & Agba, M.S (2010). Family and Children Welfare: The Nexus for a sustainable

development. Canadian Social Service

Alison, K (2010), Family in global perspective. Ibadan Nigeria, Evans Publishers

Akali, Omeni (2015). Almajiri in Northern Nigeria Militancy, Perceptions, Challenges, and State Policies in

African Conflict & Peace building Review. Indiana University Press

Amato, P. R. (2007). Children adjustment to separation and divorce. Journal of marriage and Family 5/2.

7 - 10


https://muse.jhu.edu/search?action=search&query=author:Akali%20Omeni:and&min=1&max=10&t=query_term

https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/509

https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/509



Lagos state Ministry of Youths and Social Development (2007) “Child Rights Law of Lagos State” (Child

Welfare - http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/la

Brown SL. (2010). Marriage and child well-being: Research and policy perspectives. Journal of Marriage

[Google Scholar]

Cherlin, A.J. (2000). Toward a new home socioeconomics of union formation. In L. J. Waite, C. Bachrach,

M. Hindin, E. Thomson, & A. Thornton (Eds.), the ties that binds: Perspectives on marriage and

cohabitation (pp. 126‐146). New York: Aldine de Gruyter

Daramola, S. (2019). Dynamics of Modern Family. Retrieved grim https://www.childwelfare.gov retrieved

on 20th April 2020.

David H and Alan C (2008). The impact of divorce on children"Journal of marriage, Family structure 6(4)

15-20

David K. and Caroline S (2018). Choices in Relationship; An introduction to marriage and the (Family

International student Edition). Wadsworth publishing

Dawson D.A. (2011). Family structure and Children's health and well-being “Journal of marriage and the

family. 53(4), 5-10

Gottainer G. (2004). Family structure and Children's Welfare: A comparison of widowed and divorced

single-mother families; Journal of marriage and the family, 62(2) 7-12

Haralambas & Holborn (2004). Sociology Themes and perspectives (6th Ed), London .Collins

Haruna (2013). States in the North East, North West prefer child fostering to child adoption - survey

retrieved from (https:// www.vanguardngr.com)

Hodgson (2017). Changing context of Family Sighted in Sociology of the Family. Collins publishers

Kornblum, N (2010). Sociology in a changing world. Harcourt college publishers

Kuyini .A.B and Mahama F.K 2009. Imlementing Child Rights and Protection Law in Nigeria

http://challengingheights.org/wp

Lagos State Children's Bureau report (2017), Lagos State ministry of sport and social Development

publication

Lagos state Government (2007), child right protection law. Lagos State of Ministry of Justice

Publication


https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Journal+of+Marriage+and+Family&title=Marriage+and+child+well-being:+Research+and+policy+perspectives&author=SL+Brown&volume=72&publication_year=2010&pages=1059-1077&pmid=21566730&doi=10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00750.x&

https://www.childwelfare.gov/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/



Lagos state ministry of Youths and Social Development Report (2012). Adoption issues in Lagos state.

Retrieved from https://www.Legalnaija.com.

Lawrence, A. (2014). Principles of child protection: Management and practice. Maidenhead: Open

University Press.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN 2018), Adoption issues retrieved from http: //www devex.com.news

Federal Government of Nigeria (2016). Nigeria 1999 constitution as amended. Abuja Federal Government

Publication

Nwanna D (2018). Challenges of Lagos State child Rights Law" African journal of criminology and justice

studies (Ajejs) (1) 12-15.

Oguniran, I. (2013). The lock and key phenomenon: Reforming the policy for family and Child Adoption

Justice Policy Journal 10(1) 27 31

Popoola, A. & Adeoti.O. (2016), "Child welfare Deprivation in Nigeria. Retrieved from: https://www.

Child welfare.gov/

Population policy (1988), retrieve from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Singer & Sonawat (2010), Understanding families: A reflection of societal changes. Psicologia: Teoria

[Google Scholar]

UNICEF 2016 Annual Report on children Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org.

Wilie C and Reddick R (2010), a New Look at Family. London Harper Collins.

Woodhead (2010), Children’s wellbeing in developing countries: A conceptual Review, Journal of

Development research 22(3) 4-9


https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Psicologia:+Teoria+e+Pesquisa&title=Understanding+families+in+India:+A+reflection+of+societal+changes&author=R+Sonawat&volume=17&publication_year=2001&pages=177-86&

https://www.unicef.org/

changing context of family life in nigeria: issues and

Documents