An Assessment of Attitude to Marital Counselling Among the Married: A Case Study of Grace Methodist Church, Sakaman – Dansoman Circuit
- November 7, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Evans Kwashie Kagbetor1, Cynthia Quaye2
1,2Maranatha University College, P. O. Box AN 10320, Accra-North, Ghana
Abstract: – Marital counselling offers the married enrichment for a healthy marriage. The purpose of the study was to assess attitude of the married towards marital counselling. Findings of this study hopes to provide evidences for the formulation of policies regarding marital counselling in the church and facilitate the understanding of marital counselling as a tool for maintaining healthy marriages.
The target population of this study was all married persons in Grace Methodist Church, Sakaman in the Accra Diocese. A descriptive approach was used to collect and analyze data. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 60 married persons purposively sampled. Microsoft Excel was used for the descriptive analysis while the themes and concepts in the narratives of respondents were qualitatively analyzed.
Findings of the study revealed that the attitude of the married towards marital counselling did not match their knowledge of marital counselling. Even though the married appreciated the importance of marital counselling they did not take the full advantage of its benefits because of the issue of confidentiality. Many preferred the attendance of marriage programmes to meeting a counsellor one-on-one with their issues. Also, majority followed various programmes in the media as means of enriching their marriage.
The study recommends among other things that the attitude of the married towards marital counselling would be much improved if the church addresses the issue of confidentiality and the media is used as a tool to reach out to members on issues concerning marriage and marital counselling.
I. INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Marriage is the most intimate of all human relationships. When this relationship is good and growing, it provides one of life’s greatest satisfactions; But when it is unstable or monotonous, it can be a source of great frustration and misery, (Collins 2007, p.566).