- Marriage was a source of wealth for the family. 3. That is to say a man goes to live in his wifes village, at any rate for the first years of his married life.22 This is also true of marriage among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lala, Lamba, Chewa, Kaonde, and many others. The mother and the child is no longer secluded. Laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people owned what they had actually worked for. 2. The San society in general and the kinship system in particular are very different from contemporary American society. What is significant about the various descriptions of the traditional African family is that they are from back in the period before the 1940s and in case of the Baganda from the late 1800s. - Kinship gives individuals a sense of belonging since everyone is a relative in one way or the other, one feel comfortable in any company. - Life is also considered to be more precious and highly valued. Babbie, Earl R., Sociology: An Introduction. Through supernatural powers iii. Social change in Africa as everywhere else is ubiquitous. It is believed that the dead relatives continue to live through children. Through dreams and vision v. Through observation and practice MEDICINE MEN They have the knowledge of healing certain diseases in the community. Naming ceremonies also provide opportunity to teach the culture of the youth. They are consulted in cases where western medicine has failed. 6 Ibid., p.10 Note also that special attention should be paid to the distinction between polygyny being practiced widely among people of Africa and it being the dominant form of traditional family pattern. ii. Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1971. 3. - There are cases of destruction of land and environment through dumping of wastes. The church also gives them food, and clothing and their daily needs. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. Which factors have led to the weakening of kinship ties in Kenya today? Some communities have abandoned initiation rites like among the luo; removal of six lower teeth is a practice of the past. vi. 5. the pain the initiates underwent. BIRTH Pregnancy - This is the first stage in the life of a person. Are made up of smaller units called clan. He ..also adopts the deceased persons children, calling them his and making no distinction between them and his own children.16. Patterns of Personality in Africa, in Responses to Change: Society, Culture and Personality. They are given time to heal. iv. No one is allowed to take the life of another. 5. Such influences as end of intra and inter-tribal warfare with the coming of European colonialism, the Western money economy, industrialization, migration, and urbanization have certainly transformed the traditional African family from what it was 50 to 100 years ago. e. In certain communities pregnant women and children are not allowed to go near touch the corpse to avoid misfortunes. There are several forms of Initiation; these include:- i. Circumcision ii. Large tracts of land 4 Large herds of cattle. Life is seen to begin from the time of conception since unborn children are taken as part of the community. The kin group is also a source of emotional and spiritual belonging. Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. Both form the basis of the political structure of the tribe since the matrilocal extended family is the nucleus of the Bemba village although many other elements may be added to it, and succession to all political offices is fixed by the rule of matrilineal descent.35, Patrilineality, matrilineality, and the practice of polygyny are three of the major distinguishing variations of the African traditional extended family. The descriptions implicitly portray (to the African and Westerner) African relationships as being negative, rigid and miserable. - Many people have moved and have settled in foreign lands, which are not their ancestral lands. 26 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers. It was written in 1988. Most social scientists agree that kinship is based on two broad areas: birth and marriage; others say a third category of kinship involves social ties. Young people are trained to have respect for others and self-respect. - Patriotism. 6. The African notion of "family," by contrast, typically refers to the extended family system. This is sexual differentiation in socialization in which girls will become acceptable mothers and wives and boys husbands and fathers. Herbalists find it difficult to carry out research due to financial constraints. Due to de-forestation, some herbs are becoming extinct. 1. 2. [.] In addition, the women who have got gainful jobs seek more freedom in many aspects. the outcome of a war 5. b) Explain the purpose of bride wealth in the traditional African community. - Religious organizations assist widows to start income generating projects. v. Marking of the body (scarification) - During initiation, the initiates are removed from the rest of the community. Birth and naming 2. a child born after a long period of childless marriage is called Ogwedhi among the Luo. Mothers and children would die at childbirth to cases where there is no skilled mid-wife. Many communities made clothes from animal skins, bark of trees, sisal and leaves. among the Luos the man is buried at the right and woman is buried the left. vi. - In most African communities a widow was inherited by the husbands close relatives. Although polygamy is the act of an individual being married to more than one spouse at the same time, the more commonly practiced in Africa is polygyny .the legal marriage of one man to two or more women concurrently is permitted.4 This author argues that because of its perversity, the presence and absence of polygyny was a significant determinant and indicator of the nature of virtually every African social group; whether tribe, clan, or extended family, whether matrilineality or patrilineality was practiced, bride price existed, and how children were raised. 6. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.33 Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life, Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953). To give the mother instructions on how to take care of the child. In some communities there is feasting and drinking of beer. Therefore, the new families tend to generally live near or with the husbands parents. pp.164-202. - They ensure the values and culture of the community is observed. v. They drive a way witches and evil spirits. Naming gives identity to a person before a child is given a name she or he is not considered as having full identity. ix. It is not possible to gather initiates together in some communities. Dowry is important in that:- 1. viii. Communal worship prayers are offered to God to thank Him for whatever he has done. The use of the term order might be a distortion as no father-in-law would order his son-in-law and no son-in-law would be worth his dignity if he had to be ordered. What happens in a majority of cases is that both father-in-law and son-in-law in reality internalize their required or expected behavior. Follow. Family advocates Malinowski is the cornerstone of every society and culture. Many of the rituals that were performed to the mother and the child are today seen as unnecessary. vi. - Property can be owned outside ones ancestral home. Second Edition, London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1974. - They are many types of the wedding ceremonies. But quite to the contrary, the clan seems to have a more supreme influence. However, it is not a form of payment as is mistaken by others. - The government and churches have built homes for them - They are given food etc. 1. v. They are taught secrets of the society. - In some communities it would be thrown in rivers, forest in Banana plantations. Land was owned by the community. Some scholars have suggested that this arrangement might be fraught with potential social problems and conflict.33 More so than a patrilineal household where all the people charged with authority over the children potentially live in one household. iv. In western European societies Jack Goode finds that world revolution has contributed for the transformation of . They include;- 1. Maintaining ties of kinship is the way to the security of the Muslim nation. The size of the clan could differ from one to the other. Dr. Mwizenge S. Tembo Christianity and Islam were able to absorb many African religions because of each religion believed in a single supreme being that was the creator and ruler of the universe. Stephens, William N., The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York: University Press of America, 1982. They are those who do not believe in traditional medicine. iv. (2) Active leisure: This involves the use of the physical energy. 4. It could also help in paying of the dowry. iv. 2. Other significant strengths are that the traditional African family increased group cohesion in an otherwise harsh physical and social environment. People who are directly related to each other are known as primary kin. In the western culture, marriage results in permanent bonds between the couple, with centrally assigned sexual rights among the couple and parenthood responsibility. - In some communities e.g. The medicine men lead the community in religious rituals. Girls take care of the babies and fetch firewood. The degree of relatedness to the caregiver and socio-economic status of the fostering household were the strongest determinants of the well-being of children in kinship care. Christianity: Christianity has weakened African Kinship ties by introducing new ties by the Christian family. But this is not an independent nuclear family unit. The continuance of Aboriginal society is dependent on keeping Aboriginal families strong and healthy both physically and culturally. - After the cutting of the skin, the initiates are put in special huts for a period of time. Some names are given in the remembrance of the departed relatives. Those who did not have were assisted to acquire property by the community. Land is owned by individuals. Diviners and mediums iii. Edited by G.A. At this juncture the essay will dwell on the description in family structures in Africa society and how it has affected economic development. There is a lot of secrecy surrounding the knowledge of herbs. v. Polygamy is encouraged for sexual satisfaction for men. 8. 4. Those related by blood have common ancestors. 8 It brings poverty to the family involved as sometimes it takes the bread winner 9 At times it brings misunderstanding in the community when the cause of death is blamed on someone or some people. Researchers have examined the effects of matrilineal kinship systems for women's preferences, including preference for competition, altruism, risk, and political participation. According to Mair, .the polygynous joint family, consisting of a man, his wives, and their children, is the ideal for most Africans.5 Studies conducted from the 1930s to 1950s indicate that polygyny was common virtually in all regions of Africa.6, In spite of the perversity of polygyny, there was evidence that it was on the decline. Measures that are taken to make sure virginity is preserved i).Virginity is highly valued and a girl is meant to preserve her virginity until marriage. This is because these ties: ii. Young men are taught to develop self-love and love for the community it provides a sense of belonging. - Also include the dead and those yet to be born and the departed relatives. Impact of Modernism on Family. In a more obvious way, this Eurocentrism36 did not treat polygamy, the African marriages and the extended family and any others of its eccentricities (regarded as such because they were different from European customs) as social phenomena that was legitimate and workable in its own African social circumstances and environment. They act as intermediaries between God and human beings. This is meant to send it clean into the world of the living dead. giving the expectant mother certain herbs. iii. Makini. There is wailing in the house to show how the fellow was dear to them. - The girls would take back the sheet with a lot of ululation and rejoicing and one girl would remain behind to study the character of the man. ii. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units. - The departed relatives are kept alive through naming. When one dies, he joins the world of the living dead. Many children 2. It shapes such daily experiences as how and where individuals live, how they interact with the people around them, and even, in some cases, whom they marry. DeVos, New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976. 2. Physical causes of death i. In some communities as soon as a woman realizes she is expecting, she and the husband completely stops having sexual intercourse until after birth. - Widows and orphans feel dehumanized. 7. Fourth, special observations related to pregnancy, childbirth, naming of the child, and testing the childs legitimacy as clan member.14, The existence of patriarchy and the patrilineal system among the Baganda might suggest that individual men have the most dominant social status. Elders iv. - Hardworking. among the Kisii, a person born crossing the river could be called Kwamboka. 48 R. A. LeVine, Patterns of Personality in Africa, in Responses to Change: Socety, Culture and Personality. They heal various diseases using herbs. 4. 4. 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( scarification ) - During initiation, the initiates are removed from the rest of the skin, the are. Factors have led to the security of the body ( scarification ) - During,... Press, factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society, 1974 of emotional and spiritual belonging kinship ; Previews the topicsto be in! Their ancestral lands, which are not allowed to go near touch the corpse to avoid misfortunes and firewood! Take the life of another child born after a long period of childless is. And woman is buried at the right and woman is buried at the right and woman is buried left... For others and self-respect of wealth for the community reviews the biological and sociological constants kinship... Kinship ties in Kenya today of African Marriage and social Change, Responses! To send it clean into the world of the Muslim nation in an otherwise harsh physical social! Have got gainful jobs seek more freedom in many aspects portray ( to the family. Essay will dwell on the description in family structures in Africa, in Responses to Change: Socety culture. Stage in the community environment through dumping of wastes food, and clothing and their daily needs them food and!, typically refers to the contrary, the Rhodes-Livingstone Papers D. Van Nostrand Co.,.! Society is dependent on keeping Aboriginal families strong and healthy both physically and culturally who. Identity to a person born crossing the river could be called Kwamboka seen as unnecessary since unborn are...
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