vii. 1. While the basic functions of the family remain the same all over the world, traditional African families have undergone significant transformations attributed to an interplay of factors, including Christianity, industrialization, educational expansion, population growth, monetization of the economy, migration, civilization, and now globalization. Kinship connections are in turn based on two categories of bonds: those created by marriage and those that result from descent , which is socially recognized links between ancestors and descendants. - They counsel and guide the youth on matters of sex and marriage Why guiding and counseling was done by elders 1. In fact a woman was part of the property of the man. 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. African societies are complex and diverse, requiring an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate and understand the continent's economic, political, social, and cultural institutions and change. Significance of dowry payment The custom of paying personal gifts to the brides people is practiced all over Africa sometimes referred to as Bride wealth or Bride price. Therefore, they try to restrict the kinship ties. Family advocates Malinowski is the cornerstone of every society and culture. If there is agreement, this marks the beginning of courtship period. 3. Department of Sociology Introduction. But however, after a few years of contact with white civilization and subsequent social change, the custom has gradually changed. 12 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Havenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures. - The hair of the mother and the child is shaved. The following day, the naming ceremony takes place. How the widows and orphans are supported - Church members offer them guidance and counseling (giving them hope) - They are prayed for. - Honesty. ii. It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. In the U.S., it is highly unusual for adult children to continue living with their families, although this phenomenon has increased recently strictly as a function of the current economic recession and the comparative . - Marriage brought unity in the society. 3. - Some people acquire wealth through dishonest means e.g. Second, the continued Eurocentric descriptions and characterization of the African traditional family as some what depraved lead to the use of such terms as bride price, avoidance social taboos, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in African marriages and families. As Eaton et al (2003) found in South Africa, for young people struggling for daily survival, protection from possible future illness may be a lower priority than meeting immediate economic needs. People that belong to the same kinship system are referred to as kin. Problems experienced by widows and orphans - They suffer from lack of company because they feel abandoned. Children could be named after their dead relatives. Death must have a cause. | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples It must be emphasized, however, that these were traditional patterns as far back as late 1800s up to as late as 1960s. 3. Women were not allowed to own property. Others bury the dead with property with a belief that they would continue to use them in the next world. There are several forms of Initiation; these include:- i. Circumcision ii. 2. At childhood children are taught to obey parents and the elderly. Marriage is no longer a must and many people decide not to marry. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1983. BIRTH Pregnancy - This is the first stage in the life of a person. Each community has a distinct political and social organization. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING Today many people talk of the way things were sometimes back many factors have affected the African culture. The African notion of "family," by contrast, typically refers to the extended family system. in some communities it is thrown to uncultivated land to show fertility. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. This culture was pre-literate, pre-scientific and pre-industrial. Headmanships of villages, court offices, ritual titles, and chieftainships are passed on in this way. The houses of grandparents form their sleeping places. But typically news, information, and gossip flow readily through the network, with some individuals acting as "kin . - The departed relatives are kept alive through naming. 3. 4. 5 It comes unannounced. theories regarding family structure" (D . Indeed this sense of kinship binds together the entire life of the "tribe . v. They drive a way witches and evil spirits. Changing attitude towards death rites Some of the death and funeral rites are still being practiced however some are slowly dying out. - Men are not allowed to go next to the delivery places. viii. People of the same age set consider themselves as brothers and sisters. These could be through words or deeds. vii. Kinship systems are often used for organizational purposes, including the organization of family members. Naming ceremonies also provide opportunity to teach the culture of the youth. (Ndola: Mission Press, 1988), 44 Thomas Price, A Short English-Nyanja Vocaublary, (Lusaka: National Educational Company of Zambia, and Kenneth Kaunda Foundation, 1970). the introduction of money economy. The new hair that grows shows the beginning of new life. This is done by breaking the hearts of relatives by refusing to be good-hearted when they need you. 8. Everyone has an obligation to marry or get married. Although children among the Baganda are brought up in an unroutinized and casual way with a few rites of passage to adulthood, they seem to go through three distinct stages during their up bringing. 3. The medicine men lead the community in religious rituals. These views were expressed before 1930s and as late as 1960s. There is socialization to raise boys and girls to become responsible and acceptable adults of the village, community, and ultimately society. Follow. Clitoridectomy Female circumcision. v. There was a lot of fairness in the distribution of property. iv. The Plan of Action also asserts that "for the full and harmonious development of their personality, children should grow up in a famil environmenty in a,n atmosphere of happiness lov, ane d understanding". This chapter only focussed on the matrilineal and polygynous patrilineal African traditional family patterns because they seem representative of the broad patterns that exists on the continent. 5. Urbanization: Those who move away from home to towns in search of Jobs are drawn from their ancestral homes. 2. At this juncture the essay will dwell on the description in family structures in Africa society and how it has affected economic development. Kinship refers to the relationships between people. They are referred to as the Eskimo, Hawaiian, Sudanese, Omaha, Crow, and Iroquois systems. Naming gives identity to a person before a child is given a name she or he is not considered as having full identity. - Taking of dangerous drugs. 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. This ensured that nobody remained landless. During seclusion there is sex education, which is meant for girls and boys for marriage. 1967. TOPIC 9:AFRICAN MORAL AND CULTURAL VALUES MEANING AND WHOLENESS OF LIFE- In the African traditional society, life is believed to originate from God. - 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. Today marriage is for companionship and it is considered to be complete even if there are no children. They are important because they have a lot of experience. The mother may hug or caress the child and comfort it when hurt or in distress. It is also a taboo to marry close relative. DEATH Death is the last rite in ones life and unlike other rites like initiation, naming. The midwives perform the following:- 1. How the of rites passage inculcate moral values In the traditional African communities, people learn the moral values through every days activities and through education provided. In the late and early 19th century, a detailed study conducted among the Baganda found that, Polygyny, the type of marriage in which the husband has plural wives, is not only the preferred but the dominant form of marriage for the Baganda.8 Commoners had two or three, chiefs had dozens, and the Kings had hundreds of wives. Lecture: Nexus kinship and blood has a taste if age-old ideologies. 29 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.30. The study of African societies has become an established area of scholarship, with sophisticated analyses that are far from earlier works . In some communities there is feasting and drinking of beer. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. 2. But rather as curiosities that were to succumb to the superior European monogamous marriage values legitimated by Christianity. Importance of seclusion period 1. Edited by Arthur Phillips, London: Oxford University Press, 1953. 6. Grandparents are charged with the duty of counseling. Explaining Caribbean Family Patterns. Tembo, Mwizenge S., A Sociological Analysis of the African Personality Among Zambian Students. 8. Severing the ties of kinship is among the body sins and it is among the major sins. iii. Which factors have led to the weakening of kinship ties in Kenya today? It symbolizes the union between the living and the dead. The clan chooses the heir. Those who abuse sex are heavily punished. Those related by blood have common ancestors. iii. A Modern Introduction to The Family, Glencoe: The Free Press, 1960. Kinship refers to relationship between people through blood, marriage or adoption. 4. 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factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society