The Family and Sexual Networking in Sub-Saharan Africa: Historical Regional Differences and Present-Day Implications

The geographical pattern of the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa suggests the possibility of different contemporary regional patterns of sexual networking which originated in different historical patterns. Because sexual behaviour is inadequately reported by the oral tradition, this paper concent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Population studies 1992-11, Vol.46 (3), p.385-410
Main Authors: Caldwell, John C., Caldwell, Pat, Orubuloye, I.O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Adultery
African culture
AIDS
Anthropological aspects
Bride price
Children
Colonization
Families & family life
Family
History
Husbands
Men
Network Analysis
Polygyny
Regional Development
Sexual abstinence
Sexual Behavior
Sexual behaviour
Sexual relations
Sub Saharan Africa
SubSaharan Africa
Wives
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Summary:The geographical pattern of the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa suggests the possibility of different contemporary regional patterns of sexual networking which originated in different historical patterns. Because sexual behaviour is inadequately reported by the oral tradition, this paper concentrates on nineteenth-century contemporary accounts and twentieth-century reconstructions with the older population. It relates sexual behaviour to other aspects of the societies. The findings are tested against theoretical generalizations, including Gluckman's identification of father-right societies and conclusions reached by the authors from a study of change in the Ekiti District of Nigeria. Finally, the impact of colonization in destabilizing the historical patterns of sexual networking is examined. The conclusion is reached that there has been sufficient convergence in patterns of sexual networking to render it improbable that the historical patterns determine the contemporary distribution of AIDS, although they may influence patterns of the post-partum duration of sexual abstinence and of the acceptance of family planning by level and type.
ISSN:0032-4728
1477-4747
DOI:10.1080/0032472031000146416