Fertility Desires and Perceptions of Power in Reproductive Conflict in Ghana

Ghanaian fertility decline may not be associated with women's having greater control over reproduction. Focus groups of young Ghanaian men and women indicate that attitudes supporting men's dominance in fertility decisions characterize even the highly educated. Young women with high fertil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gender & society 2002-02, Vol.16 (1), p.53-73
Main Authors: DeRose, Laurie F., Dodoo, F. Nii-Amoo, Patil, Vrushali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Children
Conflict
Conflict resolution
Decision making
Desire
Educational Attainment
Family Planning
Family Power
Female fertility
Fertility
Focus group interviews
Gender
Gender equality
Gender studies
Ghana
Husbands
Marital Relations
Men
Parenthood
Perceptions
Power
Reproduction
Sexual reproduction
Wives
Women
Womens education
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Summary:Ghanaian fertility decline may not be associated with women's having greater control over reproduction. Focus groups of young Ghanaian men and women indicate that attitudes supporting men's dominance in fertility decisions characterize even the highly educated. Young women with high fertility desires anticipate being able to stop childbearing when they want to, but they do not expect to be able to continue if their husband wants to stop. Those with low fertility desires do not anticipate being able to stop without husband consent, but they envision support for continuing childbearing. Women's expected influence appears limited to situations where their fertility desires conform to normative expectations.
ISSN:0891-2432
1552-3977
DOI:10.1177/0891243202016001004