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Introduction When in the summer of 2002, after almost twenty years of absence, I returned to Amakiri (pseudonym) an Ijaw community in the Niger Delta, with my 16 year old [...]

This research comes in the wake of increasing interest in men's roles in childbearing decisions in sub-Saharan Africa. While some of the findings indicate that men tend to hinder fertility decline, we aimed to identify which men desire fewer children, under what circumstances, and why. The research was done in a Pare community in Northern Tanzania. It is our hypothesis that differences in men's fertility desires and decisions are to be sought in the context of their conjugal union. This paper, based on data from a case study from two Pare villages, attempts to examine the relationship between male attitudes toward reproduction and marital relations. The methodology consisted of a combination of an ethnographic study and in-depth interviews. A subsequent survey, the questions for which were derived from the qualitative work, was administered in order to verify the generalisability of the findings of the qualitative work. Findings show that those men who desire fewer children are younger, educated at least to the primary and often to the secondary level their wives have also completed at least primary school, they are more affluent, and they are likely to be Christian. They are in a marital relationship where the partners chose each other, they communicate with their wives about important issues, and make joint decisions, including the number of children they should have. The discussion relates the differences in the marital patterns and fertility preferences to differences in the life plans of Christians and Muslims in this community. Keywords: Fertility decline; Contraception; Social organisation; Conjugal bond; Tanzania

This research was designed to explore the connection between the empowerment of women and fertility outcomes, through an ethnographic study, a community-based survey and in-depth interviews. The purpose of the work is to test the relationship between a fertility decline and the status of women in a rural area of Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Our major hypothesis was that the decline in fertility in the Kilimanjaro Region--given that the preconditions proposed by Caldwell, Orubuloye, and Caldwell (1992) have been satisfied--is due to the empowerment of women, particularly to gender equity within families. Research was conducted in two villages--Masumbeni and Kisanjuni--located in the Ugweno Division of the Pare Mountains in the eastern part of Kilimanjaro Region. Findings show that in this population age at first birth increased and the progression from having one child to the next child declined. This pattern was evident during the 1980s, it is stronger in the 1990s. The factors associated with this phenomenon are those related to the status of women, particularly, free partner choice, women's education and wealth of the family. Keywords: Gender equality; Women's status; Wife--husband relations; Demographic transition; Contraceptive prevalence; Tanzania

This paper is a case study of the linkages between selected characteristics of the social organization in a particular ethnic group and reproductive values and behavior. Specifically, it examines factors that might be responsible for the acceptance of contraception and an expressed desire for a relatively small number of children among the Pare of Northern Tanzania. It is hypothesized that with the increasing shift towards wage labor and diminishing dependence on land and lineage relations, there is a growing reliance on the conjugal bond and the development of a partnership marriage in which husbands and wives perceive their interests as mutual. This facilitates communication, particularly about family planning. Research methodology consisted of a two-pronged approach and combined an intensive ethnographic study of the households in the Ugweno District of the Pare mountains with individual surveys administered to a sample of 512 women and in-depth interviews conducted with 20 women regarding the value of children and contraceptive and birth histories. [C] 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd Key words - fertility decline, contraception, social organization, conjugal bond

The paper tests some of the conflicting hypotheses regarding the effects of urban living and education on fertility by examining the fertility levels of women migrants - some educated, others not - to various urban centers in one Nigerian ethnic group. Of particular interest are the conditions under which the urban residents live and the concept of 'urban' is examined in this West African context. Research methodology consisted of a two-pronged approach and combined an intensive ethnographic study of the families in the rural home community and in one urban center with a demographic survey administered to a larger sample of the rural residents and urban migrants. Analysis indicates that the effect of education on fertility is more powerful than urban or rural residence. The importance of utilizing culturally appropriate categories in demographic research is discussed.

Attempts to demonstrate that there is a "cultural communicative style" operating in the issuance of directives that is distinct for different cultures. Emphasis is placed on investigation of children's strategies in their total communicative behavior, both linguistic and nonlinguistic. (EJS)

A comprehensive treatment of the daily lives of children in Norway between the ninth century and the last decade of the twentieth century, this study is based on historical, ethnographic, [...]

9 Piagetian measures of conservation, classification, and role taking, and a task designed to test verbal egocentrism were administered to children in 3 social settings in rural Hungary. The work is an extension of research carried out by Hollos and Cowan in Norway. In each setting 45 male and female children with equal numbers of 7-, 8-, and 9-year-olds were tested. Factor analysis yielded a logical-operations factor and a role-taking factor. Age and setting effects were significant for both factors. The socially isolated children performed less well on role-taking tasks but did significantly better on logical operations at all ages than village and town children. The results are almost identical with the findings of the Norwegian study, further supporting a threshold hypothesis regarding the amount of social interaction needed for the development of logical operations. Language stimulation and the effect of linguistic role marking in Hungarian do not seem to be significant factors, nor is schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]