ATTITUDES TOWARDS FAMILY-PLANNING AMONG THE WOMEN OF A NORTHERN AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY

The results of a survey of the attitudes of 92 women from an Aboriginal community towards childbearing and family planning are presented. The majority of the women stated a preference for well-spaced families of a size which enabled a mother to care adequately for her children. The respondents were almost unanimously in favour of the use, when disired, of Western contraceptive methods. One of the authors (JR) suggests that these attitudes reflect traditional norms of family structure, and that they are also based on a critical appraisal by the women of the community of the demands of caring for young children. These demands are exacerbated by a depressed socioeconomic environment.