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 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.