Ismaila Z. Mohammed, Aminu F Mohammed, and Wendy Regoeczi

In this chapter, we will examine the forms and extent of domestic violence in Kano, a core settlement of the Hausa community in Northern Nigeria. Domestic violence is the primary form of male violence (physical or psychological) against women, and the prevalence of domestic violence in a society is often a reflection of gender inequality. More broadly, however, the concept of domestic violence encompasses any violence within the family. Currently, domestic violence is not a widely discussed issue in the Hausa community of Kano, where people may not view it as a crime because of the absence of any legal framework. Domestic violence involves physical, sexual, and psychological violence that occurs within the family and is perpetuated by one member of the family against another. Anecdotal evidence indicates that domestic violence is a common occurrence throughout Nigeria and takes many forms including violence between co-wives. Violence is assumed to be a pervasive, ubiquitous, and inevitable part of the human condition. It is seen, therefore, as something to which to respond, but not something to be prevented. However, violence can and should be prevented considering its costs in terms of the impact on the victim’s health and the burden it places on health institutions. In many societies in Nigeria, however, not only is domestic violence considered a private affair, one to be dealt with in the home, but wife battering is considered both culturally acceptable and a normal way of life in some Nigerian communities (Omonubi-McDonald, 2003).

Domestic violence also involves psychological and emotional abuse such as verbal abuse, harassment, confinement, deprivation of financial and personal resources, repeated threats of divorce, and a curtailing of contact with family members. Domestic violence is a social problem that cuts across the society. According Landau (2001), over the last two decades, female partner battering has become an issue of general public concern. Even though the problem is considered a social problem, only a small fraction of domestic abuse is reported to the police or other social agencies. Nwonkwo (2003) reported that in 2000 there were 25 cases of women in Nigeria who were allegedly murdered by their husbands. In comparison, approximately 512 women were murdered by their husbands and an additional 95 women were murdered by ex-husbands and common-law husbands in the U.S. in 2000 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000). In Nigeria and northern Nigeria in particular, the police lack the confidence of the public, and many incidences of domestic violence occur without intervention by law officers.

Violence is a universal phenomenon that affects almost all communities. Violence affects communities by generating instability, tension, and threats to the life, health, and happiness of members of the community. More than 1.6 million people lose their lives to violence each year, while many more receive injuries and suffer from wide ranging physical, sexual, reproductive, and mental health problems in the process (World Health Organization, 2002). The family institution, which is the basic unit of the society and is supposed to be characterized by support, understanding, and care, sometimes becomes a hostile environment. This conflict-ridden atmosphere may result from frustrations associated with economic downturn and a breakdown of moral values. Women are often the ones subjected to this hostility due to the patriarchal nature of the Hausa society, socialization processes, and the misrepresentation of religion. Furthermore, some of the laws, both customary and statutory, legitimize the subordination of women. For instance, section 55 of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria endorses the beating of women as a means of chastising or disciplining them. The problem is further compounded by the weak economic position of women in Nigeria, a lack of resources to be on their own in the event of divorce, and the desire to remain in the home in order to take care of her children. Furthermore, the lack of a social welfare scheme has forced women to condone domestic violence despite its negative consequence to other women and children. Thus, this chapter seeks to determine the dimension and magnitude of domestic violence in the Hausa society of Kano.

In contrast to the lack of research and attention given to the issue of domestic violence in Nigeria, a large volume of studies have been conducted on intimate partner and family violence in the U.S., particularly within the last 25 years. Estimates of the types, prevalence, and patterns of intimate partner violence have been derived from the National Crime Victimization Survey, the National Family Violence Survey, and, more recently, the Violence Against Women Survey. The substantial body of research and reports produced from these survey data provide extensive information on the nature and extent of the domestic violence problem in the U.S. and provide an important source of comparative data for cross-cultural comparisons.

This chapter examines the types and levels of violence against women within the Hausa family. The chapter conceptualizes and measures violence against spouses and co-wives to discover the various indicators of violence against women in Hausa culture. Additionally, this chapter gives insight into some neglected aspects of violence in the Hausa community. The preliminary data collected provide information on the extent and content of violence against women in Kano communities. Specifically, the study has investigated the form and magnitude of violence against women within the family with the aim of raising awareness as to the extent of the problem of violence against women.

Women in Muslim Hausa Society

In Sub-Saharan Africa, women often lack access to education, credit, and active involvement in the economic sector. In Nigeria, women are constantly engaged in house-related, farm-related, and income-generating activities. Women in Nigeria are generally extremely marginalized and under-represented among the professions. Hausa women tend to suffer more extreme versions of discrimination and marginalization as compared to their male counterparts. Relationships between the two genders often take the form of a master–servant arrangement. Customarily a woman should never challenge the complete authority that her husband has over her. She is not viewed as a partner in decision-making, even if it affects her life directly. When the husband wants a new wife, for example, the first wife does not have to know of it, condone it, or even comment on it.

According to Callaway and Creevey (1994), Hausa society is distinctly Islamic, and all of the socio-cultural and religious practices of the society are generally guided by the Islamic code. Coles and Mack (1991) have also argued that Muslim women were forcefully made to accept the Islamic code of behavior, which stresses that their place is in the home. They also argue that Islamic law tends to constrain the behavior and autonomy of women in Hausa society. For them, therefore, Muslim women were expected to remain secluded, carrying out domestic labor and childcare responsibilities (Coles & Mack, 1991, p. 8). However, Turabi (1991) has pointed out that in Islam there is no segregation of sexes in public domains which call for joint effort. He also argues that a woman is quite entitled to go out of her home if she so wishes. She may go to the market to do business or otherwise. Thus, “Islam does not call for segregation between men and women. A woman may therefore receive family guests, serve and entertain them” (Turabi, 1991, pp. 22-23).

Hausa marriages are often polygamous, with co-wives having to compete against one another in order to gain the upper hand in the attention and resources that they may receive from the husband. Callaway and Creevey (1994) state that in Hausa society “a girl… is expected to marry young and to marry a husband chosen for her; to be submissive to him; and to have co-wives whether or not it is her wish” (p. 64). Hausa women in polygamous relationships may resort to witchcraft and magic in an effort to ensure continued cooperation from their husbands and to become the favorite wife. The media in Nigeria have stereotyped this perspective of women as jealous and competitive, going so far as to portray them as potentially evil and destructive and suggesting they may require severe punitive measures before they can be controlled. Mohammad (2004) observes that the new phenomenon of Hausa home video generally portrays women as unstable and potentially problematic to the family. The same medium also depicts women as the subject of abuse and violence by men. For example in Saudatu, a film by Iyan Tama, the principal character severely beats his wife with a belt, while in Kugiya and Gyale, Shehu Hassan and Bashir Nayaya respectively gave their daughters a severe beating for refusing to marry the husbands chosen by their respective parents. The trend is that women in Hausa films are not only secluded and subordinated by men, but also that they are the subjects of violence and abuse from their husbands when they err, or their fathers when they refuse to marry a man chosen by their parents.

Literature Review

Violence is an extremely complex and sensitive phenomenon, which raises uncomfortable questions that touch upon morality, ideology, and culture. Therefore, discussions on the topic of violence, especially against women and children, are bound to meet with resistance at both official and personal levels. Studies on extreme forms of domestic violence have found that violence is extremely diffuse, and defining it is a matter of judgment. What is considered to constitute harm is culturally influenced and is a reflection of social norms. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence as: “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation” (WHO, 2002).

The World Report on Violence and Health adopts three categories of violence according to who commits the act: (a) self-directed violence, (b)I interpersonal violence, and (c) collective violence. Interpersonal violence is divided into 2 sub-categories:

• Family and intimate partner violence: Violence that occurs largely between family members and intimate partners, usually, though not exclusively, taking place in the home.
• Community violence: Violence between individuals who are unrelated and who may or may not know each other and which generally takes place outside the home.

In 2000, an estimated 520,000 people worldwide were killed in acts of interpersonal violence. Many violent deaths are concealed as accidents or attributed to natural or unknown causes. Women, children, and the elderly constitute the majority of these. Violence among intimate partners occurs in all countries, all cultures, and every level of society. Low-income groups are at a greater risk of violence by an intimate partner than other socioeconomic groups. Violence by intimate partners include physical aggression such as hitting, kicking, or whipping; forced intercourse and other forms of sexual coercion; psychological abuse such as intimidation and humiliation; and controlling behaviors such as isolating a person from family and friends or restricting access to information and assistance (WHO, 2002).

The World Report on Violence and Health reports that women have endured the overwhelming burden of partner violence at the hands of men. According to the report, surveys around the world indicate that between 10–69% of women have reported being physically assaulted by an intimate male partner at some point in their lives. Throughout the world there is a remarkable consistency in the kind of events that trigger violence in abusive relationships. They include

• disobeying or arguing with the man,
• questioning him about money or girlfriends,
• not having food ready on time,
• refusing to have sex, and
• the woman being suspected of infidelity.

The factors that determine a man’s risk of physically assaulting an intimate partner Individual Factors and Interpersonal Factors. Individual factors include

• history of violence in the male’s family,
• drug and alcohol abuse by the male partner, and
• poor behavior control and personality disorders.

Interpersonal factors include

• conflicts or discord in the relationship;
• low income, which provides a source of marital disagreements;
• poverty, overcrowding or hopelessness;
• gender inequality; and
• family or personal histories marked by divorce or separation (WHO, 2002, p. 18).

There are differences in the extent to which the various types of violence are seen as criminal as well as the local authority’s willingness to take action. Police and courts are more interested in detecting and prosecuting violent behavior by young people than violence within the family. In many countries, there is a reluctance to recognize or take action against sexual violence. In some countries, law enforcement officials are also among the perpetrators of violence. Culture plays a key role in deciding the boundaries of acceptable behavior and behavior that is considered abusive as well as in determining responses to violence.

Haji-Yahia (2003) reports that Palestinian men tend to justify wife beating under the following circumstances: (a) sexual infidelity, (b) insulting the husband in front his friend, (c) challenging the husband’s manhood, (d) disobeying the husband, (e) failing to meet the husband’s expectations, (f) refusing to have sex with the husband, (g) disrespect for the husband’s parent and relatives, and (h) reminding the husband of his weak point. The major weak points include financial incapacity, sexual impotence, or inability to fulfill community expectations. He further explains that the patriarchal ideology of Palestinian men is responsible for the men’s tendency to justify wife beating and blame wives for violence against them.

Similarly, Anderson and Underson (2003) contend that men use violence to punish female partners who fail to meet their expectations for physical, emotional, and sexual services in the home. Wife batterers often employ “gendered religious ideologies to justify their violence against woman”. Several studies show that men use masculine identities to control their partners through acts of violence. In Southern Africa, victims of femicides were commonly accused of sexual infidelity. Documented cases of femicides in Botswana have shown that 34% of the assailants alleged that the women they killed had been unfaithful (Watts, Osam & Win, 2001, p. 94).

African communities frequently sanction a man’s violence against his wife if he reports that he suspects the wife was unfaithful to him. In Swaziland, men believe that they also have a right to assault their wives when certain services (such as sexual intercourse) have not been rendered. Alcohol was also used to justify a man’s diminished responsibility for his action in cases of femicide (ibid). Omonubi-McDonald (2003) also reported that most of the women in her focus group discussion session (about 50%) were victims of battery. The battery did not offend most of these women and some offered excuses for the violence against them, excuses which included provocation, job redundancy, alcoholism, in-law interference, and so on.

Data and Method

The data for this study were collected from the records of reported cases of domestic violence in the social welfare office in Kano City over a period of one year—2004. In order to compare the information from the records and the view of the members of the community, primary data were also collected using interviews from a sample of thirty respondents from the community. Trained field assistant conducted the interviews in Hausa, the regional language, over a period of thirty days. Important information from records such age, socioeconomic position of the people involved, and the nature of the violent act were identified, classified, and presented below.

Results and Discussion

Data from the 156 cases of reported domestic violence (involving 312 people) and from the interviews are presented below.

Table 1 shows the age and gender the distribution of the victims and offenders involved in the reported cases of domestic violence. It is clear from the table that 63.5% of the female category is between the ages of 16 and 25 years, compared to 37.1% of males falling in that age group. On the other hand, 40.4% of the males are between the ages of 26 and 35 years compared to 36.5% of females. In addition, 22.5% of the males are over 36 years of age while no females are in that age category. That there is wide age gap among the couples between the males and females is evident from this table. This is largely because females marry earlier than males. For instance, the median age of marriage for females is 18 years (NDHS 2004) compared to 25 for males. This age difference among the couples further disadvantages the females.

Table 2 shows the type of domestic violence reported. It is clear that battery and physical abuse constitute 41.0% of the cases. Inadequate feeding, i.e. cases where the male partner who is traditionally the head of the family in the Hausa community is unable to provide the necessary support for the upkeep of the family, constitutes 37.8%. This subjects women to stress, as many of them do not engage in any occupation and, even if they do, the income may not be sufficient to provide for them. Similarly, refusal of the men to provide child support among divorced couples is another type of violence women face, this abuse constitutes 14.1% of occurrences. Verbal assault is the least reported and constitutes only 7.1% of the cases; even though verbal assault might be the most common of all of forms violence against women, it is hardly reported.

An examination of the records of the reported cases of domestic violence shows that almost all of the individuals involved are in the low-income group, many of them with unstable occupations and an inability to meet the needs of their family. This is consistent with the work of Omonubi-McDonnel (2003) regarding the tendency for the men to vent their anger and frustration on the female counterpart.

Furthermore, it is clear that many cases of reported violence against women arose when wives accuse their husbands of being unable to provide for the family. The situation is further escalated by the generally high rate of poverty in the country. In patriarchal settings where the male is the breadwinner, but cannot provide for his family’s basic needs due to an unstable income, quarrels and possibly violence easily occurs. In this regard, a female respondent said, “Women whose husbands have low income suffer more from domestic violence. The men do not bother to explain things to their wives, but simply vent out their anger on them”.

It is evident from this response that there is often a communication gap between couples, because men in patriarchal societies assume superior positions and, as such, they do not bother to explain their problems. Due to poor communication between the husband and wives, the wives often accuse the husbands of financial recklessness, which makes it difficult for them to maintain their family. The men are, therefore, stressed out and are beset with feelings of having failed to live up to their roles as providers.

On the other hand, the general opinion among the male respondents is that women tend to provoke men, which leads to violence. They claim that women do not seem to recognize the efforts men put forth to support them. A male respondent puts it this way, “Women pretend a lot and have no respect for men”. Another male respondent also said, “Women should be submissive and respectful to their husbands. If a woman overstepped her bounds or challenge [sic.] the authority of the men, he may react violently”.

Since men are the breadwinners and custodians of the women in many parts of Nigeria, it is acceptable for men to correct their wives by means that may constitute battery. Thus, both men and women are socialized to accept this. The men are often aggressive while the women are submissive. This gender-based power relationship exposes women to violence.

Conclusion

These data indicate that domestic violence in the Hausa community exists in many forms, which include wife battery, physical assault, verbal abuse, and refusal of child support among divorced couples. The violent behavior of men towards women is particularly related to the patriarchal nature of the Hausa society, which has conditioned women to accept violence against them. The patriarchal culture, which encompasses both the family and society at large, accord men a superior and dominant position, while women are expected to remain submissive and inferior. It is, however, pertinent to note that it is largely the culture that encourages the gender-biased power relationship between men and women and rigid gender roles, non-egalitarian marital relations, and power imbalance. As such, the culture needs to be studied further in order to understand better the dynamic and underlying factors.

References

Anderson, I. K. & Underson, D. (2001). Gendering violence: Masculinity and power in men’s account of domestic violence. Gender and Society, 15, 358-380.

Callaway, B. & Creevey, L. (1994). The Heritage of Islam: Women and Politics in West Africa. London, England: Lynne Reiner.

Cole, & Mack, B. (Eds.). (1991). Hausa Women in Twentieth Century.  The University of Wisconsin Press.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2000). Uniform Crime Reporting Program: Supplementary Homicide Reports. Washington, D.C.

Haji-Yahia, Muhammed M. (2003). Beliefs about wife beating among Arab men from Israel: The influence of their patriarchal ideology

Landua, S. F. & Rolef, S. H. (2001). Intimate homicides in Israel: temporal, social and motivational patterns. In Russell, Diana E. H and Harmes, R. (Eds.), Femicide in Global Perspective. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Mohammed, A. F. (2004). Women, religion and guilt in Hausa home video: An assessment. In Adamu, A U. (Ed.), Hausa home videos: Technology, economy and society. Centre for Hausa Cultural Studies, Kano: Jaoji Publications.

Nwanko, O. (2003). Manual on domestic violence. Enugu, PLACE: Forth Dimension Publishing Co., Ltd.

Turabi, H. (1993). Women in Islam and Muslim Society. London, England: Milestone Publishers.

Watts, C., Osam, S., & Win, E. (2001). Femicides in Southern Africa. In Russell, D.E.T. & Harmes, R. (Eds.), Femicide in Global Perspective. New York: Teachers College Press.

World Health Organization (2002). World report on violence and health: Summary. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

Aminu Fagge Mohammad

The new styles of Hausa video drama have featured the travails of young people who found themselves in love. These young men and women (especially the latter) often face oppositions from the extended family in trying to materialize their love affair into marriage. Aminu Mijin Bose and Jamila ta Jamilu (featuring Ibrahim Mandawari) appear to be the first Hausa soap operas that may be said to have laid the track on which the Hausa home video (films) were to follow (Mohammad, 2004a). These love themes and the subsequent melodrama they invoke are often built around a conception of women as either unstable and evil creatures or as men’s subordinates and, therefore, good. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the ambivalent roles that women are given in Hausa home video. The stereotypical roles will be employed in analyzing the conceptions of women by male producers, actors, and directors in the Hausa film industry, popularly known as Kannywood. The implications of these roles for women at the end of the narratives will be drawn at concluding sections of this chapter.

The Soyayya (Love) Narrative

When reviewing the contents of many Hausa video films, we can observe that the issues and obstacles surrounding the youthful love affairs have led to a strong tendency for resistance to parental influence on the choice of whom to fall in love with and, subsequently, marry. It is not a mere coincidence that by the early nineties another genre of Hausa narrative in the form of Hausa novels began to focus on the concept of Soyayya (love affairs). The central theme is usually the travails of young people who fell in love and nurtured this love against a background of obstacles, notably from parents, members of the community, friends and/or co-wives. It is this form of Hausa narrative (dubbed as the “Kano Market literature”) that gave rise to a series of debates focusing on the importance or desirability of the new type of Hausa literature. Abdallah Uba Adamu, Ibrahim Malumfashi, and Ibrahim Sheme have taken up the gauntlet and become contributors to this debate. However, the substance of the debate is beyond the scope of this chapter.

The new Hausa novel, which emphasized the theme of Soyyaya, has provided the stuff with which the first generation home videos (Hausa films) were produced. Some of the Hausa novels adapted in the home videos include Ina Sonsa Haka, Kara Da Kiyashi, Muguwar Kishiya, Ki Yarda Da Ni, and Alhaki Kwikwiyo. Ibrahim Mandawari has been the major star in some of these productions; his popular name now is Baban Soyayya (Father of Love). Women writers-turned-producers have been behind some of these productions. They include Balaraba R. Yakubu, Bilkisu Funtua, and Zuwaira Isa. Several men have also become actively involved in the writing and production of Hausa home video. They include Bala Anas Babinlata and Ado Ahmed Gidan-Dabino.

The earlier version of television drama, which appeared before the advent of Hausa video films, had featured family stability, community harmony, and maintenance of the status quo in a traditional setting. Some of these soap operas often end in court sessions or in the presence of the Maigari (the village head), where the perennial conflicts are resolved to the benefit of the community or its leaders. In contrast, the new genre of soaps, which use love (Soyayya) as their main ingredient, seem to articulate a kind of, resistance by the youths against the old order (notably the extended family). Women in these later narratives appear as irrational subordinates of their men folk, who have to be forced into a decision or face the consequences.

Women in Mass Media

In the western Christian cosmology, the woman is defined in ambivalent terms: “Woman is the sublime, the perfect, the beautiful; she is the awful, the stupid, and the contemptible…Incapable of rational moral judgment…(She) is desirable, fascinating, and wonderful, yet extremely destructive and dangerous” (Ruth, 1980, p. 86). In feminist discourse, these definitions have led to assertions about how patriarchal values are imposed on society and how this has led to the exploitation and oppression of women. The view often held is that women receive less pay, less access to productive resources, and less attention or participation in decision-making. Women are treated this way, so the argument goes, because patriarchal values assume that they are biologically different and, therefore, inevitably inferior to men. This is why most feminist scholars are also advocates of women’s rights to financial independence, education, and entry into the professions. In developing societies (e.g. Nigeria), they may also be interested in fighting harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), women trafficking, and child labor.

Feminist narratives have also been part of media studies that are concerned with the plight of women, especially how gender norms are upheld or projected in popular films/media. Analyzing the contents of popular films in the USA, Thumim (1992) has argued that screen representations between 1945-1965 have performed “a repressive function in respect of women: There are simply no depictions of autonomous, independent women either inside or outside the structure of the family, who survived unscathed at the narrative’s close” (Thumim, 1992, p. 210). In spite of this observation, changes had begun to take place in media representations of gender, especially in the late 1960s when feminism as an ideology began to take shape. There was still a dominance of patriarchal values in media representations in 1970s, but by the 1980s and 1990s media studies discovered more varied and less stereotypical depictions of women. As feminist theories and agitations grew, media representations of women also began to reflect the advancement of women, which is a major achievement of feminism in the last decades (Curran, 2002).

Feminist theories that emerge from the western world appear to have undergone changes or local transformations at different levels and periods. For example, black women in the United States were involved in the search for an alternative theory that addresses fully the peculiar problems facing black women. In this way, the emergence of black feminism somehow led to the birth of “womanism,” which became involved in the struggles against racial and class oppression (Adeleke, 1996, p. 32). Womanism as an ideology of African women’s liberation contains both woman-consciousness and race- or color-consciousness. This ideology marks a breaking away from a separatist concept of feminism, which disregards colored women’s peculiar oppressions. This perspective represents the concern of female writers who see no reason to hate their men. It is a kind of black feminism that is concerned with both women and men (Adeleke, 1996).

Women in Hausa Films

The genre of Hausa home video has emphasized themes related to the budding love affairs of young people, who have to face stiff opposition from their parents (often the extended family). Other related themes are courtship, marriage, and family settings. Within these settings, women have been given central roles, which are often ambivalent and include retributive justice exacted against the women at the end of the narratives.

Women have appeared in Hausa home video in variegated roles. However, these representations show a consistent view of women as men’s subordinates in a patriarchal world. Women are also depicted as irrational, unstable, competitive, and destructive. Often they are responsible for marital instability (as a co-wife, mother-in-law, or aminiya {friend}) and are capable of deceit or treachery. They almost always resort to the Shaman (Boka) for a deadly charm to eliminate a co-wife or any other obstacle. They may conspire among themselves or with other men to execute deadly plots (Makirci). In this subaltern and decidedly negative view of the woman, she is made to pay the price (having been found guilty through her role) by going mad, getting divorced, losing the lover, or losing her life.

In the bad woman or bitchy (Tsiwa) role, the woman exhibits various attitudes that reflect her as awful, contemptible, and extremely destructive and dangerous. In Adali, the bad wife in the second household (the bad household) is depicted as a nagging, slovenly woman and a bad housewife who causes so much instability in the family that the husband is led to decide to marry a second wife. Of course, she “did not take kindly to a co-wife. The news and the eventual arrival of the junior wife sent her into an overdrive of more bitchiness” (Adamu, 2003, pp. 1-2).

Another aspect of the bad wife character is shown in Furuci, where the wife of the Alhaji pretended to be pregnant and finally deliver a bouncing baby boy to the gullible Alhaji. The baby was actually donated by the Alhaji’s ever-loyal sidekick (Ali Nuhu), who persuaded his wife to sacrifice her baby to the Alhaji’s family on the promise that he would not bring in a co-wife (Kishiya) for her. Halfway into the narrative he not only broke the promise, but also ended up divorcing the wife. As the editors of the Tauraruwa magazine observe, there are no methods of deceit and trickery that make it possible for a woman to pretend pregnancy (using rags) for nine months without the husband finding out. The wife of Alhaji in Furuci actually delivered a baby boy (Aliyu) in the bargain; a fact which made the Alhaji extremely happy (Tauraruwa; June 2003, p. 10).

This type of representation of Hausa women is found in several films; the aim is to show the woman as evil, destructive, and dangerous. The Hajiya in Furuci was able, single-handedly, to destroy both families in the film: her own family headed by the Alhaji and the other headed by his slavish client. In the end, when the lid was blown off (surprisingly by a woman journalist) Hajiya attempted to murder both the baby and its mother. In a similar vein, the Hajiya in Ukuba (Torment) was responsible for spoiling her son, Momoh (best actor in 2001), and together they unleashed mayhem on her stepdaughter (Abida Mohammed). Momoh, who won the award in his role as a drug addict, became an enfant terrible through the evil and destructive influence of his mother; she actually won the best mother award in the same film.

Wasiyya is another Hausan epic narrative on the dangerous and destructive role of women. It centers on a conflict of integrity between a stable and strongly united family (headed by Sarkin Noma-Tahir Fagge) and another, which is headed by an evil rich man (Kasimu Yero), whose ruthless son (Ligidi) was exposed and subsequently jailed. In a high-strung plot of terrible scheming, the Alhaji’s daughter was set up to marry one of the brothers of the Sarkin Noma for the sole purpose of splitting and destroying the closely knitted family. The Alhaji had earlier refused to allow the marriage because of the conflict between the two families. The only lesson of the narrative, then, is on the ability of the Alhaji’s daughter to single-handedly exact vengeance on the good family. She finally succeeded in scattering and destroying her husband’s family. Even the acts of her terrible father and his terrible son faded into insignificance when compared to the acts of scheming, treachery, and destruction perpetrated by the female lead in the film. Similar acts of scheming executed in Rawani I and II show Hauwa Ali Dodo and Hajara Usman setting up an arranged marriage between Baballe Hayatu and Fati Baffa. The sole aim of the affair was to kill the Alhaji and his only daughter (Fati Baffa), thereby taking over control of the Alhaji’s wealth.

Religion and Hausa Women

The role of the Shaman (Boka), or his counterpart the local “Malam,” in setting up his evil spirits to hurt or destroy an opponent is a necessary corollary of evil and destructive women in Hausa films. In the Hausa home video, women (either a jealous co-wife or an overbearing wife) are notorious for their endless trips to the Boka in order to get the magic formula to get rid of an existing obstacle or an impending rival. In Sangaya, the dejected princess, Hauwa Ali Dodo, employed deadly charms obtained from the Boka to turn the favored heroine (Fati Mohammed) into a pigeon, thereby winning the heart of the prince, Ali Nuhu. Dan-Adam Butulu, represented the vivacious Tsigai (of late memory) as the evil wife of a rich man (Hamza). Using black magic, she cast a deadly spell on the husband, and turned him into a zombie. Even members of his extended family are not spared her black magic, thus they dare not talk about her without being hunted by her evil spirits. Tsigai’s role in the above film may appear to be an exaggeration of the “woman-shaman alliance” found in the Hausa home video. However, in some films, such as Kara da Kiyashi, Zarge, Allura da Zare, Tsumagiya, and Kasko, women have been represented as jealous co-wives or terrible mothers-in-law, who utilized the deadly spirits of the Boka to chase out or destroy their rivals.

In Kasko, the jealous wife (Daso) and her evil friend (Lubabatu) contracted the services of evil spirits from a Malam. These spirits turned the young co-wife into a lunatic and the husband (Nakwango) was forced to divorce her. This trend has portrayed women as irrational and unstable individuals who solicit the services of the Boka (or Malam) in order to get rid of an existing or impending rival. Rarely do we see men in Hausa films consulting the Boka in order to get rid of rival contestant for a girl’s affection (Adamu, 2003). In the final analysis, the services of the Shaman, witch doctor, or the Malam are always reserved for women for whom the films makers have found a role for scheming and destruction. The editorial comments of Garkuwa (March, 2000, p. 5), a Hausa magazine, lament the immense power given to the Boka in Hausa films. Thus, Bokaye   (sg. Boka) in Hausa films are portrayed as having unlimited magical powers to solve all types of problems with an easy rapidity. In these films, therefore, a form of supra-religious identity is adopted, in which religion or magic is held as the only solution to any threats or problems being faced by the individual, especially women.

In some films, however, women have appeared in redemptive roles. In Aisha I, the central character (Aisha) made many sacrifices to help her paralyzed husband (Zik). In a fit of jealousy, the helpless husband divorced her; he finally discovered his mistake after she had remarried. In a similar film, Karima, the heroine (Karima) entered into the competitive world of men and succeeded in being rich and famous simply to help out her handicapped husband (Tahir Fagge), who had been unjustly retrenched. These two films, and others like them, have portrayed women in a constructive and positive role. The struggles of the two heroines may have reflected some of the challenges to women in a patriarchal society. However, the plots in the two films will be more meaningful when viewed from the perspective of womanism, rather than feminist perspective. The women were simply concerned with the welfare of their husbands, rather than their own personal progress or struggles.

The Bad Woman

One of the most important representations of women in Hausa film is their portrayal as the evil woman at the end of the narrative. Because of this conception of the evil nature of women who refuse to accept an inferior status, Hausa films tend to portray women as the guilty party. They may be made to suffer severe consequences for their evil tendencies. Making the women characters pay for their “sins” may appear to be a form of retributive justice. In Gashin Kuma, two women (the good and the bad) played major roles in two families. The bad woman ended up being irrevocably divorced, while the good woman (after getting divorced) married another husband (the former husband of the bad wife). However, the bad husband (Iyan Tama) of the good wife simply married another wife, who forced him only to stay at home and take his meals regularly. In many Hausa films, women who played the “bad woman” role often ended up paying a heavy price: They get divorced, lose their lover (or husband) to another woman, become mad, are sent to jail, or die. The men, however, rarely have to pay any heavy price and when they do it appears small in comparison to the woman’s fate. In Wasiyya, the evil young bride, who caused the destruction of the family of the Sarkin noma, was ultimately framed for murder. She was given a life sentence and delivered her baby while languishing in prison. In the final scenes of Ukuba, Hajara Usman mistakenly shot dead her only son, Momoh. In Rawani II, she was shot to death by the assassins she hired to kill the Alhaji and his daughter (Mohammad, 2004b, 2007).

In Western Christian cosmology, the images of women indicate an undercurrent of ambivalence and contradiction. The woman is depicted as tender, beautiful, and sublime. She is also a treacherous, manipulative sneak who tricks her man under the guise of affection. For Ruth (1980), the contradictory and conflicting stereotypes of women represent outward expressions of male attitudes toward women. Even though the woman is recognized for her tenderness, vulnerability, and fun, she is still considered evil and dangerous. In Hausa films, this ambivalence is perhaps projected in the representations of women as both a good wife and a bad wife. She is a home keeper who diligently looks after the interest of her husband and that of the family; she is also a destroyer of all that is good in the community. It is thus a fait accompli that a “guilt burden” is reserved for women in Hausa films; following this verdict, they are then made to face the music for their evil tendencies. (Mohammad, 2004a, 2007)

The relationship between gender and witchcraft is shown by Dolan (2002) to be a factor in the contest for resources and power in the modern post-colonial state. Her analysis shows that witchcraft is flourishing because it is employed by women as a means to redress interpersonal hostilities and jealousies. She discovers that among the Meru of Kenya, witchcraft is a premeditated act, where supernatural entities or substances are manipulated by malicious people with the aim of causing harm. Dolan also contends that among the Meru, women are often regarded as the perpetrators of intra-household witchcraft, seeking to revenge husbands, co-wives, and children. In Hausa society, women also employed magic and witchcraft to forestall the coming of a co-wife or destroy the co-wife and her children (Mohammad, 2004b and 2007).

Hausa women seem to accept the view that they should behave with cutthroat competitiveness and petty jealousies (Kishi) as a means of getting the attention of their husbands or winning a favor. This is due mainly to the polygamous and strongly patriarchal nature of Hausa society. In an interview with Tauraruwa magazine (June 2003), a budding young actress was asked about the effect of her victory in the auditioning of a new film. She told the reporter that:

Really there has been a lot of talk. You know (we) women lack Tawakkali (acceptance of fate)… Women, we are envious: myself, I will do the same thing… even if someone likes you, he must show envy. (Tauraruwa, June 2003, p. 16)

The import of these words, coming from a very young star, shows the cultural expectations placed on Hausa women. The actress was responding to the question about the difficulty she faced after winning the auditioning of a new film out of about ten women actresses, some of whom came into the industry before her. In everyday interaction, Hausa women accept Kishi (envy, jealousy, and rivalries) as an aspect of their attitudes, especially within a polygamous household. Within the process of their socialization, they would have been taught not to accept fate; they should rather struggle to change it, most often through the agencies of the Boka or any other supernatural ways. In the end, the society, as in the Hausa films, will have ample reasons in the behavior pattern of women to hand down a guilty verdict for which punishment (or retributive justice) should be meted out accordingly.

In their efforts to maintain continued co-operation from their husbands or to become the favorite wife in a polygamous household, some Hausa women appear to resort to the magical powers given out (for cash) by the Shaman (Boka) or the local Malam (Adamu, 2000). In essence they may employ the powers of “Rubutu” (inscriptions), “Laya” (amulets), “Magani” (herbal concoctions), or, sometimes, local aphrodisiacs (tsimi, tukudi) to obtain the support or compliance of their husbands in their wishes and aspirations for favorable treatment. Women who have succeeded in these endeavors will be said to have dominated (ta mallake shi) their husbands. As a result of this “mallaka” (literally, owning), some husbands become “Mijin Hajiya” (Hajiya’s husband) or “mijin tace” (“husband of she said” – metaphor for a husband who does the wishes of his wife) (Mohammad, 2004b).

Conclusion

It is a major argument of this paper that women have been badly shortchanged in the types of roles they are made to play in Hausa films. Women in Hausa society are considered to be men’s subordinate, required to be obedient and good to their husbands. In reviewing some Hausa films, we discover that women have been portrayed in ambivalent and contradictory roles. They are both projected as good (i.e., a good wife) and bad (i.e., an evil woman). This negative role has been a key link in the way religion is employed to make women appear as the guilty party. At the end of the narrative, the women are depicted as irrational, unstable, destructive, and dangerous. They are capable of deceit, treachery, asiri (black magic), destruction of families, and sometimes murder. In these bizarre roles of women, the society (in Hausa film) appears to hang the sword of Damocles over their heads: their evil deeds often catch up with them; they are then found guilty and punished severely.

References

Adebayo, A. (Ed.). (1996). Feminism and black women creative writing. Ibadan: AMD Publishers.

Adeleke, J. A. (1996). Feminism, black feminism and the dialectics of womanism. In A. Adebayo (Ed.). Feminism and black women creative writing. Ibadan: AMD Publishers.

Ashford, L. S. (1995). New Perspectives on Population: Lesson from Cairo, Population Bulletin,.50(1), PA. Population Reference Bureau.

Callaway, B. & Creevey, L. (1994) The heritage of Islam: Women, religion, and politics in West Africa. Boulder and London: Lynne Reinner.

Coles, C. (1991). Hausa Women in a Declining Urban Economy. In C. Coles & B. Mack (Eds.). Hausa women in the twentieth century. The University of Wisconsin Press.

Coles, C. & Mack, B. (Eds.). (1991). Hausa women in the twentieth century. The University of Wisconsin Press.

Curran, J. (2002). Media and power. London, England: Routledge.

Dolan, C. S. (2002). Gender and witchcraft in agrarian transition: The case Kenyan of horticulture. Development and Change 33(4), 699-681.

Mohammad, A. F. (2004a). Economy and society in Hausa cultural productions: The implication of Hausa film on societal change. In A.U. Adamu., Y. M. Adamu, & U. F. Jibril (Eds.). Technology and society in Hausa video films (PAGES). Kano: Adamu Joji Publishers.

Mohammad, A. F. (2004b). Women, religion and guilt in Hausa home video: Preliminary assessment. In A.U. Adamu., Y. M. Adamu, & U. F. Jibril (Eds.). Technology and society in Hausa video films (PAGES). Kano, PLACE: Adamu Joji Publishers.

Mohammad, A. F. (2007). Women, religion and guilt in Hausa home video: An assessment. Film Int Vol, Pages.

Ruth, S. (Ed.). (1980). Issues in feminism: A first course in women studies. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Thumim, J. (1992). Celluloid sisters. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Yusuf, B. (1991). Hausa-Fulani women: The state of the struggle. In C. Coles & B. Mack (Eds.). Hausa women in the twentieth century. The University of Wisconsin Press.

Unpublished Papers

Adamu, A. U. (2003). “Yakubu Lere’s Adali and the Theory of Illuminative Transmogrification” Department of Education Bayero University, Kano.

Garkuwa, March 2000, published by Garkuwa Media Services, Kaduna.

Fim, June 2003, published by Informart Publications, Kaduna.

Tauraruwa, March 2001, published by Tauraruwa Magazines and Publications Company, Kano.

Sani Lawal Malumfashi

He is partly a man and partly a woman, but not a hermaphrodite. He is anatomically a man and socio-occupationally a woman—casually homosexual and occasionally heterosexual. At the best of times, he is transsexual. Transvestite is the congenial term referring to Dandaudu (gender crosser) of Hausa society. Daudu is the act whilst Dandaudu is the actor. According to Abdullahi and Kleis (1983), the Yan Daudu form a strikingly distinctive social category of males associated with female prostitution in the Hausa speaking areas of northern Nigeria and Niger Republics. Gender, as opposed to sex, has a social connotation; it means socially transforming two biological classes, male and female, into two social classes, men and women. In between men and women lies the Dandaudu (gender crosser) who is, by behavioral disposition, a woman.

Hausa is a language and Bahaushe refers to a person who is originally of Hausa language. He is also referred to by some Nigerian tribes as Afuno, Kado, Gambari and Malam respectively. Hausa speaking people number at least some forty million and are predominant in most Northerly states of Nigeria and in the Republic of Niger. Sizeable populations of Hausa speakers are also found in Ghana, Cameroon, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, North Africa, and Saudi Arabia (Last, 2003, p. 718). Hausa culture is an amalgam of Islamic and traditional cultures. Despite its Islamic identity, Hausa society still tolerates “gender crossers” and, until very recently, even prostitution. Three reasons are perhaps responsible for this tolerance.

First, like the Bori cult (worship of spirits), transvestism predates Islam. Second, it is difficult to detect and punish sex offenders in Islam. Detection is a practical difficult because four sane and mature people must individually witness the “actual” copulation before a sex offender is punished. Actual copulation is stressed here to mean that the genitals of the two copulating adults must clearly be seen interacting with each other by all four witnesses. Third, some Hausa transvestites are economically powerful and have a stronger sense of group feelings than other socio-occupational groups. In addition, they enjoyed the patronage of pre-jihad Hausa merchants and aristocrats, either as pimps or sex partners. As a pimp, the dandaudu establishes an erotic relationship between prostitutes and clients. According to Abdullahi and Kleis (1983), dandaudu acts as agent of prostitutes, soliciting suitors, arranging contacts, advertising her charms and managing relations with authorities. Evidence of tolerance is found in the fact that the local authorities in the past often organized football competition between Yan Daudu and prostitutes.

The personality of the dandaudu is characterized by his voice, which is feminine, and body language, which is also very feminine. He dresses in a long Kaftan with a wrapper tied round his waist. He rarely wears make up, but teaches women how to do so. Dandaudu are not only skilled organizing erotic relationships between prostitutes and clients but also in cooking and selling of food.

Cultural and Institutional Support for Dandaudu

The question of why the institution of daudu exists and why it continues to persist in a society that is fundamentally Islamic still lingers. Why are gender-crossers absent in other equally Islamic but non-Hausa societies of Nigeria? Abdullahi and Kleis (1983) opine that it is the strict maintenance of socio-spatial boundaries between genders (purdah), which is strongly emphasized in Hausa culture with prostitution as an intervening variable that gives rise to daudu. It could be safe, therefore, to argue that the institution of purdah (seclusion of married women from the outside world), which is more identified with Hausa Muslims than non-Hausa Muslims, is one of the cultural and institutional supports for daudu or gender crossing. In addition, Dandaudu is tolerated in Hausa Islamic society because his role as a social broker is culturally supportive. The societal norm typical to most Islamic societies discourage free and unguarded interaction between members of the opposite sex. Dandaudu, being a person of mixed gender status, therefore, plays an intermediary role in simplifying heterosexual interaction by, in the words of Abdullahi and Kleis (1983), arranging erotic relationships between prostitutes and clients and managing relations with authorities. His mixed and ambivalent gender status enables him to interact and mingle freely with men and women (married and unmarried) without having any sexual encounter. He is, in fact, a trusted partner in managing and influencing heterosexual relations much more so than a male or a female intermediary.

Furthermore, the gender crosser’s role in the society helps maintains and even sharpens Hausa gender dichotomy. By standing in between, the gender crosser reinforces the strict gender division within the Hausa society. A careful examination of his role enhances our understanding of the boundaries at which men’s and women’s roles end. Thus, both Hausa culture and political institutions recognize gender crossers by the social role they play, which is in many respects entertaining and supportive.

Relevant Terms Examined: Dandaudu and Gender Role

Dandaudu is referred to by Omani as xanith and by Indians as hijiras and is best translated into English as a transvestite or a gender-crosser. Homosexuality is a gateway to achieving altered gender status among the Hausa transvestite, a bridge to becoming a “woman.” However, not all Hausa homosexuals are transvestites and not all transvestites are active homosexuals. Yet, the majority of Yan Daudu are homosexuals if only at a casual level. Gender has a social expression. It means giving social meaning to physical variation between sexes, transforming two biological classes, male and female, into two social classes” (men and women) and defining the boundary within which each class is restricted (Sherry, 1986, p. 83).

In other words, when talking of sex, we are referring to the basic physiological differences, while gender refers to the culturally specific patterns of behavior, either actual or normative, which may be attached to sexes (Giddens, 1981, p. 148). Accordingly, Kessler and McKenna (1978) and Basaw (1980) note that gender may refer to a person’s subjective feeling of maleness or femaleness (gender identity) and also societal definitions of behavior as masculine or feminine (gender role).

Gender role is culturally determined and varies according to societies. Michener et al (1986) observe that every society has a varied expectation for the mannerisms and behaviors of males and females. Michener et al (1986) affirm that in Western societies, for example, men have traditionally been expected to be competent, competitive, logical, decisive, and ambitious. Women, on the other hand, have been expected to be warm and expressive, gentle, sensitive, and tactful. Parents accordingly use these expectations as blueprints in socializing their children. In most societies, the male child engages in activities outside home and the female child in domestic activities. Parents reinforce the gender roles by the different kinds of toys they buy for their children. The prescriptive role of a female is to nurture and nourish, and, as a child, she is provided with a baby doll and a pot. The role of a male, on the other hand, is to provide and protect and, as a child, he is allowed to play with a harvester and a toy gun or horse, depending on the cultural expectations of the society in question.

Thus, all societies have their culturally defined ways in which men and women should and ought to act, behave, and present themselves. These normative ways also cover what men and women wear, the economic activity with which they must identify themselves, and which political roles they should differently play. Male and female children are socialized into these sex specific roles first by the parents and later by the general society. Accordingly, Collins (1984) argues that biological males and females learn how to play the social role of men or women. Just what these behaviors are depends on the society in which they happen to live and on each person’s individual experiences.

In the Hausa society, the female child is socialized to become a woman by inculcating into the child the role of looking after, taking care of, attending to, and comforting a child. The male child, on the other hand, is socialized to command, dominate, instruct, and control. Such gender differences as this exist in most societies, yet the content varies according to societies. Kessler and McKenna (1978) for example, observe that, the Mundugumor society expects both males and females to behave in masculine ways (aggressive and non emotional), while the Arapesh people expect both males and females to behave in what most societies would conceptualize as feminine. Again, among the Zuni Indians of North America, women are expected to be sexually aggressive and men sexually timid (Giddens, 1981, p. 179). Compared to Zunis, the Hausa society is the reverse. Even though gender difference is social, the sexual anatomy of the neonate (vagina or penis) provides the basis for the social differentiation of the sexes. The genital identity provides a clue as to whether the child is a potential merchant, priest, engineer, or domestic servant. Hausa parents prefer male genitals because it is culturally seen as more socio-economically promising than the female’s sexual identity. In spite of the tremendous opportunities open to men, however, the Hausa transvestite (Dandaudu) still wants to see himself, and for others to see him, as a woman. What could be the predisposing factor for this?

 Psycho-Social Basis for “Gender Crossing”

Yan Daudu (Hausa Transvestites) are biologically males. Some of them are passive homosexuals and others are active ones. Their dominant source of income, however, is selling food such as frying eggs on the street, roasting chickens, and running restaurants (women’s culturally prescribed occupations). Given the occupational definition, Dandaudu is socio-occupationally a woman. In terms of acting as a woman, he could be more “woman” than a biological woman, because he is more flexible in terms of body language and more skillful in cooking than a typical Hausa woman. His voice is equally feminine. He can be an extraordinarily perfect player of the game, because he occasionally teaches women how to dress, attract, and dance. While some members of the society see him as deviant, others see him as a fashionable comedian.

A dandaudu is simply not satisfied with his biological identity, a reason that perhaps accounts for his crossing to the opposite gender. Abdullahi and Kleis(1983) asserts that the conspicuous aspect of the status of the dandaudu is his rejection of conventional masculine identity and adoption of feminine dress, speech, and self-presentation. Unlike in Western societies, Hausa transvestites still retain their genitals, which enable them to cross back to men in later parts of their lives by marrying and procreating. Even where they become “men” again, Hausa transvestites find it difficult to stamp out their feminine voice and effeminate character. An interview with Tajogana, who was an ex-transvestite, reveals that he and all the ex-transvestites he knew still speak as women because they could not regain their masculine voice. Whether this applies to all ex-transvestites of all cultures is subject to further research. The reason for Daudu, however, goes beyond dissatisfaction with one’s own gender to some bio-psychological and sociological factors.

Psycho-biologically, the tendency for homosexuality by an individual is possibly explained by the male’s testes having too little testosterone in prenatal life, which predisposed the man to homosexuality in adult life. Homosexuality is still emphasized in respect to Hausa transvestite because, as stated earlier, it is a sexual ritual that changes one’s own gender status. Another psychological reason could be that homosexuality in men develops as a result of a son’s strong attachment to his mother or what Freud calls Oedipus fixation (Caprio, 1957, p. 89).

From a biological perspective, Shaffer (1988) notes that males and females differ in five important respects:

• Sex chromosome—xy for male and xx for female;
• Hormonal balance—e.g., males higher in androgen and female higher in estrogen;
• Composition of gonads—testicular tissue for males and ovarian tissue for females;
• Internal reproductive system—testes, seminal vesicles, and prostate for males and vagina, uterus, ovaries, and ovarian tissue for females; and
• External genitalia—penis and scrotum for males and labia and clitoris for females.

According to this perspective, genetic and hormonal differences between sexes are responsible for several sex-linked characteristics that are apparent at birth and shortly thereafter. The argument here is that males and females are biologically programmed for certain activities that are consistent with either a masculine or a feminine role. The situation of dandaudu, given this perspective, is a typical case of biological maladjustment—either he has too little androgen or too much estrogen in his biological make-up.

The sociological explanation for transvestism, however, centers on the idea that human sexuality is learned, not inherent. We learn either homosexuality or heterosexuality by association with peers of the like. We also see heterosexuality as normal because our society is predominantly heterosexual. Sexual perversion is, according to the sociological viewpoint, also culturally defined. In most cultures, homosexuality and premarital intercourse are prohibited.

Yet some cultures in West and East Africa permit practices that are considered deviant in many societies, including masturbation and incest in varying degrees and exceptional circumstances. The Sambia people of New Guinea for example have legalized man-boy homosexual relations: from childhood until marriage, a boy lives with an elderly male and engages in homosexual practices (Atkinson, 1990, p. 328). This practice is called “semen ritual” and implies that becoming an adult means having man’s semen injected into your body. This kind of pederastic practice also existed among the Azandes (boy-wives) of central Africa as well as the ancient Greeks. Through this process, it is possible for the act to be habitual among exposed individuals.  The situation of Hausa transvestite is no more different. Either elderly men initiate them or in childhood they associated more with female than male peers—a reason that would account for their feminine disposition. Contrary to Abdullahi and Kleis’ (1983) assertion that dandaudu is very likely the product of prostitution, the position here is that the feminine disposition in males started in early childhood. The effeminate person who has already been “sissified” by male peers since childhood relates only with prostitutes after joining daudu.

Discussion and Conclusion

The paper is basically a sociological explanation for gender crossing, i.e., the adaptation by men of the socially prescribed role for women as exemplified by the phenomenon of Daudu in the Hausa society. The paper also relates homosexuality to Daudu because homosexuality is a gateway to achieving altered gender status among Hausa transvestites. The position of the paper, however, is that not all homosexuals are Yan Daudu and not all Yan Daudu are active homosexuals. Transvestite is the congenial English expression of dandaudu.

The fact that a person is dandaudu implies that he has rejected the male gender identity. He is by every social reason not a man. Since to be a male or female is biological and to be a man or woman is social, dandaudu is more of a woman than a man. The act of daudu is learned, not instinctually inherent. This paper is theory based, i.e., it relied on theoretical postulations on sex and gender and reviewed relevant literature. Except for the interview with Tajogana, a Badawa (Kano) based dandaudu, no in depth survey was conducted. Little, if any, sociological study is conducted on the Dandaudu and his status in Hausa gender dichotomy. Thus, the paper intends to pave the way for more studies on gender crossers; it is a pioneering sociological insight into yet another sociologically relevant but obscure area.

In conclusion, the gender division in most societies is between men and women. Roles prescribed for men are different from those prescribed for women. Men play the dominant role in the Hausa society, while women play the subordinate one. However, the content of these roles varies according to societies. In between man and woman there is a “mixed” gender, i.e., Dandaudu (Hausa transvestite). Dandaudu cannot be a third gender. His position within the wider Hausa gender role is that of reinforcing the sharp, societal gender dichotomy and division between the two roles. It is easy to figure out by looking at Dandaudu where men’s roles end and where women’s roles begin. He is, for every social purpose and intent, a woman. He is a deviant, but a harmless one, although some people see him as a comedian. He commonly learns the act of Daudu from the elderly ones who are also Yan Daudu and from imitating female friends in childhood.

 References

Abdullahi, S. A. & Kleis G. W. (1983). Masculine power and gender ambiguity in urban Hausa society.  African urban studies No. 16; East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.

Archer, J., & Lloyd B. (1985). Sex and gender. Penguin Books.

Atkinson, R. et al. (1990). Introduction to psychology. Harcourt Brace, Jonavitch, Inc.

Basaw, A. S. (1980). Sex role stereotypes: Traditions and alternatives. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Caprio, F. S. (1957). Variation in sexual behavior. John Calder Publishers.

Collins, R. (1984). Sociology of marriage and family: Gender, love, and property. Nelson-Hall Publishers/Chicago.

Giddens, A. (1981). Introductory sociology (2nd ed.). Macmillan Education Ltd.

Kessler, S. J. & McKenna, W. (1978). Gender: An ethno methodological approach. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Last, M. (2003). Hausa: A proposed article for publication. In Anthropological encyclopedia.

Michener, H. A. et al, (1986). Social psychology. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.

Shaffer, D. R. (1988). Social and Personality Development (2nd ed.). Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Sherry, B. O. & Harriet, W. (1986). Sexual meanings: The cultural construction of gender and sexuality. Cambridge University Press.

Abdullahi M. Madaki, Bala S. Dawakin Tofa, and Baffa A. Umar

Youth gangs are an important segment in the subcultures of many societies. Youth are considered to be the most important segment of the society that attracts national and international policies for development. While they are regarded as the building blocks of every society, they extract and utilize human and material resources for social, economic, and political development of every nation. In fact, they are the leaders of tomorrow. Since they occupy an important position in the society, their proper integration into the mainstream of society is essential through socialization, provision of qualitative education, and employment.

The concept of youth is defined in different ways by different people. Abdullahi (1982) defines “youth” as any person in the period between early childhood and old age. The report of the Political Bureau (1997) classified youth as those between 6 and 30 years old. Societies that place little or no attention to the positive development of their youth are, in effect, jeopardizing their future progress and development. These are among the predisposing conditions of the emergence and development of daba (group) in our society, in which the youth commonly participate. This chapter attempts to explore empirically some of the predisposing factors of daba, and the activities of Yan daba in metropolitan Kano.

Gang as a Terror Group

The terror, violence, and intimidation common to most gangs are some of their main features. In certain cases, the roughness and toughness of gang members condition them to engage in the abuse of drugs, homicide, rape, and arson.

Gangsters can be conceptualized as local terror groups who use lethal weapons such as knives, clubs, cutlasses, swords, bows and arrows, and the like to attack, kill, and indulge in wanton destruction of properties. The issue of Yan daba and Yan banga in Northern Nigeria particularly in Kano state, the second now first most populous city in Nigeria, has been debated and discussed as a social problem deserving serious attention from the Government, NGOs and other relevant bodies time and again.

As terrorism poses a global and local threat to peace, stability, democratic institutions, processes and traditions, human rights and the rule of law, the same is the case with  Yan daba in metropolitan Kano. From 1979 to date, there has developed a close connection between ‘Yan daba and democratic institutions, processes and traditions. Perhaps, the problem of the marginalized youth, who could become potential recruit into the  Yan daba gang, continues to remain significant. Many youths suffer from destitution, poverty, lack of education, disillusion, and ultimately become alienated from the society. According to Ya’u (2000):

…the collapse of social services and the increasing commercialization of education have made it very difficult for many youngsters to remain in school. As a consequence, the number of school dropouts is increasing…there is also a sharp decrease in the rate of school transition from secondary level to university, throwing a large number of youths out of the educational system, most of whom are largely unemployed. They thus resort to urban terrorism—Yan daba or are used as Yan banga by political bigwigs and stalwarts.

Daba: A Conceptual Explanation

Daba in Hausa refers to a group of individuals that assemble in a particular place. Daba can involve people of different age groups but in most cases from the same sex. According to Dan’asabe (1991), the term daba is derived from the Hausa word daba that literally means “group.” In other contexts, daba could mean a collection of hunters (yanfarauta / yantauri) who usually camp in a particular place before they set off for a hunting expedition. Traditionally, hunters use different weapons like axes, knives, iron rods, cutlasses, spears, guns, and so on to attack and even kill animals. Apart from hunting, these weapons are used for protection against external attack. During the pre-colonial period, they were not only hunters but also a warrior group who defended their territories against any attack (Dan’asabe, 1991).

The meaning of daba has changed with time. It is now associated with deviance. This may be connected with the incorporation of the yanfarauta and yantauri into the political terrain to provide security to politicians and, sometimes, to harm or injure opponents and others. The Yan banga (sing. danbanga), on the other hand, serve as bodyguards to politicians. According to Zakariya’u (2000), most leaders of yanbanga are yantauri. Nevertheless, who are the yandaba ? What are the motivating factors for their existence? Why does daba persist over time? To what extent is politicking related to the resurgence of daba?

The Emergence of Yan daba

As the year of Nigeria’s independence approached, rich aristocrats and, in some cases, Emirs began to align themselves with the political parties. After the formation of some political parties—NEPU and NPC, the significant role of hunters, known as yanfarauta, became transformed. When the NEPU leaders started experiencing increase in harassment, molestation, and arbitrary arrests from the Native Authority (NA) in sympathy with the NPC, NEPU began to recruit hunters in order to protect their leaders during tours and to act as bodyguards (yan banga). The increased sophistication of the activities of the Yan banga and the roles they played as bodyguards in the society transformed them into yandaba in Kano (Dan’asabe 1991). Dabanci is the name of the institution of daba while the institutional role-actor is Dandaba (pl. ‘Yandaba ). It is a deviant institution like any other institution with sub-cultural proscriptive and prescriptive norms governing the behavior of its members. Hence, the earlier definition of daba changed in a more pejorative way to a more negative/deviant one as Dan’asabe (1991, p. 91) further states: “It simply refers now to members of groups composed mainly of youngsters between the age of ten and thirty, who more often than not engage in criminal activities, ranging from rape, theft, substance abuse, armed robbery, gang war, larceny, assault, and so on.” As Dawakin Tofa, (1994, p. 2) notes:

Historically, the people of the ancient city of Kano, were known to be hunters…they organized themselves for “Farauta” that is, hunting for bush meat. They went along with their dogs for hunting activities. The issue of “Farauta” or hunting and “Daba” itself began from this historical fact. In the past, hunting groups used to meet in the bush to resolve differences. But, with the tremendous development of the city, hunting and dispute-resolution in the bush disappeared; hence conflicting groups try to resolve differences in the city.

(Dawakin Tofa, 1994, p. 3) posits that the phenomenon of Yan daba started to gain ground during the first republic, as members of the group worked as party vanguards as staunch supporters, thugs, and political body guards (‘Yan banga’) to party bigwigs and stalwarts. They served in these capacities during the second republic (1979-1983), and served and continue to serve in the third republic (2003-present) in more desperate ways than ever seen before.

The issue of Yan daba in general and its study in Kano metropolitan area must tackled with consideration of the fact that it was a social problem of the second republic. The impact of  Yan daba reached its peak during the second republic 1979-1983. The terrorists that beclouded the atmosphere of daba had unleashed untold psychological, physical. and material fears to the residents of Kano. For instance, it was at that time, and for the first time, a court was established to try and handle cases of Yan daba, Yan daukar Amarya and related cases under Chief Magistrate Court (7) Alhaji Ado Balarabe. The Yan daba groups were referred to in the law as members of unlawful society:

Section 97A of the penal code provides for the establishment of the “unlawful/society groups.” This section provides; a society is unlawful society if declared by an order of the governor in council to be a society dangerous to the good government of Northern Nigeria or any part thereof. Section 97B provides for the punishment of being a member of an unlawful society or a manager of unlawful society, that is; “Whosoever managers or is a member of an unlawful society shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years or fine or both”.

The Activities of Yandaba

Yandaba exist in some areas of Metropolitan Kano like Mandawari, Gyaranya, Warure, Fagge, Sabon Sara, Jakara, Kasuwar Rimi, Kofar Nassarawa, Kofar Na’isa Kul-Kul, Gwammaja, Kofar Mata, Dan’agundi, and Dala. To some extent, they offer protection to the areas in which they reside from attacks by the rival daba groups and thieves. During either religious or tribal disturbances, they tend to ignore their differences and merge to protect the lives and properties in their areas. Also, they are used by politicians to serve as “political thugs” that deal with individuals or a group that may be obstacles towards achieving a certain political aim. Yandaba, as a group or gang, constitute a potent source of social insecurity in Kano. A Dandaba accepts responsibilities and commitments demanded of him by members of the group, and is ready to do anything, including murder, to preserve and maintain his membership.

The unlawful activities of yandaba include political thuggery, vandalism, theft, armed robbery, stealing, intra and inter gang warfare, aggravated assault, violence, rape, and larceny. Because most of them take drugs and other intoxicants, they become school dropouts and are marginalized in the society. As a result, they feel rejected by society and continue to exhibit their activities. These activities prevent them from performing their rightful duties to parents and the society at large. Through this, they threaten the peace, law, and order of the areas they exist.

According to a celebrated police officer named Bala, who deals with gangs of  Yan daba and is also a police officer in-charge of Jakara/Goron Dutse police station, the activities of  Yan daba “the  Yan daba is a dead issue now”. Bala was right! Residents of Kano metropolis know the methods Bala, a Divisional Police Officer, used in controlling the gang activities of  Yan daba. Bala believed in retributive justice and, hence, was determined to break, maim, or kill any suspected gang member in his stronghold. On the sponsorship of  Yan daba, Alhaji Ado Balarabe the pioneer Chief Magistrate court 7 of Yan daba says:

No one sponsors them… but the government views their activities as unlawful and hence the creation of unlawful members of society….  Yan daba according to him are a group of persons who have identified themselves and have so far agreed to a common objective, i.e., to be unlawful members of society. Their motive was not to be in collision with government but just to be unlawful.

The discussion that follows, however, will show the transformation of gang groups into new terror groups of intimidation, molestation, maiming, and killing of political opponents rekindled from the first and second republics and as a matter of life and death in the third republic. Serial daba activities in Kano is an indication that gang terrorism has come to stay in Nigerian’s political class. For example, monitored Hausa radio news broadcasts from foreign media, especially the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts since the 1990s, will make some revelations.

On Friday 26th August, 1995, the BBC reported that “residents of Bakin Ruwa, and Chedi both in the metropolitan city witnessed another bloody clash among rival gangs of  Yan daba”. On 20th November, 1995 the local radio Kano station, reported that eight young ladies were arrested on the charge of being members of gang referred to as Yan hayaki, a sub-group of girl-delinquents in Kofar Nassarawa quarters in the metropolis. In another BBC (Hausa service) interview by Bala Ibrahim on Friday November, 1995, Hajiya Larai Sani confirmed the menace of  Yan daba gangs in the metropolis. On March 27, 2001 suspected members of  Yan daba slaughtered two persons in front of their houses in the Mandawari quarters inside Kano. The incidence was reported by a VOA (Hausa service) correspondent on the 6:30am news. Activities of  Yan daba recur repeatedly.

Literature Review on Gang and Gang Related Activity

In an attempt to review some of the related literature, some sociological theories of deviance are reviewed. Furthermore, other empirical research conducted by scholars are presented. Sociological theories on deviance and criminal behavior emphasize social and cultural factors. They view behaviors (yandaba inclusive) as a social problem that has its roots in the society. Durkheim’s theory on suicide (1897) indicates that anomie (normlessness), breeds deviance. Merton (1938) builds on Durkheim’s concept of anomie. Merton believes that society prescribes certain goals for everybody to achieve, but the legitimate means of achieving the goals are restricted to a few members of the society. Those who are disadvantaged innovate other techniques of becoming materially successful, thus, the society creates deviance.

Sutherland (1939) developed the differential association theory, and Cloward and Ohlin (1960) formulated the differential opportunity theory to explain various forms of deviance. Differential association emphasizes that deviance is learned through interactions with other people, while differential opportunity theory posits that gang behavior grows wherever legitimate means to the attainment of success goals, such as economic and higher educational opportunities, are blocked. These theories have been criticized, especially since many people cannot identify the persons from whom they have learned pro-criminal or anti-criminal behavior. Additionally, the assumption that lower class individuals are more likely to commit deviant or criminal behavior could be wrong and misleading. In a survey conducted by Jjankowski (1991), he found that young men join gangs because it makes sense to them. It is a rational way of getting a larger share of the things they want in an environment of chronic scarcity and deprivation. Also, Agnew (1992) developed the thesis that adolescents have a tendency to respond to strain with deviant behavior because it may provide them with a means of alleviating strain directly.

Dan’asabe (1991) and Zakariya’u (2000) argue that the main reason for the emergence of Yandaba is lack of educational opportunities. Lindstorm (1996) contends that children of a low socioeconomic status are more aggressive, while Ibbotsom (1956) observes that gang members are unemployed youths from poverty-stricken backgrounds. Fyuel (1961) argues that gangs come from emotionally unsatisfactory homes; as such, gangs that are created out of deprivation are often hostile and destructive in their behaviors. Also, Broom and Selznick (1977) submit that living in an area mainly inhabited by gangs is not enough to make a child become a gang member, but it can help when added to disorganization in the home routine, maternal supervision, and emotional ties. Furthermore, Dan’asabe (1991) postulates that a lack of parental care is among the reasons that led to the emergence of yandaba. Bazariye (1981) says that members of the society who find themselves in abject poverty remain perpetually unhappy and under stress, which invariably leads them to commit deviant acts as a consolation for what they lack. Dan’asabe (1991) states that unemployment is among the factors that predispose individuals to seek gang membership. He also asserts that the emergence of modern politics led to the emergence and persistence of daba in Nigerian society.

Campbell (1991) indicates that female gang members are victims of chronic poverty, marginalization, and unemployment; and that they became gang members when they faced problems of powerlessness of the underclass, subordination to males, social isolation, domestic labor, and responsibility of children. He further describes females as sex objects.

The Research Area, Method and Data

Kano is said to have developed around the Dutsen Dala (Dala Hill), which has been the center of its political power before the foundation of Bayajidda dynasty. Historically, the original inhabitants were iron smelters and pagans. These people were later joined by a group of immigrants from far North of Africa headed by Bagauda.

Kano was founded by Bagauda who was the first Habe ruler. Bagauda is the son of Bawo, the grandson of Bayajidda, whose descendants were said to have established the seven Hausa states. Bagauda was the first King of the Habe dynasty. The rule of the Habe dynasty came to an end after the Fulani jihad of 1804 during the reign of the 43rd king of Kano – Muhammad Alwali (1781 – 1810). The leader of the Fulani jihadists in Kano (Suleiman) was mandated by Shehu Usman Danfodio to become the first Fulani Emir of Kano, and the 44th in the dynasty. The present emir Ado Bayero became the 13th Emir of Kano in the Fulani dynasty and the 56th in the Bagauda Habe rulers. He was chosen to become the Emir in 1963.

Initially, the people of Kano followed traditional religion. Later, with the coming of the Arabs from North Africa, Islam was introduced in the 12th century. The economic activities of the people of Kano revolve around agricultural activities such as farming, animal husbandry, fishing, processing, marketing and other trading activities. It is a home of industrial activities nowadays with a relatively high number of civil servants than before. Kano metropolitan is now made up of six local governments, namely: Municipal, Dala, Tarauni, Gwale, Nassarawa, and Fagge. As a center of commerce, majority of the people in the city engage in one economic activity or the other. By and large, youth are the predominant members of the population.

Daba Transformations: From Daba to Bumburutu to Achaba back to Daba

The dynamics of Daba transformation in Kano and other parts of northern Nigeria is a process that corresponds to the social changes in the society. The transition from Yan farauta to Yan Banga, and later Yan daba, shows clearly that socioeconomic and political developments in the society have an impact on the current scenario of gang terror groups. In the last two decades the Yan Banga terror groups have transform into a specific economic class of confused and maladjusted delinquents with emerging characteristics as deluded hybrids:

• They may be school dropouts or unable to go through the school system.
• They are either unemployed or unemployable.
• They may be deeply involved in drug dependence.
• They are usually sycophants and “hangers on,” looking for money from their political masters.
• They may be seriously engaged in street hawking of petroleum products, despite the hazards of the illegal trade.
• Many of them have started demarcating their territories for their illegal business and social activities, taking advantage of the inability of the government to address these problems.
• Another likely group that may be connected to Daba is the commercial motor cyclists subculture that is booming.

Some cases of Daba activities are never reported in the media, perhaps due to the volatile nature of the city. Attempts to stop the nefarious activities of Yan daba were made, albeit politically. The recent upsurge and the renaissance of daba activities are not unconnected to the following hard-core facts on the ground, particularly related to Nigeria’s body politics. Politics is money, and the person with money gets an upgraded status, prestige, and recognition. Most elections in Nigeria were rigged. Of late, the presidential election was said to be massively rigged and the ruling party at the center was alleged to have rigged the elections not only to get the Federal seat, but also other states. The election was conducted on April 2007 for the Presidential and the gubernatorial elections. In Kano state, the transformation of  Yan daba groups was alleged to have been single-handedly financed by a party follower occupyig a crucial public office. He was alleged to have been playing a double edged game in which he recruited all available gangsters and would-be gang members into his web, including ex-daba members who resorted to making a living through commercial motor cycling known as Yan Achaba in Kano or Okada riders in Lagos and other states of the Federation. Further, he pretended to be a loyalist to the elected Executive Governor, while embezzling and looting public funds. He is alleged to have dished out motorcycles to gang members and motor vehicles to gangsters, all in an attempt to perpetuate political offices. This is a new style of transforming the jobless, the marginally employed, gang members, hooligans, and party loyalist into the political strategy for winning elections. The majority of these recruits (95%) are of the 18-30 year-old age group. In the just concluded local government elections in the Federation held from 17th November 2007, including Kano state, of the 44 local governments in the state, 30 local governments were alleged to been rigged, for results were announced although there was no counting of votes. Where votes were counted, actual counts were not made public and, as a consequence of which, lives were lost and many public buildings burnt, including local government secretariats. The youths have begun to take terror activities as an avenue of expressing their resentment towards a system that that continues to alienate them.

Findings

In this research, a number of predisposing factors of daba are mentioned and/or identified. The entire membership of daba within metropolitan Kano was the target population, a total number of 169 respondents were sampled using purposive and accidental sampling within the metropolitan area and yandaba locations were identified, from which selection was made on the basis of availability. Structured interviews were used for the data collection. The interviews were conducted in Hausa language by the researcher and some trained research assistants. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The data were summarized using percentage and chi-square.

The major variables (which are independent) analyzed include: sex of the respondents, age, level of education, income, occupation, peer group influence, respondents’ parents average income, parental care, unemployment, political backing, and membership of daba—which is the dependent variable.

From the findings, it was discovered that majority of the respondents (74.6%) are below the age of 30 years. This indicates that age has some influence on one becoming a member of daba. This is because as the members of daba community get older, they tend to detach themselves or withdraw from the daba. This is in line with the findings of Dan’asabe (1991), Jjankowski (1991), and Agnew (1992) who say young men join gangs because they consider it a rational way of getting a larger share of the things they want in an environment of chronic scarcity and they respond to this strain with deviant behavior.

The sex distribution of the respondents indicates that the majority (87.6%) of them are males. This is because daba activity is largely masculine, especially considering the metamorphosis of yanfarauta to yandaba and sometimes into political vanguard groupings, making it inappropriate for females. In addition, the traditional nature of the areas in which daba activity is predominant does not encourage the participation of women in daba life. This shows that males are more likely to join daba than females. This is in line with the findings of Campbell (1991) who postulates that females became gang members when they faced problems of powerlessness of the underclass, subordination to males, social isolation, and domestic labor.

The majority (81%) of the respondents are found to have attended traditional Qur’anic schools. Only 1.2% of the respondents went to secondary school, 13% attended primary school, and none of them attended any post-secondary school. This result is congruent with that of Cloward and Ohlin (1960), Dan’asabe (1991), and Zakariya’u (2000) who said that among the reasons that led to the emergence of yandaba is a lack of educational opportunities.

The level of income of the respondents was found to be low, with 50.3% of them having an average monthly income of N 6001 to N 8000. Only 1.2% earns an average income of over N 8000. Even those whose income is high are found to be involved mainly in illegal businesses: selling Indian hemp, hard drugs, and roadside petrol (black market). This shows that people with high income are less likely to join daba than those with a low income. However, since involvement in daba activity avail the members with opportunity of engaging in illegal businesses, as mentioned above, makes membership to daba attractive to the low-income group. It is also discovered that there is a difference in the level of participation in daba activities between individuals from low-income parents and those from high-income parents. The above is in line with the findings of Ibbotsom (1956), Dan’asabe (1991), and Lindstorm (1996) who say that children within a low socioeconomic status are more aggressive and that gang members are largely unemployed youths from poverty-stricken backgrounds.

From the research, it is established that a significant percentage (72.8%) of the respondents do not have their parents living together. Thus, it can be deduced that individuals from broken homes are more at risk of joining daba than others. Also, 79.9% of them said that their parents have not given them adequate care. This is in line with the findings of Fyuel (1961), Mays (1967), Lopez-Rey (1970), Selznick (1977), and Dan’asabe (1991). Peer group influence has been described as one of the major factors that predispose individuals to daba. From the research, 88.1% of the respondents hold that view. This is similar with the main theme of Sutherland’s theory (1939).

The level of unemployment among the youths has been described by the majority of the respondents (75.8%) as one of the predisposing factors of daba. Also, from the findings, 90% of the respondents believe that poverty is one of the significant factors that facilitates the existence of daba. The majority of the respondents (85.8%), as revealed by the data, believed that membership to daba is facilitated by the political backing they recieve. They say that politicians use them during political campaigns and rallies and, to some extent, during elections. Most politicians tend to sponsor or hire yandaba to serve as their bodyguards and use them to harass and intimidate their political opponents. They further stated that they are being utilized by political office holders who are powerful in the society and are able to stop the police from arresting the daba, in addition to giving them economic and material support.

Discussion

It is evident from the findings that a large proportion of the respondents are below 30 years of age. This shows that as they are getting older, they tend to withdraw from the daba group. In this regard, age has some influence over one becoming a member of daba. It was also found that majority of ‘yandaba within the research area are males. The few females found within the gang were discovered to be mostly girlfriends to the daba male members, especially the leaders. Most of these daba members are not educated. It was established from the research that a significant percentage of them attended only traditional Qur’anic schools. Also, while only a small percentage of them attended primary schools (some even dropping out), none attended any post-secondary institution. Since the findings reveal that members of daba are significantly uneducated, they lack skills, which invariably make them remain perpetually unemployed. From the findings of the research, unemployment is one of the major factors that predispose individuals to daba.

As majority of the respondents are not educated, and unemployed in the formal sense, their level of income is thereby affected; a large percentage have low monthly income. As described by the respondents, the little income acquired is through illegal means such as theft, burglary, illegal businesses like sales of Indian hemp and hard drugs, black market petrol and so on.

One of the other major predisposing factors described by the respondents to the daba research is broken homes. A significant percentage of the respondents suffer from the effects of broken homes, as their parents are not living together anymore and, hence, could not get adequate parental care. The influence of peer group is among the factors that a large proportion of the respondents said predisposes individuals to daba. They further mentioned that it facilitates the existence of yandaba. In other words, individuals learn about deviant activities (daba inclusive) from their friends. They tend to form social bonds with deviant people from whom they learn deviant norms and values.

The majority of the respondents believe that membership in daba is motivated and sustained by politicians and political office holders who use them during political activities. The politicians sponsor the daba, having them serve as bodyguards and using them to intimidate political opponents. To some extent, the politicians protect the daba from getting arrested by the police or bail them out if they are detained.

Conclusion

The social system of any society rests on the arrangement of that society’s social structure. Everyday activity is regulated by the patterned interaction based on the social structure of that society. Therefore, through this the culture of a community is generated, learned, and imparted to members of the society. Every member of the society is expected to make every effort to conform to the society’s dominant culture, for the progress of all. However, due to the rapid changes in Nigerian society and the collapse of various of its infrastructures, including the educational system, public confidence in political office holders, and general moral decadence, the youths have been initiated into many forms of social maladjustment—things like daba or banga. Like the conventional culture, the sub-culture has its own norms and values, which are more often than not contrary to the conventional norms. This tends to create problems and challenges to the society, especially the sub-cultural group may rebel against the established order of society.

Daba activity is one of the sources of social insecurity in metropolitan Kano. Involvement of the male youths in daba jeopardizes the leadership potentials not only in the state but also in the country in general. The low level of formal education and aggressive tendencies of yandaba hinder them from getting employed, thereby making them live below the poverty line. There were many major predisposing factors to daba identified in the research, namely influence of peer group, inadequate parental care, low level of education, unemployment, low income, low level of parent’s income, poverty, broken homes, and political activities and backing of politicians.

Recommendations

In order to minimize, if not eradicate, the menace of daba activities, the following are recommended:

1. Better economic policies should be put in place to improve the living standards of youths, family, and communities.
2. Opportunities and access to education for youths should be enhanced.
3. Job opportunities have to be provided to youths to reduce unemployment, thereby minimizing the poverty level of individuals.
4. There is the need to establish vigilante groups with the aim of bringing down the rate of crime and daba activities in particular.
5. Traditional authorities need to be utilized for easy identification of yandaba and their locations for necessary reorientation and reeducation.
6. Measures should be taken to deter politicians from supporting members of daba.
7.  There is a need for establishing guidance and counseling centers to assist drug-addicts and yandaba to abandon drugs and get integrated into the mainstream of the society.

 References

Abdullahi, S. A. (1982). Historic role of African youth and the contemporary challenges. Sokoto Service, pp. 67-68.

Agnew, R. (1992). Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 30, pp. 475-499.

Campbell, A. (1991). Girl delinquents. Oxford: England: Blackwell.

Cloward, INITIAL & Ohlin, INITIAL (1960). Delinquency and opportunity: A theory of delinquent gangs. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Cohen, A. K. (1955). Delinquent boys: The culture of the gang. Glencoe Free Press.

Conklin, E. J. (1989). Criminology (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.

AUTHOR. (2005). Country report for Nigeria for the eleventh United Nations Congress on crime prevention and criminal justice. Bangkok, Thailand.

Dan’asabe, A. U. (1991). ‘Yandaba: Terrorist in Kano Metropolitan. Kano Studies, pp. 85-111.

Dawakin Tofa, B. S. (1994). A sociological study of ‘Yandaukar Amarya in Kano. (Unpublished M.Sc. thesis). University of Jos.

Durkheim, E. (1897). Suicide. New York, NY: Glencoe Free Press.

Hagan, J. (1989). Structural criminology. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Hamza, H. B. (1995). Predisposing factors of juvenile delinquency in urban centers: A study of Kano Metropolis. (Unpublished B.Sc. thesis). Bayero University, Kano.

Isah, S. R. (2004). A discourse on drug-abuse and its consequences to the youth. Paper presented at Bayerp University, Kano, Nigeria.

Jupp, V. (1993). Methods of criminology research. London, England: Rutledge.

Lindstrom, P. (1996). School context and delinquency project metropolitan research report 41. Stockholm: University of Stockholm.

Mays, J. B. (1972). Juvenile delinquency: The family and the social group. London, England.

Merton, K. R. (1957). Social structure and anomie: Social theory and social structure. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Report of the Political Bureau Directorate for Social Mobilization. 1988. Abuja.

Sutherland, E. (1939). Principles of criminology (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.

Sutherland, E. H. (1949). Differential Association Theory. In E. W. Marwin (Ed.), Sociology of crime and delinquency (pp. PAGES). John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Umar, B. A. (2004). Urban gangs (‘Yandaba) and security in Kano State: A review of trends and challenges. Paper presented at Cleveland State University, Cleveland OH.

Wolfgang, E. M. & Farracutti, INITIAL (1967). The subculture of violence. London, England: Tavistock.

Ya’u, Y. Z. (2000). The youth, economic crises and identity transformation: The case of ‘Yandaba in Kano. In A. Jega, (Ed.), Identity transformation and identity politics under structural adjustment in Nigeria. Nordiska Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden. The Center for Research and Documentation, Kano.

Yablorsky, L. (1962). The violent gang. New York, NY: Macmillan Press.

Mohammed Awaisu Haruna

This chapter focuses attention on both the traditional and the modern drugs being abused by the youths in Kano metropolis. The term “drug,” which is sometimes synonymous with medicine, is a household term in almost every society, modern or traditional. It is a popular term among individuals and groups, young, old, male, and female. The term has been defined and explained in various contexts by different scholars of different times.

A drug is any substance that causes changes in the human body. These changes and responses may depend on a number of factors, such as the individual level of tolerance, age, gender, dosage, and past experiences with drugs (Musa, 1973). For Kester (1990), a drug is any chemical substance that alters the feelings, thoughts, moods, and actions or behavior of individuals when it is taken into the body. Szasz (1960) medically conceived of drugs as any substance, except food, which, due to its chemical content, affects the functioning and structure of a living organism. Drugs could be regarded as either licit and legal or illicit and illegal. Although there are several meanings, conceptions, and explanations of drug abuse, we can simply define it as “the excessive, maladaptive, or addictive use of drugs for non-medical purposes despite social, psychological and physical problems that may arise from such use” (Adamu, 2003).

Variations in the conceptions and definitions of a drug is a clear indication that the term is broadly defined, used not only for chemo and oral therapies, but also for traditional or indigenous alcoholic drinks that include burkutu, ogogoro, banmi, and fito. Other traditional substances that affect human behavior and are regarded as drugs include hankufa (medicinal under a tree), zakami (thairy thorn apple), goro (kola nut), taba-gari (powdered tobacco), and a bitter root usually imported from Cameroon that is popularly known as dankamaru (Abdullahi, 2003). Gagai and other locally generated and produced substances, such as lizard secretions, gutter, and pit-toiletare also considered drugs (Amina, 2006). In recent years, some of the Kano youths that abuse drugs take them in the form of a tea known as gadagi (Abdullahi, 2003). Other brands of stimulant drinks include herbal tea and sada tea. Some of these traditional drugs and a selection of some modern drugs are discussed in the proceeding sections.

Traditional Drugs with Addictive Potentials

Traditional drugs have been used and abused worldwide in almost all societies by both old and young men and women irrespective of cultural or religious and geographical variations. The traditional drugs of abuse in Nigeria are generally those that are used as stimulants, even before the advent of modern Western medicine. In this section, some of these traditional stimulants are discussed as well as the possible reasons for abuse. They are classified into mild and powerful traditional stimulants.

Mild Stimulants

Kola nuts

The kola nut is a traditionally and culturally approved of substance that is grown in the Western part of Nigeria. Its use is legal and cuts across the sub-culture, age, socio-economic, and religious variations. It is very significant in the lives of Nigerians in that it is a sign of peace, allegiance, and acceptance in patron/client relationships, betrothal, marriage, and other ceremonies, conflict resolution, during the exchange of visits, and religious rituals. It is medicinal in that it serves as a deterrent against vomiting for a number of people. It is also used by evil men for sorcery, divination, and magic. Its use serves as a safety valve against the use and abuse of modern stimulant drugs.

To most youths, kola nut is a substance that is used to alleviate tiredness or prevent sleeplessness. In other words, the kola nut is seen as a mild central nervous system stimulant. Both short and long-distance drivers use it to stay awake so as to avoid sleeping while driving. Students also chew kola nuts to keep them awake during examinations. Its use is becoming common, particularly during formal meetings of various Government and Nongovernmental Organizations at the Federal, State, and Local levels. When individuals use it regularly, they become habituated; it gradually affects their health, with particular impact on cardiovascular health as well as impacting blood pressure.

Tobacco

The use and abuse of tobacco is an old habit among Nigerians. Ground leaves of tobacco are chewed and kept wet in the mouth by users, and it is removed only when the user wants to take food or a drink or when they go to sleep. The leaves are also locally rolled and smoked as tunkura. The ground leaves are known among the Hausa in Kano as taba-gari (powdered tobacco) and sold to consumers for easy use. Those who use it become addicted and their lips, teeth, and tongues turn reddish, and they spit from time to time. Although the excessive use and abuse of tunkura and taba-gari was popular in the metropolis, its use is drastically on the decline due to the availability of cigarettes. The society views its use as a deviation because it is physically and socially harmful to the individual users and the society.

Burkutu

Burkutu is a locally produced alcoholic drink brewed in Hausa land since before the advent of Islam, colonialism, and the introduction of Western alcoholic drinks. It was very common among the Maguzawa (believers of traditional religion). Until the recent introduction of Shari’a in Kano, burkutu was consumed in large quantities by youths in both the rural and urban areas of Kano. Nowadays, its use is on the decline, especially in the metropolis, because of the introduction of the Shari’a as well as the extra vigilance and special attention on the restriction of the movement, use, and marketing of both local and Western alcoholic beverages. As speculation has it, only in Bukavu and Janguza Army barracks is burkutu freely sold and consumed. It is still produced and used on market days in rural areas far away Kano and on other important occasions such as festivals, marriages, and naming ceremonies, particularly among the Maguzawa.

Powerful Stimulants

Hankufa

Hankufa is a traditional drug with a powerful stimulant effect. It provides extra energy to the users. It was commonly used by those who traveled for long distances or those who go on hunting expedition in search of prey. In addition, it gives the power and energy to confront rival hunting groups, who sometimes engage in fierce fighting over a catch or hunting territory. In fact, it makes the users fearless and tireless. Its use is not limited to the hunters alone, but is fed to their hunting dogs, as it makes them more energetic and able to run faster. It is alleged that some members of the Bori cult in Hausa land use hankufa as a stimulant to keep on jumping and falling on their buttocks without feeling any pain. Hankufa makes the mouth dry, releasing white foam instead of saliva. Although its use was more common in the rural and suburban areas, it is used and abused in and around the Kano metropolis by some youths. Abdullahi (2003) reported that it is mixed up with gadagi in a separate teapot for a category of users who are not satisfied with the mild stimulant effects of ordinary gadagi alone. It is usually served on request.

Zakami

This is another stimulant that has been in use for many years among Hausa youth in Kano. Farmers in the rural areas, especially the youths, use it to give them energy during the planting and harvesting seasons. It enables them to work on the farm for longer hours. They also take it during community development projects (the construction of roads and bridges) and self-help work, such as farming, planting, and harvesting, when youths participate voluntarily. Zakami is usually put in a locally prepared drink (kunun zaki) that is made from millet. Sugar is added to taste.

Gadagi

Gadagi is generally regarded as tea with a difference and is the most popular of all traditional stimulant drugs among the Kano commercial motorcyclists (Yan’ acaba). Gadagi contains various stimulant ingredients, such as leaves, roots, and chips of different trees. Gadagi enables the users to “achieve purposes such as stimulation, medication, agitation and the total ability to endure any hardship involved in goal attainment” (Abdullahi, 2003, p. 10) through a combination of several indigenous substances used during production.

This drug is used to excess by a large number of youths who engage in different occupations. As mentioned earlier, the most conspicuous group of youths who uses gadagi are the commercial motor cyclists, who move from one location to another in the metropolis, picking up and dropping off passengers. They operate throughout the day, regardless of sun, heat, or rain. Some of them take gadagi two to three times a day so as to maintain energy levels and to be able to work for a number of hours. On the uses of gadagi, a commercial motorcyclist disclosed that:

Gadagi as medicinal is a different thing to different people, defending on the individual concerned: it is medicine against the impact of the sun on those that work particularly during the dry season like me (Danacaba). It reduces fatigue to a minimum, it keeps one awake, reduces the chances of becoming impotent, reduces fat and sugar in the body to a low level. It is a medicine for people with piles and yellow fever. (Abdullahi, 2003, p. 12)

The use of gadagi seems to be rapidly becoming widespread in Kano. It is alleged that youths who play football take it before a training session. The same applies to police men on night patrol duty and long distance and commuter drivers. Gadagi is made more powerful and effective when it is mixed with other substances. Some users make a special request for a brand of gadagi known as Cockroach mixture (a mixture of gadagi with Nescafe). Others buy a mixture of gadagi and alabokum. The consumption of gadagi is on the rise because it is a legal tea.

Modern Drugs with Addictive Potentials

The advent of colonialism and modern medicine is associated with the introduction of modern drugs for the treatment of ailments, illnesses, and diseases. A number of modern drugs are abused by youths in Kano. Some of these drugs include alcoholic drinks, marijuana, tranquillizers, and solvents. Use and abuse varies depending on a number of factors, including the nature of one’s occupation, the availability and access to the substance, and the age and sex of the abuser.

Odejide (1979) and Oshodin (1981) report that alcohol is one of the most commonly abused substances in Nigeria, followed by marijuana and other substances. Despite societal rejection and legal prohibitions, marijuana is commonly and publicly abused by Kano youths. The Kano State Shari’a Commission seems to pay more attention to alcoholic drinks rather than other substances of abuse. These drugs are easily accessible to the youths in Kano.

Stimulant Substances

These are drugs that induce a stimulation of the central nervous system. The most common stimulants known worldwide include cocaine, amphetamines, alcoholic drinks, marijuana, caffeine, and nicotine. Cocaine and amphetamines are classified among the major stimulants, while the rest are among the minor ones.

Marijuana

The term “marijuana” is believed to have originated from a Portuguese word, guan go, which means intoxicant and is a potent psychoactive substance. Cannabis sativa, another name for a brand of marijuana, is a hemp plant that is commonly grown in most nations throughout the world (Maisto, Galizio, & Cornor, 1999). When consumed in a large quantity, it serves as a stimulant and makes youths very active. In Kano, marijuana is the most popular drug of abuse.

It is popularly known in Kano as ganye (leaf), but it is also known by other names such as wee wee and ganja. Whenever the word ganye is mentioned, most people undoubtedly know that it simply means marijuana. The substance is very common and available in different locations throughout the state, especially in the urban centers. Some of these locations, as mentioned by Dawakin Tofa (2003), include the Kano Pillars Stadium at Sabongari and the Sani Abacha Stadium at Kofar Mata, where the substance is sold and smoked freely by youths. Other notable places are motor stations, including Kofar Ruwa, Naibawa, Kofar Kabuga, and the area around Kasuwar Rimi (the Rimi Market), Kasuwar Kurmi (the Kurmi Market), football pitches, and cinema houses.

The youths who abuse marijuana in Kano are below the age of 30. In a study of drug addicts at the Dawanau Rehabilitation Centre, Haruna and Abdullahi (1991) discovered that 38% of the patients receiving treatment abused marijuana as opposed to 16% who abused alcohol. All the marijuana abusers fell between the ages of 24 and 28. Similarly, in a study of marijuana abusers in Bayero University, Yahaya (2007) discovered that 83% of the students who abuse marijuana are between the ages of 20 and 29. Youths who abuse marijuana face a number of problems. The most common and conspicuous is unusual and unnecessary laughter. Others include day-dreaming and panic attacks. Some of the chronic abusers release an unpleasant odor.

Alcohol

Shari’a Law in the state is most concerned and has directed its effort at prohibiting the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic drinks. Beer production companies have been shut down and all the publicly conceivable retail and wholesale businesses providing alcoholic drinks have moved out of Kano to the neighboring non-Shari’a states of the north. Despite this, it is apparent that the sale and consumption of alcohol is still carried out in the state.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a mild central nervous system stimulant that is abused in the form of coffee, tea, cocoa, cola beverages, or flavored drinks. Youths in institutions of higher learning, offices, and other places of work take it as a stimulant and those who use it in excess abuse it. The intake of caffeine is associated with a number of diseases, including diabetes, peptic ulcers, stroke, and gastric and binary tract ulcers. In addition to these, people who abuse caffeine experience nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, and excitement.

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are another nervous system stimulant that are commonly abused. Some of the mental effects of amphetamine abuse include increased alertness and energy, a decreased appetite, increased euphoria, and raised blood pressure (Radda, 2006). Amphetamines are the most commonly abused stimulant drugs by youths in Kano; they are so popular that they are called by different names, such as kafi-allura (more potent than any stimulant), aji-garau (feel strong), and arungunmi zaki (being stronger than a lion). Those who abuse amphetamines include farmers, drivers, tailors, truck-pushers, motor mechanics, some market women, and food sellers, among others (Amina, 2006).

Cocaine

Cocaine is mainly abused by youths in Nigerian cities that include Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Benin, Calabar, and Abuja, among others. Initially the abuse of cocaine was limited to a few individuals who could afford to purchase it because of its price. However, in recent times, the price of cocaine has fallen; as a result, its purchase and abuse among youths has been on the increase (UNDCP, 1999).

As a very powerful stimulant drug, cocaine has a high psycho-toxicity and excessively stimulates the central nervous system. The most common method of cocaine intake among Kano youths is by sniffing and this induces nostril and mouth ulcers. Other effects include artificial euphoria, increased heartrate, high blood pressure, depression, and paranoia. It is due to its dangerous and multiple effects that it has been nicknamed hodar Iblis (Satanic powder).

Tranquilizers

These are a category of drugs commonly abused and include Valium, Librium, Diazepam, Ativan, Magadon, Mandrax, and Lexaton. Tranquillizers, popularly known as depressants or sedatives, are swallowed as tablets and capsules, though some of them are abused in the form of syrups designed to relieve anxiety and stress, promote or induce sleep, or as a relaxant. They have a serious impact in terms of causing drowsiness, forgetfulness, and weakness. These drugs are readily available and are purchased from patent medicine stores that by Law should be registered and handled by qualified and competent pharmacists. Valium and different kinds of cough syrups, in particular Banylin, are the most commonly abused depressants among youths in Kano

Inhalants

Toxic inhalants refer to volatile substances that can be abused by sniffing their vapor. The substances are poisonous and include nitrous oxide (laughing gas), hydrocarbon (solvents), chloro-hyrocarbon (aerosols) and amyl or butyl nitrite (poppers or snoppers). These chemicals are ingredients that make up items such as glues, plastic cement, gas lighter fluid, deodorant, air fresheners, paints, and correction fluids. Other forms of inhalants are the steams from latrines and gutters. These are obtained at no cost. The abusers go to the latrine or gutter early in the morning to sniff the steam that alters mood and perception (Yakubu, 2006). The drug abusers derive no medical benefits, but instead suffer from social, psychological, and biological consequences. The substances change the mood of the users, who also suffer from mental disorder, liver, and kidney problems. Under the influence of these organic substances, the abusers escape from reality and get involved in crimes and violence, which has bedeviled not only Kano, but also the whole country.

The most commonly abused toxic inhalants by youths in Kano include glue, lighter fluid, paint fumes, nail polish, rubber solutions, kerosene, and fuel. These inhalants are common and the youth have easy access to them. In a number of families, women keep their cosmetics in places where their children have easy and unlimited access to them. Most parents and sisters are not aware that nail polish could be used as a substitute for drugs and, as a result children, take advantage of this ignorance to take nail polish from home. They sniff these agents to derive satisfaction.

As for glue and fuel, they are easily available for sale and are inexpensive. Some of the youths get fuel easily from abandoned vehicles or from garages where cars are kept for repairs. Others get the fuel from roadside sellers. Most of the sellers are themselves drug abusers and some of them abuse inhalants, rubber solutions, lemon, paw-paw, and guava leaves. Others include gutter water known as Jamba in Hausa, frog secretions, and lizard excretes (Yakubu, 2006). Most of the abusers take a combination of the modern and traditional drugs.

Summary

The chapter examined the abuse of traditional and modern drugs by the youth in Kano. The first part of the paper focused its attention on both the major and minor traditional drugs that have addictive potentiality. The former include Kolanut, tobacco, burkutu, and the later include hankufa, zakami, and gadagi. The second part of the paper covered some of the modern drugs abused by the youth; these include marijuana, alcohol, caffeine, amphetamines, cocaine, tranquillizers, and inhalants.

Under the influence of drugs, the youth abuser may behave in the most abnormal and extra ordinary manner by engaging in all kinds of social vices and crimes. The abusers, in particular commercial motorcyclists, are involved in serious road accidents and some of them are capable of committing murder, rape, and armed robbery. Those who engage in the abuse of drugs tend to lose their honor as do their families. Their children are sometimes affected by the stigma and find it difficult to get marriage partners in the community. The abuse of both traditional and modern drugs is socially, morally, and religiously unacceptable among the people of Kano. This is one of the reasons why it generally attracts condemnation and a very powerful stigma, from which the abuser loses self respect and is perceived as a problem to himself and the society.

Recommendations

The following recommendations may be considered for the control and reduction of drug abuse among youths in Kano:

1. The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency should intensify efforts to identify the various places where marijuana is purchased and used by youth in Kano. Those apprehended should be promptly prosecuted.
2. The Kano State Ministry of Education should enlighten and educate students in particular and youth in general about the danger of drug abuse and tell people to shun the use of all kinds of drugs.
3. Women at home should keep away their cosmetics from children in order to deny them access to inhalants such as deodorant, air-freshener, and nail polish.
4. The Law prohibiting the sale of drugs by Pharmaceuticals and other Drug Stores to individuals without doctor’s prescription should be effectively enforced.
5. The consumption of harmful traditional drugs should be banned, in particular the use of addictive ingredients in tea such as gadagi.

References

Abdullahi, S. A. (2003) the Use of Traditional Drugs amongst the Kano Youth: The Case of Gadagi. In Abdulrashid Garba (ed.), Youth and Drug Abuse in Nigeria: Strategies for Counseling, Management and Control.

Adamu, A.U. (2003) Preface. In Abdulrashid Garba (ed.), Youth and Drug Abuse in Nigeria: Strategies for counseling, Management and Control.

Dawakin Tofa, B. S. (2003) Illicit Drug Distribution Network in Kano Metropolitan. In Abdulrashid Garba (ed.), Youth and Drug Abuse in Nigeria: Strategies for counseling, Management and Control.

Haruna, M. A. and Abdullahi, S.A. (1991) Poverty and drug Abuse: A Study of Dawanau Rehabilitation Center, Kano State. In Last, M. and Khalil, S. (ed.) Kano studies (Special issues), pp 23-39

Haruna, M.A. (2005) Substance Abuse in Nigeria: A Psycho-Social Analysis. In Suleiman, A.G. (ed.), Readings in Applied Psychology.

Kester, T. (1990) Drug Education: An Effective Measure to the Prevention of Drug Abuse. The Adult Education Journal; Vol. 6 N0. 5.

Maisto, S.A.; Galizio, M.; Cornor, G.J. (1999) Drug Use and Abuse. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Musa, Y.Q. (1973) Secondary Environmental Science Methods. London: Tavistoch Publication.

NAFDAC (2000) The Role of NAFDAC in the Prevention and Control of Drugs in Nigeria: Its Relationship and Expectation from Community/NGOS/CBOS. A Paper presented at One-Day Conference organized by Youth Society for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Social Vices, Kano Foundation Building.

Odejide, A.0. (1979) Alcohol Use in Sub-group of Literate Nigerians. African Journal of Psychiatry. 1(2)

Oshodin, G.O. (1981) Alcohol Abuse: A case Study of Secondary School Students in Rural Areas of Benin District. Nigeria Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 8

Radda, S.I. (2006) Drug Abuse and Its Consequences on the Youth. In Dalhatu, S. (ed.) Essays on Local Government Administration: Fostering Better Service Delivery, Record keeping, Accountability and Empowerment ay the Local Government.

Suleiman, B. Mohamed (2006) Issues of Drug abuse and Addiction in Nigeria. In Dalhatu, S., Essays On Local Government Administration: Fostering Better Service Delivery, Record keeping, Accountability and Empowerment ay the Local Government.

Szasz, T. (1975) Ceremonial Chemistry: A Ritual Persecution of Drug Addicts and Pushers. (Rautledge and Keegan Paul Ltd, Broadway House)

Tasa, D. (20006) The Legal and Institutional Framework for the Control of Drug Abuse and Related Problems. In Dalhatu, S., Essays On Local Government Administration: Fostering Better Service Delivery, Record keeping, Accountability and Empowerment ay the Local Government,

UNDCP (1999) Report of the Rapid Situation Assessment of Drug Abuse in Nigeria. November, 1999

World Health organization (1991)

Yahaya, A. B. (2006) Indian hemp Smoking Among Undergraduate University Students: A Study of Undergraduate Students of Bayero University, Kano. Unpublished M. Sc. Thesis submitted to the School of Post-Graduate Studies, Bayero University Kano.

Yakubu, Amina (2006) Types of Drugs commonly Used and their Availability at community Level. In Dalhatu, S., Essays On Local Government Administration: Fostering Better Service Delivery, Record keeping, Accountability and Empowerment ay the Local Government.

Bala Saleh Dawakin Tofa

In contemporary times, children—especially the girl-child—have been at the center of research and debate worldwide. This chapter seeks to explore the issue of girl-child hawking in the metropolitan city of Kano. Hawking is a viable source of income in this city and unfortunately, a large number of hawkers are females under the age of seventeen. Thus, this paper is an investigation into the risks and challenges that the girl-child hawker faces in present-day Kano, Nigeria.

Hawking and the Girl-Child in Kano

The indigenous peoples of Kano state are predominantly Muslims. Kano is one of the important states in Hausa-land in particular and in the old Sudan in general (Naniya, 2000). The history of Kano may be divided into five periods: The early period, deals with the founding of the city and the rule established by Bagauda up to 1500 AD; the second period covers the reign of Muhammad Rumfa up to that of Muhammadu Nazaki; the third period is that of Kutumbawa (beginning from Alwali the Great to 1806); the fourth period is that of Jahadists (1807-1903), and the fifth period starts from the British colonial period to the present (Zahraddeen, 1993).

A girl-child hawker in Kano metropolis is hereby defined as any female girl who is aged between 6-17 years, who is a victim of the practice initiated by her parents/care givers, patronized and exploited by some members of the public, and scorned by policy makers. She is a subject of study by researchers, opinion leaders, and some non-governmental organizations. A girl child hawker, however defined, is caught in the middle; she is perpetually suffering, is seen on daily basis roaming the streets selling all sorts of wares, some of them spend time selling wares and return home. To many of them, it is a whole day’s business roaming about from place to place on foot, denied the opportunity of good and sound education, adequate leisure, exploited, extorted, tired and exhausted. For some of them and their desperate parents/caregivers, hawking starts in the morning with a particular ware for sale, continues in the afternoon, and stops only at night after alternating the wares to be sold. This category of hawkers, talla degree (graduates in hawking), do not have any formal schooling or any other form of education. This practice has, in recent times, raised other concerns on the allegation that some of them engage in sexual relationships, which threatens their life due to the possibility of contracting sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies.

According to the 2006 Federal census, Kano state has an estimated population of 9,383,682 million people, with three million people resident in the metropolis. By these figures, Kano state is now the most populous state in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and a society where polygamy is widely practiced. The extended family system, multiple wives, and traditional and customary practices force some families into hardship, resorting to begging or hawking to survive. Ogunlade (1990, p. PAGE) argues:

If hawking is a way which [sic] they (families) can survive, which the children can do, they will do it. That is why it has not been very easy to stop hawkers, because those who hawk are the children of the very poor people.

According to a statement by Child Welfare League of Nigeria (CWLN):

The law itself, particularly the Child and Young Persons Law of 1964, contradicts the plight of children in areas of child labor and street trading, a phenomenon that continues to have a devastating and retrogressive effect on the society education and the welfare of children. Rather than staying at home and compounding the problem of their parents, children, particularly girls, are withdrawn from school into early marriages and into extensive child labor (child trading and the likes) that, sexual and physical abuse of children, notably young girls has became the norm in our troubled society. It is no longer news having fathers or guardians sexually molesting their wards. Many are raped daily and are lost in their own worlds as there is no place to seek for protection. (Child Welfare League of Nigeria, 1999)

Fostering (Riko) in Hausa society is a challenge to the Hausa girl-child hawker and is commonly referred to in sociological parlance as the rearing of children by people other than their parents. Because fostering in Hausa society is so simple, significant numbers of the girl-child hawkers are foster-children. There are implications for this: if a girl-child hawker is fostered and lives in a poor, extended family, hawking is a necessity; selling everything by the girl-child becomes a necessity, too, and exposure to sexual abuses are eminent. Goddy (1975) contends that the tradition of fostering or rearing of children by close or distant relations, as found in many African societies, has a double effect on the child. The foster parents may develop some sort of laxity in the upbringing of the child, which may make the child emotionally imbalanced and socially maladjusted, or the foster parents may become too rigid to the fostered child. Either way, a fostered girl-child in Kano metropolis is in jeopardy until she is brought up in a non-hawking household.

In the case of child hawking, The Children and Young Persons Ordinance 1946, 1958, (section 28, 32), and 1999 forbids the employment of children in the street trading; Chapter two, section 17 (3)(f) of the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1990 states; “that children young persons and the aged are protected against exploitation whatsoever and against moral and material neglect.”  Chapter 17, section 213 of the Sharifah penal code states “whosoever having the charge or care of a child under the age of fifteen years of being in a position of authority under him willfully ill-treats or neglects him in such a way as to cause him unnecessary suffering shall be punished.” Section 212 states that “such a person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term and shall be liable to canning which may extend to forty lashes.”

Ahmed et al (2004) argues that, regarding the right of Muslim women in Northern Nigeria, no reliable data exists on prevalent practices…[or the] extent of wide spread hawking…Multiple factors pose new risks and challenges for girl-child street hawking; not only in Kano, but also in the whole of Northern Nigeria and the country as a whole.

Traditional, cultural, economic, social, and Islamic factors come into play for the girl-child in traditional Northern Nigeria and especially Kano, a volatile city with distinct peculiarities. In their report, Ahmad et al. (2004) found that, literature on Northern Nigeria has documented the relevance of daughters in the early and middle stage of a Muslim woman’s life. A daughter is so vital in the life of the woman that a woman without a girl-child would foster the daughter of a relative. This practice certainly is a risk to any unfortunate fostered girl-child, who has to hawk in her life time in Kano metropolis, coupled with the fact that a woman depends on her daughter to relieve her of domestic work and, in the process, the child must learn her gender roles. The woman is also often dependent on her daughter (biological or fostered) for her income generation. In most cases, the girl child buys raw material from the market and takes part in the processing or production as well as in the selling of finished goods (Callaway, 1987; Schildrant, YEAR). The demands of marriage and expectations about it are crucial in promoting girl-child hawking, despite the associated risks. In most cases, the reasons for hawking are required culturally.

According to Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Agency (WRAPA) (2001), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), female children, as a sub-group of children, are the most vulnerable because they suffer a wide range of deep-rooted discriminatory practices. As for gender differences, although boys and girls tend to be found on the streets, Oloko (1989) found that in street trading girls predominate. According to the findings of WRAPA, the consequences of hawking by the girl-children include widespread unprotected sexual relationships.

The second type of literature according to the report is sociological. The sociological literature is still subdivided into academic and development/project related literature. The academic literature discusses the theoretical and empirical analysis of the condition of the girl-child, thereby arousing the interest of policy makers and activists.

In their studies of girl rearing practices in Northern Nigeria, Hake (1972) in Ahmed et al. (2004) identifies certain factors that influence childcare practices in the North, Kano inclusive. These factors include the extended family system and related polygamy, where the present wives may raise children from a man’s previous marriage, the socio-economic position of the family, the educational level of parents, the income level, and the geographical location are all important factors in determining the condition of a child in Hausa society.

The reality of new risks and challenges to a girl-child in Kano is buttressed by the prevalence of the practice of hawking in both rural and urban areas of the Muslim North. Hawking in Kano is taking new dimensions; the state is declared a Shari’ah compliant state. Moslem scholars are given priority and thus begging has increased at an incredibly rate. Meanwhile, the government is advocating a program to discourage hawking as political tactic.

Another challenge to the girl-child in Kano is in the area of abuse and violence. This takes place in the home and outside the home. The practice is more common among fostered children in the hands of their foster parents. This could be in the form of mental or psychological abuse, sexual exploitation, excessive beating, and favoritism or preferential treatment against the child. Two categories of girls that are mostly affected: children of broken marriages and the child of a non-favorite wife. This crime is perpetrated by co-wives, step-mothers, or the father himself. For those who hawk, the challenge now is more on competition and possible multiple sexual abuses and mental stress, as the number of girl-child hawkers in Kano Metropolis are on the increase, with many coming from other Local Governments.

For his part, Schildrout (1978, p. 34, quoted by Dyorough 2004, p. 2) associates the likelihood of finding girls who hawk with the economic status of their parents. He says,

…children’s roles are to some extent dependent upon the economic status of their parents. However, not all girls engage in street trading, for this depends upon the attitude of parents, their income, and sometimes on their inclination towards the child.

Historically, the pressure on children on the streets around the world is not new. Platt (1969) notes:

In the 1850s, as their numbers increased with the influx of German and Irish immigrants to New York City, local authorities became alarmed. Indeed, one recent study suggests that mid Nineteenth century reformers considered the presence of poor children in New York’s streets as a key element of the problem of urban poverty. Children’s street life was held as an irrefutable evidence of parental neglect and a pathological low class family environment that initiated children into lives of misery and crime.

By 1910, Child Savers (An American based Non-Governmental Organization) launched a new, national campaign in Chicago to offer a supervised, educational alternative to the moral hazards of street life. As a matter of ideological concern, Child Savers was established in 1969 to defend the importance of the home, family life, and parental supervision, being the institutions that traditionally give purpose to a woman’s life.

In Kano, girl-child hawking is a cultural requirement which most poor families indulge in for a number of years. It was, therefore, not considered a problem in any way. But, with the tremendous development of the city, highly volatile “city things” are no longer taken for granted and girl-child hawking has and continues to generate negative reactions from members of the middle class of the society, who have contributed to the problem and do not want to see the problem as having reached a crisis situation.

There is literature on girl-street hawkers that reflect their various localities. For instance, most writers on girl street hawkers from the Southern or Christian dominated states of Nigeria would argue that the money realized from the street hawking are used mainly for sponsoring a girl-child’s education by their less privileged parents (Adesuwa, 1998; Aderinto, 2000). In the North, it is mostly considered to be used not only as a coping strategy for the family involved but also as primarily a source of dowry for a young housewife to be.

For instance, according to a pilot report Umar et al (2005) it is not easy to eliminate hawking because economic, social, attitudinal, and cultural factors are associated with girl-child hawking. However, according to one government’s spokesman on a television Program on 6th September, 2006, the Fansar Yar Talla has redeemed seventy girl-children by empowering their parents economically and enrolling the girls into primary schools. Similarly, Yakasai Zumunta, an NGO was equally disturbed by the menace and the dangers posed by girl-child street hawking, that it rehabilitated 42 young street hawkers by putting them off the streets and provided them with basic primary education. Yet, as commendable as this is, it is in no way enough to tackling the real situation in the state. In fact, such efforts are very negligible in relation to the many thousands of girl-child street hawkers; much more needs to be done. In fact, the same problems that bedeviled the 1992 ten-man sociolegal committee popularly called the Yadudu committee can be said to face the 2005 Fansar Yar Talla program. These are problems of official corruption, suspicion, lack of confidence, and insincere political will to handle the problem squarely as the empirical study has shown. For now, one can say that, at best, the Fansar Yar Talla has performed in essence its rituals. Nevertheless, the risks and challenges are still as they were. Nothing has changed.

Methodology and Historical Background of the Study Area

Metropolitan Kano today consists of eight Local Government Areas instead of the former six, namely, Municipal, Gwale, Tarauni, Fagge, Nassarawa, Dala, Ungogo and Kumbotso. The main Kano town developed around Dutsen is Dala (Dala Hill), which has been the center of its political power before the dynasty of Bayajidda. Its history covers over 1000 years. It served as a capital of Hausa Kingdom in the 16th century, with Hausa and Fulani as the predominant ethnic groups (Siro, 2006, p. 29).

Table 1 represents the census tract figures of 2006 of the eight Local Governments that now form Kano metropolis.

Source: Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette (2006)

In all, a sample of 300 people, selected from the following clusters within the Local Governments, were identified for the study:

• • Dala
    • Kwanar Goda junction
    • Garejin Dan Buzu
  • Fagge
    • camp quarters
    • Kwari market
  • Gwale
    • Kabuga junction (mini market),
    • Kabuga junction to F.C.E. junction
  • Kumbotso
    • Yar Kasuwar Sheka
    • Shagari quarters
  • Municipal
    • Wajila (mini market) junction
    • Rimi market to hospital junction
  • Nassarawa
    • Gwagwarwa junction
    • Hospital road (G.R.A) to Audu Bako way
  • Tarauni
    • Kasuwar Tarauni
    • Kundila Maiduguri road
  • Ungogo
    • Bachirawa bakin titi mini mart
    • Ungogo junction

In this chapter however, only data derived from the Gwale Local Government is used. Relying largely on the pilot interviews conducted with two mobile girl-child hawkers and two stationary girl-child hawkers as primary sources of data. 

Target Population

According to Babbie (2002), the population for a study is that group (usually of people) about whom you want to draw conclusions. There are four broad categories of girl-child hawkers, these include: group mobile girl-children hawkers, individual mobile girl-children hawkers, group stationary girl-children hawkers, and solo or individual stationary girl-children hawkers. We thus select a sample from among the data that might be collected and studied. The population of this study consists of the following groups: mobile girl-child hawkers, and stationary girl-child hawkers. The first group (group mobile girl-child hawkers), are divided into two groups; a group of mobile girl-child hawkers within the age bracket of 6-10 years, and individual/solo mobile girl-child hawkers within the age bracket of 11-17years old. The second group to be studied includes stationary girl-child hawkers, who are also divided into two groups; a group of stationary girl-child hawkers within the age bracket of 6-10 years, and solo or individual stationed girl-children hawkers within the age bracket of 11-17years old.

In a pilot study in Gwale Local Government (L.G.), two mobile girl-child hawkers within of the age bracket of 11-17 years old were interviewed, and another two stationary girl-child hawkers within the age bracket of 6-10years old were interviewed. Both interviews were tape-recorded and were conducted in Hausa language. When asked whether she enjoys hawking or not, Nana Nura, who was eleven (11years) old and a stationary girl-child hawker, said she was indifferent. Nana was quite intelligent and was a junior secondary school student who wrote very well. She hopes to go to university. Nana alternates various wares for sale. For the other stationary girl-child hawker, Safiya Adamu of the age bracket of 11-17, was busy selling cooked foods and, on a frequent basis, was attending to boyfriends. Her boyfriends buy the food and give out the food to beggars around. When asked who gives her cooked food to sell, she says “My mom of course.” When asked if she is interested in furthering her education, Safiya says, “I prefer to be married.”

Neither of the two interviewed mobile girl-child hawkers, both within the age bracket of 11-17years old, A’isha and Jimmai, were so forthcoming in the interview. Later they agreed to a very short interview. Neither attend formal schools but claim to attend Islamiyya School at night. When asked who gave them wares to sell, they answered that it was their mothers. When asked whether they were ever confronted sexually they did not respond. On what they do with the profit, Aisha replied “I give to my mom.” They were all asked whether they would leave hawking for some vocational training, but only Nana was interested. Jimmai refused to comment on any question but agreed to listen to other interviews. The analysis of the interview shows that 12% of the interviewed girl-child hawkers in one Local Government indicated poverty as the major cause for hawking.

Conclusion

It is common knowledge that children across the world are neglected, abused, and denied many of their privileges and rights. This is also the case in Kano state, which is ranked first in terms of human population in a country that has the world’s most populous black concentration and, thus, is really a cause for concern. Despite girl-child street hawking, many of them do get married and raise children themselves. Therefore, the new risks have more to do with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV or AIDS, which could endanger many members of society. As for the challenges, some girl-child hawkers are able to escape from the stranglehold of poverty through the proliferation of Hausa home movies, making some of them celebrities. There are a few of them, like Nana, who, if given the opportunity, could make it through formal education. But, to many of them the opportunities are simply not available.

References

Adebani, T. R. (1999). The pattern of child abuse in contemporary Nigerian society: A case study of street hawking in Kano Metropolis. (Unpublished B.Sc dissertation). Bayero University, Kano.

Ademoh, S. (2002). Child labor as child abuse in Kano: Consequence and solution. (Unpublished B.Sc Dissertation). Bayero University, Kano.

Adesuwa, O. (1998). Street children in Lagos. Urban Management and Poverty Alleviation. LOCATION: (UNDP/UNCHS/World Bank) Urban Management Program Regional Office for Africa.

Administration of juvenile justice in Nigeria. (1997) Constitutional Right Project, CRP.

Ahmed et al (2004, September). Shariah and the rights of Muslim woman in Northern Nigeria. Report prepared for Special Program on Woman in the North, Abuja, Nigeria,  Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Child Welfare League of Nigeria (1999). Alternative Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Girl-Child Hawker Redemption (Fansar ‘Yar Talla) Directorate of Societal Reorientation (A Daidaita Sahu) Kano State Government, April 2005.

Human Right Monitoring and UNICEF, (1977) Administration of Juvenile Justice in Nigeria, October

Laws of the Northern Region of Nigeria, 1958.

Naniya, M. T. (2001). A History of Kurmi Market, Kano (1463-1999). FAIS Journal of Humanities, 1(3).

Platt, M. A. (1962). The child savers (2nd ed). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Vivianu, Z. A. (1981). Pricing the priceless child: The changing value of children. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Zahradeen, S. M. (1983). The place of Mosques in the history of Kano. In EDITOR (Ed.), Studies in the History of Kano (pp. PAGES). Bayero University, Kano.

Salisu Abdullahi, Sadiq Isah Radda, and Teresa LaGrange

A substantial amount of empirical research on the causes and correlates of deviant and delinquent behavior among Western youths has been amassed over the last 50 years. Significantly less is known, however, about whether or not Western-based theories of causation apply in non-Western societies. The vast majority of self-report studies have been conducted in the U.S., documenting the misbehavior of American young people. A somewhat smaller number of studies have surveyed youths in Canada, Australia, and other Western industrialized countries (Vazsonyi, Pickering, Junger, & Hessing, 2001; Wright, Caspi, Moffitt, & Paternoster, 2004); only a handful, however, have examined deviance and delinquency among non-Western teens. These latter include a small number of studies conducted among Asian youths (Axenroth, 1983; Hwang & Akers 2003; Shoemaker, 1994; Wang & Jensen 2003; Zhang & Messner 1995). Virtually no empirical research using self-report methodology to date, however, has examined the causes and correlates of deviance among African teens. The research reported in this chapter addresses that gap, summarizing some preliminary findings from a self-report survey completed by 265 youths enrolled in a large university in Kano, Nigeria. What we report here are descriptive statistics of the sample, the types and frequencies of misbehavior they reported, and bivariate relationships between some predictors and low self-control. These findings lead us to conclude that a multivariate analysis may provide a unique statistical test of General Theory, which will aid in understanding patterns of deviance in Nigeria, as well as adding to the criminological literature

Theory and Background

Over the last twenty years contemporary sociologists and criminologists have proposed a number of “grand theories” of deviance that attribute rule-breaking and misconduct to general principles and universal laws that arise in any social context. One of the most widely tested of these perspectives is Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory. General Theory of Crime (1990) proposed a modification of classical control theory, explaining all deviance, delinquency, and crime as stemming from a fundamental failure of early socialization. According to the theory, people who were inadequately socialized in childhood would fail to develop self-discipline and impulse control and, hence, would be unable to restrain themselves from misconduct and rule-breaking whenever such conduct was a possibility. These propensities, once established, would lead to a variety of deviant behaviours throughout the lifespan. The actual temptations encountered, however, would depend on external circumstances, including the social and cultural context.

General theory attributes delinquency, deviance, and a host of analogous behaviors, including smoking, drinking, and sexual promiscuity, to the basic desire to maximize immediate benefits while minimizing immediate personal costs. The theory proposes that all humans have natural inclinations toward satisfying their wants and desires in the easiest, simplest ways possible.  These inclinations, however, lead to conflict with societal expectations that require people to control their impulses for the community good, to respect the rights of others, and to delay gratification of desires—sometimes for long periods of time.  Restraint of these innate impulses is seen as being the product of effective early socialization. Without appropriate socialization, people will persist in the tendency to act in hedonistic, self-centered ways that have negative personal consequences and that violate both the rights of others and the standards of community.

This explanation has been subjected to an extensive amount of both theoretical debate and empirical research; enough so that several years later both the authors of General Theory of Crime ranked as the most cited in the top American journals in criminology and criminal justice (Cohn & Farrington, 1998).  The theory’s key premise, that persons with low self-control are prone to commit a wide variety of law-breaking and norm-violating acts, has been consistently supported (see Pratt & Cullen, 2000, for a meta-analysis of 17 studies).  A few empirical tests of the theory have used behavioral measures to assess self-control (as advocated by its authors); the majority, however, have relied in whole or in part on a 24-item self-report scale of traits and characteristics first employed by Grasmick, Tittle, Bursik, Jr., & Arneklev (1993).

The general nature of this explanation for crime and deviance means that its principles should apply anywhere, in any cultural or legal context.  The idea that the theory is general in a fundamental way that transcends culture is explicitly explored in Gottfredson & Hirschi’s 1990 book. Most of the research on it, however, has been conducted using American or other Western populations as subjects. Of the published studies linking low self-control and various measures of delinquency and deviance, two have used European adolescent samples (Vazsonyi et al., 2001; a partial test of some elements of the theory was also carried out by Killias & Rabasa, 1997). Three others used Asian samples, with only one attempting a full theoretical model (Vazsonyi, Wittekind, Belliston, & Van Loh, 2004, using Japanese late adolescents), while the other two included a limited number of measures of low self-control (Wang, Qiao, Hong, & Zhang, 2002, based on Chinese adolescents; and Hwang & Akers, 2003, using Korean adolescents).  All of these studies, in spite of the marked cultural differences that can be assumed to exist in non-Western social relations, found some support for predictions derived from the theory.

Youth Deviance and Delinquency in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria has been subject to several periods of political unrest and upheaval, including periods of civil war, since gaining its independence from British colonial administration in 1960 (Opolot, 2001; Peters, 2003). These factors have tended to exacerbate social divisions marked by regions, ethnicity, religion, education, and social class. Further disparities arise from economic conditions. Although the country as a whole has benefited from foreign resources associated with oil production, subsistence agriculture still plays a significant role. At the same time, like most African societies Nigeria has undergone rapid social change and increasing integration into the world economy, thus broadening exposure to Western ideas.  The combination of these factors has led to the development of massive and visible differences in wealth and lifestyles as well as clear class distinctions. These differences apply not only to individuals, but also to family groups and relationships.

The impact of these factors is likely to be especially marked among those with more formal education and younger people. It might be predicted that some Nigerian young people would be strongly influenced by secular, Western attitudes; these youths might also be more likely to engage in the types of experimentation common in Western societies. The extent to which Nigerian youths engage in prohibited yet fairly benign behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, using tobacco, and engaging in sexual relations, is not well-documented. Nor is the degree to which Nigerian youths commit somewhat more serious but, nevertheless, minor offenses, such as theft or damage of other people’s property.

Although there has been no research on general theory as an explanation for deviance among Nigerian youths, a number of predictions may be made, based on its principles. General theory argues that basic human nature is hedonistic and drives the individual to self-gratification, often at the expense of others. It is socialization, particularly from parents, that instills restraint of these basic impulses and teaches the individual to think of others, think of the consequences of their behavior, restrain their desire for immediate gratification, and so forth. In empirical tests of this basic proposition, evidence of ineffective, incomplete, or inadequate socialization is generally assessed by surveying the extent to which respondents report present-orientation, a tendency to be impulsive and engage in risky behaviors, and an inability to restrain temper.  Those who display these characteristics are also predicted to be more likely to engage in norm-violating behaviors including deviance and delinquency.

This relationship can be predicted to apply in any social context. The agents, process, and content of socialization may vary. Yet if successful socialization is required in order to restrain the “beast within,” as general theory argues, then how it is accomplished, and by whom, is not significant. Similarly, the degree to which a culture or social group as a whole values restraint, for example, or planning ahead may vary; but general theory would predict that the more prone individuals are to acting on the impulse of the moment, the more likely they are to violate standards of conformity and commit various types of deviance as well. Finally, social prohibitions surrounding specific behaviors may vary from one social group to another. Alcohol use or sexual experimentation, for example, are status offenses in the U.S. for persons who are underage and are therefore considered delinquent. They may also be considered deviant behaviors for young adults, depending on the degree to which they are engaged in. Yet the degree of condemnation, even for an adolescent facing legal constraint, is arguably less severe than it might be for youths where cultural and/or religious prohibitions are absolute. Based on the premise that those with low self-control would be more likely to discount both the social and the personal risks, however, general theory would predict more experimentation among those who exhibit lower self-control.

To examine these assertions about the applicability of Western theories of deviance to Nigerian youths, the authors conducted research among students enrolled in lower-level classes at Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria. Students were asked to complete a self-report survey that asked about their families, their friends, their attitudes, and a variety of behaviors. To assess deviance, we used an index that asks about behaviors that violate universal conceptions of acceptable social conduct—theft of other people’s money or property, damaging other people’s belongings, breaching expectations of trade or exchange, or using force to benefit oneself at another’s expense.  In addition, some questions asked about the use of specific substances such as tobacco, alcohol, or drugs.  These questions were derived from a scale of deviance developed and tested among low-delinquency European populations, the Normative Deviance Scale (NDS; Vazsonyi et al., 2001), which asks about norm-violating behaviors that are generally independent of cultural and/or legal definitions. The goal was to examine whether universal theories of deviance apply in a culture substantially different from the Western societies in which the theories were initially developed and tested. By doing so, we address a gap in the theoretical literature and shed additional light on the sources of deviant conduct in this society.

Method

Study Site and Sample

The research was conducted in Kano, Nigeria, with subjects selected from the student population of Bayero University. The University is an independent, degree-granting institution that is part of the federal university system. It enrolls students in six faculties (Arts and Islamic Studies, Social and Management Sciences, Education, Technology, Law, and Medicine). Pencil-and-paper questionnaires were filled in by students of both genders enrolled in lower-division classes. The survey was administered in seven classes between October 25 and November 10, 2007; completion took approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Because the instructional language used in these classes was English, the survey was printed in English and was not translated into local languages. Instructors offered alternative and/or study activities to students who did not wish to participate in the survey. A total of 265 surveys were completed and returned.

Measures

The survey contained three general sets of questions:  background and demographic information; measures of the theoretical constructs of general theory; and a series of questions about participation in deviant or criminal behaviors including vandalism, alcohol use, drug use, theft, and violent behaviors including assault. All items were adapted from previous empirical research; in order to maintain comparability, the only changes made were those needed to reflect cultural differences between Nigeria and the U.S.  These included altering monetary units for theft items to reflect the Nigerian economic structure and the value ascribed to specific consumer goods in the local culture; the Nigerian faculty members collaborating on this project made these changes. In addition, some items regarding theft from a store were altered to include theft from a shopkeeper or trader. Other cultural adjustments were made to demographic questions, with additional answer categories provided for parent education and living circumstances.

Self-control

The survey used the measures of low self-control found in the first complete empirical test of the theory by Grasmick et al. (1993). These survey items have been utilized in whole or in part in most published research and, therefore, are used here in order to replicate these studies (Pratt & Cullen, 2000). Self-control was measured by 24 Likert-scaled items (five answer categories ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”) that asked respondents how well certain statements describe them; these items are reported in Appendix 1. These include items asking about impulsive behaviors (4 items); risk-seeking (4 items); present-orientation (4 items); temper (4 items); preference for simple tasks (4 items); and self-centeredness (4 items).

Deviance

Survey respondents were asked about their commission of a wide range of deviant and/or criminal behaviors. These included questions about tobacco and alcohol use, public mischief and vandalism, school misbehaviors, theft of various amounts and types, violence towards others in both at home and outside, and drug use. Each of these items permitted subjects to select from five answer categories indicating the number of times the various acts had been committed, ranging from “never” to “more than six times.” These items were summed to form a single multidimensional deviance scale; for descriptive purposes, they were also grouped into several content-specific subscales, reflecting the dimensions noted above. Tobacco use was measured by a single item; alcohol use consists of a summed scale of 6 items; vandalism, a summed scale of 8 items; school misbehavior 7 items; theft 7 items; violence 5 items; and drug use, 3 items. Items included in each of these categories are reported in Appendix 2.

Results

A total of 183 male students (69.8%) and 79 females (30.2%) completed surveys. The majority of respondents were Level I students (205, or 77.9%); a few were sub degree, however (5), and the remainder (53 or 20.2%) were Level II. Most of the respondents still lived at home (207, or 80.8%); a minority lived independently (49, or 19.2%), and some were themselves married (40, or 15.6%). Approximately 10% reported that their father was of Christian faith (24, or 9.1%); about the same number described themselves as Christian (28 or 10.6%). The majority, however, identified themselves (237, 89.4%) and their fathers (241, 90.9%) as Muslim. Moreover, most described themselves as being “much more concerned about religion” than others of their own age (202, or 77.4%), and reported that they observed religious practices on a daily basis (204, or 80%). Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 41; the mean age was 25. Sample characteristics are summarized in Table 1.

On the 24-item Low Self-Control scale, possible values ranged from 0 (strongly disagree on each of the 24 items) to 96 (strongly agree on each of the 24 items). Because each of these items asked students about behaviors and attitudes that would be descriptive of low self-control, higher values on this scale represent a greater tendency to reflect the qualities of someone with low self-control: a greater preference for risky behaviors, more impulsivity, more tendency to live in the present, and so forth.

The mean for the total sample was 38.6.  When means were compared among different subgroups of the sample, modest differences were noted. There were no differences based on gender and negligible or slight differences based on age, where living, and marital status. For education level, however, the lower-level students reported a higher mean score than the upper-level ones. Religion (father’s and own) also made a difference, with those students who were Christian about 6 points higher than those who were Muslim (44.1 for father’s religion, and 44.0 for subject’s own religion, compared to 38.6 and 88.7 respectively for Muslim students). The extent to which students described themselves as concerned about religion and the frequency of their worship or practice were associated with similar differences. Those who described themselves as less or slightly less concerned about religion than others their age had a mean of 41.7 on the low self-control scale, compared to 38.4 among those who described themselves as more concerned.  Similarly, those who reported they worshipped or practiced their religion once a week or less had a mean of 45.5, seven points higher than those who reported that they worshipped or engaged in religious practices daily. These findings are summarized in Table 2.

The scale assessing self-reported deviance was constructed from responses to the various questions about deviant and criminal misbehaviors. This produced an initial scale ranging from 0 (“never” on all items, reported by 49 subjects, or 18.8%) to 78 (one subject). To reduce skew, the scale was recoded to the 90th percentile, with answers above 23 coded to 23. The resulting scale ranged from 0 to 23, with a mean of 7.4 (Table 3). Subscales for each type of deviant behavior were also constructed by summing the responses on individual items. Each subscale was recoded in order to collapse some values and avoid empty cells. The overall level of specific types of deviance engaged in by these respondents was low, with “never” the modal response for all items and subscales.  Only a small number of subjects had ever used tobacco; 234 (87.5%) had “never” used it in any form, while only 20 (7.8%) had used it three or more times. The remainder (12, or 4.7%) had used tobacco products once or twice. Drug use, also, was similarly not reported; 232 students had “never” experimented with drugs (89.9%), while only 13 (5%) had 1 or 2 times, and the same number 3 or more times.

Deviance in Relation to Independent Variables

Bivariate relationships between various predictors, including low self-control, are summarized in Table 4, which reports means and standard deviations on the summed deviance scale within categories of the independent variables. For purposes of this examination, age was split into two categories: those younger than the mean age of 25 (n=166), and those 25 and older (n=94).  Self-control was also split into categories: a middle group, consisting of those within one standard deviation of the mean (n=194); and those whose answers on the self-control index placed them more than 1 standard below the mean (n=31), or above the mean (n=38).  There were no substantial differences on the self-reported deviance scale based on where students were living, their marital status, or their age group. Males were somewhat more likely to report committing a number of these actions than females, however, for males the mean was 8.3, while for females if was 5.4. Education level was also associated with differences: sub degree students reported a mean of 14.8, while the mean for Level I students was 7.7, and that for Level II students was 5.6.

Although father’s religion had no impact, subjects’ religion did: students who stated they were Christian had a mean of 9.1, while Muslim students had a mean of 7.2. While religion itself thus appears to be a factor, religiosity and frequency of worship appeared to be of greater import. Those who described themselves as “more concerned” about religion had a mean of 6.0 on the deviance scale, while those who described themselves as less or slightly less concerned reported committing twice as many deviant actions (12.0). And those who reported they worshipped every day had a mean of 7, compared to 8.6 for those who stated they practiced their faith a few times a week, and 10.1 for those who worshipped once a week or less. Those who described themselves as being least likely to exhibit attitudes and behaviors consistent with low self-control (more than 1 standard deviation below the mean) were also less likely to report deviance; these students had a mean of 5.3, compared to the middle group (mean of 7.2). Those in the highest group on the low self-control scale also reported engaging in more deviance, with a mean of 10.4.

Discussion and Some Preliminary Conclusions

From these bivariate results, we can draw some initial conclusions about the prevalence of deviance among this sample of Nigerian youths and about the relationship between various independent variables, including low self-control and deviance. First, in spite of cultural differences in family relationships and socialization, and although these subjects were all university students, there is substantial variation in the extent to which individuals report behaviors and attitudes consistent with low self-control; these attitudes and behaviors vary depending on educational level, marital status, father’s and own religion, religiosity, frequency of religious practice, and age. In general younger, single, lower-level, and less religiously-active Christian students described themselves as sharing attitudes/behaviors more characteristic of low self-control than did older, married, upper-level, and more religiously-active Muslim students.  Second, there is considerable variation in the extent to which these students reported committing a variety of deviant and criminal actions. While “never” was the modal response for tobacco and alcohol use, vandalism, school misbehavior, theft, violence, and use of drugs, a substantial minority reported committing one or more acts of violence (46.1%); and more than half reported one or more acts of vandalism (58.8%) and school misbehavior (51.2%).  On the summed scale, the majority of students reported committing one or more of these acts; and most had reported more than one, with the mean being 7.4. The extent to which students reported engaging in deviance varied depending on gender, educational level, religion, and commitment to religion as indicated by self-reported religiosity and frequency of worship. Male students, those who identified themselves as sub degree students, Christians, those who were less concerned about religion, and those who worshipped/practiced their faith less often were all more likely to report committing more deviance than females, those at higher educational levels, Muslims, those who were more concerned about religion, and those who practiced their faith more frequently. Finally, the low self-control scale was associated with differences in deviance; those least likely to describe themselves as having the characteristics of low self-control committed, on average, about half as much deviance as did those who more frequently described themselves as having those characteristics.

These means reported here summarize bivariate relationships and were not subjected to tests of statistical significance. They provide some preliminary indications, however, that deviance varies considerably even in a completely different cultural context, depending on variables that have been identified as important predictors of crime and delinquency in Western research. Hence, these findings lead us to conclude that a more complete multivariate analysis of these data can provide a statistical test of low self-control as a predictor of deviance among Nigerian youths, and hence make a significant contribution to the literature on General Theory of Crime.

 Appendix A

Measures of Low Self-Control (adapted from Grasmick, et al., 1993) (coded from 0, “strongly disagree” to 4, “strongly agree”)

Impulsivity

1. I don’t put much thought and effort to preparing for the future.
2. I often act depending on the situation without thinking ahead.
3. I often do whatever brings me pleasure here and now even at the cost of some distant goal.
4. I’m more concerned with what happens to me in the short run than in the long run.

Physical Activities

1. If I had a choice, I would mostly do something physical instead of something mental.
2. I almost always feel better when I am on the move than when I am sitting and thinking.
3. I like to get out and do things more than I like to read or think.
4. I seem to have more energy and a greater need for activity than most of my age mates.

Risk Seeking

1. Excitement and adventure are more important to me than security
2. I like to test myself every now and then by doing something a little risky/dangerous.
3. I sometimes find it exciting to do things for which I might get into trouble.
4. Sometimes I will take a risk just for the fun of it.

Self-Centered

1. I try to look out for myself first, even if it means making things difficult for other people.
2. I will try to get things I want even when I know it’s causing problems for other people.
3. I’m not very sympathetic to other people when they are having problems.
4. If people are unhappy with what I do, it’s their problem, not mine.

Simple Tasks

1. I frequently try to avoid projects that I know will be difficult.
2. When things get complicated/difficult I tend to quit or withdraw.
3. The things in life that are easiest to do bring me the most pleasure.
4. I dislike a really hard task that stretches my ability to the limit.

Temper

1. I easily become angry.
2. Often, when I am angry at people, I feel more like hurting/injuring them than talking to them about why I am angry.
3. When I’m really angry, other people should stay away from me.
4. When I have a serious disagreement with someone, it’s usually hard for me to talk about it without getting upset.

 Appendix B                       

 References

Axenroth, J. B. (1983). Social class and delinquency in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 20(2), pp. 164-182.

Cohn, E. G. & Farrington, D. P. (1998). Changes in the most cited scholars in major American criminology and criminal justice journals between 1986-1990 and 1991-1995. Journal of Criminal Justice, 26, pp. 99-116.

Conger, R. D. & Simon, R. L. (1995). Life-course contingencies in the development of adolescent antisocial behavior: A matching law approach. In T. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Elliott, D. S., Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S. S. (1985). Explaining delinquency and drug use. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Gottfredson, M. & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Grasmick, H. G., Tittle, C. R., Bursik, R. J. Jr., & Arneklev, B. J. (1993). Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, pp. 5-29.

Hwang, S. & Akers, R. L. (2003). Substance use by Korean adolescents: A cross-cultural test of social learning, social bonding, and self-control theories. In R. L. Akers and G. F. Jensen (Eds.), Social learning theory and the explanation of crime: A guide for the new century (pp. 39-63). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Killias, M. &Rabasa, J. (1997). Weapons and athletic constitution as factors linked to violence among male juveniles: Findings from the Swiss self-reported delinquency project. British Journal of Criminology, 37, pp. 446-458.

Opolot, E. (James) S. E. (2001). Police administration in Africa. New York, Oxford: University Press of America.

Peters, R. (2003). Islamic criminal law in Nigeria. Abja, Benin City, Lagos, Owerri: Spectrum Books Limited.

Pratt, T. C. & Cullen, F. T. (2000). The empirical status of Gottfredson & Hirschi’s general theory of crime: A meta-analysis. Criminology, 39, pp. 931-964.

Shoemaker, D. J. (1994). Male-female delinquency in the Philippines: A comparative analysis. Youth and Society, 25(3), pp. 299-329.

Vazsonyi, A. T., Wittekind, J. E. C., Belliston, L. M., & Van Loh, T. D. (2004). Extending the general theory of crime to ‘the East’: Low self-control in Japanese late adolescents. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 20(3), pp. 189-216.

Vazsonyi, A. T., Pickering, L. E., Junger, M., & Hessing, D.  (2001). An empirical test of a general theory of crime: A four-nation comparative study of self-control and the prediction of deviance. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 38, pp. 91-131.

Wang, G., Qiao, T.H., Hong, S., & Zhang, J. (2002). Adolescent social bond, self-control, and deviant behavior in China. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, 39, pp. 52-68.

Winfree, L. T., Griffiths, C. T., & Sellers, C. S. (1989). Social learning theory, drug use, and American Indian youths: A cross-cultural test. Justice Quarterly, 6, pp. 395-417.

Wright, B. R. E., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Paternoster, R. (2004). Does the perceived risk of punishment deter criminally prone individuals? Rational choice, self-control, and crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41(2), pp. 180-213.

Zhang, L. & Messner, S. F. (1995). Family deviance and delinquency in China. Criminology, 33(3), pp. 359-388.

Salisu A. Abdullahi and Ismaila Mohammed Zango

Criminal Justice is all-encompassing expression entailing different crime prevention, management and control organizations and agencies, and the way they act and interact to achieve the desired goal of crime free society. As a system, Criminal Justice is a body made up of dynamically interactive and interdependent elements each with its own social structure, sub-cultural character and patterns. It is a system of practices and organizations of Government directed towards upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime and punishing or rehabilitating persons that violate the law.

In Nigeria, criminal justice system is based on the philosophy that the accused is innocent until proven guilty by Government organizations charged with the responsibility. In the processes of establishing the guilt or otherwise, the accused’s dignity must be recognized through following proper procedures. Violation of these rules abuses the accused rights and threatens the foundation of criminal justice.

According to Senna and Siegal (1984) there is debate regarding the goals of criminal justice as to whether the system should have one goal or multiple goals or even which among the goals should be more emphasized. Law enforcement argued crime control efforts “are best served by the goal of deterrence”. The corrections argument posited rehabilitation is the most significant goal of criminal justice. They submit:

It appears that two major categories of goals exist for the criminal justice system: 1) theoretical or abstract goals which include retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation; and 2) pragmatic goals such as crime prevention, diversion of offenders from the criminal justice system, fairness in procedures for handling the offenders, efficiency in criminal justice operations, and evaluation (Senna and Siegel, 1984:103).

Components and Nature of Nigerian Criminal Justice System

Criminal justice system in Nigeria has three main components. If the criminal justice of any nation is to be considered a success, each of the three components – law enforcement, courts and corrections – must operate in a competent and just manner. The police are the law enforcement agents employed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Since they are agents of the Federal Government, a Police Officer can be posted to work anywhere in the country – Local Government Area, State or Federal Capital Territory. The Police are basically concerned with maintaining order and enforcing the law of the land. They are the first contact an offender has with criminal justice system; they investigate and make arrest. The Police are empowered to use force and other means of legal coercion in order to carry out their constitutional responsibilities. As such, police work is central to effective and efficient system and process of criminal justice particularly in the areas of crime prevention and investigation. Crimes arise from interaction between members of the society and are usually external to the criminal justice. Most crime come to the attention of the public through reports to the police by people or through filing complaints by those affected or during police routine like patrol. Cases investigated are prosecuted in the court of law.

In Nigeria, courts are categorized into two main types in terms of ownership. The State-owned lower courts, Shari’a/Customary Courts, magistrate and high courts. The Federal Government has ownership of Federal High Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Court is a place where disputes are settled and justice is administered. Each court is made up of court work group—judge, prosecutor, and defense attorneys. Courts may be considered the crux of criminal justice systems, for it is within them that trial, and post-trial motions, petitions, appeals and sentencing occur. According to Senna and Siegel (1984), it is the duty of the court to establish the guilt or innocence of offenders brought before it. It is supposed to convict and sentence those found guilty of crimes, at the same time, ensuring the innocent are freed without any consequence or burden. The entire process of establishing the guilt is supposed to be done with the recognition that the rights of the individual are protected throughout. Bowker (1982:21) describes the picture of what happens at the tail end of the court process:

Cases which go to trial results are a finding of guilty or not guilty. For those who are found guilty, the next stage in the criminal processing is the sentencing hearing, at which the judge pronounces the sentence upon the offender. At the point of pronouncement, the offender departs from judicial system and enters into correctional system. This transfer is specified in the sentence and symbolised by the leading away of the offender into captivity or whatever other punishment has been pronounced.

Correction is the final component of Nigerian Criminal justice system. After the accused has been found guilty by the court, he is handed over to correctional officials. Corrections include among others institutionalization – detainment, in and before trial and confinement in prison. This paper focuses its attention on prison and more specifically the experiences of the convicted and awaiting trial inmates with the stated stages of Nigerian Criminal Justice System.

Prison is an institution in which people are confined against their will and also deprived of a range of personal freedom. Imprisonment is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the State for the commission of crime. In modern time, prison is the most publicly visible form of punishment. In Nigeria, confining people against their will has existed in different societies before the contact with outside, for example, Olofin (1992), Iwarimie- Jaja (2003) and Argungu (2007) differently reported the existence of prison-like structures such as Ikedi or Ogboni House among the Yoruba, Ewedo House in Edo, Kurkuku or Gidan Yari among the Hausa and Fulani. What exist as modern Nigerian Prison system today evolved with the promulgation of Prison Ordinance No. 21 of 1916 to the present-day arrangement; in which all prisons in the country are under the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In the Federal Government White Paper on Prisons circulated in 1971, cited by Babakodong (1992:27) the Nigerian Prisons Service is mandated to:

• Keep safe custody of persons who are legally interned;
• Identify the cause of their anti-social behaviour, treat and reform them to become disciplined and law-abiding citizens of a free society;
• Train them towards their total rehabilitation and discharge.

By the above mandate, the public and the society at large is protected from the criminal behaviour of its members. In the long run, security is provided through modifications and occupational skills acquired in the prison that guarantees a crime-free life after discharge. More elaborate functions of Nigerian prisons service were indicated in the Prison Act, Cap 366 of the 1990 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria cited in Argungu (2007:80) as follows:

• Taking into custody of all those certified to be so kept by courts of competent jurisdiction;
• Producing suspects in court as at when due;
• Identifying the causes of their anti-social dispositions;
• Setting in motion mechanisms for their treatment and training for eventual reintegration into society as normal law-abiding citizens on discharge;
• Administer prison farms and industries for this purpose and in the process generate revenue for the Government.

Given the above, the roles of prison are to punish the offender, reduce crime in the society through deterrence, protect the public and finally, reform and rehabilitate the offender.

Discussions

Parsons (1971) argue the existence of society entails some degree of control over citizens, territorial area and economic-technological complex. Greater part of the formal control exercised over these matters by national Government is administered through the criminal justice. This, criminal justice operates through the law. According to Parsons (1971:18) the law is “The general normative code regulating action of, and defining situation for, the member units of a society”. In other words, the law does not only tell members of society what is right and wrong; it in addition gives a framework to which they can orient their daily behavior. Cohen (1966) maintains criminal justice system is intended to extirpate deviance. As Parsons (1966) argues, through this system and during more subtle social pressure, the deviant members of the society are penalized or otherwise induced to acquiesce in the dominant standards of society. Given this, punishment is functional in that as Durkheim (1933[1893]) argues, it reinforces social stability by clarifying social norms and solidifying conventional society against its criminal members who are punished. As such, care must be taken to ensure that only the guilty are appropriately punished. He further maintained that it is the social structure of a society that assists to determine the type of punishment it adopts.

The purpose of legislation is to ensure that the strong and the powerful do not deny the weak their right. Criminal justice system which consists of organizations earlier explained in this paper ensures equity, peace, stability and justice for all in the society assured. This view is entrenched in all the known modern legal system including Nigeria’s. Alemika (1988) cited Iwarimie-Jaja (2003) who mentioned the principles that must be respected in administering the law of the land. They include: the rule of due process, legal equality, equity, deserts and consistency or criminal dispositions among various categories of crime and criminal suspects or convicts. To the contrary, in Nigeria, injustice, inefficiency and other problems are much more observed in the functioning of criminal justice agencies as indicated in the works of Alemika (1989) and Madaki (2005). Perhaps this is why Alemika and Best (1989:150) assert:

The Nigerian Criminal Justice System has been criticized, and dubbed as ineffective, inefficient, unjust and repressive. The reasons for these observed problems include colonial legacy of repression upon which the institution was founded; poor working conditions, inadequate staff training and motivation, manipulation of the agencies by successive governments in the country to silence opposition, poverty which prevents the vast mass of Nigerians from exercising their rights and the general climate of repression and autocracy which scares people away from the legal system. Particularly, the police are seen as corrupt, repressive, ineffective and inefficient.

The above position especially on the perception of police seems universal. For example, Alpert and Noble (2009) maintain police officers act in ways that are deceptive, they manipulate people and situations they force suspects into accepting charges, and are dishonest. They argue police are taught and motivated and often rewarded for their deceptive practices. They posit:

…Officers often lie to suspects about witnesses and evidence, and they are deceitful when attempting to learn about criminal activity. Most of these actions are sanctioned, legal, and expected (2009:237)

Who are the imprisoned in Nigeria? The data indicate the majority are males, only 7% of the respondents are females, and this represent the total number of women in all three studied State Prisons. Most of the inmates (55%) are in 20-30 yrs age category. Juveniles constituted 9% of the total study sample. This shows that juvenile offenders are incarcerated in conventional prisons. Married inmates constituted 57% of the respondents. Majority (48%) have from 1-5 children. Inmates with 6-10 children constitute only 9% of the sample.

According to Michalowski (1985) in the US prisons and jails considerable majority of the prisoners are exclusively people from the poor segment of the society. Also, Baldock et. al. (1999) stated that the prison population reflect criminalization process. They noted in Europe, large numbers of prison population are the unemployed, the poor and the homeless. They further maintain these groups are those routinely incarcerated in European countries. In Nigeria too, as shown by the study of prisons conducted by Abdullahi and Zango (2003) indicated 29% of the inmates have no formal education and another 29% have either primary education or have not completed secondary school. Those with diploma or university degree constituted less than 2% of the inmate’s sample. The occupation data show 68% of the prisoners are subsistent farmers, drivers, casual laborers, and blacksmith and garbage pickers. Only 12% are junior civil servants. As expected, no or low education is most likely to place one not only on low occupational hierarchy but also into lower income. Thus, this explains why majority of the inmates (37%) are earning below N20, 000 per annum, 13% earn from N20, 001 – N40, 000 in a year. Finally, 34% are either not working or did not answer the question. Thus 71% of the inmates are either earning very low income, not working or they don’t even know their income. The fact that the majority of the respondents are in structural term at the periphery of the society, one cannot rule out the possibility of them committing crime and ending up in prison as suspects or convicted. Again, as earlier seen many of them are married with children, economic pressure from their individual families is likely to push them into committing crime. Rusche and Kircheimer (1939) cited in Barkan (1997) argue imprisonment increases when unemployment increases. They further argued when people are unemployed they are angrier and more prone to rebellion. To prevent the problem of mass protest, the ruling class put more of the poor behind bars. For putting the poor behind bars they further maintain; intimidates the poor from rebelling and equally decreases their labor supply, leaving fewer of them to compete for the scarce jobs.

Why are the respondents in the Prisons? The study revealed that 63% of the respondents are in the prisons for (different) theft offences including armed robbery. Offences like witchcraft, wandering, refusal to pay loan, child abandonment constituted 32% of the sample. The data showed majority of the prisoners have been to the individual sampled prisons more than once. Over half of the prisons’ population are Awaiting trial and have been waiting for their cases to be determined by the court for a period of between 1-5 years. Also, among the Awaiting trial, there are those that have been in the prisons for more than 10 years. In what follows, attempt is made to bring what the individual prisoners experienced going through the criminal justice process.

Policing is the first stage of the criminal justice process; accordingly, majority of the prisoners in the sample said their cases were reported to the police. The data further indicated 77% of the prisoners said police were not fair in handling their cases for differently given reasons like: altering of records, arrest on mistaken identity and delay in taking their cases to the court. There is a feeling of serious dissatisfaction with the way police treated majority of the cases. A convicted discussant in Birnin Kudu narrated his experience as follows:

Later they asked me to bring something (money), which I did not have for the case to be killed. The police search and took away my money (N500). That’s whoever comes to the police counter his money is not his. The police have seriously beaten me up daily for 7 days then took me to the court.. (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003:28)

Another discussant in the focus group of convicted in Ado – Ekiti prison mentioned:

Police are wicked. They are corrupt. They wanted me to pay N150, 000 for an offence I have not committed… (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003: 28)

The following position of Awaiting trial prisoner at Gboko Prison is similar to the above:

Police are corrupt especially the prosecutors… They torture several times and beat somebody to force him/her accept what he has not done. (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003:28)

Madaki (2005:13) reported the experience of a prisoner awaiting trial for a suspected homicide in his study of Kano Prisons:

The police arrested five of us in connection with the case; the police released two among us even before we were…taken to the court. The other two hired the services of a private counsel who collaborates with the court while we are in the prison and they were released on bail after paying large amount of money to the counsel and the court. Only I remain in the prison because I do not have the money to give for that purpose for the past 5 years now.

The discussants in all the prisons studied mentioned different forms of torture the Nigeria Police have subjected them to as follows:

1.Beating which is the most common form of torture. 2. Spraying tear gas in the face around the eye area. 3. Hanging with iron chain and steel rod. 4. Putting broom inside penis and squashing testis area. 5. In particular, a discussant transferred from Gusau Prison to Gumel said police punched 4” inches nail on his hand to force him accept armed robbery charge. 6. Inflicting fracture on hand or leg, etc.

Court is the next stage in the criminal justice process progression; it is the nitty-gritty of criminal justice. The data showed that the prisoners have comparatively more positive view of court, but even this; is not high (less than half of the sampled prisoners said the courts are fair). Some of the prisoners (6%) said they cannot assess whether the court is fair or not. Those that opined the judges are not fair gave the following reasons: corruption, rampant adjournment of cases and connivance with the police. A prisoner awaiting trial in Ado-Ekiti prison narrated his experience:

I have been here since 1995. I had a lawyer from 2000 – 2002. My mother paid for the lawyer. The Police did not give the lawyer room to work. The judges keep adjourning my case (20 times). The police asked for money… The judge refused bail and always gives two months adjournment. (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003: 30)

Madaki also reported a focus group member awaiting trial narrated:

I was taken to court fourteen months ago. And I do not know when I would be taken back; in fact, I lost confidence in the process (Madaki, 2005:14).

Another focus group member among the Gboko Prison Awaiting trial said

Judges too are concerned with money though it is some of them, not all. (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003:31)

Some prisoners across focus groups felt that judges would have performed better, if police have done their work properly. Others said judges are okay only the prosecutors are the problem. The data on assessment of courts’ decisions indicated that 71% of those imprisoned associated the outcome of their cases to their low socio-economic status. In other words, they are in the prison and or serving the prison term because they are poor.

The data on cost of legal services indicated the cost of services of  lawyers is high. Lawyers got more favorable perception than police and other members of court work group in that some prisoners across the sample have lawyers and have confidence in them. Still some of the prisoners complained of their lawyers across the research locales. Awaiting trial discussants in different sampled prisons’ focus group individually maintained as follows:

Some lawyers do their work but others do not. I have for 2 years been having a lawyer but the case has not been through. The lawyer told me that he would secure me bail, if I gave N60, 000.00 — B/Kudu Prison (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003: 31).

I was well represented, N50,000 was paid to the lawyer and my father paid for it. The case is yet to go to trial…Others collect fees and do not work — Ado Ekiti Prison (Abdullahi and Zango, (2003: 31)

Lawyers demand much money, which is not affordable for the poor, and as such are hardly accessible to the poor — Gboko Prison (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003: 31)

Generally, there is more awareness of private legal services among the Ado-Ekiti prisoners than prisoners in Benue and Jigawa States Prisons. Despite the fact that most of the prisoners are poor, the majority of them (84%) did not seek the assistance of Legal Aid Council, because they are either not aware of it or the place it is located. Only 10% of those aware of it contacted the council for assistance.

The data on prisoners view on the prison environment and experience under imprisonment indicated inmates are put in a cell on the basis of sex and status, whether awaiting trial or convicted but age and offence committed are not considered as factors. The majority (55%) of the respondents described the feeding as adequate and they are being visited by relations and friends. The prisoners differently described the situation in their individual prisons in the following statements:

The environment is dirty; we are over 60 in a room, we used the toilet and sleep in the same (place) room… The food is bad; I don’t like their food here. We have lice, skin diseases, people fall ill with cough and fever which are very frequent. We buy drugs that are not available — Awaiting trial discussant, Ado Ekiti Prison (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003: 36)

Another discussant among the Gboko (convicted) FGD equally narrated:

There are mosquitoes, bed bugs, poor ventilation (no windows), no bed, no mattresses, no soap; no chewing stick and the food is not sufficient — (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003:36)

Again, the following are other accounts as to what is on ground in the prisons studied:

No enough mattresses, no blankets… Cells are not clean, there is water shortage and that affects sanitary condition. Illness above the power of prison clinic the prisoners have to pay for the treatment and we don’t have money. The common sicknesses are eye problems, ringworm, flies, and stomach pain — Awaiting trial discussant, Makurdi Prison (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003:36)

We eat three times a day, no meat in the food, no tea but kunu (pap) and tuwo… There is no vocational or formal teaching — Convicted discussant, Birnin Kudu Prison (Abdullahi and Zango, 2003: 36)

Conclusion

Majority of the prisoners in Nigerian prisons are poor married men with children. The expressions of general dissatisfaction with the actors of criminal justice are common among both the convicted and awaiting trial prisoners studied. This is supported by the narrations of the individual experiences with the police, lawyers and the court, in particular. Request for bribe, torture, disappearance of exhibit and valuable items taken away by the police, delayed hearing, judge not sitting and refusing to grant bail are the most mentioned experiences in all the prisons studied. These explain why Awaiting trial prisoners constitute the majority among the population of Nigerian prisons; some of whom have been there for over 10 years.

Recommendations and Implementation Strategies

1. Government should fight the root cause of crime through addressing the problem of economic hardship in the country associated with unemployment, inflation and the attendant abject poverty in the country.

Implementation Strategy

Federal and State Governments to come with policies and programs that would resuscitate the collapsed industries in Nigerian urban areas and establish small-scale industries in semi-urban and rural areas. Farmers be motivated to shift from subsistence to modern farming technique, and also; be encouraged to utilize bank loan for farming purposes. Roads and feeder roads network to link rural markets with urban areas.

2. Raising the awareness among the actors in criminal justice for the need to investigate/treat cases without delay

Implementation Strategy

Establish monitoring department in the President and Governors offices to operate as an independent watchdog to be overseeing criminal cases being handled to ensure there is no unnecessary delay. Officials found to be delaying cases for any reason other than legal should be punished appropriately.

3. Government should improve the condition of prisoners and prisons.

Implementation Strategy

Provision of good food, clothing, beds, mattresses and the beddings. Improve sanitary condition in the prisons and their surroundings. Introduce training programs in functional occupational skills and post-release supervision program

4. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with programs on human rights should assist the poor in prisons.

Implementation Strategy

Embark on enlightening prisoners on their rights and the poor friendly legal services available, how and where they are provided.

5. Legal Aid Council should make its presence known to the poor and serve more effectively to make the poor feel the essence of its presence.

Implementation Strategy

Through both print and electronic media mount an awareness campaign to let people know its location, operation and services. And with NBA, explore the possibilities of reducing legal fees being charged by private lawyers.

References

Abdullahi, S. A. and Zango, M.I. (2003) Building a Multi-Source Knowledge Base of Perceptions of the Poor from Interviews with Prisoners, their family Members and Prisons’ Staff in Benue, Ekiti and Jigawa States of Nigeria Abuja: Access to Justice

Alemika, E.E.O. and Best K. (1989) “Criminal Justice Administration and Prison Management” in Takaya, B.J. (ed) Security Administration and Human Right, Jos: Centre for Development Studies.

Alpert, G.P. and Noble J. J. (2009) “Lies, True Lies, and Conscious Deception: Police Officers and the Truth” Police Quarterly. Vol. 12, No. 2, June 2009, pp 237-254

Argungu, S.M. (2007) The Role of Nigeria Prison Service in Crime Prevention and Control. Unpublished Masters in Crime Management Project submitted to School of Postgraduate Studies, Bayero University Kano.

Babakodong, L. (1992) “Security through Caring” in Omu, S.O. (ed.) We Care Abuja: Nigeria Prison Service.

Baldock, J. et. al (1999) Social Policy Oxford: Oxford University Press

Barkan, S.E. (1997) Criminology A Sociological Understanding NJ: Prentice Hall

Bowker, H. (1982) Corrections the Science and the Art NY: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc.

Cohen, A. K. (1966) Deviance and Control Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall

Durkheim, E. 1933 (1893) The Division of Labour in Society London: Free Press.

Iwarimie-Jaja, D. (2003) Criminology Owerri: Springfield Publishers Ltd

Madaki, A.M. (2005) Studies of Prisoners in Goron Dutse Prison, Unpublished Report submitted to the Director, Youth Health Project, University of London/Bayero University, Kano.

Michalowski, R.J. (1985), Law, Order and Crime An Introduction to Criminology Boston: McGraw Hill.

Olofin, D.O. (1992) “On the Threshold of a New Era in Prisons Welfare Services” in Omu, S.O. (ed.) We Care Abuja: Nigeria Prison Service.

Parsons, T. (1961) Societies, Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Parsons, T. (1971) The System of Modern Societies Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Reid, S.T. (1997) Crime and Criminology Boston: McGraw-Hill

Senna J.J. and Siegel, L.J. (1984) Introduction to Criminal Justice Minnesota: West Publishing Co.

Muhammad Auwal Umar

“Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label.” Howard S. Becker, 1963

The continuity of any society depends largely on how it is able to ensure conformity to its norms, rules, and laws. For the most part, individuals who conform receive approval and acceptance while those who violate these rules are usually punished. Such punishment is undertaken in such a way that it sanctions unacceptable behavior and discourages other people and even the same offender from rule violation.

Over time, society has evolved and created numerous forms of punishment so that the joint aim of retribution and deterrence can be achieved. Among the most notable modern methods of punishment is incarceration. This is when an individual is placed in some form of confinement with the aim of restricting his ability to repeat the same offense or other offenses. While under incarceration, the offender is given an opportunity to evolve into a more productive member of the society through skill acquisition and behavioral change.

Prison inmates can choose either to be conformist and changed individuals or to continue to commit crimes and other offenses. Thus, repeat offenders are a reality even as the prison system is becoming more sophisticated in its ability to provide individually adapted modes of rehabilitation. This chapter will cover the key variables, methodology, summary of data on inmates, summary of data on the public, and a concluding part indicating a summary of key conclusions and some recommendations.

Statement of the Problem

Once a society labels a person to a point of incarceration, then stigma cuts off the chances of the ex-convict getting back into the society properly. This is because he would be unable to get a job, find accommodation, marry or remarry, make new friends, or fit in with his old friends etc. These difficulties arise because people who are worried about ex-convicts, who they feel have repented little, if at all, for their deviant behavior. Such beliefs also intensify with an increase in the number of convictions or prison sojourns. The usual societal reaction is to label the ex-inmate as a criminal who is unlikely to change and, subsequently, follow through with stigmatization. As an expression of this stigmatization, the group negatively reacts to the ex-inmate and at any sign of crime in the group, the ex-convict is suspected, questioned over and over, harassed, and often manhandled by the group or by law enforcement agencies.

Stigmatization is known to adequately prevent any possibility of a new life for the ex-convict by pushing the ex-convict to engage in fresh criminality, either in retaliation or because there is no other way out. It is also common for this stigma to be passed down to the descendants of ex-convicts, thus making them pay for crimes they did not commit or be pushed to criminality. Stigmatization does not restrict itself to hampering only ex-convicts; it also deprives the society of the potential that the ex-convict has.

The best set of people to provide insight regarding the impact of stigma are criminals who have been imprisoned once, released, arrested again and are in prison for the second time or more. They will be able to reveal how they were treated by the society and their significant others when they were first released from prison. If they were accepted and given the chance to rehabilitate themselves, then it raises the question of why they returned to crime. They will also be able to discuss the efforts they made to start life afresh and the degree to which those efforts succeeded. Social values tend to determine and influence how people behave. Such values can be religious or simply social.

Theoretical Framework

Labeling Theory

The labeling theory is the theoretical framework of this study and is the actual basis upon which the discussions of the data took place. The data were collected with a view to testing the suitability of the labeling theory to the Nigerian environment. Although generally considered to be an offshoot of Interactionism, the labeling theory is considered by Hollin (1989) to be sympathetic to the conflict or critical school of thought. This claim is underlined by some postulates that hint at unequal privilege.

With reference to Becker’s (1963) postulates, the labeling theory can be summed up in the following position: Social Groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of the rules and sanctions to an “offender.” The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label.

Based on the works of scholars such as Enrico Ferri (1913), Howards S. Baecker (1963), and Edwin Lemert (1977) and discussions by Hollin (1989), major suppositions of the labeling theory revolve around the following:

• Having been labeled criminal, the deviant is gently castigated and isolated from the mainstream of society.
• Having been officially punished, the offender continues to undergo some unofficial and non-formal punishment when the society labels him as a criminal and ostracizes him.
• Law is applied for the benefit of those who hold social and economic power. An individual becomes a criminal when the people who hold power decide to confer the label “criminal” on him (i.e., Parents, teachers, community leaders, Police, Judges, etc.).
• Labeling has two major consequences; the first is the creation of stigma, which refers to the public attitudes of condemnation of the deviant and his exclusion from certain parts of the society.
• The labeled criminal is in this case associated with undesirable friends and is consequently a person to be avoided and treated with suspicion. When the individual comes to believe that the judgment passed by the society is correct, he modifies his self-image to match the level, thus creating a self-fulfilling prophesy and subsequent pathological behavior.
• As the label becomes a role for the labeled individual, the role is further reinforced so that the person’s life changes to suit the role. Once a society labels a person to a point of incarceration, then stigma cuts off the chances of the ex-convict getting back into the society properly.
• The ex-convict is suspected, questioned over and over, harassed, and often manhandled by the group or by law enforcement agencies.

Numerous studies have been undertaken either to prove the suppositions of the labeling theory or to debunk their substance. These studies have, however, been more prevalent in developed societies and less so in societies such as Kano and even Nigeria. Some of these empirical studies include the following. An empirical test of Labeling Theory was undertaken by Ray and Downs (1986) using longitudinal data and multiple regressions of the follow-ups on the baseline data and discussion of variables in order to test the direction of causality among drug use behavior in adolescents and the effects of informal and formal labels. The baseline and follow-up data were collected on a random sample of 100 adolescents (54 males and 46 females) and a clinical sample of 88 adolescents (49 males and 39 females). Separate regressions were performed on male and female respondents using both samples. The results were partially supported by the labeling theory proposition of secondary deviance among males, while among females, drug use behavior was that of causality prior to the application of the labels, which contradicts secondary deviance. More questions were therefore raised by the analysis and further research is needed to clarify reasons for this sex difference in causal processes over time. The implication for theory in the social sciences, including labeling theory, is that theories may be sex-specific; as such, tests on theories must be applied separately on each sex as well as on samples including both sexes.

Zhang (1994) presented his findings on a study he conducted in China on peer attitudinal response to labeling. Drawing from the labeling theory, Zhang raised two specific questions on peer response: (a) Do peers’ attitudinal responses to official delinquents vary with the severity of official reaction, and (b) Do peers’ attitudinal responses depend on their own labeling status? His samples include delinquents and non-delinquents in Tianjin, China. He reported that the severity of official reaction to delinquency was significantly associated with peers’ rejection of official delinquents, with this relationship being greater for non-delinquent peers’ rejection than for delinquent peers’ rejection. He also observed that peers’ attitudinal rejection varied significantly with their own labeling status though it is recorded only at certain levels of severity of official reaction. The major findings of this particular study were generally consistent with the labeling perspective even though the sample was drawn from China, whose values and laws function differently to those of Europe and America.

Another longitudinal study by Bernburg, Krohn, and Rivera (2006) shows the short-term impact of formal criminal labeling on involvement in deviant social networks and the increased likelihood of subsequent delinquency. According to labeling theory, formal criminal intervention should affect the individual’s immediate social networks. In many cases, the stigma of the criminal status may increase the probability that the individual becomes involved in deviant social groups thereby ultimately increasing involvement in subsequent deviance. Based on measures from three successive points in time when data was collected, the results indicate that the effects of passing through the juvenile justice process positively affects the delinquent’s subsequent involvement in serious delinquency by becoming involved with deviant social groups such as street gangs and other delinquent peers.

The studies and their findings show that elements of the labeling theory have been found to be realistic, while others have been debunked in different parts of the world. This has served to fuel the need for similar studies to be conducted in Nigeria with its rich culture and relatively high crime levels.

Data and Methods

Area of Study: Kano

Kano was chosen as the study areas because of its metropolitan area and its social complexity. Its commercial nature and vibrant economy also provide an environment where job opportunities abound both in volume and in diversity. The population of the study was people living in Kano and recidivists who are also living in Kano at the time of the study. The recidivist segment of the population was modified in response to field experiences, as recidivists who are out of prison became difficult to locate, thus necessitating the study focusing on recidivists who were in prison at the time of the study.

An ancient city located in Northern Nigeria, Kano is reputed to have been founded in the 6th century and has grown to one of the most notable cities in Nigeria, arguably second to Lagos in commerce and probably third after Ibadan in population size and density. With a population of 9.4 million people, Kano is predominantly populated by people of Hausa and Fulani extraction, though there is a sizeable number of Igbo, Yoruba, Nupe, Kanuri, Arab, Tiv, and Igbira language groups. The predominant religion is Islam (reputed to be practiced by more than 90% of the indigenous population) with Christianity the most common religion among settlers and a few animists. Kano is a major commercial and industrial center with agricultural products dominating its trade profile.

Sampling and Data Collection

Five hundred (500) respondents were the initial sample size for the study comprising of 200 recidivists and 300 members of the public. Unfortunately, the total number of recidivists in Kano Central Prison as at the time of the study was 126 and 14 of the sample from the public did not return their questionnaires, thus limiting the total number of respondents to 412.

The survey method was used for collecting the data for the study, though it was limited to the use of the questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. This narrow selection was informed by the desire to run statistical tests and have a basis for comparing data collected from the public and those collected from recidivists. Having a uniform instrument enhanced this comparative objective. The questionnaire was deposited with literate samples and retrieved at a later date, while those who were not literate were interviewed and the response written in the available space by the researcher. The data generated from the public was validated using focus group discussions.

The presentation and analysis of data included a descriptive format using frequency tables and bar charts, after which came cross tabulations and regression analysis. This mixture of analytical tools enabled a thorough and meaningful analysis and application of the data to justify an evaluation of the labeling theory with reference to Kano.

Presentation of Key Findings—Inmates

Description of Recidivists

A total of 126 inmates were studied with the following characteristics: 85.72% of the respondents (repeat offenders) were between the ages of 20 and 40. All of the subjects were males as there were no female repeat offenders at the time of data collection. Up to 62.7% of the respondents have never been married, while 23.81% were married and 11.11% were either divorced or separated with 2.38% widowed. Majority of the respondents (73.02%) did not have a wife. As regards religion, 89.68% declared being Muslims, which is consistent with the environment being predominantly Muslim and 79.36% were of Hausa/Fulani extraction, which is again consistent with the composition of Kano.

On Education, 42.06 % had only Qur’anic education as their highest level of education; 23.02% and 22.22% indicated incomplete and complete secondary education respectively. Other categories showed low numbers of responses. Incomplete primary education had 3.17%, complete primary education showed 5.56%, while only 2.38% had tertiary education.

Most of the subjects indicated that they had just one occupation (94.44%) while only seven had one other occupation in addition to their primary occupation. The subjects mentioned occupations ranging from military service to smuggling (even though smuggling is itself a crime and not an occupation). Only seven people (5.56%) stated that they were unemployed at the time of their conviction. The only jobs that showed large figures were trading, driving, and farming. Regular incomes were reported by 47.62%, while 51.59% said their income was irregular or periodic.

Regarding their income, 42.06% make less than N 2,500 per month while 19.84% make between N 2,500 to N 5,000 a month. This indicates that up to 61.90% make less than the national minimum wage of N 5,000 per month. It is thus evident that there is some relationship between poverty and recidivism. Conversely, 12.7% make between 50,000 and 70,000 naira per year, 10.32% make between 70,000 and 90,000 naira, while 7.94% make between 90,000 and 110,000 naira per annum. At the same time, the data shows that only 6.35% earn more than 110,000 naira per annum. If we consider the fact that an individual needs to make slightly more than 30,000 naira per month in order to live an average life, then we can see that most of the inmates, if not all, can be considered to be below the poverty line.

Record of Imprisonment

As indicated initially, all the subjects under study are repeat offenders who have been previously imprisoned; as such, each of the subjects under study can be considered a habitual offender. Of the subjects, 92 (73.02%) had been to prison twice in the past. This is a substantial number of the repeat offenders under study; we can, therefore, safely say that “twice” is the average number of prison “time.” those jailed three times represent 19.84% of the subjects, while 5.56% indicated four previous jail stints. Only two respondents (1.59%) had been in jail more than four times (Table 1).

Furthermore, 26.19% of the respondents mentioned that they had been previously tried and acquitted. Some of the subjects who had been previously acquitted had such experiences more than once (7.94% had it twice, 2.38% had it three times, while 0.79% had the experience four times). This means that when the number of arrests and trials are to be added up then the criminal record of most of the respondents will extend further.

Relationship with Family and Friends

Despite their apparent criminal habits, most of the subjects indicated that their family gave them one form of support or the other (e.g. sympathy, companionship, visitation in jail, providing for the need of the respondent, and securing the release of the respondent) while they were in prison and after. Only 16 respondents (12.7%) were rejected by their families as a result of their criminal and prison habits. It can be assumed from the data that there is a sustained bonding between family members even when one of them is a criminal.

In the same vein, many of the respondents’ friends offered their sympathy to the subjects (59%) while the other friends offered companionship, visited while in detention provided for the needs of the inmate, struggled for release, or a combination of these responses or the other. Of all the respondents, 86.51% indicated that their friends were sympathetic after their first release; only 13.49% claimed that their friends rejected them.

Reaction of Inmates to Rejection

Regarding the feelings generated by the rejection of friends and family members,

Table 2 shows that 20.63% said that they felt angry at being rejected by their friends and family members, while only 4.76% said that they felt resigned to their rejection. Any person who feels angry is quite likely to respond with an angry reaction. This points to the possibility of recidivism.

The subjects were asked if they believed that the society would react differently to its members based on differential social status. Contrary to what we expected, the majority of inmates (74.4%) believed that the society would have reacted towards them in the same way even if their social status was higher. Only 9.6% said that the society would have reacted differently if they had a higher social status.

Rehabilitative Benefits of Prison

Only a relatively small percentage of the inmates (9.48%) admitted to having learned any skills while in prison, as shown by Table 3. One person (0.79%) stated that he learned tailoring, three others (2.38%) learned carpentry, while seven people (5.55%) learned leather working.

Even among those who claimed to have learned skills, only a small number indicated using these skills to earn a living (4.76%). According to the respondents, their reasons for not using their skills ranged from lack of capital (3.13%), lack of machinery (1.56%), and lack of job opportunity (1.56%). This indicates that even if the inmates are able to acquire some life skills, there is always the issue of funding, resource acquisition, and lack of job opportunities.

Job Prospects and Reasons for Sustained Criminal Activities

Only 22.22% of the subjects looked for jobs after their initial incarceration. Most (41.26%) of the subjects did not mention why they did not look for a job. Some of the respondents went back to their old jobs or were not interested in taking a job. While others opted for menial jobs such as bus conductor, tea seller, messenger, laborer, tailor, carpentry, etc. These low-income jobs might not have sustained them.

Only two (1.59%) of the subjects informed their prospective employers that they had been to prison. One of them said that the information did not prevent him from getting the job while the other person stated that the information prevented him from getting the job.

The majority of the subjects (67.31%) stated that they made more money from their criminal activities than they would from an honest job, thus promoting the tendency to continue their criminal activities. Another reason offered for continued crime is the feeling of invincibility on the part of the criminal. Such feelings could make the individual believe that he would never be caught, thus burrowing himself deeper into crime.

Learning Crime in Prison

With reference to Table 4, 46.83% of the inmates in this study claimed to have learned how to commit other crimes while in prison (apart from the ones for which they were in prison), while 53.17% claimed not to have learned any new traits. As for the reasons why some were able to resist learning more criminal skills, 30.19% said that they were not interested in learning additional criminal behavior, 3.77% claimed that the fear of God and adherence to religious values gave them the ability to resist learning additional criminal skills. Eight (8) inmates (7.55%) stated that they kept to themselves and did not make any close associates, which prevented them from learning additional criminal behavior. On the other hand, majority of the subjects (73.02%) admitted that more behavior that is criminal is learned in prison than in the greater society.

Life after Previous Prison Term

The inmates were asked how they fared when they completed their prison term or prison stay (in the case of awaiting trial) and the nature of the problems they faced. Slightly over 18% claimed that they had no problems after they completed their last incarceration. More significantly, 64.6% had financially related problems such as lack of jobs and 17.7% indicated lack of money. Fifteen of the subjects stated that rejection from friends and relatives was the problem that they faced when they finished their last term. One person each (equivalent to 0.88% each) mentioned such problems as being monitored by relatives, slow start on a new life, constantly being suspected by other people, and one was divorced by his wife. Only 6.42% claimed that they were able to solve these problems, while 83.49% could not solve them.

On life after prison, four persons either did not know what to do or stated that they will not do anything. Only one person (0.79%) categorically stated that he will no longer commit crimes. The bulk of the respondents 48.41% will simply return to their old jobs. Returning to school was of interest to 9.52%, while 2.38% said that they will go back to school and do some business at the same time. Three (2.38%) intend to go back to farming, while 13.49% will start a business. At the same time, 15.08% claimed that when they finish their sentence, they are going to get a job and start again. It is interesting to note that two of the subjects (1.59%) mentioned that their plan is to get married when they get out of prison.

As a solution the inmates suggested that people can be prevented from committing crimes if jobs pay higher wages, opportunities are more evenly spread across the society (for rich and poor as well as for ex-inmates), our leaders show good examples, and schools are made to be more productive. Even though none of the inmates claimed any of these as a reason for their criminality, they were still able to observe that these factors could help reduce the rate of crime in the society.

Presentation of Key Findings: Description of Public Respondents

This section deals with the summary of the presentation of the data collected from the general public using a questionnaire schedule. A total of 300 questionnaires were issued; 286 were returned while 14 were not returned. A large proportion (42.31%) of the respondents are within the ages of 20 and 29; 40.91% persons were aged between 30 and 39 with 12.94% between 40 and 49 years old. At the same time, 2.8% or eight persons were between 50 and 59 years of age while only three people (1.05%) were 60 years or older. The bulk of the respondents were male (85.66%) while only 41 females (14.34%) were part of the sample.

Three (1.05%) of the subjects were widowed, 2 each or 0.70% each were either divorced or separated from their spouses, 173 persons (60.49%) were married while 37.06% or 106 people were single. The bulk of the subjects (89.86%) were of Hausa extraction, which is consistent with the nature of the population in the area of study with Fulani accounting for 5.94% and Yoruba at 1.4%. All the other identities accounted for less than one percent each; they include Igbo, Kanuri, Jarawa, Urhobo, Gwari, Nupe, and Wamba. With respect to religious affiliation, the majority are of the Islamic faith (97.2%) while the remaining eight persons (2.8%) were Christians.

In terms of education, only 0.7 percent of the sample had no education and 15.38% or 44 people had only Qur’anic education. The largest distributions were for Complete Secondary School and Tertiary with 28.32% and 33.57% respectively. Those beginning Secondary school accounted for 8.74%, but did not complete their education; 7.34% had completed Primary School but did not proceed beyond that, while 5.94% went through Primary Schools but did not complete their study.

With reference to occupations, the pattern of jobs engaged in by our subjects ranged from very high paying jobs such as business management to low paying jobs such as bus conductor. Nonetheless, 243 of the subjects (84.97%) had jobs that offer them regular income as against 5.94% with periodic income. 9.09% (26 persons) stated that they did not have any income. In terms of the income itself, only 7 persons (2.45%) had incomes in the sub 30,000 naira category per annum. Of the subjects, 18 (6.29%) indicated that they had income ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 naira per annum; 20.63% declared earnings between 50,000 and 70,000 per annum. 21.68% earned between 70,000 and 90,000 naira per annum, 20.28% declared between 90,000 and 110,000 Naira per annum as their average income.

Respondents’ Perception of the Character of Ex-inmates

Over sixty percent (66.32%) indicated that ex-inmates can indeed be trusted as against just 28.77% who declared distrust (Table 5). Some of the reasons for their answers, those who offered trust suggested that ex-inmates had paid their debt to society by going to prison, would probably have learned a lesson from their prison experiences, and should be given a chance to start again. Others suggested that many of the ex-inmates could have been innocent in the first place and they could have been sentenced by a corrupt judicial system, as such they would have gone to prison for no justifiable reason. Therefore, their character could still be relatively upright. 

Conversely, those who declared that ex-inmates should not be trusted said they felt that such people already had a criminal record and could have refined their criminal behavior while in prison, as such they should be dealt with cautiously and with extreme care. The summary is that “once a criminal, then maybe always a criminal.”

Most of the subjects (60%) are of the view that ex-inmates could stop committing crimes as opposed to 30.18% who felt that such ex-inmates could not stop their criminal activities (Table 6 above).

The respondents felt that prison experience is likely to change a person for the better. The prison is not an environment conducive to comfort or convenience for the average individual, as such ex-inmates are likely discouraged from returning. Another reason tendered is that many criminals believe that they cannot be caught, but once they go to prison and experience the hardship of incarceration, they may re-evaluate their choices. There are also individuals who take charge of their wards after prison and steer them clear of further crime. Others are of the view that the rehabilitative programs of the prison may teach the ex-inmates what to do in the greater society, thus avoiding a relapse into crime.

Table 7 shows that one hundred and eighty respondents (63.16%) are of the view that a prison term rehabilitates an ex-inmate as opposed to 25.61% who felt that it does not. We can conclude that the general public is very optimistic about the reforming qualities of the prison.

Table 8. Respondents’ View Of Social Reaction to Ex-inmates (General Public)

Among the general public, 76.22% agree that society does actually reject ex-inmates while 19.23% disagreed (Table 8). This contrasts with the claim by 60% of the respondents that ex-inmates can actually stop committing crimes and another view by 63% that a prison term rehabilitates the ex-inmate. If society is of the view that ex-inmates can change, then why are they being rejected?

However, even though a large percentage of the respondents agree that ex-convicts are rejected, 87.02% indicate their willingness to employ an ex-convict if they were opportune to do so, as opposed to only 24 people (08.42%) who opined that they would not employ an ex-convict. Many of the respondents (163 of them, or 57.19%) were of the view that rejection is not in any real sense an extension of the punishment served on criminals, but a reaction of insecurity around ex-inmates as shown in Table 9.

Table 9. Rejection as an Extension of Punishment for Offenses (Gen. Public)

Others, constituting 24.21%, felt that rejection could be considered an extension of the punishment served on criminals as rejection will serve to deter other individuals who might consider becoming criminals. Most of the respondents (82.11%) were of the view that if ex-inmates are rejected, then they will be pushed into further criminal behavior. Only 11.93% of our respondents disagreed with the supposition.

The majority of respondents (78.95%) were of the view that society reacts differently towards ex-inmates depending on their social status. This is because the social structure is lopsided and an individual receives different treatment depending on his social status. This is true in the general manner in which society treats people and specifically in the case of ex-inmates. In the first case, our respondents believe that when a person is rich, he is less likely to go to prison let alone become an ex-inmate. This is because most often, the judicial process is corrupt and people can buy their way out at any levels of the process. Should such a rich person make it to jail, the experience is quickly forgotten by the members of the society, who are basically eager to partake of the wealth of this ex-inmate.

Only 16.49% of the respondents were of the view that the Judicial System is efficient, while the majority (66.67%) felt that the judicial system is inefficient in the manner it executes its responsibilities. There was also reference to the high number of inmates who were awaiting trial, in some cases for many years—some even for more years than the sentences they would have served.

Some of the subjects mentioned the need for a fresh approach to possible punishment. In fact, some even suggested that if the Shari’ah legal system is instituted, then it is likely to introduce alternatives to prison such as whipping, amputations, and death sentences. The hope is that this will decongest prisons. According to the respondents, the prison reform promised by the Government may bring with it the needed change in the prison system and will hopefully rehabilitate inmates, allowing ex-inmates a chance to become reformed and to assume a more productive role in the society. With adequate funding and better structured prisons, the system will serve a better purpose than the current hive of breeding hardened criminals.

Concerning what can be done to prevent people from going back to crime after a presumed reforming prison experience, the respondents pointed out that there is the need for a more equitable distribution of wealth so that fewer people will be poor. There is also the need for additional forms and means of employment so that people can be productive. The society also needs to monitor the activities of its members to prevent them from drifting too far from the norms of the society. Some of the subjects also suggested a more efficient police and judicial system, which will serve to discourage people from becoming criminals.

Discriminatory Effects of Stigmatization

It was postulated that ex-inmates face serious difficulties in trying to get back into the society and such difficulties create some disillusionment and may precipitate further criminality. The findings reveal that it was not every ex-inmate that actually attempted to find work. In fact, only 22.22% looked for jobs after their incarceration. Our hypothesis suggests that employers do not readily employ ex-inmates, as such most people who actually need a job may end up lying about their prison record because their chances of getting a job could be jeopardized if a prospective employer discovered their prison record.

The data suggest that most of the recidivists did not intend to assume regular jobs, even when they left prison. Among the second set of respondents (Public), 87.02% indicated their willingness to employ an ex-convict if they were opportune to do so, as opposed to only 24 people (08.42%) who would be unwilling. The public appears to have some form of sympathy towards ex-inmates. It is therefore logical to assume that even though the general public might wish to offer employment to ex-inmates, their gestures are likely to fail in the absence of skills on the part of the potential applicants.

At this point, it can be concluded that there is no evidence to show that ex-inmates were denied jobs because they went to prison. In fact, the data seem to indicate that the general population is willing to offer such jobs but the ex-inmates prefer to resume their criminal activities because of the financial benefits.

Rejection leads to further Criminality

Denial of ex-inmates attempting to reintegrate into society may push the ex-inmate into mainstream crime, especially if the denial comes from the family. A large number of the respondents indicated that their families and friends were sympathetic towards them during their incarceration and after they were released from prison.

The data show a very weak link between the manner of reaction of the family of ex-inmates and the number of times the recidivist had been to prison. Only 11.11% of the recidivists actually stated that they felt rejected by their families. It is still pertinent to note that as many as 20.63% decided that they were rejected and their reaction to that was anger. Another 4.76% stated that they felt resigned to their fate and they accepted their rejection as an unpleasant fact.

It is logical that such deep-seated anger could provoke antisocial behavior in the ex-inmate in the form of further criminal activities. It can be deduced that those who felt rejected by their families and friends are quite likely to be angry and that anger could result in further criminality. It should be noted that although the actual number of those who felt rejected is small, when compared to their reaction (anger) one can see that almost all of them were angry at their rejection and they could have reacted by resorting to continued crime. This means that despite the low proportion of those who felt rejected, it is still a significant indicator of the possibility of an angry reaction. Despite the strong feeling of anger, the data show a weak relationship between the reaction of the recidivists’ family and the number of prison terms.

Labeling and Stigmatization are Deliberate

The assumption is that stigmatization is not accidental but a deliberate strategy to punish the offender for whatever he had done against the society. Therefore, when ex-inmates are being discriminated against for jobs, residence, marriages, political offices, etc., they are merely continuing the punishment they started from prison. The aim may be to deter others from committing offenses or to prevent a repeat occurrence. This can be perpetuated consciously or unconsciously. The argument for accepting or rejecting this hypothesis revolves around a discussion of the responses of the general public on their perception of the character of ex-inmates (recidivists and others).

A large proportion (66.32%) indicated that ex-inmates could be trusted. Reasons offered suggested that these ex-inmates would probably have learned a lesson from their prison experiences and should be given a chance to start again. Their belief is that it is normal for people to make mistakes, but they should be forgiven if they were able to pay their debt to society by going to prison. Furthermore, many of the ex-inmates could have been innocent in the first place and could have been sentenced by a corrupt judicial system and, as such, would have gone to prison for no justifiable reason. Therefore, their character could still be relatively upright. In opposition to this, those who declared that ex-inmates should not be trusted said so because they felt that such people already had a criminal record and could have refined their criminal behavior while in prison as such they should be dealt with cautiously and with extreme care. Their assumption is that “once a criminal then may always be a criminal.”

A significant proportion (60%) of the public believes that ex-prison inmates can actually stop their criminal behavior and adopt acceptable and conformist behavior. This data is consistent with the recidivists view on rehabilitation, in which 63.16% are of the view that a prison term rehabilitates an ex-inmate. We can conclude that the general public is very optimistic about the reforming qualities of the prison as well as the forgiving nature of the society. Even though majority (76.22%) of this same set of respondents stated that the society actually and deliberately rejects ex-inmates. There appears to be an element of contradiction that suggests public reaction towards ex-inmates is not necessarily a function of the inability of the ex-prisoner to reform, to stop crime, or to be forgiven by the society, but of some other factors.

Similarly, 56.29% of the respondents (public) were of the opinion that the rejection of ex-inmates by members of the society is not a deliberate social response. Only 29.02% felt that the social rejection of ex-inmates was deliberate and calculated. In that, the general public does not feel enough confidence to trust an ex-inmate because nobody will sympathize with you if such an ex-inmate committed another crime against you. They also believe that old habits are hard to change. Some argued that if an ex-inmate was your employee, you may not feel disposed to working with him again because the element of trust has been betrayed. The respondents also argued that there are other “clean” individuals who have not been to prison who are willing to work for the same pay or even less with relative safety from danger of criminality. A consideration of all the facts presented above and in other sections of this chapter leads to conclude that stigmatization is a deliberate post prison-term punishment for crimes and other offenses.

Conclusion

This chapter tried to assess the extent to which aspects of the labeling theory can be applicable to the Kano environment, which is considered to be distinctly different from the environment in which such a theory was generated. The data generated in the study actually highlighted some of the aspects while refuting others. Some of the suppositions of the labeling theory were found to be applicable in Kano while others were not. At this point, it will be most useful to revisit these two categories.

The data point to the fact that society certainly has some reservations about allowing ex-inmates to reintegrate into the society. This is evident from the fact that even though members of the general public were willing to forgive ex-inmates, the ex-inmates did not usually find it easy to acquire employment. This was the opinion of most of the respondents from among the general public and even the recidivists. However, the recidivists themselves stated that they did not usually look for jobs; as such, this position is actually tenuous. After all, only a small proportion of the respondents actually indicated looking for a job and failing to find one.

However, most of the subjects indicated that they made friends in prison and have been able to learn criminal behavior while in prison. At the same time, some of them stated that their friends did not accept them back and they had to continue relating with the friends they made in prison. This is consistent with the labeling theory, which states that ex-inmates tend to relate with individuals who are considered to be undesirable because they, too, tend to be criminal in nature.

Although family members and friends were indicated as having accepted the recidivists back, the data from the general public shows that the average individual is not very comfortable with an ex-inmate and is not likely to offer them a job, even if he is in a position to do so. This shows that the society as a whole has some reservations about relating with ex-inmates, even if such inmates might have the illusion that they have been accepted back. This is consistent with one of the suppositions of the labeling theory, which stated the same. Both recidivists and the general public agree that the society tends to extend the punishment beyond prison. Ex-inmates tend to suffer all forms of rejection, though both categories of samples maintain that the rejection and stigmatization is not a deliberate or calculated social effort. Rather, it is circumstantial. Whether this is an attempt to cover up a sense of guilt among the general public is not very clear. Nevertheless, even if the general public is covering up, the recidivists themselves are of the view that the resultant stigmatization is not deliberate. This means that the labeling theory is not completely accurate with regards to the deliberate nature of stigmatization. Many other conclusions can be drawn with regard to the differences between the suppositions of the labeling theorists and the reality established by this study. Among them are the following:

Labeling theory holds that the labeled criminal is likely to adjust his behavior to fit the label and thus continue to be criminal in nature. The data point to the fact that the recidivists under study are of the view that they continued along the path of criminality because of economic and monetary reasons. Therefore, it is not a refusal to change because of a label but a mercenary computation of margins and profits. Thus, the data from Kano point in the opposite direction to the claims of the labeling theory. It is not an issue of self-image but the economic angle that makes ex-inmates resort to further crime. Though they could not gain a paying job, the data also show that not many of them actually looked for such a job. Most of them simply choose to continue their criminal career.

Few of the inmates pointed to anger as a motivation for continued crime. In fact, very few of them believed that they were rejected by their significant others. Most of them stated that they were supported in one way or the other by their relatives and friends and that they felt accepted when they returned from prison. As such, there was not much anger against the society or the family or friends.

The conclusion that can be made at this point is that the culture, manner, nature and patterns of relationships determine how the society reacts to wards ex-inmates. Thus it can be stated that ex-inmates in Kano are of the view that they are usually supported by relatives/friends and accepted back into the society thus removing any sense of anger or revenge. As such anger can be ruled out as a motivator for further criminality among recidivists in Kano. As a concluding remark, Labeling can be said to be a phenomenon that holds in the Kano environment only in certain aspects; other aspects of it are rejected due to variations in cultural expectations and family bonding.

Recommendations

A number of recommendations can be made regarding some of the key issues that have been raised in the course of this research. They include the following:

Government Policies

• Government needs to improve the judicial system in order to speed up the trial process in an effort to reduce the number of persons awaiting trial in Nigerian prisons.
• Government should improve the rehabilitative aspects of imprisonment so that inmates can learn life skills and be able to reintegrate in the society at the end of their prison term.
•  Alternatives to prison custody should be explored and developed in order to reduce the number of persons awaiting trial in prison, with a view to minimizing the impact of imprisonment.
• Government should support the resettlement of prisoners after serving their term in prison in order to enhance their life chances through loans, hire purchase, leasing, or outright allocation of tools and other equipment needed for professional pursuits.
• Halfway houses should be set up to enable inmates to experiment with freedom and the responsibilities associated with it even before they complete their prison term so as to prepare them for the challenges of life after prison
• Government needs to create an enabling environment for job creation in the society to provide chances for ex-inmates who choose to reform and become conformists.
• Law enforcement should focus on preventing as well as combating crimes with particular focus on monitoring and utilization of information and intelligence so that crime can be discouraged before it happens.

 Community participation

• Community leaders and groups need to participate in the less formal punishment methods such as community service for lesser offenses to reduce prison congestion and the impact of imprisonment. This calls for a broad-based approach to the application of punishment methods such that community-based groups and other civil society groups will offer support to government efforts in alternative modes of punishment to imprisonment.
• Families and parents should also be more responsive to their responsibilities in child upbringing and socialization so that youths can be less susceptible to criminal behavior and other corrupting influences.
• Society should consider alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as village forum, community leaders and other informal resolution forums instead of the court process. This will reduce the number of civil cases and other minor offenses that lead to prison custody and the attendant imprisonment experiences.

References

Ahonwa, O. L. (1996). Behind the wall. Civil Liberties Organization, Lagos, Nigeria.

Ahonwa, O. L. (2000). Privatization and prison. Prison Watch.

Aturu, B. (2000). Truly archaic and embarrassing.  Watch.

Auerhahn, K. (1999). Selective incapacitation and the problem of prediction. Criminology Journal, 37(4), pp. 703-734.

Baker, J. E. (1985). Prisoner participation in prison power. Scarecrow.

Bedau, H. A. (1987). Death is different.  Northeastern.

Bennett, G. (1987). Crimewarps: The future of crime in America. Doubleday.

Bernburg, J. G., Krohn, M. D., & Rivera, C. J. (2006). Official labeling, criminal embeddedness, and subsequent delinquency: A longitudinal test of labeling theory. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 43, pp. 67-88.

Black, C. L. Jr. (1982). Capital punishment: The inevitability of caprice and mistake. LOCATION: Norton.

Browning, F. & Gerassi, J. (1980). The American way of crime. Putnam.

Cardozo, B. (1960). Nature of the judicial process. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Cronin, T. E. et al. (1981). U. S. v. crime in the streets. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Cunliffe, F. & Piazza, P. B. (1980). Criminalistics and scientific investigation. Prentice Hall.

Dobson, T. & Shepherd-Chow, J. (1981). Safe and alive. Tarcher.

Eldefonso, E. (1983). Law enforcement and the youthful offender (4th ed.).  Wiley.

Eriksson, T. (1976). The reformers: An historical survey of pioneer experiments in the treatment of criminals. Elsevier.

Feeley, M. & Simon, J. (1992). The new penology: Notes on the emerging strategy of corrections and its implications. Criminology, 30, pp. 449-474.

Ganiat, L. I. (2000). The society and its ex-convicts. Prison Watch.

Geis, G. & Meier, R. F. (1977). White collar crime: Offenses in business, politics, and professions. Free Press.

Gottfredson, D. M. (1999). Effects of judges’ sentencing decisions on criminal careers. EDITORS NEEDED (Eds.), National Institute of Justice: Research in brief. Washington D. C.: US Department of Justice.

Haskins, J. (1977). Street gangs: Yesterday and today. Hastings.

Hindelang, M. J. et al (1981). Measuring delinquency. Sage.

Horton, H. P. (1911). Crime, its causes and remedies. The translated works of Lombroso (pp. PAGES). Little Brown.

Jolowicz, H. F. (1978). Roman foundations of modern law. Greenwood.

Kadish, S. H. (Ed.), (1983). Encyclopedia of crime and justice (4 vol.). Simon & Schuster.

Kelly, R. J. et al. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of organized crime in the United States. Greenwood.

Maguire, K. & Pastore, A. L. (1997). Quality of prisoner self-reports: Arrest and conviction response errors. Santa Monica, CA: Raid.

Maltz, M. D. (1984). Recidivism. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Marvell, T. & Moody, C. (1996). Determinate sentencing and abolishing parole: The long term impacts on prisoners and crime. Criminology, 1, pp. 107-128.

May, C. P. (1974). Probation. Hawthorn.

McKelvey, B. (1977). American prisons: A history of good intentions (2nd ed.). P. Smith.

Mitford, J. (1974). Kind and usual punishment: The prison business. Random.

Noonan, J. T. Jr. (1988). Bribes. LOCATION: MacMillan.

Prescott, P. S. (1981). The child savers: Juvenile justice observed.  Touchstone.

Ray, M. C. & Downs, W. R. (1986). An empirical test of labeling theory using longitudinal data. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 23, pp. 169-194.

Reitz, K. & Reitz, C. (1993). The American Bar Association’s new sentencing standards. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 6, pp. 169-173.

Rothenberg, R. E. (Ed.). (1981). The plain-language law dictionary. Viking Penguin.

Sellin, T. (1980). The penalty of death. Sage.

Smith, L. & Akers, R. (1993). A comparison of recidivism of Florida’s community control and prison: A five year survival analysis. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, pp. 267-292.

Spohn, C. & Holleran, D. (2002). The effect of imprisonment on recidivism rates of felony offenders: A focus on drug offenders. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Criminology, 40(2), pp. 329-357.

Ugochukwu, B. (DATE). The holding charge and human rights. Prison Watch.

Van den Haag, E. (1975). Punishing criminals. Basic.

Vaz, E. W. & Lodhi, A. Q. (1979). Crime and delinquency in Canada. Prentice.

Wicker, T. (1994). A time to die. Nebraska.

Wilson, J. Q. (1985). Thinking about crime. Random.

Zhang, L. (1994). Peers’ rejection as a possible consequence of official reaction to delinquency in Chinese society. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 21(4), pp. 387-402.

Zimring, F. E. & Hawkins, G. (1989). Capital punishment and the American agenda. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Mohammed Awaisu Haruna

The concept of stigma has been widely used and applied in many aspects of the social, economic, political, and even religious domains of human activities. For instance, Lewis (1998 ) mentioned the stigma of exotic dancing, Conrad (1981) discussed the social stigma of occupations, while Whiteford and Gonzalez (1995) examined the stigma of infertility. However, stigma is most popularly associated with different kinds of human disability or illnesses such as leprosy, blindness, crippling disabilities, dumbness, deafness, and so on. However, more forcefully, except for the stigma of AIDS (Gilmore & Somerville, 1994; Goldin, 1994; Marshall, Patricia, O’Keefe, & Paul, 1995; and Link, Bruce, & Phelan, 2001) in recent times, stigma is attached to psychiatric illnesses, which are most devastating to patients and their relatives (Corrigan & Pen, 1999; Phelan, Link, Steve, & Pescosolido, 2000). According to Page (1984, p. PAGE), the term stigma has for a long time remained “a relatively imprecise concept,” one that is as complex as the concepts of democracy, alienation, and poverty. This is because of the diverse meanings and interpretations of the term and its applicability to various aspects of human life. Similarly, stigma is regarded as:

A social process or a related personal experience characterized by exclusion, rejection, blame, or devaluation those results from an adverse social judgment about a person or group. The judgment is based on an enduring feature of identity attributable to a health or health related condition, and this judgment is in some essential way medically unwarranted. (Weiss & Ramakrishna, 2001, p. 3)

No matter what definition of stigma is in use, the term acquires its meaning through the emotions it generates within the person bearing the label as well as the feeling and behavior of those using the term towards him (Page, 1984). In this sense, stigma is regarded as a protective device, a response against danger or an adverse condition, also as “a means of strengthening or homogenizing a community and its values by actually or metaphorically purging the community of unwanted, undesirable or unproductive traits”. Therefore, stigmatized individuals possess (or are believed to possess) some attributes or characteristics that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social context (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998, p. 505).

Finally, stigma can be “a means of social control of both the persons stigmatized and those who are not, by marginalizing or excluding them from a community, or by making them fear this, respectively”. Thus, attributing of stigma is fundamentally regarded as a problem arising from social interaction. Stigma “impairs the quality of life through concerns about disclosure, and it affects work, education, marriage, and family life” (Weiss & Ramakrishna, 2001, p. 3). This is evident in the case of the stigma of mental illness in regard to people who suffer from mental illness as well as their relatives and significant others. It is also evident in the use of determinations of mental competence as a mechanism for social control.

In discussing the phenomena of stigma in relation to mental patients, this paper has limited itself to the simple, but somewhat general meaning of the concept, which describes stigma as “the negative perception and behavior of so called normal people to all individuals who are different from themselves” (English, 1977, as cited in Page, 1984, p. 1). It is in this context that psychiatric patients are considered different from normal people, not simply because they are ill, but because their illness is one which is “discrediting,” in that the sufferer is, in an important sense, less than human because his actions and words are senseless. Of course, on this Foucult (1965) has argued that, on the contrary, there is a sense and a positive message and meaning in the words and actions of mental patients, which the so-called normal people fail to understand by not trying to capture and grasp the message.

It is Goffman (1963, pp. 14-15) who first distinguished the “discreditable” and the “discredited.” The former is composed of invisible characteristics, which are only “potentially stigmatizing,” while the later contains visible attributes. Once a person is diagnosed as psychiatrically ill and is as a result hospitalized, he becomes potentially vulnerable to stigmatization and, for this reason, he takes all necessary measures to conceal the unwanted identifier or regulate the spread of information on his damaged identity or status. Thus, psychiatric patients, including other categories of disabled people, employ various strategies for the concealment of abnormality (Edgerton, 1971; Matza, 1969; Goffman, 1963; Bury, 1991).

The Goron Dutse Hospital

The Goron Dutse Hospital is located in Kano, Nigeria just within the famous traditional city walls in Goron Dutse quarters and is only a short walk from the Goron Dutse hill from which the hospital derives its name. During the colonial era, the building was originally constructed for use as a dormitory for elementary school students; later, in the 1950s, it was used as a place for keeping the criminally insane. The Native Authority maintained the institution as a mental infirmary until 1976 when the Ministry of Health took over its administration and introduced some changes in institutional operations. The name was changed from Mental Infirmary to Asylum by the Ministry of Health, which provided doctors, nurses, health assistants, social workers, and other support staff. The male compound has 11 active rooms and 33 beds. The female’s has 8 rooms and 24 beds. There is an isolation room. The A Ward has 23 beds with blankets and mattresses. There is a total number of 35 nursing staff in the hospital, 25 are males and 10 female. Doctors, however, do not tend to stay very long in the service of the hospital. Accordingly, consistent care is largely in the hands of the trained psychiatric nurses, some of whom have been serving in the hospital for quite a long time.

Methodology

The data used for this paper were collected from Goron Dutse as part of the data collected for a Ph.D. Thesis (Haruna, 1997). Various methods of data collection were triangulated to enrich the data collected. The fieldwork took nine months. Observation was used. The daily activities of the hospital staff, patients, and their relations within the hospital setting were observed. Medical consultations and diagnostic conversations between doctors and nurses on the one hand and patients and their relatives on the other were tape-recorded. An in-depth interview was conducted with 35 nursing staff, 10 support staff, and 74 relatives of patients as well as one Psychiatrist and one General Practitioner. In addition, medical records and patients’ prescriptions were examined.

Stigmatizing Hospital Staff

In Goron Dutse and, by implication, the other psychiatric and mental hospitals in Nigeria, stigma is attached not only to the patients in the hospital, but also to the staff who look after them. A number of their friends, for example, jokingly regard them also as tababbu (slightly abnormal) because they work and intermingle with psychiatric patients. However, this is a stigma with a difference. It is a joke and typically without significant adverse consequences. The stigma tends to die out and does not lead to ostracization or condemnation. This stigma is momentary and easily brushed aside as well as being unchallenging to the status they have as workers in the medical field. Nevertheless, and as discussed by Haruna (1997), there are still a significant number of people in Nigerian society who believe that mental illness is the product of sorcery or evil spirits and should properly be the province of traditional healers. Hence, medical men perceived to be dealing with an illness that is beyond their skills and understanding. It may be this tension that is, perhaps, the source of the joke mentioned above, and which has an affinity with (and echoes) the saying that “the friend of a thief is also a thief;” likewise those who associate or work with the insane are also insane.

Unlike other doctors and nurses, but like the patients’ relatives who are also affected, psychiatric nurses and doctors suffer to some extent from occupational stigma because of their association with the patients. This has been compounded by the practice of employing ex-patients as staff. This was explained and stressed by one of the nurses who mentioned that some of the ex-psychiatric patients secured jobs at the center through connections. Their parents seek and obtain jobs for them because they feel secure if the ex-patients work and remain in the hospital. This brings the ex-patients very close to the medical care staff even while they bring stigma to other staff of the institution.

Not all of these staff are entirely trustworthy or suitably trained and, indeed, a number of them have been involved in certain malpractices when dealing with patients’ relatives. The penalties for such transgressions can be quite severe in that such people are treated like some of the patients who misbehave, that is, by confinement and detention in the wards. One of the nurses explained that they detain their junior staff who misbehave in the compound and give them an injection as a means of teaching them to behave well.

In these kinds of situations, the nurses use medicine as a means of controlling the behavior of ex-patient staff. It is what Szasz (1972,) calls a means of “social tranquillization.” This kind of punishment is meted out mostly to the ex-patients who constitute part of the employees in the hospital. It contributes to the low status with which many of the other staff are regarded by the wider society.

However, the stigmatization phenomena, as it is manifested in the hospital setting, goes beyond the junior staffs, because even some of the nurses who misbehave in ways that are considered inappropriate by others are also stigmatized. Through an informal discussion, one of the senior staff described one of the nurses as an “experienced person who has spent many years in the hospital and who knows a lot but sometimes behaves abnormally like the patients by climbing to the top of the roof, as some of the patients do”. The staff member is simply suspecting the nurse’s behavior to be indicative of some level of mental abnormality.

Stigmatizing Psychiatric Patients

Stigma extends beyond these particular transgressions to outpatients’ attendance at the hospital. For many, attendance is a discrediting experience and one that they try to conceal from others. Some, even when attending, will pretend to be going elsewhere then sneak onto the hospital premises. Some relatives try as much as possible to avoid frequenting the hospital or refuse to escort outpatients for routine consultations. There is tremendous cultural pressure on the mentally ill to avoid disclosing their sickness. Indeed, while the Federal Government has officially and sympathetically recognized the conditions of various categories of the disabled and instructed all government ministries to provide jobs for at least three disabled people per department, these vacancies tend to go to the blind, the crippled, the deaf, and the dumb among others (Hassan, 1992) Rarely, if ever, do these positions go to ex-psychiatric patients. In this respect, they are treated like ex-convicts. This situation is a case of official stigma and compels ex-patients to resort to hiding their status as best as they can, such as by not recording it on application forms or disclosing it at any interview. Relatives who can afford private treatment are often motivated by the fear of the stigmatizing effects of publicity on the whole family.

Seeking Assistance and the Fear of Stigma

Stigma is the biggest factor inhibiting relatives seeking assistance from the hospital at the onset of illness. They prefer other forms of treatment and come to the hospital as the lowest preference. One of the nurses pointed out that in a number of cases, parents or relatives hardly bring the patient to the hospital at the early stage of the problem; they prefer boka or traditional medicine-men. According to the nurse, the fear of stigma is always associated with the Goron Dutse Hospital because treatment is cheap and available and, as a result, patients and their relatives come as a last resort.

Thus, it is a widespread belief among the hospital staff that patients are first taken for a traditional or religious treatment and only then to a general hospital, after which they are finally taken to the psychiatric hospital if there is no improvement (Haruna, 1997). Many of the patients, or their relatives, disclosed that they sought treatment from somewhere else before coming to the hospital. One of the patients who suffered from puerperal psychosis disclosed that she was taken to three different traditional healers for treatment.

Another patient suffering from epilepsy was also observed at Goron Dutse Hospital during the fieldwork. According to one of the patient’s relations, the man had been suffering from epilepsy for ten years, but was never taken to any hospital for treatment. He disclosed that the patient was taken to Borno for Qur’anic education; there he received some traditional treatment before coming to the hospital.

Although it is evident, as indicated by the doctor, that it is difficult to get detailed information from patients and their relatives on their relationship with traditional and religious healers. Nonetheless, some of them did disclose to the hospital authorities and so the information that they had consulted such healers before coming to the hospital was recorded on their cards. Out of 129 patient records, 59 of them indicated that the patients had previously sought assistance from healers. Women are widely believed to be in the fore in patronizing such healers, either with permission from their husbands or secretly. In fact, it appears that most of the men who consult traditional healers do so on the advice or influence of their mothers and/or their wives. During the period of hospital treatment and the after-discharge treatment, one of the greatest dangers faced by patients is that of a relapse, which could be due to a number of reasons.

Stigma Management

Goffman (1963) pointed out that stigma represents discrediting attributes between individuals’ virtual (assumed) and actual (real) social identities. Since it is believed that stigma spoils, damages, and taints the image of the stigmatized persons, various attempts are made to control or manage the discrediting attributes. However, it is worth noting that the mechanisms of managing stigma are not limited to the stigmatized individuals but also the falsely accused persons (Blinde & Taub, 2000). The strategy used to manage any type of stigma depends largely on the degree to which the attribute is visible or perceivable to others. According to Goffman (1963), people with a potential deviant stigma can be categorized into the discreditable, those with conceived deviant traits, such as ex-convicts and secret homosexuals who manage themselves to avoid deviant stigma; and the discredited, those who cannot hide their deviance, such as the obese, and the physically handicapped or ex-convicts and secret homosexuals who have revealed their deviance (Adler & Adler, 2000).

Forms of Stigma Management

There are a number of stigma management and control techniques that are used by stigmatized persons and organizations in many societies. It is mainly managed through individual adaptation to deviant stigma and group or collective effort. Most discreditable people manage their stigma by passing as “normal” in their daily lives, hiding their deviance from other members of the public. Other means of passing as normal include the use of identifiers and avoiding contacts with stigma symbols. Stigmatized persons also manage and control stigma by leading a double life, maintaining two different lifestyles with two different groups of people, one that knows about their deviance and one that does not.

Individuals also manage stigma through the deliberate and voluntary self-disclosure of the deviance, especially if concealment fails. This is done by the victims when they become fed up with maintaining the secrecy. It is also done for preventive and therapeutic reasons, although disclosure may lead to rejection or further rejection. Davis (1961) pointed out that some non-deviant persons normalize their relationships with deviant persons by refusing to acknowledge the deviant trait. Although it is the deviants who normalize their relationship with non-deviants through deviance disavowal—they present their stigma in a positive way in the form of joking and humor (Turner, 1972). In an attempt to normalize, some of the stigmatized persons confront the stigma and make sure the discrediting attribute loses its stigmatizing capability. This is achieved through the redefinition of stigma and the reeducation of the normal (Elliot, Ziegler, Altman, & Scott, 1990).

There are a number of voluntary and non-governmental organizations and associations of stigmatized individuals that are known worldwide. The associations include those of prostitutes, such as Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE), the Gay Liberation Front, the Gray Panthers, the Alcoholics Anonymous, the Overeaters Anonymous, the Narcotics Anonymous, and Gamblers Anonymous. The primary functions of some of these groups is to provide support for their members that include social and recreational activities, dispersing legal or medical information, and providing services such as shopping, meals, or transportation. These groups are known as expressive groups and are apolitical in that they help their members adapt to their social stigma rather than evade it. They also provide an avenue for deviants to get together in the company of each other and seek for common solutions to their common problems (Jennes, 2000). For example, COYOTE acts as a leading voice in the prostitutes’ rights movements in the United States. It advocates the repeal of all existing prostitution laws, the reconstitution of prostitution as a credible service occupation, and the protection of prostitute rights as legitimate workers.

Other groups are known as instrumental groups that, in addition to expressive functions, also engage in political activism, which is called tertiary deviation—stigmatized persons reject the societal conception and treatment of their stigma and organize to change the social definitions (Kitsuse, 1980). The members struggle to change other peoples’ negative perception of their deviant status in question. Some of these organizations include AIDS organizations, the National Organization for Women, and the Disabled in Action. Anspach (1979) described how handicapped individuals and former mental patients used political activism to counter the prevailing negative societal beliefs and assumptions about them and, in so doing, enhanced their own self-conceptions. (Jones, Farina, Hastorf, Markus, Miller, & Scott, 1984, p. 153). This kind of collective action by stigmatized groups “may take the form of banding together with fellow targets…withdrawing from one’s social environment and embracing another and redefining an attribute of the self that was previously considered to be negative as positive” (Jones et al., 1984, p. 153).

Gay/Bisexual men with HIV/AIDS use reactive, intermediate, and proactive strategies for the management of stigma. The reactive strategies include concealment, selective disclosure and personal attribution strategies. As for the intermediate strategies, some of the Gay/bisexual men use gradual disclosure, selective affiliation strategies, discrediting the dis-creditors and challenging moral attribution. Finally, the protective measures used to manage stigma include pre-emptive disclosure, public education strategies and social activism. All of these strategies are used to manage the stigma of HIV infections (Siegel, Lune, & Meyer, 2000).

Stigma Management for Goron Dutse Patients

The management of stigma for Goron Dutse Hospital patients is not fully developed or organized as is the case in the United States and Europe, where voluntary organizations, some individuals, and the victims become actively involved in the control and management of stigma. In the case of Goron Dutse patients, it is mainly the responsibility of both the patient and his significant others to manage and control it. It is more of a family affair and, therefore, regarded as a collective responsibility because stigma affects not only the patient but also his relatives. Thus, the various strategies used to manage and control stigma include:

• Hospital Visits: Patients’ significant others, especially parents and close relatives, are expected to pay regular visits to the patients during the period of hospitalization. In the case of a married female patient, her spouse and children are required to be with her during visits. It is believed that this kind of visit decreases feelings of alienation and stigmatization on the part of the patient and helps to convince the hospital management that parents and relatives do not in any way abandon the patient or shun their family responsibility. While some relatives pay regular visits, others visit patients due to enforcement by the hospital management. Hence, regular visits serve as a strategy that discourages stigma that sometimes emanates from a patient’s family and relatives. It allows the patients to develop a feeling of being loved and cared for by his or her significant others and other closed associates.
• The Provision of jobs: The provision of jobs for the discharged patients is one way through which stigma is managed and controlled. Some of the patients that were self-employed or employed by the government prior to their sickness and hospitalization are encouraged by their families and relatives to resume working. Those who were employed by the government are also encouraged to return to their places of work. Those who have no jobs at all are supported by families and often become self-employed. This reduces the societal conception of them as liabilities. Thus, employment provides a new status, increases acceptability, and reduces rejection. In the Hausa society, it is generally believed that “an empty mind is the devil’s playground.” This is one of the reasons why keeping ex-mental patients occupied constitutes an important stage in the process of gradual transformation and reintegration of the patients from abnormality to complete normality. Nevertheless, this process takes a long period of adjustment.
• Presentation: A Positive presentation of the self by the ex-mental patients is another technique of stigma management that assists the psychiatric patient to win the confidence of others and in the process changes their perception of him. This is usually initiated by concerned parents and relatives who ensure that he or she appears as normal as is possible in public places, in terms of dressing, the choice of words, and the general use of language while interacting and communicating with the ‘normals’.
• Concealment: This is the least preferable stigma management approach, but the most commonly used. Parents and relatives usually restrict the victim’s movement within the household and, if there is a progress towards normalization, his freedom of movements is increased within the wider environment. Otherwise, they move him to a different environment until he fully normalizes. They try as much as possible to conceal deviant status or stigma by transferring the victims to other relatives who live far away. This enables the victim to change environment, adjust and begin a new life somewhere and is returned to his family only as a normal person.

Although other categories of stigmatized disabled persons that include the blind, lepers, the dumb, and the deaf among others do have associations that serve and protect their interests, such associations are never formed by ex-mental patients because of the fear of being identified with a group of stigmatized individuals. This is not limited to the Kano ex-mental patients, as noted elsewhere by Link and Phelan (2001) who said that stigmatized mentally ill people are not likely to band together in fighting stigma because they typically “avoid collective settings for fear of being associated with a stigmatized group” (Link & Phelan 1987, p. 25).

Conclusion

Stigma has a number of negative effects. These include both social and economic isolation of the patients even after treatment and discharge from the Goron Dutse Hospital. It was noted that sometimes the stigma affects parents and the hospital staff that treat and look after the patients. This one of the major reasons why parents initially seek for treatment else-where before turning to the hospital as the last option. Attempts to reduce and manage stigma is mainly the responsibility of the family and the patients. Some of the families do that by securing a job for the patient or providing him with a small capital to make him self-employed. A positive and clean appearance is another means of stigma management and reduction that increases one’s chances of being accepted by members of the public, thus giving him or her the opportunity to inter-act with the “normals.” Concealment is the most frequently used to restrict the movement of discharged patients until the family become satisfied that the ex-patient’s behavior is normal, and he or she is responding to gradual integration in the community. However, there are no organized groups or associations of ex-psychiatric patients that could assist in the management and reduction of stigma.

Recommendations

To overcome the problems of stigma as faced by psychiatric patients and their relatives in Nigerian society in general and Kano in particular, the three tiers of government and non-governmental organizations should support patients, their relatives, and hospital personnel in order to improve upon their management techniques. The following recommendations may be considered:

• The attention of philanthropists and non-governmental organizations in our society should be called upon to donate in cash or kind to the types of hospitals that treat psychiatric patients.
• Halfway homes should be established for the gradual rehabilitation and reintegration of treated and discharged patients before they are allowed to join the wider society.
• The governments at Federal, State, and Local levels should provide jobs or training to have ex-patients self-employed. This could be achieved if the governments experiment with community-based treatments for non-chronic patients who are less likely to benefit from incarceration in the hospital.
• Lastly, there is the need to change from the predominant treatment regime of chemotherapy by introducing other more useful forms of treatment. For example, occupational therapy for recovered patients should be introduced, as this will make them more self-reliant.

 References

Anspach, R. (1979). From stigma to identity politics: Political activism among the physically disabled and former mental patients. Social Science and Medicine, 13A, pp. 765-773.

Bury, M. (1991). The sociology of chronic illness: A review of research and prospects. Sociology of Health and Illness, 13(4), pp. 451-468.

Conrad, S. (1981). Social stigma of occupations: The lower grade workers in service organizations. Gower, England: Aldershot.

Crocker, J., Major, B., & Steele, C. (1988). Social stigma. In D. T. Gilbert & S. T. Fiske (Eds.). The handbook of social psychology (2nd ed., pp 504-553). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Edgerton, B. R. (1971). The clock of competence: Stigma in the life of the mentally retarded. Berkeley, CA: University of California.

Elliot, C. G., Ziegler, H. L., Altman, B. M., & Scott, D. R. (1990). Understanding stigma: Dimensions of deviance and coping. In C. D. Bryant (Ed.). Deviant behavior (pp. 423-443). New York, NY: Hemisphere.

English, R. W. (1977). Correlates of stigma towards physically disabled persons. In R. P. Marinelli & A. E. Dell Orto (Eds.). The psychological and social impact of physical disability (pp. PAGES). New York, NY: Springs.

Falk, G. (2001). Stigma: How we treat outsiders. Amherst, MA: Prometheus Books.

Davis, F. (1961). Deviance disavowal: The management of strained interaction by the visibly handicapped. Social Problems, 9, pp. 120-132.

Gilmore, M. & Somerville, M. A. (1994). Stigmatization, scapegoating and discrimination in sexually transmitted diseases: Overcoming “them” and “us.” Social Science Medicine, 39(9), pp. 1339-1358.

Goffman, E. (1963). Behavior in public places: Notes on the social organization of gatherings. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Goldin, S. C. (1994). Stigmatization and AIDS: Critical issues in public health. Social Science Medicine, 9, pp. 1359-1366.

Haruna, M. A. (1997). The management of mental illness in a Nigerian hospital. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Lancaster University.

Hassan, A. H. (1992). The problems of the destitute: An overview and some solution. In A. H. Yadudu (Ed.). The conception and implementation of a social policy: Kano state experiment (pp. 137-145). Kano, Bayero University.

Jennes, V. (2000). The Collective Stigma Management of Prostitutes. In P. A. Adler & P. A. Adler (Eds.). Constructions of deviance: Social power, context and interaction (3rd ed.). Wardsworth, NJ.

Jones, E., Farina, A., Hastorf, A., Markus, H., Miller, D., & Scott, R. (1984). Social stigma: The psychology of marked relationships. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.

Kitsuse, J. (1980). Coming out all over: Deviants and the politics of social problems. Social problems, 28, pp. 1-13.

Lewis, J. (1998). Learning to strip: The socialization experiences of exotic dancers. Can. J. Hum. Sexuality, 7, pp. 51-66.

Link , B. G. ( 1987). Understanding labeling effects in the area of mental disorders: An assessment of the effects of expectations of rejection. American Sociological Review, 52, pp. 96-112.

Link, G. B. & Phelan, C. J. (2001). Conceptualizing stigma. Ann. Rev. Social. 2001, 27, pp. 363-387.

Marshall, A. P., O’Keefe, & Paul, J. (1995). Medical students’ first-person narratives of a patient’s story of AIDS. Social Science and Medicine, 40(1), pp. 67-79.

Matza, D. (1969). Becoming deviant. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Page, R. M. (1984). Stigma. London, England: Routledge.

Adler, P. A. & Adler, P. A. (Eds.). (2000). Constructions of deviance: social power, context and interaction (3rd Edition). Wardsworth, NJ.

Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., Steve, A., & Pescosolido, B. (2000). Public perception of mental illness in 1950 and 19996: What is mental illness and is it to be feared?. Journal of Health and Soial Behavior, 41, pp. 188-207.

Siegel, K., Lune H. & Meyer, I. H. (2000). Stigma management among Gay/Bisexual men with HIV/AIDS. In P. A. Adler & P. A. Adler (Eds.). Constructions of deviance: social power, context and interaction (3rd ed.). Wadsworth, NJ.

Szasz, T. (1973). The manufacture of madness: A comparative study of inquisition and the mental health movement. London, England: Paladin.

Turner, R. H. (1972). Deviance avowal as neutralization of commitment. Social Problems, 19, pp. 308-321.

Weiss, G. M. & Ramakrishna, J. (2001). Interventions: Research on reducing stigma. Retrieved from http://www.stigmaconference.nih.gov/WeissPaper.htm

Whiteford, M. L.& Gonzalez, L. (1995). Stigma: The hidden burden of infertility. Social Science Medicine, 40(1), pp. 27-36.

Sadiq Isah Radda

Nigeria operates a federal system of government with three tiers of governance, namely, Local, State, and Federal. Despite this Federal arrangement, the country has only one police force that operates at the federal level, with subsidiary operations at the State and Local governmental levels. Hence, there is no State or Local Police Force in Nigeria, as is the case in many nations operating a Federal system of government.

The challenges of maintaining law and order are as old as humanity. This is why policing, in one form or another, has been the hallmark of civilizations. Prior to the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates to form today’s Nigeria; the pre-colonial Nigerian societies had one form of policing or the other (Ahire, 1986,1993,1991; Flint, 1981). The creation, maintenance, and strengthening of the Nigeria Police Force does not detract from the well-known philosophy of maintaining law and order in society (Odekunle, 1986, 2000). However, the fact remains that the current Nigeria Police Force is a product of the country’s colonial history, a history in which main goal was the subjugation of the indigenous population to the needs of the then colonial order. This explains the Nigeria Police Force’s easy and quick affiliation to force rather than service.

Today, the Nigeria Police Force suffers from “colonial hangover,” basing its activity on the use of force, serving the establishment, and being seized and dominated by the maintenance of law and order syndrome. Attempts to replace “Force” with “Service” in the police nomenclature has met with resistance within the police establishment in Nigeria, further showing its subservient nature and coercive inclination.

This chapter examines the activity profile of the Nigeria Police Force, past and present. The chapter is divided into seven sections. The first section looks briefly at the history of the Nigeria Police Force. The second section examines the reforms experienced by the Nigeria Police Force. The third section focuses on the organizational structure of the Nigeria Police Force and a critique of the structure. The fourth section centers on the constitutional and statutory powers of the Nigeria Police Force. The fifth section assesses the activities of the Nigeria Police Force. The sixth section offers some recommendations for the effective performance of the Nigeria Police Force. The last final concludes the chapter.

A Brief History of the Nigeria Police Force

The Nigeria Police Force has its origins in Lagos in 1861 (Alemika, 1993). By that time, due to complaints by the consul about his numerous duties in Lagos and with the permission of the British Government, thirty men were enlisted into the Consular Guard. These thirty men were charged with assisting the acting consul by performing police duties. During an expeditionary journey to Jebba in 1863, Lieutenant R. N. Glover apprehended some escaping slaves who he later enlisted and formed the Hausa Police. The Consular Guards became an armed force of about six hundred and appeared to have been both military and civil in nature.

Lagos was initially administered as part of Gold Coast, now Ghana. The force, which was called Gold Coast Constabulary, was then controlled by Ordinance No. 3 of 1879. In 1894, there was also an existing force called Nigeria Coast Constabulary Police in charge of the creeks and aelta of the Niger area. On the 1st of January 1896, the Lagos Police Force was created, consisting of a Commissioner, two Assistant Commissioners, a Superintendent, an Assistant Superintendent, a Pay and Quarter master, a Master Tailor, and 250 rank and file. At that time, the Lagos Police Force operated in the Lagos area, while the Hausa constabulary operated in the Hinterland. The Force Criminal Investigation Department (Force C.I.D.) was formed in 1898 with one superintendent and 14 other ranks.

With the establishment of Oil River Protectorate, renamed Niger Coast Protectorate, with its headquarters in Calabar in 1893, the Niger Coast constabulary was formed in 1894. Subsequently, the Southern Nigeria Police Force formed in 1906; an Inspector General of Police, who was also in charge of prisons, commanded this force. The duties of the Southern Nigeria Police were the prevention and detection of crime, the repression of internal disturbances, and the defense of the colony and protectorate against external aggression.

In the North in 1886, the Royal Niger Company was created. This brought about the formation of the Royal Niger Constabulary or the Northern Nigeria Police with its headquarters at Lokoja. From there, they provided security for the company’s stations along the River Niger. However, the Constabulary was disbanded in 1900 and some ranks joined the Northern Nigeria Army while some formed the Northern Nigeria Police. In 1930, both the Northern and Southern Nigeria Police were amalgamated, forming the Nigeria Police with its headquarters in Lagos. The Nigeria Police was commanded by Mr. Duncan, who was then the Inspector General of Police.

In 1947, each region—East, West, and North—had an Assistant Commissioner in charge. In 1952, there was a new Constitution, which reestablished the Nigeria Police under the Command of an Inspector General of Police. Under the Nigeria Constitution, the Nigeria Police Force was established as a Federal force charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order throughout the Federation. Two bodies, namely the Police Council and the Police Service Commission, were also created by constitutional mandate. The former deals with general problems relating to the force, while the later takes charge of promotions and appointments in the senior ranks.

The present force has retained semi-military duties, which was responsible for Police duties in Nigeria. The then local governmental police were later converted into the Nigeria Police Force as follows:

• Mid-Western Region 1964-1965
• Western Region 1967-1969
• Northern Region 1969-1971

From 1972 to the present day, the Nigeria Police Force has been the only Police Force operating in the country.

The History and Role of the Police in Justice Administration

The word police is derived from the Greek word polis, which means that part of the non-ecclesiastical administration— a sort of separating the church from the state having to do with the safety, health, and order of the state (Ehindaro, 1998; Alemika, 2003; Asemota, 1993). Further, politeira refers to the art of governing and regulating the welfare, security needs, and order of the city-state in the interest of the public. Generally, it was in this context that the police evolved, even though all societies had their conception of what policing meant in security provision. Police in Hausa and Yoruba are called Dansanda olopa meaning “the man with the baton.” The Igbos call them Nndi afe oji meaning “those in black dresses.” It was the Romans who perfected the system of police, even though it was derived from Greek. The Roman politia (symbol of power residing in the Central Authority), due to its importance, connotes the same thing with the Greek politeira.

Available literature indicates that wherever police forces are found, they are mainly concerned with the maintenance of law and order, which may explain why earlier meanings of police included such limited activities as street paving and lighting, or scavenging and sanitation. In the Iddo district for instance, Ekiti division, the elegbe, controlled the police and prisons. The ilari (in Oyo), odi (in Ijebu) and emese (in Ife, Ijesha, and Ekiti) were to some Yoruba Obas what the Dogaris were to the Fulani rulers (Ehindero, 1998). Furthermore, in other communities of old Nigeria, there were similar organizations for the maintenance of law and order, though known by different local names (Bent, 1974).

Odekunle (2000) shares the above view when he asserts that the central objective of the police is to provide consistent security for a majority of the citizens in a majority of places. For him, the central objective can be broken down as follows:

• To prevent, control, and combat criminality wherever and by whomever;
• To maintain public order and peace;
• To render assistance and service to all citizens requiring these; and
• To favorably symbolize the law and the government by always upholding the rule of law.

This indicates that in the administration of justice, the police take center stage. The supposition causes writers on crime to posit that in the criminal justice process, the role of the police in the criminalization process is not always completed once an arrest has been made, because additional investigative work may be required and they may have to appear as witnesses to support their allegations.

After a suspect is arrested by the police, he comes under the purview and jurisdiction of the court that has the mandate, capacity, and obligation to decide on the exact correctness of the police decision to arrest. In the event that the case is to be prosecuted, it simply affirms the police suspicion. Any case that reaches this stage will turn out to be critical to the suspect and the criminal justice implementers because the processes involved touch on the suspects’ rights and liberty; also, serious decisions regarding bail, release, or remand of the suspect have to be made at this juncture. At stake here are the detainees and their expected deplorable conditions in detention in the face of an ineffective justice system in Nigeria, whose significance is not always acknowledged. However, Odekunle (2000) sees the significance of the police to society in the following way:

• They are government officials closest to crime, temporally and procedurally.
• They are the leading figures preventing /controlling crime and are involved in the processes of law enforcement.
• There are serious implications regarding citizen’s perception of fairness and justice, which very much depends on the police officer’s level of honesty, integrity, and observance of procedural rules while dealing with offenders and non-offenders alike. It also determines the kind of respect the average citizen has for the law.
• The police are highly visible compared to courts and prisons, and being the only government authority legally allowed to coerce citizens, their behavioral disposition affects citizens’ opinion about their government.

The Nigeria Police Force: Organizational and Command Structure

The Force Headquarters.

The Force headquarters of the Nigeria Police is situated in Abuja and is headed by the Inspector General of Police (IG) who is assisted by several Deputy Inspector Generals of Police (DIG). Before the restructuring of the police, the IG was assisted by only one DIG.

Structure of the Force Headquarters.

There are six force departments known as A, B, C, D, E, & F departments. Each is headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police and assisted by an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

• ‘A’ Department: It is responsible for the smooth running of the administration of the Force with regards to:
  • Personnel
  • Medical
  • Port-Authority
  • Police Force Public Relations
  • Central Band
  • Force Provost Marshal
• ‘B’ Department: This department is responsible for: operations and Training Veterinary, Air-wing Force Communication Transport, Force Armament E.O.D. Squadron (Emergency Operation Department). Marine Dog Section, Mounted Troop and Bomb Disposal.
• ‘C’ Department: Deals with Finance and Utilities of the Force as it relates to: Salary Section (MSS), Force Quarter Master Workshop Procurement, and Police Co-operative.
• ‘D’ Department: Deals with arrest, detention, investigation, prosecution and other services of the Force with regards to:
  • General Investigation
  • Interpol
  • Legal services
  • Anti-Fraud
  • Special Fraud Unit
  • Special Anti-Robbery Squad
  • Security Intelligence Bureau
  • Criminal Intelligence Bureau
  • Central Criminal Registry
  • Forensic Science Laboratory
• ‘E’ Department: Deals with Skill, Training and Manpower Development of the Force in the following Police training Institutions:
  • Police Staff College, Jos
  • Police Academy, Kano (POLAC)
  • Police College, Ikeja
  • Police College, Kaduna
  • Police College, Maiduguri
  • Police College, Oji River
  • Mounted Troops and Dog Handlers Schools, Jos
  • Junior Detective Course School, Enugu
  • Police Training Schools in each State Command
• ‘F’ Department: Deals with Reformation of the Force in Man-power Development and other Services in the area of:
  • Research
  • Statistics
  • Computerization

The 12 Zonal Commands.

There are 12 Zonal Commands of the Nigeria Police Force, with each headed by an Assistant Inspector General of Police and each Department is headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police.

• ZONE ONE: With the Headquarters in Kano, comprises the following states:
  • Kano
  • Katsina
  • Jigawa
• ZONE TWO: With Headquarters in Lagos, comprises the following states:
  • Lagos
  • Ogun
• ZONE THREE: With Headquarters in Yola, comprises the following states:
  • Adamawa
  • Gombe
  • Taraba
• ZONE FOUR: With Headquarters in Makurdi, comprises the following states:
  • Benue
  • Nassarawa
  • Plateau
• ZONE FIVE: With Benin as the Headquarters, comprises the following states:
  • Edo
  • Delta
  • Bayelsa
• ZONE SIX: With Headquarters in Calabar, comprises the following states:
  • Cross-River
  • Akwa Ibom
  • Abia
  • Rivers
• ZONE SEVEN: With Abuja as the Headquarters, comprises the following states:
  • Abuja Federal Capital Territory
  • Kaduna
  • Niger
• ZONE EIGHT: With Lokoja as the Headquarters, comprises of the following states:
  • Kogi
  • Ekiti
  • Ondo
• ZONE NINE: With Owerri as the Headquarters, comprises the following states:
  • Imo
  • Anambra
  • Enugu
  • Ebonyi
• ZONE TEN: With Sokoto as the Headquarters, comprises the following states:
  • Sokoto
  • Kebbi
  • Zamfara
• ZONE ELEVEN: With Ibadan as the Headquarters, comprises the following states:
  • Oyo
  • Osun
  • Kwara
• ZONE TWELVE: With Bauchi as the Headquarters, comprises the following states:
  • Bauchi
  • Borno
  • Yobe

State Commands.

Each State of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory is a command. Each Command is headed by Commissioner of Police, assisted by a Deputy Commissioner of Police.

A Critique of the Structure

The above structure suffers from setbacks thereby limiting its effectiveness. For example, the Nigeria Police Force ranks high in allegations of corruption, which has attracted a negative public perception to the force. The corruption in the Nigeria Police Force permeates the entire command structure. Additionally, tribal, regional, ethnic, and religious bigotry hamper the performance of the Nigeria Police Force. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and religiously and culturally diverse nation. The Nigeria Police Force draws its staff based on representations from the states to take care of these diverse concerns. However, the Nigeria Police Force is hampered by their consideration of these variables in dealing with cases.

Furthermore, language and cultural barriers arising from the nation’s diversity hampers the performance of the Nigeria Police Force when posted to terrains other than their home region. Therefore, proper communication between the police and locals becomes a challenge. The structure shows a great deal of centralization, thereby limiting swift and prompt action when the need arises. This becomes more problematic due to the vast size of the nation and dearth of working equipment to the Nigeria Police Force. This problem is compounded by inaccessibility of some parts of the country, coupled with poor modern communication technology for the Nigeria Police Force.

If the structure is to function properly, the corruption that gives the police its negative public perception must be vigorously fought. Further, subsequent to its jettisoning tribal, regional, ethnic, and religious bigotry in dealing with citizens, the force should be trained and retrained in order to professionalize it. Although the representation of the various states in the Nigeria Police Force is crucial, the training given to the recruits should show them the need to be a citizens’ police, not merely police to the people of their states of origin.

There is the need to ensure that all police recruits possess minimum literacy, which will allow them to communicate in the official language. In addition, adult literacy classes need to be mandated nationally to enable citizens to communicate properly with the police; further, the adult literacy program will enable the citizens to be instructed about their rights. A successful execution of the adult literacy program will bridge the language and cultural barriers limiting the performance of the Nigeria Police Force, as there will be proper communication between the police and locals.

In the long-run the structure needs decentralization to allow for swift and prompt action and the force requires enough working equipment to empower it to meet the daily challenges of law enforcement. In addition, the Force requires state of the art communication technology to access difficult parts of the country and to communicate with ease and swiftness.

The Nigeria Police Force: Constitutional and Statutory Powers

Section 214(1) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria establishes the Nigeria Police Force. It provides that there shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and it shall be subject to the provisions of this section. No other Police Force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof. Section 214(2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution provides that the Nigeria Police Force shall be organized and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. Section 214(2)(b) provides that the members of the Nigeria Police Force shall have such powers and duties as may be conferred upon them by Law. Section 214(2) provides that the National Assembly may make provisions for branches of the Nigeria Police Force forming part of the armed Forces of the Federation or for the protection of harbors, waterways, railways, and airfields. Section 215(1) provides for the appointment of Inspector General of Police and control of Nigeria Police Force. It provides that:

• There shall be an Inspector General of Police who subject to Section 216(2) of the Constitution shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Police Council from among the serving members of the Nigeria Police Force.
• There shall be a Commissioner of Police for each State of the Federation who shall be appointed by the Police Service Commission.

Section 215(2) provides that the Nigeria Police Force shall be under the command of the Inspector General of Police and that the Nigeria Police Force stationed in a State shall be subject to the authority of the Commissioner of Police of that state. Section 215(3) provides that the President or such other Minister may give lawful directives to the Inspector General of Police with respect to the maintenance and security of public safety and public order, as he may consider necessary, and the Inspector General of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be complied with. Section 216(4) provides that as in Section 216(3), the Commissioner of Police of a State shall comply with those directions from the Governor or cause them to be complied with in his State. Section 216(5) provides that the question whether any, and if so what, directions have been given under this section shall not be inquired into in any court.

Furthermore, another statutory enactment establishing the Nigeria Police Force is the Police Act cap. 359. The Police Act make provision for the organization, discipline, powers, and duties of the Police, the special constabulary, and the traffic warden. Section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Act provides the Nigeria Police Force with the powers of arrest. Under this section, any Police Officer may arrest:

• Any person who commits an offense in his presence.
• Any person for whose arrest a warrant of arrest has been issued or who he is directed to arrest by a Justice of the peace or Superior Police Officer.
• Any person who he reasonably suspects to be designing to commit an offense.
• Any person required to appear by public summons.
• Any person found taking precautions to conceal his presence in suspicious circumstances, or who, being found in suspicious circumstances, has no ostensible means of subsistence or cannot give a satisfactory account of himself.
• Any person who obstructs a Police officer while in the execution of his duty.
• Any person who has escaped or attempts to escape from lawful custody.
• Any person reasonably suspected of being a deserter from any Military force for the time being serving in Nigeria.
• Any person who has committed an offense or is accused of having committed an offense.
• Any person failing to obey a direction of the Governor.

By virtue of section 24(1) of the Police Act, in addition to the powers of arrest without warrant conferred upon a Police officer by section 10 CPA, it shall be lawful for any Police Officer and any person whom he may call to his assistance, to arrest without warrant in the following cases:

• any person who he finds committing any felony, misdemeanor, or simple offense or whom he reasonably suspects of having committed an offense or of being about to commit any felony, misdemeanor, or simple offense, or breach of the peace;
• any person who any other person charges with having committed a felony or misdemeanor; and
• any person who any other person
  • Suspects of having committed a felony or misdemeanor, or
  • Charges with having committed a simple offense.

Furthermore, by virtue of section 25 of the Police Act, any police officer may arrest an offender for whom a warrant of arrest has been issued without being in possession of such warrant of arrest. Section 26 of the Act also provides that any Police Officer may serve any summons lawfully issued by a court at any time during the hours of daylight. The Police power to grant bail to a person arrested is contained Section 27 of the Police Act. By virtue of section 28(1) of the Police Act, a Superior Police Officer is empowered to enter any house, shop, warehouse, or other premises in search of stolen property, and search therein and seize and secure any property he may believe to have been stolen, in the same manner as he would be authorized to do if he had a search warrant, and the property seized, if any, corresponded to the property described in such search warrant.

Section 29 of Police Act empowers any police officer to detain and search any person who he reasonably suspects of having in his possession or conveying in any manner anything that he has reason to believe to have been stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained. By virtue of section 23 of the Police Act, subject to the provisions of sections 160 and 191 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, any police officer may conduct in person all prosecutions before any court whether or not the information or complaint is laid in his name.

An Assessment of the Activities of the Nigeria Police Force

Nigeria as a fast-developing country requires an efficient Police Force for the maintenance of peace and order in the country. The activities of the Nigeria Police Force can be gleaned from their general duties. The general duties of the Police as provided for the Police Act Section 4 include the following:

• The prevention and detection of crime;
• The apprehension of offenders;
• The preservation of law and order;
• The protection of life and property;
• The due enforcement of laws and regulations with which they are directly charged;
• The performance of such Military duties within or without Nigeria as may be required of them by or under the authority of the Police Act or any other Act;
• The preservation of the liberty of the subject; and
• The control and regulation of traffic.

There exists suspicion and negative public perception of the police by the average citizen. This is largely due to the fact that the police force is viewed as corrupt, unhelpful, unfair, and tortuous. Hence, they are burdened with a negative public image and negative publicity, which makes their work difficult. Not many Nigerians cooperate with or are willing to assist the police. However, it is worth noting that the task of policing is a serious matter and must be done in order to maintain a stable society. Below are some recommendations that will be useful to police performance and activity.

Conclusion

The Chapter examined the activity profile of the Nigeria Police Force and demonstrated that the country is yet to have a civil police capable of policing the country in an acceptable and decent manner. This is not unconnected with the colonial history of the Nigeria Police Force and its emphasis on maintaining the status quo under the guise of maintaining law and order. Available evidence indicates a number of weaknesses and shortcomings of the Nigeria Police Force, which culminated into series of reforms that yielded little positive results. Therefore, a well-thought-out reform program is necessary; one that will reinvent the psyche of the Nigeria Police Force, thereby purging it of its colonial mentality and conservative posture in favor of civil and people-oriented policing. This reformation is urgently required in an evolving democratic setting.

Recommendations for the Effective Performance of the Nigeria Police Force

In the administration of justice, the police are very important and progress in that regard can be achieved if their problems are addressed. As a result, a number of recommendations that should inform policing policy and the police in Nigeria can be given.

1. The police personnel who deal with the populace are under-educated and unprofessional. Therefore, they have to be exposed to the latest developments in modern policing. This can be achieved only where modern police training can expose the police to the demands of the profession. The training has to be geared towards the supremacy of the rule of law, the importance of the police to community service, and the status of citizens as beneficiaries of police work. In addition to their practical work, police training programs should emphasize knowledge of the local community and its sociocultural disposition. This will ensure that when matters arise, they are able to have intuition on the meaning and use of initiative and discretionary police powers.
2. The police force needs re-orientation so that rules regarding human rights, morality, ethics, and proper human relations are inculcated into the service. This re-orientation will empower them to handle reports or complaints brought to their attention in an efficient manner. When properly trained and empowered with professional skills, the police will make use only of necessary force in dealing with suspects and convicts in general; it will also empower them to respect the legal and constitutional rights of citizens.
3. In order to quickly dispose of cases, more police prosecutors at court sessions are required; hence, the number of police with the requisite legal expertise to prosecute cases in courts should be increased and appropriately rewarded. This will speed up cases and decongest prison and police cells.
4. The over-crowding experienced in Nigeria’s criminal justice system is usually promoted by prolonged detention awaiting trial. It is suggested that there should be an upper limit to the amount of time a suspect can spend on remand, after which a suspect should be tried or released. The prosecution should be able to prove its charge within the required time or the suspect gets unconditional release. This has the potential benefit of engendering quick police investigation and trial.
5. Highly significant in the administration of justice is crime prevention. In order to prevent crime properly, the police have to utilize the equipment and weapons supplied to them efficiently and effectively. This will serve as a preventive approach to crime commission capable of minimizing the potential for litigation and its attendant problems.
6. In Nigeria, it is being increasingly recognized that police complaints systems should contain a mixture of formal and less formal procedures. Recent changes to the system for handling complaints against the police in Nigeria envisage an expanded role for informal resolution, with a new range of options including community policing, since community policing when combined with conventional processes can achieve moderately better results (Mastrofski, 1995).

References

Ahire, P. T. (1993). Native Authority Police in Nigeria: End of an Era. In T. N. Tamuno (Ed.), Policing Nigeria: Past, present and future.

Ahire, P. T. (1991). Imperial policing: The emergence and role of the police in colonial Nigeria 1860-1960. Milton Keynes OUP.

Ahire, P. T. (1986, MONTH). Policing and colonization in Nigeria. Paper presented at the meeting of Annual Sociological Students’ Association Week, Bayero University, Kano.

Alemika, E. E. (1993). Colonialism, state and policing in Nigeria. Crime, Law and Social Change, 20, pp. 189-219.

Asemota, S. A. (1993). Policing under civilian and military administrations. In T. N. Tamuno (Ed.), Policing Nigeria: Past, present and future.

Bent, A. (1974). The politics of law enforcement: Conflict and power in urban communities. London, England: D. O. Heath and Co.

Ehindero, S. G. (1998). The Nigeria police and human rights. Jos, Nigeria: Ehindero Press.

Flint, J. E. (1990 June). Nigeria: The colonial experience from 1880-1914. Paper presented at the National Seminar on Prison Reform in Nigeria.

Mastrofski, S. D. (1995). Law enforcement in a time of community policing. Criminology, 33(4), pp. 87-98.

Mastrofski, S. D. (2000). Enhancing the performance of the Nigeria Police Force in the new democratic dispensation. Paper presented at the Annual Sociology Week of National Sociological and Anthropological Students Association, University of Jos.

Mastrofski, S. D. (1986, January). The legal order, crime and crime control in Nigeria: Demystification of false appearances. Lecture presented to The Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Lagos.

Salisu Abdullahi, Ismaila Z Mohammed, and Phil Manning

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have become important issues of concern in Nigeria with about 5.8% of the adult population infected. Consequently it is imperative to assess the level of perceived threat of the epidemic, stigma and the awareness as well as the adoption of preventive measures against the spread of the epidemic that has no cure yet as indicated by 85% of women and 74% of men in Nigeria (Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 1999; NDHS, 2000). The rate of infection is likely to increase if no concerted efforts are made to sensitize the population to adopt preventive measures. In addition, the socio-economic condition in Nigeria is characterized by poverty and ineffective system of health information, health education, and health care.

Nigeria is in the early to mid-stage of the epidemic and there is no consolidated and sustained effort toward curving the epidemic as compared to developed and some developing countries. In addition, the disease has gathered significant momentum, inadequate health services and exorbitant cost of treatment, and a high level of stigma, thereby making a consistently high rate of infection in the country, which exposes large population at risk HIV/AIDS infection. The epidemic is advancing beyond the high-risk groups into the general population, with high level of institutional stigma. Who is at the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS in Nigeria? This chapter addresses the perceived threat of the disease as well as the level of stigma.

At Risk Individuals and Groups

Perhaps the most appropriate way to start this section is to determine who is most at risk of being infected by the HIV virus and, more specifically, what their characteristics are. According to National Population Commission’s (2004) report, Demographic and Health Survey for 2003, the majority of the respondents who engaged in high-risk sex in the past 12 months were from 15-24 years old. According to the Report of the 2003 national HIV sero–prevalence sentinel survey (Federal Ministry Health, 2004), all age groups in Nigeria are affected, but it is higher among 20-24-year-olds, with a national prevalence of 5.6%. This age group is followed by 25-29-year-olds with 5.4% national prevalence. The survey further showed HIV is higher among unmarried individuals in all the Nigerian geo-political zones—particularly in North Central and Southeast Zones. The prevalence of HIV is also higher among those with only a primary education (5.6%) and secondary education (5.4%). Women with no formal education or only Qur’anic education have the lowest prevalence of 3.8% and 3.9% respectively. The prevalence was higher among the women who donated blood in the three geo-political zones—Northwest, North Central, and Northeast. Generally, those with multiple sex partners and those engaging in unprotected sex were the highest risk groups as far as HIV infection is concerned. Thus, sexual practices involving multiple partners is relevant in the explanation of the spread and persistence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. At the initial stage, AIDS is thought to be a disease for homosexuals and substance abusers. Later, it became clear that HIV/AIDS was not confined to a particular group. According to Lamptey (2002, p. 5):

In the late 1980s as the epidemic surged and shifted from groups with high-risk behavior to the general population, especially to the marginalized and the poor…HIV transmission was linked to specific risky behaviors…these behaviors were influenced by societal factors that determine people’s vulnerability to infection.

According to the Report of the 2001 national HIV/Syphilis sentinel survey among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics in Nigeria (Federal Ministry Health, DATE), 80% of the HIV/AIDS infections are contracted through sexual intercourse with infected persons. Moreover, young people are the majority of those who engaged in risky sexual behavior (having sex with multiple partners and/or without condom). Abdullahi (1996) reported people who operate as seasonal and/or migrant workers constituted a high-risk group. Equally included among the high-risk groups are long-distance commercial truck drivers and commercial sex workers. Abdullahi (1983) stated that from Kano to Lagos, towns that served as stopover points for long-distance commercial drivers tended to be popular with Hausa prostitutes. Consequently, places like Kwanar Dangora, Mararraba, Birnin Gwari, Pandogari, Mokwa, and Sabo Ibadan have high concentration of brothels, which housed prostitutes usually brought and or maintained by these drivers.

Shame, Stigma, and Guilt

Shame.

People who feel shame are responding to social circumstances in which they have been identified as deviant. Shame therefore occurs in the public domain. It is the product of a state of affairs in which people are aware that others know they have acted badly. The transgression is a generally accepted fact.

Importantly, shame is also an affirmation of shared community standards, since the feeling of shame can occur only in people who actively believe that they have—in absolute terms—broken rules. Shame is not something that can be experienced vicariously. In George Herbert Mead’s vocabulary, the person who feels shame has a well-developed “generalized other” (CITE). Although shame may seem to be rather intangible, the correct conceptual understanding of it has policy implications. This is because shame is a very useful emotion, connecting and reconnecting people to the communities whose rules they have violated. Shame is therefore positive in situations in which the shamed person can be accepted back into his or her community. For example, it is part of the Christian tradition, embodied in the rituals that precede the Eucharist, for Christians to declare their sins and failures publicly. Communal admissions of shame serve to reaffirm group membership, whereas the denial of the need for forgiveness effectively excludes people from the group. As Durkheim reminded us, even a Saint has sinned in “thought, word and deed” and in what he or she “has done or left undone” (CITE). For instance, in a study by Mohammed (2004a) it was found that more than 70% of the respondents said they would be ashamed of themselves and guilty if they were found to be HIV positive.

The data generated indicate that a significant proportion (77.2%) of the respondents are like or very like to feel ashamed of themselves if they are found to be HIV/AIDS positive. In addition, 75.5% said that they would be embarrassed if they were diagnosed as HIV/AIDS positive as opposed to only 5.5% who said that they would not be embarrassed for being HIV/AIDS positive. Beyond being embarrassed, 73.6% of the respondents said that they would feel guilty if they were found be HIV/AIDS positive and only 10% indicated that they would not be. Seventy percent of the respondents indicated they were likely to be full of fear if diagnosed to be HIV/AIDS positive, while 13.6% said that they would be somewhat fearful. This is largely because HIV/AIDS has no cure and the drugs used in reducing the opportunistic diseases and rapid metamorphosis from HIV to full blown AIDS are expensive and beyond the reach of the poor; as such, the reaction among people is characterized by fear. Feelings of disappointment with one’s self is common among the respondents as indicated by 82.7%. This clearly indicates that shame is very common largely because HIV infection is often associated with immoral behavior among the Hausa

Stigma.

The distinction between shame and stigma is that shame occurs because of publicly held knowledge of the transgressions of others, whereas a stigma indicates physical evidence of the transgression. A stigma is therefore usually understood as the physical proof confirming the existence of the reason for the shame someone feels. Famously, Goffman (1963) defined a stigma as something that is “deeply discrediting.” Stigmata occur in three forms: as “abominations of the body,” “blemishes of individual character,” and the “tribal stigma of race, nation, and religion” (Goffman, 1963, pp. 3-4). It is important to note that Goffman’s widely used classification is not as tidy as it appears, as it conflates the visible signs of stigma with imputations of stigma.

Goffman’s interest concerned the social psychology of the person possessing a stigma. He claimed that for some people their stigmata are “evident on the spot” with the result that they have a “discredited self” (1963, p. PAGE). For others whose stigmata are less obvious, they must live with a “discreditable self.” As stigma unfolds, it becomes clear that Goffman believes that everyone is at least discreditable, living in lesser or greater fear of public revelations of their transgressions.

People with discreditable selves are likely to be monitoring the reactions of their communities to others who are publicly “outed.” The more negative the perceived reaction to the transgression, the greater the desire for the person with the discreditable self to remain merely discreditable and not discredited. Evidence from Nigeria indicates that despite high rates of AIDS/HIV infection, respondents said that they did not know anyone with the disease. This may suggest that successful, if ultimately dangerous, methods of stigma control are being employed by AIDS/HIV positive individuals. However, it may also indicate that even knowing someone with AIDS/HIV is stigmatizing and hence informants are reluctant to disclose true information to researchers.

The high level of stigma is a consequence of associating HIV/AIDS with behaviors that are considered taboo (prostitution, drug use, homosexuality, etc.). In order to avoid being stigmatized, many of the persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) often do not seek testing and treatment due to the likelihood of being ostracized by their families, neighbors and friends and sometimes the fear of losing their jobs or access to public services (National Intelligence Council, 2002). In many societies, due to the high level of stigma attached to PLWHA, the social risk associated with HIV/AIDS infection is the denial of services and support needed by the victims due to stigma and fear. Abdullahi (2004b) revealed the following perception of PLWHA in the community:

• PLWHA are rough, indiscipline and immoral.
• PLWHA are people who cannot control their desire contrary to the injunction of the religious of Islam.

The minority opinion among the respondents felt that PLWHA are:

• Victims of their deeds but need to be supported and treated nicely and assisted so that they can exist as members of the society like everyone else.
• They have gotten the disease; unless they are integrated into the society through enlightenment they can spread the disease further.

The stigma associated with PLWHA has to do with the fact that these are people carrying disease with no cure and because of this they are seen as different from other people. Some people see HIV positive individuals as people who are paying the price of not following God rules. Thus, the whole status is reduced to guilt, shame, and stigma. The majority of the respondents in the GHAIN study indicated a willingness to freely interact with HIV/AIDS patients in terms of eating from the same plate, sleeping in the same room, shaking hand, and eating food cooked by PLWHA (Abdullahi, 2005). In his study of Risk Perception and Stigma in Jigawa State, Mohammed (2004) showed that 62% of the sample said PLWHA are either very likely or likely to be avoided and 67% of the respondents said PLWHA are likely to be unclean and 70% said people are likely to be uncomfortable with HIV/AIDS positive people.

Furthermore, the data indicated that 43.6% of HIV/AIDS positive people are very likely to be avoided by people and 18.2% said that HIV/AIDS positive are likely to be avoided by individuals in the society. Furthermore, a substantial proportion (24.5%) is undecided. In the area of the study, this shows the likelihood of stigmatizing PLWHA and that they are highly likely to be rejected. Furthermore, 67.3% of the respondents indicated that PLWHA are likely to be viewed as unclean and 61.8% indicated that they are very likely to think badly about people that are HIV/AIDS positive. Friendship with an individual who is HIV/AIDS positive is likely to be affected because 58.1% of the respondents indicated that, in fact, people are likely to be disgusted with anybody who is HIV/AIDS positive. Evidently from the data, a significant proportion (70%) of the respondents are of the view that people are very likely to be uncomfortable with the HIV/AIDS positive in the society.

The GHAIN data (Abdullahi, 2005) showed that the sampled PLWHA maintained they are victims of common belief about HIV/AIDS. “Whatever you said in the community people look at it either not right or uncomfortable because you are HIV positive. So the level of awareness is still poor” (Male IDI respondent, Abdullahi, 2005, p. 43).

Some of the PLWHA blamed media campaigns for some of their discrimination through the use of derogatory terms. A female FGD member argued:

From the initial stage journalist stigmatized the disease and those with it. Even from the name Kanjamau (thinner) is defamatory because there are deadly diseases like diabetes, but those suffering from them are never discriminated but AIDS patient are discriminated. The journalists need to clear this problem they created. (Abdullahi, 2005, p. 47)

Many of the victims usually exhibit fear, withdrawal, and silence.

Guilt.

Guilt precedes both shame and stigma. Guilt is rightly understood as a painful burden because the person must bear it alone. It is part of what Philip Rieff calls our “remissive culture” to seek the minimization of guilt by cathartic rituals, whether of religious or psychotherapeutic origin. Guilt is the personal knowledge of our transgressions before the public acquisition of this knowledge. Rieff is very critical of any contemporary effort to minimize guilt. Rather than viewing guilt as a damaging emotion, Rieff understands guilt as a positive, essential self-monitoring device. Unlike shame, which requires community involvement, guilt functions autonomously. Efforts to minimize the powerful, constraining effects of guilt have the unintended consequence of broadening the definition of acceptable behavior. For those sympathetic to liberalism, this may be attractive, as it defends individual autonomy, but it does so at the expense of the integrity and traditions of the community.

Conclusion and Policy Implication

The overall picture indicates that there is a high level of stigma, feelings of shame, and intense emotion associated with the disclosure of indulging in an unprotected sexual relationship outside the marital union and HIV/AIDS positive status. There is also a strong feeling associated with the disclosure of the stigmatizing condition. In addition, the perceived threat of HIV/AIDS and its negative consequences are clear identified. However, in spite of the prevalence of the perceived threats of the diseases, the tendency to use a condom as a means of controlling HIV/AIDS is perceived with mixed feelings, which exposes a significant proportion to the risk of infection. Furthermore, evidence from the data indicates diverse responses to the items in the Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale. A large proportion of the respondents agree to the severity of the disease compared to smaller proportion who think they are susceptible to the infection. Similarly, items under the response efficacy have generally higher values when compared to items under self-efficacy, which have lower scores. This shows the skepticism associated with the use of condoms for the purpose of HIV/AIDS prevention.

The policy implications of this set of conceptual distinctions for AIDS/HIV treatment in Nigeria are the following:

• Shaming and stigmatizing rituals are helpful only for policy purposes in environments where norm violators can be readmitted into the community. Social policies should therefore address the question of how those identified with HIV/AIDS will be reconnected to their communities after the public disclosure of their disease. Prominent, public cases that indicate to broad populations that those with discredited selves have in fact been welcomed back into the embrace of their communities are critical. There is a model for this in Christian culture. I do not know whether a comparable set of rituals exist in Islamic culture.
• Guilt is a very valuable emotion that must be used in HIV/AIDS prevention. Shame is felt by those already infected and must be met by policies that reintegrate patients into communities. By contrast, guilt is felt by people with discreditable selves whose fear of public disclosure can be used to restrain their behavior. This suggests a much more focused set of public information campaigns that target the specific dangerous behaviors of high risk, hard to track groups. For example, research already conducted by sociologists in Nigeria (CITE) indicates that sexual norms among truck drivers have the unintended consequence of spreading sexually transmitted diseases to diverse populations. Given the impossibility or extreme difficulty of shaming and stigmatizing for this group, the self-monitoring power of guilt must be used to constrain their behavior.

References

Goffman

NDHS- (2003)

Abdullahi, S. A. (1996). Knowledge, attitude, belief and practice on human immune deficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases: Jigawa State evaluation survey. Lagos: STOPAIDS Organization.

Abdullahi, S. A. (2002). Report of the study conducted on police AIDS control in Kano project zone. Lagos: Family Health International.

Abdullahi, S. A. (2004a). Report of the focus group discussion conducted on the community readiness to utilize voluntary counseling and testing. Lagos: Family Health International.

Abdullahi, S. A. (2004b). Report on the focus group discussion and in-depth interview on family life in Katsina State. Abuja: UNFPA.

Abdullahi, S. A. (2005). Report on global HIV/AIDS initiative Nigeria (GHAIN) formative research in Kano State. Abuja: GHAIN.

Abdullahi, S. A. & Charles, J. O. (2003). Police HIV/AIDS formative research report (Compiled and Reviewed). Lagos: Family Health International.

Akinnawo, E. O. (1995). Sexual networking, STDs and HIV/AIDS transmission among Nigeria police force. Health Transition Review, 5, pp. 113-121.

Dabai, B. I. (1984). The role of Dandaudu in Hausa prostitution (Unpublished B. Sc. Dissertation). Bayero University, Kano.

Duze, M.C. & Abdullahi, S.A. (1997). Report of the focus group discussion conducted in Bari and Gwale, Kano State. Lagos: Pathfinder International.

Hunter, M. (2002). The materiality of everyday sex: Thinking beyond “prostitution.” African Studies, 61(1), pp. 99-120

Lamptey, P. et al (2002). Population Bulletin, 57(3), pp. 1-5.

Leo-Guerrero, A. (2005). Social problems. CITY, CA: Sage Publications.

Mohammed I. Z. (2004). Baseline assessment of risk perception and stigma for radio diaries program. Dutse: Partnership for Transforming Health System.

Ogbuagu, S. C. & Charles, J. O. (1993). Survey of sexual networking in Calabar. Health Transition Review. 3, pp. 105-119.

Parsons, T. (1951). The Social System. New York, NY: Free Press.

National Population Commission. (2004). Report of Nigeria demographic and health survey 2003. Calverton, MD: Marco.

Federal Ministry Health. Report of the (2007) HIV/STI integrated biological and behavioral surveillance survey. Abuja.

Federal Ministry Health. Report of the 2001 national HIV/Syphilis sentinel survey among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics in Nigeria Abuja: Author.

Federal Ministry Health. (2004). Report of the 2003 national HIV sero–prevalence sentinel survey Abuja.

Smelser, N. J. (1994). Sociology. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Smith, M. G. (1929). The Hausa system of social status. Africa, 29.

UNAIDS/World Health Organization. (2003). AIDS epidemic update. Geneva, Switzerland.

Binta Adamu Suleiman

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria has extended beyond the commonly classified high-risk group into the general population. More than 3.5 million people aged 15-49 years are now infected with the virus. However, Women are particularly hard hit by the epidemic; an estimated 58% of the infected population are girls aged 15-24 years (NSF, 2004). HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact on African Nations, particularly on the country’s women and poor people. It is estimated that 80% of all HIV positive women live in Sub-Saharan Africa (Orubuloye, Caldwell, & Caldwell, 1993). This chapter examines the ways in which gender inequality increase Hausa Women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS infections, particularly the role played by traditional, sociocultural, and religious factors in intensifying those risks. The media in Nigeria has been of tremendous help in efforts to educate the public about HIV/AIDS. However, they are severely limited by an array of conflicts and complexities about the nature of mass communication profession on the one hand and public health information on the other. This paper argues that the vast potential of the media in behavior-change communication for HIV/AIDS prevention has not been fully exploited. Even if it were, HIV/AIDS prevention programs must go beyond information and knowledge for empowerment. These programs must look at the disproportionate ways men and women are affected by the epidemic and adopt a short-and-long term objective that addresses not only the disease but its major drivers. These drivers include gender inequality and poverty. The success of HIV/AIDS campaigns in Nigeria, therefore, demand a carefully designed and well formulated strategy for woman empowerment, which ultimately curbs the spread of the disease and makes way for a healthier Nation.

Conceptual Framework

Response to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria has shifted from a health sector to a multi-sector response that focuses on prevention, treatment, and mitigation of impact intervention as distinct components. More recently, the HIV/AIDS National response plan has tried to mainstream gender into all aspects of its intervention program. The HIV/AIDS response plan in Nigeria uses four different avenues for its prevention campaigns, these are: Mass Media, entertainment, education, community, mobilization, and Interpersonal Communication.

The mass media component is only one component, yet it is the most significant because the media has a pervasive influence in almost all aspects of personal and community relations. Its social role cannot be limited to health matters. Mainstream or conventional media have traditionally been used to disseminate information about HIV.AIDS, usually using spot advertisements, sponsored programs, PSAs, etc. This involves huge capital expenditures; and, indeed, substantial resources have been committed to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Awareness of the disease has reached 80% among Nigerians. Nevertheless, the number of fresh infections continues to rise, suggesting that information has not led to behavioral change. The central coordinating body on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), bases its behavioral change program on two slightly modified theories. The Information, Motivation, and Behavior skills model (IMB) and Extended Parallel Process model (EPPM).

The IMB model specifies that information and motivation work primarily through behavioral skills to influence HIV/AIDS preventive behavior. This model was slightly modified to include four broad determinants of behavior change: information, motivation, behavioral skills, and social/community support.

The EPPM model is a health behavior change theory that focuses on how to channel fear-protective direction rather than negative-maladaptive direction. This model promotes two appraisal processes. The threat appraisal, where individuals evaluate whether or not they are susceptible to the threat and/or whether or not the threat is serious. If a positive threat is perceived as either trivial or irrelevant, then the message is not processed any further. There is no response to the campaign. If a threat is seen as serious and relevant, however, people become frightened and motivated to act. Then efficacy appraisal occurs, where people evaluate the recommended response in terms of self-efficacy, e.g. Am I able to protect myself against HIV/AIDS infection? and response efficacy e.g. Does the recommended response work?

If people believe themselves able to perform an action that effectively averts a serious and relevant threat then they are motivated to control the danger by engaging in self-protective actions, like condom use. In contrast, if they feel unable to perform a recommended response or they believe the response to be ineffective, e.g., condoms do not work or they have holes in them, then they give up on trying to control the danger and instead control their fear. They do this by denying their risk of HIV/AIDS infection, defensively avoiding the HIV/AIDS issue or perceiving manipulation, e.g., AIDS is a hoax or a government plot (National Action Committee on AIDS, 2004). These two models form the conceptual framework for behavioral change communication for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

Behavioral change models are popularly used as theoretical grounding for most prevention and behavior change interventions, such as the health belief model, Prochaska’s stages of change model, theory of reasoned action, hierarchy of effects model, agenda setting model, spiral of silence model, etc. have been questioned by many scholars. Singhal and Rogers (2003), point out that the models make at least four mistaken assumptions. They assume that all individuals are capable of controlling their context, whereas the ability of individuals can get access to condoms, but getting HIV tests etc, are con but trolled by cultural, economic, social, and political factors over which they have no control. The theories assume that all individuals are on an even playing ground, can make rational decisions about their lives, and possess free will. Gender inequality clearly inhibits a woman’s ability to control when, where, or even how she uses condoms.

Singhal & Rogers (2001) also contend that well-informed rational decisions or intentions to use condoms can often fall by the wayside during a passionate sexual encounter. Physiological urges for sexual release may overwhelm previously conceived rational intentions about safe sex. The main flaw in the use of these behavior change models is that they target the individual, whereas behavior in some contexts is communally inspired or determined. Freimuth (1992), Yoder (1997), and Airhihenbuwa and Obregon (2000) argue that the flaws in the application of the commonly used classical models in health communication are a result of contextual differences in areas where those models are applied. Airhihenbuwa and Obregon (2000) posit that most of the differences in health behaviors are often a function of culture. Culture, they contend, needs to be exposed, deconstructed, and reconstructed so that new positive cultural linkages can be formed. Similarly, McKinlay and Marceau (1999, 2000) and Salmon and Kroger (1992) posit that it is time to move away from individual-level theories of health behavior to more multi-level, cultural, and contextual interventions. Singhal and Rogers (2003), citing Brummelhuis and Herdt (1995), Moses et al (1990), and Parker (1991) support this position adding that communication strategists often negatively viewed culture as static and mistakenly looked upon people’s health beliefs as cultural barriers. Culture has often been singled out as the explanation for the failure of HIV/AIDS interventions.

Thus, community organization theory, alongside IMB and EPPM models, would more effectively work for HIV/AIDS prevention intervention programs. Community organization theory has its roots in theories of social networks and support. This theory emphasizes community participation, where communities with common problems come together, determine their common objective, mobilize the needed resources, and develop and implement strategies for reaching their goals. This theory can be successfully used along with social learning theory and has many alternative change models: locality development, social planning, and social action. Whichever change model is adopted, the key concept remains the same. The process of empowerment is intended to stimulate problem solving and activate community members. Community competence is an approximate community-level equivalent of self-efficacy plus behavioral capability, which are the confidence and skills to solve problems effectively.

Participation and relevance go together: they involve citizen activation and a collective readiness for change. Issue selection concerns identifying “winnable battles” as a focus for action and critical consciousness stresses the active search for root causes of problems. (Rothman & Tropman, 1987). Since gender inequality specifically fuels the epidemic, women’s health advocates could use social action to pressure powerful institutions to address their rights, using media advocacy as a tool in their efforts. Social action is the strategy that women and other disadvantaged groups need to negotiate a fair and gender sensitive society through community participation.

Nigeria: Demographic Situation

Nigeria is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa and the tenth most populous nation in the world. It has a landmass of 923,768 square kilometers, a population density of about 96.3 persons per square kilometer and is predominantly rural. As of 2006, the population of Nigeria is 140 million, about half the population lives in the Northern part of the country. The life expectancy increased from 45 years in 1963 to 51 years in 1991; partly due to the effect of HIV/AIDS epidemic, life expectancy dropped to 47 yrs in 2001 (Federal office of statistics, Abuja). Nigeria is made up 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory, FCT. The Northern part of Nigeria is predominantly populated by Hausa Muslims. There are other linguistic and ethnic groups found within this zone, such as Dakarkari, Kambari, Dandawa, Dukkowa, Kaje ,Kataf, etc. The Hausa language, however, remains the region’s main language of communication. Hausa identity is also an Islamic identity. A true Bahaushe (Hausa-man), Phillips (1989, p. 40) contends, is a Muslim, pointing out that Hausa speakers who maintain their pre-Islamic beliefs are referred to as Maguzawa. Indeed, one common means of expressing conversion to Islam is “Na Zama Bahaushe,” meaning (I have become a Hausa person). Khalid (2001) notes that Hausa ethnicity is a complex of variables involving language, religion, and even descent. Islam is the dominant religion in the North particularly among the Fulani, Hausa Zabarmawa, and Dandawa. Some ethnic groups, especially in the Kaduna and Kebbi states and migrant groups from the Southern part of Nigeria, also practice Christianity. Some small groups of traditional religious worshippers can be found across the ethnic divide.

HIV/AIDS in Nigeria

The first AIDS case was reported in Nigeria in 1986; since then, the epidemic has been growing at an alarming rate. The adult sero-prevalence rate has increased from 1.8% in 1991 to 4.5% in 1996 and 5.0% in 2003 (NARSHS, 2003). Estimates using the 2003 HIV/Syphilis sero-prevalence sentinel survey among women attending ante-natal clinics reveal that between 3.2 and 3.8 million Nigerians aged 15-49 may be living with the virus. With the adult prevalence rate at 5.0% as of 2004, the nation is at the threshold of an exponential growth of the epidemic. All states in Nigeria are affected by the disease, though the severity differs. In some states, the prevalence rate is as high as 10%. The infection cuts across both sexes, youths between ages 20 and 29 years old are more affected and urban cities record higher prevalence rates than rural areas—although this may be due to under testing or under diagnosis due to poor health facilities in rural areas. Heterosexual transmission remains the predominant method of infections, as in other parts of the world where it is estimated to account for up to 70% of infections (Oleary & Jemmot, 1995, p. 220), although more and more children are getting infected via Mother to Child (MTC) transmission, while more children are losing both parents to the disease (NSF, 2004).

Gender and HIV/AIDS

According to Roger (1991, p. 231), until recently women were missing persons in the AIDS epidemic, partly because AIDS was initially defined as a gay disease. As incidences of HIV increase among women from all segments of the population in all parts of the world, attention has finally turned to understanding the factors that put women at risk and working to decrease the number of infections. In Nigeria, the epidemic’s disproportionate impact on women and girls has risen to a startling new reality: the feminization of the epidemic, rooted in women’s economic dependency, stigmatization, and denial of their rights (NSF, 2004). The last situation report from NACA shows that the AIDS epidemic poses a severe challenge to the human rights of young women and girls. Gender inequalities, which exist within the Nigerian society, give room for the epidemic to grow. The lower status of women decrease their ability to make choices, including those related to their reproductive health. Women’s subordinate status in society makes them unable to negotiate safe sex, to seek care, or fight the stigma associated with the infection. Their economic powerlessness drives some women to commercial sex, which put such women in high-risk categories. The network nature of HIV/AIDS infection at present has actually made the notions of high-risk groups obsolete.

There are factors that are universally identified as putting women at higher risks of HIV infection than men. Raffaeli and Pranke (1995, p. 220) categorizes those factors into three distinct groups: biomedical, epidemiological, and sociocultural. Women’s bodies are physiologically more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in certain cases. Male to female transmission of HIV is naturally more efficient than female to male (Brunham & Ronald, 1991) Padian, Shibowski, and Jewel (1991) also reveal that the sperm contains more HIV viral load than vaginal fluids and because sperm that is deposited in women’s bodies stay for longer periods, the chances of infection are higher for women. In addition, women’s mucosal surface is greatly exposed during intercourse, and while many sexually transmitted diseases remain asymptomatic or undiagnosed, they increase the chances of infection (Merson, 1993; Wasserheit, 1992).

Epidemiological analysis shows that women are more likely to require blood transfusions related to childbirth, abortion, or miscarriage. Debruyn (1992) states that women are more likely to partner with older men, who have had previous sexual encounters. Further HIV positive women progress to illness faster when they are pregnant or at child delivery.

Sociocultural factors such as belief about sexual behavior and gender roles, the tendency to engage in commercial sex work, and nonconsensual sex aggravate the woman’s vulnerability to HIV. Weiss and Gupta (1993) and Heise (1992) also show that norms of masculinity ensure that boys are granted sexual freedom and girls are conditioned to value virginity. Boys are unnecessarily exposed to HIV even while trying to prove that boys will be boys. At this point, one must ask the specific Hausa traditions and cultural practices that increase a woman’s vulnerability to HIV infections.

The Context and Conception of Gender in Hausa Islamic Society

In Hausa Society, gender and sex are two sides of the same coin. The notion that gender is socially constructed, and thus subject to deconstruction, is seen not only as problematic but also un-Islamic. The serious resistance that women encounter when they try to explain gender as a social construct merely proves that questions of conceptualization are questions of power and at the very root of women’s oppression. To see how gender relations take place in Hausa society, the private and public spheres would provide a good entry point. Gender relations in Hausa families are patriarchal, with a strong male influence on every sphere of life. Marriage, childbearing, and child rearing is the ultimate for a woman. The ideal woman and wife in Hausa society is viewed as submissive, obedient, and content to enjoy reflected status from her husband (Khalid, 2001). A married woman is completely under her husband’s control. He makes final decisions on all family matters and has control over his wife’s (wives’) movements, her economic activities and with whatever it is she becomes involved. In a typical Hausa Islamic family, men are in control. This means that any message for safe sex directed at a Hausa wife may not succeed, unless the man agrees to cooperate. The decision to practice safe sex, use condoms, or remain faithful is not within a woman’s jurisdiction.

Hausa women do not actively participate in the public scene; kulle (wife seclusion) is still widely practiced. Hausa women’s labor force participation is less than 10%, based on the 1991 Nigerian census. Though there is a high degree of informal economic activity within the homes, which in some cases even supplement the man’s income or in extreme cases even feeds the family, but which has remained largely undocumented and undervalued. When women get into formal employment, the same inequality that they experience in the home is, in most cases, transferred to the work environment and is used to determine women’s career patterns and the type of work to which they are limited, in order not to lose their femininity. Vocal and assertive women who insist on equal treatment are branded as loose, improper, or uncultured. The norm of submissiveness to men’s authority is enforced both within and outside the home. Change is taking place with increasing access to education, but it is too gradual to be noticeable.

Other Factors Which Increase Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS

In Hausa culture, which is largely defined by the Islamic tradition, women are considered men’s responsibility. Less than 20% of women actively participate in the formal employment sector (Suleiman, 2004). Most of woman’s contribution to the informal economy, though acknowledged, remains undocumented, largely because work is defined as paid employment. Most Hausa women are forced to depend on their husband or family. This dependency aggravates female poverty. Where a woman loses a spouse through death or divorce, life takes a new turn and a woman has to find other means of survival, which may involve exchanging sex for money. Poverty increases HIV risk. According to Amaro (1988), Marin and Marin (1991), and Nyamathi and Vasquez (1989) the stresses and difficulties associated with poverty may displace HIV on a scale of priority concerns. In the US, about 73% of mothers who are HIV positive have children who receive public assistance.

The Hausa’s being largely Islamic also practice polygamy. The system is perhaps the most abused Islamic injunction in Hausa land. Islam has specified the conditions that must be satisfied before a man takes another wife, the most important being his ability to adequately provide for all the wives. However, the poor in Hausa society practice polygamy the most. This intensifies family poverty, which is a strong factor that drives the AIDS epidemic. Hunter (1994) has found that women who have had more than one sexual partner are two to five times more likely to be infected with HIV than those who have had only one sexual partner. This shows the risks associated with polygamous marriages. However, Islam has prescribed polygamy for some men under certain conditions. Nevertheless, there is a lack of constituted authority to enforce these conditions. Women rejoiced at the reintroduction of Shari’a in some states, thinking that it would bring sanity into some oppressive practices like arbitrary polygamy. However, that has turned out to be wishful thinking, as most of the focus of Shari’a has been directed at women and what they can or cannot do. Serious developmental issues that affect women have been marginalized while very personal issues, like modes of dressing, are elevated to state matters. In Kano state now, for example, young girls and women have to wear Arabian style Hijab before going to the office or school, even six-year-old girls are not spared. This writer is witness to a case in which a man aged 42, married at least four wives in a year and divorced all four before the year ended in readiness to marry another set of four before the Ramadan period started. These serial divorces will lead to remarriages and thus increase the incidence of multiple partnering, which increase vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

Hausa culture places the burden of holding a marriage together almost exclusively on the woman. If a marriage fails, it must be the woman’s responsibility, so most women try to make it work at all costs. For example, there is a big market for sex enhancing drugs, which women use especially in polygamous relationships, in the belief that using such drugs will make them the most favored wives. However, most of these drugs are required to be inserted deep into women’s vagina. In some cases, the drugs do not conform to minimum standards of hygiene, which may lead to infections. These infections increase a woman’s risk of HIV infection. Similarly, early marriage in some girls make sexual debut very difficult, painful, or even impossible. When that happens, a local surgeon known as Wanzami is called to remove the Angurya (obstacle) from the girl’s private part, several men are required to hold the young woman down and the obstacle is crudely removed without anesthesia or painkillers. This practice leads to terrible consequences from uncontrolled bleeding to shock or even death. The same Wanzami is called upon to circumcise newborn babies. Boys are circumcised to improve their reproductive abilities and their sexual performance; for girls, the objective is to diminish their sensitivity to sex. Here we see a cultural orientation that condones male sexual adventurism and female sexual restraint. For males, this masculinity norm renders them more vulnerable to HIV. Local surgeons and traditional birth attendants are being constantly educated on sterilization methods; their adoption of such techniques on a wide scale has not yet been documented.

Young girls from the age of 15 to 24 are the most vulnerable group among women. A practice whereby young girls from villages come to town to work as domestic servants further increases that risk. Most of these girls are from poor families; their income is sent to their parents who, in most cases, use the resources to maintain themselves. The girls face a lot of maltreatments, violence, and rape from their host families. Sometimes they run away into prostitution. To halt this practice, the government of Kano established schools for girls in Madobi village in Kano. Unfortunately, the parents refuse to take their children to school, claiming that schools do not bring in cash but domestic service does. For instance, in Kubarachi village in Kano, more than ten girls were said to have returned home with unwanted pregnancies. Due to poor medical facilities and apathy towards HIV testing, it is difficult to know how many of them may have contracted the disease in addition to being pregnant. Young girls are being introduced to anal sexual practices by homosexual men, this practice attracts as much as fifty thousand Naira and some university students from poor families just cannot resist.

Childbearing is the ultimate dream of every Hausa woman and, in fact, is a factor that keeps most marriages intact. Prevention of mother to child infection requires that a HIV positive woman should not breastfeed her child. Fear of stigma and of losing her man may prevent women from taking a doctor’s advice not to breastfeed, with dire consequences. These norms and practices, which are deeply embedded in culture, and which contribute to grueling poverty, combine with stigma, norms of masculinity, and motherhood to increase women and men’s vulnerability to HIV infection. In the absence of a cure for HIV, prevention is the only hope. This shows that preventive interventions could be effective only when the factors that fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic are concretely addressed. Levine, Britton, James, Jackson, Hobfall, and Levin (1993) and Oleary and Jemmot (1995) have also noted that female empowerment is the ultimate requirement for success in HIV risk reduction. Given that changes in gender roles require longer process, in the short-term women need skills in HIV prevention, especially in negotiating condom use with their partners. The ABCs of HIV prevention have since proven problematic for women, especially poor women; there is need for development of a preventive method that is unobtrusive and permits conception while inhibiting HIV.

Role of Media in Behavior Change Campaigns

Mass Media in Nigeria along with other methods of communication has been used to raise AIDS awareness and knowledge and to induce behavioral change. AIDS awareness is currently at about 80% and knowledge of condom use among males at 70% and among females at 54%. However, NACA has graciously admitted that the high awareness has not been matched with safe sex practices (condom use among males and females is 23% and 8% respectively). This is not surprising because several factors affect the efficacy of campaigns and, in most cases, it is not the number of resources spent on campaigns, but the way planning and execution is carried out. Huszti, Cloptan, and Mason (1989) found that although health messages increase knowledge and positive attitudes towards patients with AIDS, they do not appear to have a positive effect on attitudes towards practicing sexual behaviors that would prevent the spread of HIV.

Interpersonal communications, such as small group discussions, have been found to be more effective in changing attitudes towards high-risk behavior. Homans and Aggleton (1988) concur and point out that such methods are more effective than impersonal media campaigns because they impart information by word of mouth and contact. A combination of different strategies such as mass communication, interpersonal, entertainment education, and community mobilization and support have been used for public health communication; still, behavior change remains very low. One must wonder why that is the case.

At the level of community mobilization, government and about 700 NGOs and CBOs are said to be actively mobilizing support for HIV/AIDS interventions. In the North, religious groups have been identified as obstacles to the fight against HIV/AIDS. As such they are largely ignored in most cases. In fact, some international aid organizations specifically do not deal with religious groups, claiming that they are not missionaries. This isolation, which the religious leaders experience, may have constituted a big obstacle for HIV/AIDS interventions. The Hausa society is not a secular institution, no matter what the Nigerian government would have us believe. Religious leaders are very influential in Hausa society and the most respected ones are role models to a vast majority of people. No successful campaign could succeed in the North without the full participation of religious groups.

Enter-educate strategies in the North may not work effectively if it relies only on infrequently held programs based mostly in the cities. Every culture has its own idea of entertainment. HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Hausa society would do well to exploit local avenues of reaching the people, avenues that have been used in the past. Every age group in society has its own specific interest. For example, young girls in most Hausa speaking states have shifted their interest from reading Mills and Boons to locally authored love story novels popularly known as Kano market literature or soyayya (love) novels. Entertainment Education would only succeed when based on a community’s idea of entertainment.

Although mass media is not the only medium for behavior change communication, its potential for instant messages to widely dispersed and heterogeneous audience has not been fully utilized in HIV/AIDS prevention. Most countries that have used the media successfully for HIV/AIDS prevention intervention, such as South Africa’s Soul City, the “Islamic jihad against HIV/AIDS in Uganda,” Twende Na Wakati in Tanzania, Thailand’s condom program, etc. went for all-out media campaigns. In Nigeria now, it is very common to listen to hours of radio programming without reference to HIV/AIDS either as a PSA, an advertisement, or as part of a continuity program. There are public health messages, but the frequency simply has not matched the severity of the disease.

Messages over the radio and TV in Nigeria do not target any particular group and are in some cases quite counterproductive. Stockdell and Farr (1987) and Stockdell, Dockrell, and Wells (1989) studied the message conveyed by HIV/AIDS posters and discovered that posters carried different meanings depending on who read them. In Kano, the photographs of a popular film actress, Fati Mohammed, was used on a billboard; she was shown beautifully smiling to the camera on a big, well-lit billboard, the message in Hausa was “You cannot know who has HIV/AIDS by mere looks” (Ba a gane mai cutar kanjamau a fuska). However, the message had different interpretations and some people actually thought the actress was HIV positive. The lesson here is that it is wasteful to direct HIV/AIDS messages at everyone. The efficacy of campaigns may well depend on proper targeting of at-risk groups.

Targeting AIDS messages is made more difficult by the multi-ethnic and multi-religious mix of the population as well as a lack of active decentralized HIV/AIDS programs. Most NGOs are based in urban centers and the federal capital, Abuja. Ratzan (1993) notes that most communication activities are not guided by an effective strategy, so resources are used inefficiently. Singhal and Rogers (2003) concur and cite more reasons for the failure of communication programs. They note that, most communication programs are not grounded in formative research findings and many communication activities are not culturally appropriate and may be found offensive, which is easy to do when dealing with a sensitive topic like HIV/AIDS that involves stigma, sex, and death. In short, Singhal and Rogers (2003) contend that most communication interventions are flying blind. In AIDS campaign literature circulating in Hausa states—mostly originating from Abuja and from some international donor Agencies, it is common to come across words like “negotiating sex,” “condom use,” and “marital rape,” “Sex worker,” etc. Muslim Hausas cannot contextualize these terms. There is no negotiating sex in the life of a Muslim, commercial sex is not work. Further, if the message is really about AIDS, the people contend that is is an assault on their sensibilities. In the final analysis, this type of content breeds suspicion for the integrity of message source, deepens the them versus us mentality, and on the whole, creates the impression that the message is not about them. Active community involvement is the only panacea to this problem.

Certain factors also constrain the media in discharging their social responsibility. Journalists and media personnel lack adequate capacity to report HIV/AIDS issues accurately. Most Nigerian journalism schools have no courses in health reporting, in fact most journalists in key positions in media organizations learned on the job. Prevention interventions are very expensive projects and resulting evaluations can be very difficult; most governments prefer service delivery to prevention.

Channel selection also affects prevention campaign efficacy. In the North, as in other parts of the country, every group could be identified with a particular media. The phenomenon of Hausa films has created a new captive audience. The audience is largely made up of women and youth of different age groups. The coming of Hausa films/home videos has revolutionized the visual entertainment culture of Hausa people, to the extent that, Indian Films and Western films now compete for attention with locally produced Hausa home videos. Jibril (2004) observes that beyond the usually pirated western TV programs, feature film, and pornography, Nigeria is reaping some benefits from what amounts to decentralized TV programming. Small-scale video operations have emerged, permitting local artists to package materials for the Nigerian home video market.

HIV/AIDS has become a poor people’s epidemic. Poor people in Hausa society are found predominantly in rural than urban areas. Women and youth are classified as at-risk groups, the technology of home video much more than any other conventional mass medium, like TV or Radio, has greater potential to access these target groups with HIV/AIDS behavior change communication. Jibril (2004) points out that these new forms of film screening (Hausa home videos) environments, which are normally housed in residential quarters, provide an unconventional channel of content distribution to a much larger audience. The low socioeconomic status of the urban poor of Northern Nigeria made the existence of these forms of squatter cinema walk-ins possible in Northern Nigerian cities. However, so far only two home videos have been produced with HIV/AIDS themes as at April 11, 2005. These are: JAN KUNNE, 1, 2, 3, sponsored by a United States International Aid Agency (USAID), and MALAM KARKATA, whose release has been delayed by controversy between the producers and the film censor board.

Other than films, there are other cultural avenues for information dissemination, such as Hausa songs produced for Hausa home videos, but which are released and marketed prior to the release of the actual films. There are Islamic musical groups known as Mandiri (drumbeaters), very popular in Muslim dominated cities especially Kano, Katsina, Daura, and Zaria, and whose songs are marketed in cassettes and video formats. In addition, they draw large audiences and are now used for entertainment at wedding receptions, naming ceremonies, and other traditional festivities. All these provide cheaper alternatives to conventional media and are more acceptable to the people.

The mass media in Northern Nigeria is also vibrant, but not as vibrant as the southwestern media. The few private stations that have been granted licenses to operate are doing a lot of work in health education. It should be noted that mass communication process and the goals of public health information may be at cross purposes. Unless there is a spirited attempt to harmonize their objectives, the media’s potential may not be effectively harnessed. This could be the missing link between HIV/AIDS awareness efforts and the lack of appreciable success in achieving behavior change. Journalism and media responsiveness to health issues depend on a number of factors that public health officials may not find comfortable. Mass media operations are shaped by market demands, consensus and competition within the news community, and pressure from advertisers. The public health officials want to stop smoking. Media organizations on the other hand need tobacco advertising revenue to survive; the only way to strike a balance is to find means of generating revenue without compromising socially responsible ethics. In developing countries, a developmental approach to communications is most ideal. There have been instances where the media has actually served as an obstacle to behavior change communication. For instance, in advertising there are all sorts of herbal cures for HIV/AIDS, they do more damage than good by creating false hope.

Conclusion

This chapter has identified and discussed sociocultural and other factors that increase women and men’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS infection. Some of the major obstacles to behavior change communication for HIV/AIDS in Northern Nigeria have been identified. The role of mass media in public health communication for behavior change cannot be over-emphasized. However, HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns’ efficacy depends on, among other factors, proper targeting and tailoring of messages and channel selection. Many local entertainment-education opportunities exist for incorporation into the HIV/AIDS campaigns, and they need to be strengthened and utilized more often, because they are affordable, accessible, and more flexible than mainstream media. It is also pertinent to understand the cultural differences between communities and to exploit the opportunities that culture advances rather than perceive it as an obstacle. Singhal and Rogers (2003) documented the Green Pendelu campaign in Mali, which illustrates that for health projects to be effective, the cultural beliefs and practices of the targeted communities need to be thoroughly understood. Only then can communication strategies accentuate the positive undercurrents of a culture, reducing or completely overcoming the effects of opposing forces. The focus should be on creating the enabling environment for media messages to prompt recipients to adopt safe sex behaviors. In particular, poverty reduction and women empowerment interventions would greatly halt spread of the disease. Health communication efforts must be horizontal, community driven, culturally relevant, and sensitive for maximum efficacy. Health communication needs to be integrated into journalism schools’ curriculum. In the same vein, media personnel need training and reorientation in development communication.

References

Airhihenbuwa, C. O. (1995). Health and culture: Beyond the Western paradigm. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Airhihenbuwa, C. O. & Obregon, R. (2000). A critical assessment of theories/models used in health communication for HIV/AIDS. Journal of Health Communication, 5, pp. 5-15.

Amaro, H. (1988). Hispanic women and AIDS” Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12, pp. 423-443.

Brummelhuis, H. T. & Gilbert H. (1995). Culture and sexual risk anthropological perspectives on AIDS. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Gordon and Breach.

Brunhan, R. C. & Ronald, A. R. (1991). Epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases in developing countries. In J. N. Wassrheit., S. O. Aral., & K. K. Holmes. (Eds.), Research in human behavior and sexually transmitted diseases in the AIDS era (pp. 61-80). Washington, D .C.: American Society for Microbiology.

Debruyn, M. (1992). Women and AIDS in developing countries. Social Science and Medicine, 34, pp. 249-269.

Edgar, T., Hammond, S. L., & Freimuth, V. S. (1989). The role of the mass media and interpersonal communication in promoting AIDS- related behavior change. AIDS and Public Policy Journal, 4(1), pp. 3-9.

Edward, W. M., Gary, L. K., & Ellen, W. B. (DATE). Developing strategic communication campaigns for HIV/AIDS. In C. Ratzan (Ed.), AIDS: Effective public health communication for the 90s. Washington, D. C.: Taylor and Francis.

Fatima, L. A. (1999). A double-edged sword: Challenging oppression within Muslim society in Northern Nigeria. Gender and Development, 1(1).

Homans, H. & Aggleton, P. (1988). Health education, HIV infection, and AIDS. In P. Aggleton. & H. Homans (Eds.), Social aspects of AIDS (pp. 154-176).

Hunter, D. J., Maggwa, B. N., Mati, J. K. G., Tukei, P. M., & Mbuga, S. (1994). Sexual behavior, sexually transmitted diseases, male circumcision, and risk of HIV infection among women in Nairobi, Kenya. AIDS, 8, pp. 93-99.

Huszti, H. C., Cloptan, J. R., & Mason, P. J., (1989). Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome educational program: Effects on adolescents ’knowledge and attitudes. Pediatrics, 84, pp. 986-994.

J. & Gay, J. (Eds.). (1950). The health of women: a global perspective. Boulder, CO: West View Press.

Jibril, U. F. (2004). Small technologies: The changing trends in Hausa home video production. Unpublished manuscript.

Khalid, S. (2001). Gender, purdah and political participation among Hausas of Northwestern Nigeria. In M. Jega, H. Wakili, & M. Ahmed (Eds.). Democracy and democratization in Nigeria: 1999-2001 (pp. PAGES). Kano, Nigeria: Benchmark.

Ladipo, O., Joshua, A., Zacheus, A., & Ankomah, A. (2001). National behavioral survey brothel-based sex work in Nigeria. Abuja, Nigeria: Garkida Press.

Levine, O. H., Britton, P. J., James, T. C., Jackson, A. P., Hobfall, S. E., & Levin, J. P. (1993). Empowerment of women: A key to HIV prevention. Journal of Community Psychology, 21, pp. 320-334.

Marin, G. & Marin, B. V. (1991). Research with Hispanic populations. New Bury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Markova, I. & Power, K. (1992). Audience response to health messages about AIDS. In T. Edgar, M. A. Fitzpatrick, & V. S. Freimuth (Eds.). AIDS: A communication perspective (pp. 91-111). CITY, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Mckinlay, J. B. & Marceau, L. D. (1999). A tale of three tails. American Journal of Public Health, 89, pp. 295-298.

Merson, M. H. (1993). Showing the spread of HIV: Agenda for the 1990s. Science, 260, pp. 1266-1268.

National Action Committee on AIDS, NACA. (2004). 5-Year behavior change communication strategy. Abuja, Nigeria: Author.

Nyamathi, A. & Vasquez, R. (1989). Impact of poverty, homelessness, and drugs on Hispanic women at risk of HIV infection. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 11,pp. 299-314.

Oleary, A. & Jemmot, S. L. (1995). Women at risk: issues in the primary prevention of AIDS. New York: Plenum Press.

Orubuloye, L. O., Caldwell J. C., & Caldwell, P. (1993). African women’s control over their sexuality in an era of AIDS. Social Science and Medicine, 37, pp. 859-872.

Padian, N. S., Shibowski, S. C., & Jewell, N. P. (1991). Female to male transmission of HIV. JAMA, 266, pp. 1664-1668.

Parker, R. (1991). Bodies, pleasures and passions: Sexual culture in contemporary Brazil. Boston: Beacon Press.

Phillis, J. E. (1989). A history of Hausa language. In B. M. Barkindo (Ed.). Kano and some of her neighbors. Zaria: ABU Press.

Raffaeli, M. & Pranke, J. (1995). Women and AIDS in developing countries. In Oleary & L. S. Jemmot (Eds.). Women at risk: issues in the primary prevention of AIDS (pp. 220-231). New York: Plenum Press.

Ratzan, S. C. (Ed.). (1993). AIDS effective public health communication for the 90s. Washington, D. C.: Taylor and Francis.

Rosser, S. (1991). AIDS and women. AIDS Education and Prevention, 3, pp. 230-240.

Rothman, J. & Tropman, J. E. (1987). Models of community organization and macro-practice: Their mixing and phasing. In F. M. Cox, J. Ehrlich, J. Rothmans, & J. E. Tropman (Eds.). Stages of community organization (4th ed., pp. PAGES). Itasca, IL: Peacock.

Salmon, & Kroger, S. (1992). A system’s approach to AIDS communication: The example of the national AIDS prevention and education program. In T. Edgar, M. A. Fitzpatrick, & V. S. Freimuth (Eds.). AIDS: A Communication Perspective (pp. 131-146). NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Singhal, A. & Rogers, E. M. (2001). The entertainment-education strategy in campaigns. In E. R. Ronald & C. Atkin (Eds.). Public communication campaigns (pp. PAGES). CA: Sage Publications.

Singhal, A. & Rogers, E. M. (2003). Combating AIDS: Effective communication strategies in action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Stockdale, J. E. & Farr, R. M. (1987, December). Social representation of handicap in poster campaigns. Paper presented at the London conference of the British psychological society, London, England.

Stockdale, J. E., Dockrell, J. E., and Wells, A. J. (1989). The self in relation to mass media representations of HIV/AIDS: Match or mismatch?. Health Education Journal, 48, pp. 121-130.

Wasserheit, J. N. (1992). Epidemiological synergy: Interrelationships between human immunodeficiency virus infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. In J. Chen, J. Sepulveda, & J. J. Segal (Eds.). AIDS and women’s reproductive health (pp. 61-77). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Weiss, E. and Gupta, G. R. (1993). Women facing the challenges of AIDS and policy concerns. In V. S. Young & K. Kusterer (Eds.). Women at the center: Development issues and practices for the 1990s (pp. 168-188). West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.

Zainab S. Kabir

Islam and Hausa culture have been intertwined to the extent that sometimes people mistakenly attribute certain Hausa cultural practices to Islam. According to some scholars, Hausa culture as it is known today is an amalgamation of different cultures that had evolved as a result of interaction and intermarriage between different groups (Berkow, 1973).

Traditionally, the Hausa people teach their children a form of sexual education through parents and Islamiyya (schools where Islamic education is taught). Through such schools, the onset of puberty, menstruation, and other similar issues are taught (Yusuf, 1996). In Hausa society, the means of transmission of HIV/AIDS have been recognized predominantly through homosexual and heterosexual relationships, blood transfusion, and mother to child transmission (Magaji, 1996). Homosexual activities, fornication, and adultery are considered very serious offenses in Islam and their punishment, which is severe, entails death to the adulterer and one hundred lashes to the fornicator. The introduction of Shari’a (Islamic law) in many northern states affirmed this and brought about objection by the Western World on the grounds of human rights (Human Rights Watch).

The scourge of HIV/AIDS has made it one of the leading causes of death all globally, with Africa being the hardest hit. One out of every ten adults in sixteen countries in Africa aged 15 – 49 is affected; while in seven countries one out of every five is infected. West Africa more than anywhere else in the world has the most severe epidemic. It was assessed that about 25.4 million people were HIV positive with about 3.1 million new infections in the year 2004 (UNAIDS/WHO, 2004). In Nigeria, the national prevalence rate surged from 1.9% in 1993 to 5.4% in 2003. At present approximately 3.6 million people are HIV positive, and there is an infection rate of 6%. Although there is enough information on AIDS and the danger it poses, the fact that any discussion of sex within the community is an anathema, makes it impossible to introduce sex education into schools or to conduct a campaign on the use of condom. It is, therefore, a great challenge to the Muslim population in Nigeria, which is estimated to include roughly 60% (UNAIDS, 2004).

Knowledge of public attitudes toward HIV/AIDS and its treatment is a vital force in providing successful preventive and curative services for the disease, especially those that are community-based. The recognition of the HIV/AIDS problem also depends on a careful evaluation of the norms, belief, and customs within the individual’s cultural environment.

People have strong feelings and beliefs about the origin and cause of HIV/AIDS and many of these concepts are founded on religious beliefs and the local cultural systems of the community. In developing and HIV/AIDS education program, the basis of these beliefs must be taken into consideration. The principles regarding HIV/AIDS illness should not only be known, but the purpose of these beliefs should be understood as well. Education that proceeds without this understanding probably holds no benefit. It is also possible that ignorance and stigma prevent the HIV/AIDS victims from seeking appropriate help. Community attitude and beliefs play a role in determining the help-seeking behavior and successful control of HIV/AIDS (Schofield, 1979). Nevertheless, there is little research on the attitudes of Muslim Scholars towards HIV/AIDS victims in northern Nigeria, despite the fact that the perception, belief, and attitudes of the Ulama inevitably have a profound influence on the thinking and behavior of the generality of the local population.

This study was carried out among the Ulama in order to ascertain the perceptions of manifestations, causes, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The population’s attitude towards the disease in Kano metropolis, Northern Nigeria was also studied.

Materials and Methods

Study Area

Kano Metropolis is located in Kano State, within the Northern part of Nigeria. It is comprised of six local governments, namely: Kano Municipal, Dala, Fagge, Tarauni, Gwale, and Nassarawa. It has a population of 1.7 million (National Population Commission, Nigeria, 2006). The majority of the people are Muslims preoccupied with different types of jobs, e.g. civil service, trading, farming, etc. The area has federal, state, and local government health facilities. These include Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), which is one of the Federal governments designated Anti-retro-viral (ARV) treatment centers for HIV/AIDS. The State Government has four General Hospitals and a specialist hospital.

Each local government has health centers, health clinics, and maternal and child welfare clinics. In addition to these, the study area has several herbal/traditional healers. Suspected HIV/AIDS referrals are sent to the Teaching Hospital. Consent for the study was obtained from the respective local governments. Informed consent was also obtained from respondents prior to commencement of the interviews.

Study Population

The study population consists of the Ulama. Technically, “Ulama” mean scholars, but in this respect, the Ulama are Muslim scholars who live in the community. The Ulama are the teachers and scholars who were among the most learned and knowledgeable members of the society and who had regular contacts with people over a broad area—contacts that could even be reinforced through written messages (Shea, 1983).

They are teachers, preachers, and sometimes leaders. Some of them have professional occupations apart from preaching and teaching. They are looked upon as the experts in religious teaching and interpretation; therefore, their opinion is highly sought and valued in virtually all aspects of life. They hold a high position within the society, because people listen to them and respect them. They are gate keepers and opinion molders of their community. Without their support, it is difficult to get anything done in the community (Siddiqui, 1984).

With the introduction of Shari’a in some of the states in Nigeria the role of the Ulama became even more eminent. Their role in the interpretation, guiding, and application of Shari’a makes them the custodians of religion, culture and value of the community. The crucial place they occupy makes them an important factor in molding ideas and in acceptance or rejection of programs and projects. This is even more the case in regards to HIV/AIDS, which is viewed with suspicion and great trepidation. For acceptance of any resolution on how to prevent and manage HIV/AIDS victims, the Ulama must be convinced of the safety and usefulness of the approach. The aforementioned are the reasons why the Ulama were targeted as a group in this study.

Study Design, Sample Size, and Sampling Method

A cross-sectional descriptive study was used. A total of 400 Ulama were selected using the appropriate statistical formula. (Lwanga & Lemeshow) N = Z2pq/d2, N = minimum sample size, Z = confidence limit, at 95% = 1.96, p = percentage affected (from a previous study) = 0.5 as there was no previous study in the region. q = percentage not affected = 1 – 0.5 = 0.5. A minimum sample size of 384 was obtained, which was rounded to 400 to take care of non-response.

The systematic sampling technique was adopted. A list of all the wards in each of the local governments was obtained. The ward heads in the local governments provided a list of all the Ulama residing in their ward. Using the systematic sampling method, a sample size of sixty-seven respondents was selected from the list of scholars in four local governments each, while six were selected from the two remaining local governments giving a total number of 400 respondents.

Data Collection

A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to respondents by trained graduate students. Data were collected about personal particulars of respondents including their age, marital status, occupation, and educational status. The perceived views of the respondents’ cause of HIV/AIDS were ascertained, and the perceived manifestations of the disease as well as its prevention were also recorded. The last sections of the questionnaire contained questions on the respondents’ preferred treatment for HIV/AIDS and what their attitudes towards victims of the disease were.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed using percentages and range, as appropriate using the EPI—info 6.0 statistical software package (CDC Atlanta, Georgia, USA). Microsoft Word in Windows 98 was used for tabulations.

Result

There were 400 respondents with 376 (94%) of them being males and 24 (6.0%) being females. Twenty seven percent of them were between the ages of 40-49 years, while majority of the respondents (73%) were between the ages of 30-59 years. Fifteen percent were 60 years and above, while 12.5% were in the category of 20-29 years.

The majority of the respondents (74%) had only an Islamic/Qur’anic education. Those who had Qur’anic/Islamic education with some form of Western education were 27.75%. Only 12% of them had secondary and tertiary level of education while 1.25% had postgraduate education. Virtually all the respondents in this study were married men and women.

The majority is solely Qur’anic teachers by profession, but others in addition engaged as civil service or undertake private enterprises. Most of the women in the study were housewives in addition to being Qur’anic teachers.

*Percentage represents properties of responses obtained.

Sexual intercourse was identified to be the main cause of HIV/AIDS by the respondents. This includes homosexual intercourse with 29.0% and heterosexual intercourse with 28.6%. These were followed by the belief that the disease was the effect of divine wrath or God’s will (18.2%) and the use of unclean instruments (7.4%). Suffering the disease because of possession by evil spirits or due to evil works of an enemy were uncommon responses.

*Percentages represent properties of responses obtained.

The major perceived that the primary manifestation of HIV/AIDS was loss of weight with 32%, followed by diarrhea with 18.4%. The least was mental disorder with 5.3%.

All the respondents agreed that abstinence and faithfulness were keys to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Those who mentioned condom were 42%, but they were quick to add that though it was an effective way of preventing AIDS, they would not promote its uses because the availability of it would encourage sex outside marriage, particularly among the youth. Those who believed that taking orthodox and traditional medicine could prevent AIDS were 27.5%. The basis of their belief was that there are some herbal preparations that, if taken, could prevent illness such as HIV/AIDS. Sex with young girls had only 0.75% response.

The majority of respondents (48.0%) preferred orthodox medicine in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Those who favored spiritual healing were 29%, and those who chose treatment with traditional medicines were 21%. Only a few of the respondents (2%) mentioned a preference of other ways, such as ingesting honey, as preferred treatment for the disease.

The majority of the respondents had a positive attitude towards the victims of HIV/AIDS. Over 37% said they would be kind to the victims while 35% said they would be sympathetic to them. Those who would avoid the victims accounted for 15.5% of the respondents while 0.75% would be hostile to them.

Discussion

This study identified perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of the Ulama residing in Kano metropolis in northern Nigeria. The majority of them had a Qur’anic/Islamic education. This shows that the Ulama emphasize pursuit of Qur’anic, Arabic, and general Islamic education more than they pursue a Western type of education.

On the issue of the respondents’ perceived causes of HIV/AIDS, all the respondents mentioned sex outside marriage as being the foremost cause of HIV/AIDS. Sexual intercourse involving heterosexuals and homosexuals was seen as a major cause of HIV/AIDS with a ranking of first and second in Table 2. Similar research in six districts of Tanga region in Tanzania, which is majority Muslim, shows that the respondents had a good knowledge of the causes of HIV/AIDS. This observation also agreed with figures obtained by 1994 data of the United States Center of Disease Control as well as from United Kingdom, Denmark, and Germany (Cockerham, 1998). Those who opined the cause as being a curse from God ranked third (Table 2). They explained that according to religious scriptures when people persist in committing an offense, God will punish them by sending calamities on them. These calamities may include diseases, hurricanes, floods, etc. (Qur’an 54:33-39, Bible: Genesis 19: 24-25). Infection through the blood of an infected person as a cause of HIV/AIDS recorded fewer respondents, but those who mentioned it explain that they knew people who had been infected through blood transfusion. A small percentage declared that unclean and contaminated instruments were the cause of HIV/AIDS. Perceived causes of the disease through possession by evil spirits and the work of an enemy recorded the lowest ranking of response among the respondents. This is not unconnected with the fact that belief in evil spirits or work of an enemy as causes of ill health is forbidden by Islamic teachings.

The respondents’ most common perceived manifestation of HIV/AIDS was loss of weight, which ranked first (Table 3), while diarrhea and persistent cough ranked second and third respectively. Mental disorder had the lowest ranking. This showed that the Ulama had a fairly accurate perception of the clinical manifestations of AIDS, a fact that may not be unconnected with the wide publicity the manifestation of the disease gets in the media as well as from interpersonal discussion.

All the respondents interviewed agreed that abstention and faithfulness were the keys to a successful prevention of HIV/AIDS with the highest-ranking order on each aspect. Some scholars have argued that in a situation where polygamy exists and women sexuality is controlled, faithfulness, as a perceived means of prevention, will fail. According to Kugle, “We need to think more clearly about ‘intimate citizenship,’ how personal, emotional, and sexual dimension of our lives actually have very public and often political consequences” (Kugle, 2003). Some of the respondents mentioned condom as an effective way of avoiding AIDS, ranking as high as 2 on Table 4, but they were quick to add that they would not promote its use because its availability will encourage fornication among the people since condoms are also contraceptive devices. Factors such as the attitude of the Ulama might have accounted for low usage of the device in developing countries, where it was reported that its use accounts for only 3 to 4 percent (Mundigo, 1995). The attitude of the Ulama on condom use appears to run counter to that of the Indonesian Council of Ulama and the Islamic Medical Association of Uganda (IMAU) who passed a religious verdict to make the use of condoms permissible (Nicholas, Kader, & Dankyau, 2004). Sex with young girls ranked low from the respondents. Further explanation showed that young girls were believed to be pure, because they had not had any sexual experience, as such they could not pass the infection. A similar finding was reported by a participant from Mexico in a paper presented at a workshop for service providers in an international conference for “International Women Health Coalition” held in Barbados in March 1992. (IWHC, 1994). Gill Gordon also stated similar reasons for the practice of preference for sex with younger women in his book titled Learning about sexuality, published for “The Population Council, International women Health Coalition” (Sondra & Moore, 1996). A significant number of the respondents believed that taking orthodox and traditional medicine can deter infection. They believe that some herbal preparations or antibiotic pills could prevent the infection in the event of exposure.

A high percentage of respondents (48%) expressed preference for modern medical care in the treatment of AIDS, while traditional medicine had a comparatively lower score. This showed that the respondents had confidence in modern medical care. Some of the respondents believed that traditional and spiritual medicine could a cure the disease. To this effect, centers were set up where patients receive traditional medicine coupled with spiritual healing in the form of verses of the Qur’an. This practice is referred to as dibbul-nabawi (Prophetic medicine).

The majority of respondents in this study viewed the victims of HIV/AIDS with sympathy and kindness. The reasons could be that in Islam the essence of brotherhood and good neighborliness is emphasized. Avoidance and hostility towards AIDS patients were expressed by 16% of the respondents. Their attitude towards of AIDS is negative; they reject and discriminate against people living with AIDS, thereby inflicting pain and stigma on them.

Conclusion

As the Ulama influence the opinion and attitude of many people in the community, and a number of their perceptions and beliefs on HIV/AIDS run counter to proven scientific findings, it is important that an HIV/AIDS control program should take them into account by organizing enlightenment programs aimed at educating and involving Ulama in the prevention and handling of HIV/AIDS victims. Where the perceptions of the Ulama agree with those based on scientific principles, these can be put to good use in mass mobilizing against the disease.

Recommendations

1. There should be an advocacy and managerial capacity building for Islamic religious sector organizations by technical and implementation partners to provide services in HIV/AIDS and to ensure sustainability and efficiency of programs.
2. Development of a strategic action plan and guidelines for advocacy to religious leaders should be in place to ensure and maintain sustainability and efficiency of the program.
3. Support should be rendered to Centers of Excellence (such as the teaching hospitals) where Islamic and modern curricula should be integrated to replicate, share experiences, and integrated health education.
4. Islamic organizations that embark on community sensitization should be encouraged to keep records of their activities for future reference by their successors, so as to maintain and improve on the standards.
5. There should be joint collaborative activities between Islamic religious organization leaders and government and non-governmental organization to maximize the expected outcome of mass mobilization and health education on HIV/AIDS related issues.

References

Ali, A. Y. (1992). The meaning of the holy Qur’an. Brentwood, MD: Amana Corporation.

Berkow, J. (1973). Muslims and Maguzawa in North Central State, Nigeria: An ethnographic comparison. Canadian Journal of African Studies, 7(1), pp. 56-76.

Cockerham, W. C. (1998). Medical sociology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Freidrich, M. et al (DATE). KAP of HIV in Tanga community.

Georges, T., Buykx, M. & Beelan, N. (2004). “Faith-based responses and opportunities for a multisectoral approach. The Sexual Exchange, 4(6), pp. 1-4.

Human Rights Watch. Political Shari’a? Human rights and Islamic law in Northern Nigeria. Human Rights Watch, 16(9A).

IWHC Publication. (1994). Challenging the culture of silence: Building alliances to end reproductive tract infection. University of West Indies.

Kugle, S. S. (2003). Sexuality, diversity and ethics in the agenda of progressive Muslims. in Progressive Muslims From One World Publication.

Lwanga S. & Lemeshow, S. Sample size determination in health studies. A Practical Manual, 199, pp. 23-30.

Magaji, A. (1996). Hausa culture and the acquired immunity deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In Federation of Muslim Women in Nigeria (FOMWAN), The report of the training on reproductive health organized.

Mundingo, A. I. (1995). Men’s roles, sexuality and reproductive health. In International lecture series on population issues. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

National Population Commission. (1999). National census, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Official Gazette, 25. p. 16.

Nicholas, Kader, & Dankyau. (2004). The role of faith based organizations in Africa. The Sexual Health Exchange, 5(6), pp. 18-28.

Schofield, C. B. S. (1979). Sexually transmitted diseases. London, England: Churchill Livingstone.

Siddiqui, K. (1984). Unwitting Ulama play clergy’s game. In Issues in the Islamic movement, London, England: The Open Press Ltd.

Shea, P. (1983). Approaching the study of production in rural Kano. Studies in the history of Kano. Heinemann Educational Books, Nigeria Ltd.

Sondra, Z. & Moore, K. (Eds.). (1996). Learning about sexuality.  A practical beginning. New York, NY: The Population Council, International Women’s Health Coalition.

The Holy Bible: Containing the old and new Testaments, The Gideon’s International, 1974 Edition., National Bible Press.

UNAIDS. (2004). Global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

UNAIDS/World Health Organization AIDS. (2004). Epidemic update 2004.

Yusuf, B. (1996). Hausa traditional practices and women’s reproductive health. The report of the training on reproductive health organized by federation of Muslim women in Nigeria.

Baffa Aliyu Umar

Immunization is just one part of the concerted campaign of the primary health care program in Nigeria. Over the years, there have been serious concerns and public campaigns on child immunization in Nigeria (Federal of Ministry of Health, 1988). Improved child health is one of the indicators of socioeconomic advancement and quality of life. For many decades, Nigeria, like other sub-Saharan countries, has been recording high morbidity and mortality as a result of the six killer diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, measles, whooping cough, and poliomyelitis (United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 1990, 1993, 1994; Umar, 2004, 2006). Other similar critical health conditions and outcomes include cholera, malaria, and cerebral spinal meningitis (CSM).The incidence and prevalence of these diseases are largely due to communicable and infectious conditions. Poor sanitation, poverty, and ignorance can all play a role in facilitating occurrences of these diseases. The fatalities associated with these diseases and associated child-health developments are regrettably preventable (Umar, 2004). Both addressing the diseases as well as working with the population to promote behaviors that will aid in preventing these diseases will be some of the major health challenges for many decades to come.

In 1990, the rate of child mortality was 87/1000 (National Population Commission, 1990). In 2003, the child mortality rate was 100/1000 (National Population Commission, 2004). Still, the rate of mortality for child killer diseases in Nigeria is high, with 109/1000 (UNFPA, 2007). Over the years, there have been mixed records of successes and failures in access, coverage, and service provision on immunization (Babaniyi, 1990; Uplekar, Rangan, & Ogden, 1999; Federal of Ministry of Health, 1988; National Population Commission, 1990; Bondi & Alhaji, 1992). The rates of killer diseases fluctuate and services falter over the years. In Nigeria, an impressive 80% success rate was achieved in 1990 due to political advocacy. Later rates kept decreasing, with progressive decline (UNICEF, 1994). Independent research confirms the decline in coverage and access (Cairo Conference Paper, 1994)., Across all economic levels in Nigeria, there are more full immunizations for the one-year-olds among the richest 20% than the poorest 20%; this socioeconomic-based disparity holds true for both infant and under-five mortality rates as well (Human Development Report, 2006). Measles, though, remains one of the seriously debilitating diseases that still persists and is even obstinately becoming widespread in many places (Umar, 2004). Pockets of polio, likewise, are stubbornly resisting eradication in many countries in Africa. House to house campaigns to immunize children against polio are being intensified, amid heated controversy over the efficacy and safety of the polio vaccine that has trailed the vaccination exercise in some states in northern Nigeria (Umar, 2006). The health education campaign involves the methods and skills of counselling used by the health personnel to make mothers and pregnant women more accepting of vaccination services. The process also involves the use of posters, manuals, lessons, graphic illustrations, media advertisements, and demonstration. The focus of the immunization campaign is on the mother, as the principal actor in managing the health of the child. Huge sums of Naira are being spent to sustain the immunization campaign because the role of the mother is critical in

• Accepting the concept of immunization;
• Becoming motivated to accept immunization to her healthy child, even though there are no visible symptoms of any disease;
• Taking the child to the clinic in spite of demands of household chores, market days and informal domestic production;
• Sourcing money to visit hospital or clinic, especially for those who reside far away from immunization centers; and
• Seeking permission from her husband to immunize her child and get vaccination shots for tetanus toxoid if she is pregnant (Umar, 2004, 2006).

Studies on immunization concentrate on organizational problems (Blum & Philips, 1986). Other researchers such as the National Fertility Survey (NFS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have focused only on profiles of target groups and not on beneficiaries of the health service. The central position of the mother in immunization processes is certain. Unfortunately, it has been observed that the mother is not given credible attention in integrating her opinion in order to yield successful vaccination exercises; her views on immunization are not sought. Health campaigns give emphasis on the following instructions and directives on immunization; the mother is not a party to decisions on immunizations. As observed by Umar (2006, p. 118): “By far one of the major weaknesses of immunization program is the way the feelings, wishes, aspiration and interest of the mother as the principal agent in vaccination campaign are not well represented.”

This article examines the relationships between child immunization, health care utilization and culture, family structure, income, sex differentials, and maternal education. Variables, as factors that vary, are some of the aspects of a phenomenon that can be associated with health care utilization. Examples and cases are drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Bangladesh, India, China, Sri Lanka, and North and sub-Saharan Africa in general.

Culture, Mother and Immunization

One of the generally comprehensive definitions of culture is given by Taylor (1958) who sees culture as a complex whole representing the entire entities that constitute the life of a community. Culture is socially learned. It emanates from and, is shared in a particular social context. Other anthropologists such as Boaz (1940) and Kroeber (1958) see culture from different angles. Boaz’s conception of culture focuses on, among other things, the conceptual analysis and relationship of race and culture. Kroeber, on the other hand, views culture as a complex system of symbols of patterned relationships with no clear influence from external factors, like geography.

The renowned anthropologist Radcliffe Brown (1952), links patterned culture with individual behavior, based on the way simple societies mold and condition a person’s attitude and behavior within the context of norms, values and traditional beliefs. A more recent commentary on culture by Hammel (1990) starts by criticizing the way sociologists look at culture. For him, “the ‘sociologist’ pursues arguments that focus on the institutional context of culture broadly conceived, but without attention to the connection between institutions and the behavior of individual actors.” As a result, “sociologist(s)… underplay the agency of actors in the construction of culture” (Hammel, 1990, p. 456). But actors in the process of interaction can perceive, interpret, and help construct culture.

Hammel (1990, p. 475) views culture as providing “The agency (through which) individuals (are) using behavior as symbols selected from a repertoire that has some coherence and endures overtime, but that is created and maintained by patterns of selection by actors as well as by innovation.” At a more abstract level,

The concept of culture as a transitory and negotiated set of understandings is the view that behavior is controlled by its’ own symbolization. It is the evaluative behaviors of actors, playing unceasing mediations as themes provided by their current cultural stock, that creates and recreates as a constantly modified and elaborated system of moral symbols. (Hammel, 1990, p.467 )

Culture then is a “commodity of perception” that develops between interacting actors. As the culture is “continually created in the process of interaction,” the network of the cultural system is facilitated and sustained by the actors themselves, through the “agency” of participatory role.

By this process, the actors operationally “…select behavioral alternatives, balancing and choosing those they think will minimize moral risk and maximize moral gain” (Hammel, 1990, p. 467), like in the case of a mother deciding to patronize immunization services or not. In this vein

Social action can be seen as guided by the statement of actors to one another about behavior in general and in particular; the actors are “members of the same culture” means that they share in some degree of the same evaluative discourse. (Hammel, 1990, p. 469)

It is obvious that culture represents an important part of an individual’s everyday life. The attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and traditions symbolize the complex whole that represents the cultural system of a given people. The health sub-sector is one of the other units that are greatly influenced by the cultural practices of the society. A society’s conception of health, ill health, and diseases are associated with the cultural standards operative in the society. This underpins the popular conception of the nature and cure of a particular disease—e.g. in traditional, alternative, or complementary medicine. In certain cases, cultural practices can influence an individual’s perception of even modern medicine, e.g. vaccination.

The mother is an important factor in the immunization process. The mother, as a member of the family, interacts with other women in the household and the community in general. The cultural system of the community mediates the nature of the interaction between the actors. Over time the interacting actors develop their ideas about immunization as it pertains to their health and that of their children. This kind of perception endures over time. The cultural understanding of immunization is thus constructed, as it were. The mothers, as actors may evaluate and select possible options on the way they would consider modern immunization. They may have to “negotiate a set of understanding on the ‘moral symbol’ of immunization services” as Hammel puts it. The options on behavioral alternatives on the use of immunization by the mothers are continuously considered. The mother evaluates the moral risk of adopting modern immunization as well as its perceived moral gain. The social interactions between the actors guide their actions in considering what to do. This is based on the assumption that the cultural orientation of mothers has an association with their opinions and actions in regards to immunization.

Culture and Health Care Use

Obermeyer (1993) looked at the socioeconomic, cultural, and demographic factors to explain differences in maternal health care use in Tunisia and Morocco. She found a substantial difference in the use of prenatal care and home versus hospital birth. She raised the question whether low utilization of medical facilities was a function of the low status of (mothers) women. From the samples, Tunisian women are better educated in modern schooling systems and are more predisposed to using modern health systems than Moroccan women.

Using the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) for Morocco and Tunisia, she found variations in access to distribution of health services, and the status of women. In all, the Tunisian women embrace more modern civil legislations than their Moroccan counterparts do. Obermeyer (1993) thus concludes that the “cultural norms concerning the status of women are at the root of different patterns of health care in the two countries.”

In the area of health care use, however, cultural factors constitute a mediating agency for mothers’ action rather than determining factors. She says:

The reluctance of many women to be delivering (in the hospital) is, in part, a function of their having neither ground for dissatisfaction with the traditional custom of home birth nor compelling motives to seek treatment from a stranger in a hospital. Cultural factors, therefore, appear not as major obstacles to better health, but rather as defining the normal course of action to be taken in the absence of compelling reasons to do otherwise. (Obermeyer, 1993)

This means that health care is a consequence of the strong need for going to the hospital. However, the way things are done culturally may influence the mother when there is no dire need to visit the hospital.

Obermeyer (1993) uses logistic regression analysis to determine the odd ratios (OR) for the probability of receiving prenatal care and delivering in a hospital. In line with Caldwells’ (1979) examination of Nigerian data, she found education to be a strong indicator of type and quality of maternal care. For instance, “in Tunisia, watching television weekly is associated with an increase in the likelihood of both prenatal care (OR = 1.85) and hospital delivery (OR = 1.64); with a similar, if slightly weaker correlation for Morocco [OR = 1.72 and 1.49, respectively]” (Obermeyer, 1993). Umar (2004) has documented similar findings on the relevance of exposure to the media, where the radio, as a major source of information on immunization, is associated with the level of exposure to knowledge on immunization services.

Provision of health care services is seen as largely a proximate determinant of declining mortality. However, with the provision of health services, there is no guarantee for its effective utilization (Basu, 1990); whenever there is disparity in healthcare provision, it is difficult to ascertain. This is possible because there are different bases for the use of the services under different conditions.

The literature on health matters generally looks at use of health services in developing countries as one of the main factors in reducing mortality. Studies by Nations (1985) demonstrate the critical role of health institutions in reducing morbidity, with some case examples from Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, and China. Other authorities in the field, like Caldwell (1986), have confirmed this.

In Nigeria, efforts are still being made to provide accessible healthcare facilities. They are still not enough. The ones available are largely concentrated in state capitals and large towns. Even then, there are disparities by region in awareness, availability, access, and health care utilization across the country (World Bank, 1995). Other logistics, notably transportation networks, impede access to some rural areas, where the majority of the people live. Moreover, the health care facilities available have been commercialized: hospitals have become consulting clinics, with patient paying user fees for cards, consultation and drugs (Alubo, 1990). As such, health care utilization is associated with other complex variables that influence the nature of access to and use of the services by the people.

Perhaps the only exception is immunization, where mothers and children receive “free” inoculation or house-to-house polio vaccination. As discussed elsewhere, even with this there is the problem of organization, logistics, and regular supply of vaccines (see NID’s, 1988; Blum & Phillips, 1986). Indeed, the availability of health care facilities may not be a strong determinant of its utilization. So, availability is a necessary, rather than a sufficient factor in health care use as can be seen the issue of vaccine availability, which even though available at certain times, is not by itself the most sufficient reason for the use of the vaccines (Umar, 2004, 2006). Other factors such as accessibility and transportation cost, seeking permission from the husband, influence from the source of information on immunization, etc. all contribute to determine utilization of immunization services (Umar, 2004, 2006).

Jain (1985) sees the decline infant mortality to be determined by the use of health care facilities in rural India. As reported by Basu (1989, 1990), other studies such as the Narangwal study (Keilman and Associates, 1983) show that infant mortality in children up to 3 years of age was “reduced by about 40% in these experimental villages that received health care services” (Basu, 1990, p. 275).

While some of the petroleum-rich countries of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Libya have established state-of-the-art medical technologies to an extent comparable to the advanced countries, yet the problem of infant mortality is not so low as in the West (Caldwell, 1986). Middle Eastern countries have lower infant mortalities than sub-Saharan Africa. For Basu (1990), the “mere existence of health services is not enough.”

In another study in India, Nag (1983; cited in Basu, 1990) shows how in West Bengal, India, there is more economic development than in Kerala, also in India, but with a corresponding increase in infant mortality in comparison to the latter. This is because in Keralan health facilities are evenly spread and the literate women population is predisposed to using health facilities once they are available. In effect, sprawling economic development is not necessarily a factor in reducing infant mortality. The key to understanding the essential elements in health care use is to consider the cultural factors that may enhance or impede the health care utilization. The ability to make a remarkable impact on health matters and to make people accept health intervention is necessary for the program—in addition to taking into consideration “the lifestyle of the people” (Nations, 1985), and the attitude, behavior, and culture of the people. Marriot (1976) shows how the antecedents of local culture, which are mediated by religion, heritage, and social arrangements in the society, influence the social world of health and healing in India. To put it differently, modern medicine must contend with the local way of preventing, treating, and managing health problems.

For Basu (1990, p. 276), there is a “need to design services to suit the culture of a population and to seek to transform patterns of behavior or ideology that are detrimental to actual health maintenance.” Saunders (1954) has long identified the integral role of culture in health care management. Abiodun (1991) and Adeniyi (1991) have also echoed this theme.

Basu conducted an important study on the critical influence on health care use in two Indian regional groups. His research looks at cultural factors as the variables affecting “level and kind of utilization on health care services”. He as hypothesizes that cultural and regional identities are linked with practices, attitude, and knowledge associated with the use of health services. In short, socioeconomic factors do not determine cultural factors, but can modify them.

In Nigeria, it is clear that there are differing regional statistics on infant and maternal mortality in Nigeria (CCP, 1994). The statistics are higher in the North than in the South, comparatively. The underlying cultural factors, vis-à-vis health care utilization, play a role in the differences. In another study, Basu (1989), on the whole, shows that cultural practices may not be uniform by region.

The reductionism, which excludes the social and psychological components in health and illness, is under serious attack. This is because it precludes the basic social factors that can influence the medical condition of the human body. The social and psychological components, embedded in the cultural system of the people, should be incorporated into a more holistic approach to the study of man and illness. As advocated by Abiodun (1991, p. 95), “the holistic approach calls for an integrated use of data, concepts and techniques derived from biological, psychological and social modes of abstraction to explain human behavior and to study and treat all deviation from health in individuals.” Adeniyi (1991, p. 25) arguing from a sociocultural perspective observes that “it has been recognized that most states of health or ill health are intricately interwoven with the cultural system of people and that the ultimate control of any disease require clean understanding of peoples’ style, behaviors and their implications or health and ill health.”

Health services utilization is usually low in the rural setting, as such “there is need for a clear understanding of how (the rural people) perceive and define their health problems and how they seek to solve them” (Adeniyi, 1991, p. 25).

The human behavior as encapsulated in the cultural matrix of the society is expressed in the perception and choices of the values of the people. This is based on the cultural norms, which legitimates behavior on health and ill health.

Specifically, issues in cultural influence of health care use cover:

• Traditional belief about disease, custom, and type of treatment in use;
• The way a preconceived notion of traditional system of disease may preclude or impede proper acceptance of modern methods;
• Social norms and customs that accumulate for long to form a cultural impediment may be the reason for resisting modern method; and
• Utilizing modern health facility is also a habit; it takes time for the habit to be imbibed, internalized, and practiced, just like the traditional methods.

In an attempt to mobilize the local population for vaccination, local circumstances may create conditions for developing the best strategy for making the people participate. Hanks and Hanks (1976) reported this kind of problem in immunizing children in Thai Bang Chan’s community. In this community, the pattern of their response to call for immunization can be summarized as follows:

• Many of the people did not heed to the call for immunization because it coincides with heavy agricultural activities.
• Spreading information on vaccination through headmen was fairly effective. However, this is more effective when this is done through the local school. This carries more weight.
• Immunization campaign is more received when people are aware of threat and danger of an epidemic (Hanks & Hanks, 1976).
• This can be possible in a closely-knit community and where formal education is given serious consideration.

Family Structure and Child Health

This section focuses on the link between family structure and child health. The child is completely dependent on the parents and the general family unit. Some critical family factors facilitate or hinder proper health care for the child. The level of education of the mother, income level of the parents, child sex differentials, and opportunity for health care are all associated with the way parents, specifically a mother, treat child diseases. Empirical researchers show that family structure is strongly associated with child welfare and health. The family, as an important constituent of production and consumption, provides the needed resources for the upkeep of the child, health-wise. The extended family provides the aegis upon which social and health care are facilitated in the household. However, there are varying research findings on child outcome (Desai, 1992).

Scholars from Pennsylvania State University and Demographic and Health Surveys, and Macro International present an important relationship between household structure and childhood immunization in Niger and Nigeria (Gage, Elizabeth, & Piani, 1997). They analyzed the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Niger (1992) and Nigeria (1990). The work of Gage, Elizabeth, and Piani is relevant to this research. Their analysis posits that household structure is an important determinant of childhood immunization. As such a rather detailed account of their analysis will be given.

Gage et al.’s research was guided by the following hypothetical assumptions:

• The availability of extended family members in a household provides a child with greater access to health care;
• The effects of family structure on child health are attenuated by economic factors;
• The child is the unit of analysis for their research; and
• The explanatory variables for the research are: household structure, region, economic status, and selected characteristics of the child and the mother.

The structure of the household is divided into: (a) Elementary household (a variant of nuclear family) and (b) Extended household (with parents, biological children, other family members and non-relatives).

The elementary household is subdivided into: (a) Single parent family, which consists of a head and biological children only, (b) Nuclear family with head, one spouse and biological children only, and (c) Polygamous family with a head, spouses with biological children only.

The extended household is further divided into: (a) Three generational family including parents and parents-in -law of the household head, and even grand children and (b) Laterally extended households, with primary siblings, cousins, and relations of the head. This classification was done to incorporate the variant cultural patterns in households.

Children by Type of Family Formation

The findings of the research by Gage et al, (1997), show that in both Niger and Nigeria there are smaller percentages of single parent families. They have fewer problems of pre-marital childbearing and separation as compared to the West. Sixty percent of children studied come from elementary homes, with about 40% coming from three generational and laterally extended families. In all, most of the children come from nuclear type of elementary household. Given the fact that “nuclear households are clearly the most common type of living arrangement among rural and urban children in Nigeria…at least two-fifths of Nigerian children are found in these households” (Gage et al., 1997).

Extended families are more prevalent in Niger than in Nigeria; the children have a strong probability of living in three-generational, extended households for the rural areas and laterally extended households for the urban centers, respectively. This structure, they argue, is more evident in Niger than in Nigeria. This data suggest that the constituent social context of family structure may inform the nature or even use of immunization services.

Family Formation and Immunization Coverage in Niger and Nigeria

Niger and Nigeria have some of the lowest immunization coverage (Gage et al., 1997; UNICEF, 2001, 2002), as is the case with many sub-Saharan African countries. This suggests a problem of use, compliance, or immunization coverage. Using the data to comment on immunization coverage Gage et al. (1997, p. 301) observed that “only 17% of children in Niger and 30% of those in Nigeria have received all the recommended vaccines” and an “additional 25% of children in Niger and 32% in Nigeria have received an incomplete set of immunization”

…in rural Nigeria, coverage levels for all types of vaccinations are lower for children from elementary polygamous and nuclear households compared to those from three-generational and laterally extended households; in urban areas of Nigeria, the lowest coverage rate is seen for elementary polygamous households (35.7% have received all vaccinations), followed by three- generational households and nuclear households. Children from laterally extended families have the highest coverage rates: 62.3% are fully immunized. (Gage et al., 1997, p. 301)

Gage et al. strongly observe that: “There are no significant effects of family structure on the likelihood of full immunization in rural urban Niger;” and that “Household structure has stronger effects on children’s chances of full immunization.”

Using complex and various statistical techniques (chi square, multivariate, bivariate, covariance, and finally, logistic regression), the study determined the odds ratio and predicted probabilities of being immunized.

Specifically, Gage et al., find that “In rural areas, children from nuclear and three-generational households show higher odds of full immunization than those from laterally extended households;” and that “In urban areas, nuclear and three generational households are negatively associated with odds of full immunization.”

Based on the above, irrespective of type of residence and economic status, a mother’s education is strongly significant in predicting possibility for full immunizations, and:

…in rural areas, the bivariate analysis shows that the odds of full vaccination coverage or children living in three–generational households (are not as in) laterally extended households. The chance of being fully immunized…is significantly lower for children living in nuclear and elementary polygynous households than for those from laterally extended households. (Gage et al., 1997, pp. 301-302)

The findings show that, economic status cannot wholly explain household differences in full immunization, especially for the elementary polygynous family; the education of the mother is a stronger variable than economic status in determining a child’s odds of complete immunization.

The theoretical premise of Gage et al.’s study is based on the emerging theoretical consideration that children from extended families are better off than those from nuclear-based households. Ordinarily, one would argue otherwise. One would expect few children from nuclear families to be predisposed to better family well-being. The family resources would be enough to cater for the few children. Conversely, a large number of children in extended families may struggle to receive care and attention from the limited pool of family resources. As argued by Gage et al. (1997) the analysis of data from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) shows that extended households have more amenities and possessions than nuclear households, citing Gage et al. (1996) and Lloyds (1995), to indicate support of data coming from most of sub-Saharan Africa, Cameroon, and Egypt. The research of Murthy, Narayana, Vijayaraghavan, and Pralhad (1985) in India, and Dasgupta, Weatherbie, and Mukhopadhyay (1993) in South East Asia show that higher economic status is associated with extended households than nuclear ones. The bottom line for this thesis is that there are more resources in extended families than in nuclear ones. By extension, as research from United States shows, economic resources in the household are associated with child outcomes (Genonimus, Korenman, & Hillemeier, 1994).

A similar definite conclusion has not been drawn for sub-Saharan Africa. Also, “little is known about linkages between household structure, socioeconomic status, and health seeking behavior” (Gage et al., 1997). Equally, little is known on how the household families operationally mediate to determine child health outcomes.

Gugler and Flanagan (1978) explain how extended families experience a great deal of stress and strain due to the impact of industrialization and urbanization in Africa. But, by and large, the general pool of resources at the disposal of the extended family members predisposes the opportunity for enhancing the wellbeing of the members.

Again as succinctly argued,

One benefit of living in an extended household is that the presence of several adults in the household may contribute to an environment in which health services are used more effectively than in the nuclear household. The smaller size of nuclear households, therefore, may be a critical factor in their lower levels of immunization coverage… (Gage et al., 1997, pp. 302-303)

Gage et al.’s research is ambitious with elaborate statistical analysis. The findings have strengthened the existing knowledge on relevance of family structure on immunizations. The authors have accepted their limitation namely, inadequate variable measurement of living standard as an index of economic status. Also, the measurement was done before the time of vaccination.

Based on this they recommend that “…certainly, the analysis would be strengthened by the inclusion of other dimensions of household’s economic status such as consumption or income level, economic assistance, mother’s earnings, and the internal distribution of resources within households” (Gage et al. 1997, p. 307).

The Family, Income and Health

The economic variable of income is certainly one of the main factors that facilitate understanding of the proximate predisposing elements to living condition. Desai (1992) gives a persuasive presentation on family structure and risk to the child in West Africa and Latin America. There are ambivalent research findings on the relationship between income and child nutrition. The research findings are predicated on the fact that “the income or social class of parents is frequently used to index children’s access to resources” (Desai, 1992).

Thus, it is expected that lower income parents would give less health care than higher income families. However, there are now varying perspectives on the link between income and health care. Alderman (1990) finds a positive correlation between income and health; while Ravallion (1990) establishes a moderate correlation between the two variables. Others, such as Wolfe and Behrman (1983) and Berhman and Deolalikir (1987), found a weak relation between the two variables.

Based on the above, Desai argued that different research designs might account for the inconsistencies in the findings in Ghana, South India, etc. Still, the research findings did not show the vulnerability of children in relation to household income in a cultural context. Thus, we need further understanding of “intra household resource allocation” and differing access to “productive resources”. Drawing data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of Ghana, Mali, and Senegal in West Africa as well as from Columbia, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic in Latin America, Desai examined the children who are at risk, given particular income levels and family structures. Desai (1992, p. PAGE) concludes: “if women and children provide much of the food and other subsistence items for themselves, then there is little reason to assume that, at any given level of paternal income, children in polygynous families will have access to fewer resources than children in monogamous families.” Murthy et al. (1985) shows how in Andhra Pradesh children in extended families are nutrition-wise better off than those in nuclear families. This indirectly supports the research of Gage et al. (1997) on household structure and immunization in Nigeria and Niger.

In our rural areas, married women work extra time on the farm to harvest, process, cut firewood, cook the food, and engage in other income generating activities to augment the family’s income. Thus, there is a potential for further supporting the health of the child where the husband fails. This is especially more certain where there is a social network of extended ties in the corporate household. As Gage et al. (1997) comment, social network provides an avenue for transmitting information on immunization. However, little is known about the social processes of exchange of information and networking on immunization in the community. This is an area for future research.

Sex Differentials and Child Health

The demographic factor of health is an essential factor in the gender of the population, and cultural elements associated with it underline the basis for health development. It is not uncommon to hear that a family values male more than female children. And, in the context of sociocultural socialization, the social psychology of the girl child is conditioned to reflect certain standards to a greater degree than the males. Males are seen by many as economic assets and heirs. This is evident in the places where the family depends on working on the farm draw their lineage from the male side and residence and authority is based on a patriarchal set up.

Based on an analysis of Bangladesh Matlab Demographic Surveillance System, Muhuri and Preston (1991) found discrimination against girls as parents maneuver to cope with child survival strategy. Similar findings in India have been shown by Dasgupta (1987). In Matlab, which is regarded as a famous research area on population, fertility, and health, it has been found that male children have more chances of being brought to the hospital than female children. This is even after a free diarrhea treatment has been offered (Chen, Huq, & Souza, 1981). Also following the submission of Basu (1989), previous works by Caldwell (1983) have found that in rural south India male children twice as likely to be taken to the hospital as females. Still in India, Das Gupta (1987) shows how male children are more favored and girls discriminated against; this practice has existed for decades. This selective discrimination tends to worsen the social, economic, and health position of females. Basu (1989) has cautioned that these discriminations are not uniform by region. By extension, this kind of sex differential in regard to access to health care is an area that should be given consideration in research. This is especially necessary because we are witnessing an increase in abuse and neglect of the child, especially the female.

Maternal Education and Child Health

It has become obvious now that mothers’ education is a proximate determinant of child health (Gage et al., 1997). Across cultures, many researchers have confirmed the relationship between enhanced health and acquisition of educational skills by mothers. Muhuri (1995) studied the extent to which differentials in mortality are associated with a mother’s education. Levine et al, (1991) indicates that maternal schooling is a predictor of reduction in fertility and risk in child survival. In addition, husbands’ education is a predictor of fertility reduction, but with no direct linkage with health care variables. As a result of the division of labor, the wife takes more care of the child. Again, educated women take their children to the hospital more often.

For Gage et al. (1997) even socioeconomic variables may not be stronger than education in enhancing the care for child immunization. And, in particular, “mothers education increases the odds of immunization by about 80%” in Niger and Nigeria (Gage et al.,).

Data from the Millennium Development Goals (2006) show that “higher household income and education for mothers double chances for child survival” (United Nations, 2006, p. 13). Already, education is a proximate determinant of reduction in child mortality rates (CCP, 1994). With higher educational status of mothers, there would be lower rates in child mortality.

Many health experts see education as one of the factors influencing health condition. In other words, the lower the level of formal education of mothers the higher is child mortality. Education is a mediating factor that enables and empowers the mother to learn how to take care of her children. (Umar, 2004, p. 9)

Research on child immunization has shown that though mothers are central agents in immunization, they have a low level of formal education; however, they have exposure and knowledge on vaccinations through media advertisements (Umar, 2004). Thus, mothers’ positive perception on immunization may not necessarily be attributed to their education, but to their exposure to available knowledge on immunization. By implication, other sources of information on immunization, other than through formal schooling, can serve to enhance the quality of knowledge in the area. Hence, further research is needed to focus not on education per se, but on sources of information (e.g. media, health campaign, drama, interactions) that can enhance health attitude.

Conclusion

As the business of child vaccination in developing countries is complex, so is the influence of the mechanics and realities of background variables of sex, sociocultural factors, income, and education on usage. The interplay of these factors is closely associated with health care utilization. The nature and structure of the family plays a critical role in the immunization process. However, more research is needed in the areas of communication and networks of social relationships as possible influencers of immunization.

 References

Abiodun, O. A. (1991). The need for a holistic approach to patient. Postgraduate Doctor, 13(4), 95-97.

Adeniyi, J. D. (1991). The health problems of rural dwellers: A social-cultural perspective. Medicine Today – A Journal of Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention, 1(3), 25-29.

Alderman, H. (1990). Nutritional status in Ghana and its determinants: Social dimension of adjustment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Social Dimensions of Structural Adjustment in Sub-Saharan Africa, (Working Paper No. 3). Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Alubo, S. O. (1990). Doctoring as business: A study of entrepreneurial medicine in Nigeria. Medical Anthropology, 12, 305-24.

Babaniyi, O. (1990). A 10-year review of morbidity from childhood preventable diseases: How successful is the expanded program on immunization (EPI)? An update. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 36, 306-313.

Basu, A. M. (1989a). Is discrimination in food really necessary for explaining sex differences in childhood mortality. Population Studies, 43(2), 193-210.

Basu, A. M. (1989b). Cultural influences on healthcare use in India. Studies in Family Planning, 21, 275-286.

Behrman, J. R. & Deolalikar, A. (1987). Will developing countries’ nutrition improve with income: A case study of rural South India. Journal of Political Economy, 95, 492-507.

Blum, D. & Phillips, M. (1986). An assessment of expanded program on immunization in Nigeria. New York, NY.

Boaz, F. (1940). Race, language and culture. New York, NY: Free Press.

Bondi, F.S. & Alhaji, M.A. (1992). The E. P. I. in Bornu State, Nigeria: Impact on routine disease notification and hospital admissions. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 95, pp. 373 – 381.

Cairo Conference Paper (CCP). (1994). Nigeria concept paper for international conference on population and development ICPD. Cairo. Egypt.

Caldwell, J. C. (1979). Education as a factor in mortality decline: An examination of Nigerian data. Population Studies, 33(3), pp. 395-414.

Caldwell, J. C. (1986). Routes to low mortality in poor countries. Population and Development Review, 12(2), pp. 171-220.

Caldwell, J.C., Reddy, P.H. & Caldwell, P. (1983). The social component of mortality decline: An investigation in South India employing alternative methodologies. Population Studies, 2, pp. 185-206.

Chen, L.C., Huq, E., & Souza, S. D. (1981). Sex biases in the family allocation of food and health care in rural Bangladesh. Population and Development Review, 7(1), pp. 55-70.

Dasgupta, M. (1987). Selective discrimination against female children in India. Population and Development Review, 13(1), 77-100.

Dasgupta, S., Weatherbie, C., & Mukhopadhyay, R.S.. (1993). Nuclear and joint family households in West Bengal villages’ ethnology xxxii (4): 339-58 cited in Gage et al 1997, 297 Demography vol. 34 No. 2, May 1997 295-300.

Desai, S. (1992). Child at risk: The role of family structure in Latin America and West Africa. Population and Development Review, 18(4), pp. 689-718.

Federal of Ministry of Health. (1988). NID’S, National Immunization Day’s: The Nigerian Experience. Lagos.

Federal Office of Statistics. (1990). Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys, NDHS. NDHS, Lagos.

Gage, A. J., Elizabeth, S., & Piani, A. L. (1996). Household structure and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Demography and Child Health Surveys Analytical Reports, 1, pp. PAGES. Calverton, M.D. Macro International Incorporated.

Gage, A. J., Elizabeth, S., & Piani, A. L. (1997). Household structure and immunization in Niger and Nigeria. Demography, 34(2),pp. 295-300.

Genonimus, A. T., Korenman, S., & Hillemeier, M. M. (1994). Does young maternal age adversely affect child development? Evidence from cousin comparisons in the United States. Population and Development Review, 20, pp. 585-609.

Gugler, J. & Flanagan, W. (1978). Urbanization and social change in West Africa. London, England: Cambridge University Press.

Hammel, E. A. (1990). A theory of culture for demography. Population and Development Review, 16(3).

Hanks, L.M. Jr. & Hanks, J. R. (1976). Diphtheria immunization in a Thai community. In B. D. Paul, (Ed.), Health, Culture and Community. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Jain, A. K. (1995). Determinants of regional variation in infant mortality in rural India. Population Studies, 39(3).

Kasl, S.A. & Cobb, S. (1966). Health behavior, illness behavior and sick role behavior. Arch Environ Health, 12, pp. 246-266.

Keilman and Associates. (1983). Child and maternal health services in rural India: The Narangwal experiment. Baltimore, MD and London, England: The John Hopkins University Press.

Kroeber, A. L. & Parsons, T. (1958). The concepts of cultural and social system. American Sociological Review, 23, pp. 582-583.

Levine, R. et al. (1991). Women’s schooling and childcare in the demographic transition: A Mexican case study. Population and Development Review, 17(3), pp. 459-496.

Lloyd, C. B. (1995). Household structure and poverty: What are the connections? (Working Paper No. 74). The Population Council Research Division.

Marriot, M. (1976). Western medicine in a village of Northern Indian. In B.D Paul. (Ed.), Health, Culture and Community. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Muhuri, P, K. & Preston, S. H. (1991). Effects on mortality differential by sex among children in Matlab Bangladesh. Population and Development Review, 17(3), pp. 415-434.

Muhuri, P. K. (1995). Health programs, maternal education and differential child mortality in Matlab Bangladesh. Population and Development Review, 21(4), pp. 415-434.

Murthy, P.S., Narayana, T., Vijayaraghavan, R. K., & Pralhad, N.R. (1985). Nutritional profile of joint and nuclear families in rural Andhra Pradesh. Journal of Family Welfare, 32(3), pp. 80-87, Cited in Gage, A. J., Elizabeth, S. and Piani, A. L. (1997) “Household Structure and Immunisation in Niger and Nigeria” Demography, Vol. 34, No. 2, May, 295-300.

National Population Commission. (2004). Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys, NDHS, 2003. Abuja.

Nations, M. K. (1985). Consideration of cultural factors in child health. In W. Halstead & K. S. Warren (Eds.), Good Health at Low Cost. New York, NY: The Rockefeller Foundation.

Obermeyer, C. M. (1993). Culture, maternal healthcare, and women’s status: A comparison of Morocco and Tunisia. Studies in Family Planning, 24(6), pp. 354-365.

Radcliffe, B. (1952). Structure and function in primitive society. London, England: Cohen and West.

Ravallion, M. (1990). Income effect on nutrition. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 38(4), pp. 489-515.

Taylor, E. B. (1958). The origins of culture. New York, NY: Longman.

Umar, B. A. (2004). A sociological study on the use of child immunization in Warawa and Dawakin Kudu local government areas in Kano State (Doctoral thesis, Bayero University, Kano).

Umar, B. A. (2006). Child immunization: Muslim reactions in Northern Nigeria. Kano: International Institute of Islamic Thought.

UNFPA. (2007). State of World Population 2007, Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Systems.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (1990). First call for children: Convention on rights of the child/world declaration on the survival, protection and development of children.

UNICEF. (1993). The state of world’s children 1993. London, England: Oxford University Press.

UNICEF. (1994). The state of world’s children 1994. London, England: Oxford Further Education College Press.

UNICEF. (2001). The state of world’s children 2001. New York, NY.

UNICEF. (2002). The state of world’s children 2002, New York, NY.

United Nations Development Program. (2006). Human Development Report 2006 Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis. (2006). New York.

United Nations. (2006). The millennium development goals report, 2006. New York, NY.

Uplekar, M., Rangan, S., & Ogden, J. (1999). Gender and tuberculosis control: Toward a strategy for research and control: Draft strategy paper for communicable disease control, prevention and eradication. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

Wolfe, B. & Behrman, J. R. (1983). Is income overrated in determining adequate nutrition? Economic Development and Cultural Change, 31, pp. 492-507.

Baffa A. Umar and Mustapha M. Namadi

The National Program on Immunization is part of an international health scheme under the Primary Health Care (PHC) in Nigeria. The program was undertaken by the Nigerian government and ably supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other agencies to immunize children against the six killer diseases: diphtheria, measles, pertussis whooping cough, poliomyelitis, tetanus, and tuberculosis; and to immunize pregnant women with tetanus toxoid to protect infants against neo-natal tetanus (Umar, 2004, 2006; Federal of Ministry of Health, 1988; Blum & Phillips, 1986; UNICEF, 1983; 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002). Immunization refers to the process and effect of producing immunity in children and pregnant mothers by administering attenuated vaccines. The child killer diseases are deadly, but preventable. If not controlled, the diseases can affect vulnerable and susceptible children with irrevocable consequences of mortality and morbidity.

Currently, Nigeria has one of the highest infant mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa and particularly in West Africa, with 109/1000 live births (UNFPA, 2007). It is a paradox that this high death rate is prevalent despite Nigeria’s rich resource base as compared to lower rates in other countries with poor economic conditions, for instance, Guinea 97/1000, Senegal 79/1000, Togo 80/1000, and Mauritania 89/1000 (UNFPA, 2007, p. 87).

In fact, in Nigeria the problem of infant mortality due to the child killer diseases has been fluctuating as the health care provision and utilization faltered due to a number of problems (Blum & Philip, 1986; Federal of Ministry of Health, 1988; Babaniyi, 1990). Some of the problems include: (a) poor diseases notification system, (b) absence of sentinel surveillance system on monitoring the impact of diseases, (c) concentrating on vaccination for those over 1 year old, (d) unsatisfactory vaccine targeting, and (e) inadequate immunization coverage (Babaniyi, 1990). Already a record 80% immunization coverage against the child killer diseases was achieved in 1990 due to improvement in health delivery and political advocacy (Bondi & Alhaji, 1992). Still, a decline in immunization coverage was later experienced (UNICEF, 1994).

The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2006 indicates that “three out of four children are protected against measles, which still kills close to half a million children each year” (United Nations, 2006, p. 13). While “more children are surviving their first years of life [but] sub-Saharan Africa trails far behind” in the drive towards the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (United Nations, 2006, p. 12). It is becoming clear that sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria in particular are lagging behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More needs to be done to attain the prescribed MDGs targets of eliminating preventable child diseases (Okonofua, 2005; United Nations, 2006).

In the family system, parents want their children to survive and to stay healthy. Therefore, it is expected that they would use all necessary means to ensure the survival of their children. The non-use of immunization services, then, suggests a problem. Non-use of immunization refers to the inability and/or refusal to utilize immunization services because of personal or other extraneous factors. Use of immunization refers to the acceptance and use of immunization services due to certain reasons. It also covers understanding, recognizing, and considering vaccination as the appropriate measure to prevent the six child killer diseases. There are complex factors that can facilitate acceptance, usage, or rejection of modern immunization by mothers or pregnant women, as is with the case with health utilization in general (Erinosho, 1998). Still, other factors are associated with use/non-use of immunization services. There are socio-cultural, economic, spatial (space/distance to a clinic), health, and religious factors associated with vaccination (Umar, 2004, 2006). It is important to identify these factors. The key variables on immunization usage are awareness, education, perception of mothers, and availability of vaccines. Other variables that are connected to immunization are:

• mothers’ proximity to the clinic,
• husbands’ influence,
• available money for clinic visits,
• poor consultation with mothers on immunization,
• social perception of immunization as a strategy for family planning, and
• side-effects of immunization.

This study focuses on mothers of children under five years old and pregnant/married women aged (15-45 years) who are the principal agents in childcare and immunization in the family.

Literature Review

The literature on patient compliance, which is associated with “usage,” indicates a connection to many factors. First, there is disparity in compliance in economically developed and developing countries. There are more cases of non-compliance with medical prescription in developing countries (Fraser, 1985). However, there are more chances for full compliance in cases with single-drug treatment; though there is an obvious difficulty in compliance as prescribed doses per day increase. When medical complications deteriorate, patients comply with medical prescriptions.

The literature in the health field, especially empirical findings, has demonstrated the positive and direct link between education and utilization of health services (Cairo Conference Paper, 1994; Caldwell, 1979; Muhuri, 1995; Levine, 1991). Using Nigerian data, Caldwell (1979) found that in addition it is a factor in mortality decline. Similar data from Matlab Bangladesh have further confirmed this relationship (Muhuri, 1995). Levine, (1991) indicates that mothers’ schooling is a predictor of risks to a child’s survival in Mexico. In Nigeria, differentials in maternal mortality across regions are attributable to disparities in education. For instance, because of differences in education, there are more maternal mortalities in the north than in the south of Nigeria; between mothers with little education and no education as well as between mothers in rural and urban centers (Cairo Conference Paper, 1994). Obermeyer (1993), in a comparative study of differential maternal care in Tunisia and Morocco, used logistic regression to determine the odds ratio and probability of utilizing prenatal services and hospital delivery. Like Caldwell (1979), she found education to be a strong factor in type and quality of maternal health care. In fact, higher formal education varies with improved health care utilization. Thus, as expected, there would be improved immunization as the mother is more educated. While this remains valid, Umar (2004, 2006), confirming Obermeyer (1993), found that both exposure to information on immunization through the radio and the availability of vaccines play a critical role in facilitating immunization. Other essential factors that play a key mediating role in supporting immunization are perception and education. The perceptual mind-set of mothers is central to making vaccination acceptable (Umar, 2004, 2006). Positive evaluation of outcomes of immunization, coupled with sustained motivation to prevent the occurrence of the six killer diseases, facilitates maternal acceptance of immunization. There are still other important factors in the background that may be associated with the entire process of immunization: proximity to the clinic, husbands’ influence, fear of potential side-effects, suspicion of family planning, and available funds for clinic visits.

Researchers are now looking beyond mere direct socialization influences to focus on multiple factors in maternal parenting that may be responsible for the child’s outcome (Kochanska, Aksan, Knack, & Rhines, 2004). Specifically, on immunization, Gage, Elizabeth, & Piani (1997) used Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Niger (1992) and Nigeria (1990) and presented an important link between household structure and childhood immunization in Niger and Nigeria. Their analysis determined and developed the thesis that household structure is an important determinant of childhood immunization. This has wider connection with other economic variables in individual households and in sub-Saharan contexts as well (Gage, Elizabeth, & Piani, 1996). Other researchers have shown the way in which family structure, under the influence of parental cohabitation, can affect child outcome depending on economic resources, among other factors (Brown, 2004). At a more developmental level Papp, Cummings, & Schermerhorn (2004) have demonstrated a direct path link between mother’s distress and child adjustment. This may have implication for child immunization as marital distress in a patriarchal family in Nigeria can influence whether vaccination takes place depending on husbands’ permission (Cf Igun, 1988).

The field of medical sociology is heavily dominated by the theoretical focus of the Parsonian sick role (Parsons, 1951; Leoning Coovadia, Levine, & Kozzloff, 1978). Immunization, which falls within the rubric of health-related behavior, is part of preventive medicine (Umar, 2004). The Health Belief Model (HBM) is the theoretical perspective of this study (Kasl & Cobb 1966; Rosentock, 1966);

…the sick role is not an acceptable tool in preventive health analysis. The most logical tool of analysis is what is called Health at Risk: i.e. an individual may enter a process of health behavior when he/she is at risk of infection. Health behavior, here, ensues long before the infection. The possibility of infection makes a person to be a potentially ill person. So, because of this susceptibility, the pro-health behavior is cultivated to ensure healthy life through preventive measures. However, an individual may not know he/she is at risk due to illiteracy/ignorance, cultural influence etc. as opposed to when the infection sets in. Health at risk prepares a person to develop a particular behavior in interacting with health and, ill health behavior. This leads to what is called Health Belief Model (HBM). (Umar, 2006, p. 58)

Immunization as part of preventive medicine rests on the following premises:

• An individual places certain value on a given behavior interaction/action; i.e. if someone decides to partake in immunization, there is a feeling that he/she agrees with the sense of judgment for the action to be taken.
• By patronizing immunization there is a strong possibility that the person expects and even estimates a given result; i.e. there is the feeling that immunization would prevent the occurrence of a disease. Sick role, on the other hand, is based on illness; hence, it is not a health prevention exercise (Umar, 2006, p. 57).

According to Adeniyi (1991), the Health Belief Model “assumes that motivation is a necessary condition for action, because it selectively determines an individual’s perception of his environment,” thus providing the “psychological readiness” to act and patronize a particular health program:

• The action (e.g. getting vaccinated) “commands the individual’s sense of urgency;”
• The expected benefit of the health action is veritably seen as outweighing what may happen if the action is not taken;
• The resources and capability of the individual dictate what is to be done; and
• “The individuals’ psychological readiness to take action relative to a particular health condition.”

This can be determined by both the person’s perceived susceptibility and vulnerability to this particular condition, and by his perception of contracting the condition (Umar 2006, pp. 59-60).

Research Areas / Method

The research areas are in Warawa and Dawakin Kudu local government areas some 18 kilometres from Kano metropolitan along Maiduguri Road in northern Nigeria. The nearest dispensary to the villages is about 2 km from Mariri district. For any major health problem, the respondents would have to travel back to Kano (18 Km) or to Wudil (38 Km). There is easy access to the main Maiduguri Road; when there is urgent need for visiting the clinic/hospital, one would safely consider the fact that any failure to visit the clinic/hospital, when the need arises, may not be necessarily due to inaccessibility. The estimated population in the two villages is 6,000 people. However, in the suburbs, the areas are rural in nature. But modern developments are fast encompassing the two research areas because of their proximity to the Maiduguri highway and the Danladi Nasidi Housing Complex. The Hausa-Fulani dominates the research areas, and their religious belief is Islam.

Sample

There were 415 respondents for the research. The sampling method adopted was the total coverage sample. The target respondents were pregnant married women or nursing women with children 0-5 years old; the mothers’ ages ranged from 15-45. The respondents were selected because they are supposed to be directly involved in immunization. It is obvious that, unlike the general medical practitioners who physically study the child, in this research the mothers/pregnant married women are the units of analysis. They are socially closer to the children, and the children cannot speak for themselves. Hence, the mothers have a better opportunity to respond to the health issues pertaining to their children.

All individual households in the research areas were visited to select the eligible respondents. At the beginning, there was no specific sample size. Nevertheless, because the research focused on all households, there was the chance of covering all eligible respondents as in community-based studies. Even though this sampling technique is more difficult, because literally all the households were visited, it eventually resulted in a comprehensive survey that gives confidence for sound analysis and generalization. The data was a good representation of the general population at a time.

Data Collection

The data collection coincided with the time when the mothers were at home and were not busy at the farm. Seven research assistants, who lived in the villages, were recruited: Two males (university graduates) and five females (diploma certificate holders). It was not possible for the assistants all to be female degree holders in the areas. The selection was done in order to get research assistants who knew the area very well and, especially in the case of the females, who would be allowed to go into the households given the restrictions of entry in Muslim households. The research assistants were tutored on the nature of the research, its purpose, and the technical aspects of data collection. Luckily, the respondents had some idea of a research undertaking. With the permission of the village heads, there was easy access to the households. Also, the on-going house-to-house polio immunization was in progress when the data was collected. As a result, the female research assistants elicited responses from the mothers without many inhibitions. The males, as research supervisors, however, guided the females and organized the data collection accordingly. The research assistants translated the questions into Hausa language as they administered the questionnaires.

Because of the need to execute a meticulous work given the numbers of the households to visit, each household was marked and recorded taking into consideration the following: street, Primary Health Care (PHC) house number, household number and name of household head for easy reference, coordination, and compilation. A total of 415 respondents were found in the research areas. The respondents in Dawakin Kudu local government area constituted 60% (249), while that of Warawa local government area represented 40% (166) of the participants. Detailed questions on fertility, mortality, morbidity, socio-economic and cultural issues, and use of and perception on immunization were administered. Most of the questions were closed-ended with exhaustive choices to facilitate quantitative analysis.

The study (a) analyzed the use of the immunization services by mothers and pregnant women and, (b) determined and explained the factors influencing the use of the immunization services.

The dependent variable for the research is the use of immunization by the mothers. The sub-variables are regular use and irregular use of immunizations. The independent variables, on the other hand, as explanatory variables, are: (a) awareness, (b) education, (c) perception, and (d) availability of vaccines.

 Even though the key variables for this research are awareness, education, perception, and use of immunization, there are also some alternative variables that are found to be relevant to the research; they are: (a) availability of vaccines, (b) mothers proximity to the clinic, (c) husbands’ influence, (d) availability of funds, and (e), poor consultation with mothers on immunization (Umar, 2004). Other antecedent variables considered are: (a) Perception of immunization as a strategy for family planning and (b) side-effects of immunization (Umar, 2004, 2006).

Research on Path Analysis

Path analysis, a technique for estimating the magnitude of the direct and indirect effects of certain variables on others, was employed in this research to examine immunization usage as well as the factors influencing the usage. Path analysis “is used to test the possibility of a causal connection among three or more variables” (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000, p. 366). This is the part of correlational research that analyses associational relationships between variables without influencing the variables. In contrast to experimental research, variables in correlational research are not manipulated as in control and experimental design groups. The aim, rather, is to measure with a higher level of accuracy the predictable values of relationships between variables. The variable being used to predict the relationship is the predictor variable while the variable on which the prediction is made is the criterion variable. This is done through knowing the quantitative relationship between variables through the use of a correlation coefficient. Path analysis is a more superior analysis than other methods of determining causality or predictability (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000).

Some of the basic issues being addressed by correlational analysis include:

• Is variable A associated with variables B and C?
• What is the direction of the relationship—positive, negative, direct, or indirect due to certain factors?
• What is the extent and predictive value of predictor variable B over criterion variable C?
• What are the wider relationships with the other variables under study?
• What kinds of general predictions and conclusions can be drawn based on the observed relationships between the variables?

Papp et al. (2004) developed pathways models on marital distress, maternal and paternal psychological symptoms, and child adjustments. Papp et al. (2004, pp. 368-384) found that:

• There was predicted direct relationship amongst family and child variables as demonstrated for both fathers and mothers.
• Maternal and paternal symptoms mediated the association between marital distress and child adjustment.
• Marital distress mediated the link between fathers’ symptom and child adjustment.
• However, direct pathway between mothers’ symptom and child adjustment remained.

Sullivan et al. (2004) adopted a path analysis model for predicting participation in health prevention program based on Health Belief Model (HBM). The objective of their study was to “determine which factors predict couple’s participation in premarital counseling.” Using HBM and the theory of reasoned action, they considered multiple factors associated with predictive behavior on participating in premarital prevention program.

Figure 1. Model for predicting participation in premarital counseling programs.
Adapted from Sullivan et al. (2004, p. 177) Social Norms

The above path analysis model is similar to the one adopted in this research. Just like in the research by Sullivan et al. (2004, pp. 175-194), the model affords the opportunity to determine pathways and relationships between variables that have predictive value over the use of immunization.

Findings

The pattern of effects between the dependent and independent variables was examined through direct and indirect decomposition. Table 1 presents the decomposition of the total effects of the predictor variables on the endogenous variable. It shows which variable mediate, the total of antecedent predictor variables, the portion of the total effect that is indirect (i.e. mediated by subsequent intervening variable), and the portion of the total effect (i.e. not mediated by an intervening variable).

 It should be noted that while the direct effect of a predictor variable may not have been significant, the calculation of the total effects of a predictor variable might reveal the existence of a statistically significant relationship. Examining total effects and their decomposition into direct and indirect components gives a more complete picture of the relationship amongst the variables in the model.

Figure 2. A Model on Decomposition of Effects of Variables Associated with Immunization

Model Specifications

The following equations have been derived from the proposed model of immunization usage based on hypothesized causal relationships. The symbols used in these equations represent the following variables:

X₁ = Respondents’ Education

X₂ = Awareness of Immunization

X₃ = Perception of Immunization

X₄ = Availability of Vaccines

X₅ = Immunization Usage

P = Path Coefficient of Standardized Regression Coefficient

e =  Error Terms or Source of Uncontrolled Error

X₄ = P₄₁ X₁ + P₄₂ X₂ + P₄₃ X₃ + e₄

X₅ = P₅₁ X₁ + P₅₂ X₂ + P₅₃ X₃ + P₅₄ X₄ + e₅

The symbol “e” indicates random disturbance caused by errors and by factors not explicitly included in the model. P is the regression coefficient for each explanatory

Basic Assumption Underlying the Path Analysis

1. E_(C1) = 0 sum of the error term is equal zero.
2. E _{(ei ej)} = 0 error terms are unrelated
3. E _{(Xij ei)} = 0 1. e.g. the error term for any equation is uncorrelated with the independent variable in that equation

Respondents’ education (X₁), Awareness of Immunization (X₂), and Perception of Immunization (P1) are exogenous variables, thus, variations are determined from outside the model. Therefore, their magnitude is equal to the error term. Availability of Vaccines (X₄) is an endogenous variable and determined by Respondents’ Education (X₁), Awareness of Immunization (X₂), and Perception of Immunization (X₃). Therefore, Availability of Vaccines (X₄) is equal to the sum of Respondents’ Education (X₁) multiply by the direct effect of Respondents’ Education on Availability of Vaccines multiply by the direct effect of Awareness (X₂) multiplied by the direct effect of Respondents’ Perception of Immunization (X₃), plus the error term.

Thus, each independent variable is determined by summation of each variable related to it through path coefficient (of the respective independent variable) with the dependent variable available.

Following the pattern established, Respondents’ Education multiply by the path coefficient between Respondents’ Education and Immunization Usage (P₅₁), plus Awareness multiplied by the path coefficient between Awareness and Immunization Usage (P₅₂), plus Perception multiplied by the path coefficient between Perception and Immunization Usage (P₅₃) plus Availability of Vaccines multiplied by the path between Availability Vaccines and Immunization Usage (P₅₄), will determine Immunization Usage.

In the model, there is an interesting interlocking relationship between education, awareness, perception, and availability.

• Both mothers’ formal education [Y], (-0.08) and Perception [X₃], (-0.312) have direct but negative relationships with immunization usage.
• There is, however, a strong relationship between mothers’ perception [X₃], (-312) and awareness on immunization[X₂], (2.674).
• There is equally a positive and direct path link between mothers’ perception[X₃], and education [Y], (1.147).
• However, there is a negative path link between awareness on immunization [X₂] and education (-3.007).
• In all, with the exception of formal education [Y], (-0.019), whenever availability of vaccines (Y₄ ), mediates between awareness [X₂], (0.092) and mothers’ perception [X₃] (0.024), there is direct and positive link with immunization usage.
• Awareness [X₂] has a direct path link with immunization usage, even though it also has indirect relationship with immunization usage through availability of vaccines.

Even though education is a major factor in determining health care utilization (Cairo Conference Paper, 1994; Caldwell 1979; Muhuri, 1995; Levine, 1991; Obermeyer, 1993), it has a weak direct link with immunization usage in this research. The major source of information on immunization in this research is the radio; this is associated with the level of exposure to knowledge on immunization services. Exposure to information on immunization, chiefly through the radio, accounts for acceptance and usage of immunization. Policy tools on immunization advocacy should take note of this development. Similar to this, Obermeyer (1993) found “in Tunisia, watching television weekly is associated with an increase in the likelihood of both prenatal care (OR = 1.85) and hospital delivery (OR = 1.64); a similar, if slightly weaker correlation for Morocco [OR = 1.72 and 1.49, respectively]”.

Conclusion

Despite the raging controversy over acceptability of immunization in northern of Nigeria where Muslims predominate (Umar, 2006), the level of acceptance and usage of immunization is high. There are multiple factors that mediate the efficacy of the immunization usage. Availability plays a critical role in the vaccination process. Future research should focus on the network of factors that mediate directly or indirectly to affect perception, awareness, and education as they affect immunization usage. Other variables mentioned in the paper may play a key role in certain contexts.

References

Adeniyi, J. D. (1991). The health problems of rural dwellers: A social-cultural perspective. Medicine Today – A Journal of Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention, 1(3), 25-29.

Blum, D. &   , M. (1986). An assessment of expanded program on immunization in Nigeria. New York, NY.

Bondi, F.S. & Alhaji, M.A. (1992). The E. P. I. in Bornu State, Nigeria: Impact on routine disease notification and hospital admissions. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 95, pp. 373 – 381.

Brown, S. L. (2004). Family structure and child wellbeing. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(2), pp. 351-367.

Caldwell, J. C. (1979). Education as a factor in mortality decline: An examination of Nigerian data. Population Studies, 33(3), pp. 395-414.

Cairo Conference Paper, CCP. (1994). Nigeria concept paper for international conference on population and development ICPD. Cairo. Egypt.

Erinosho, O. A. (1998). Health Sociology. Ibadan: Sam Books.

Fraenkel, J. R. & Wallen, N. E. (2000). How to design and evaluate research in education. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Fraser, G. (1985). Compliance with medical therapy. World Health Forum (WHO) An International Journal of Health Development, 6(3), p. 64.

Gage, A. J., Elizabeth, S., & Piani, A. L. (1996). Household structure and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Demography and Child Health Surveys Analytical Reports, 1. Calverton, M.D. Macro International Incorporated.

Gage, A. J., Elizabeth, S., & Piani, A. L. (1997). Household structure and immunization in Niger and Nigeria. Demography, 34(2), pp. 295-300.

Igun, U. A. (1988) Medical Sociology Ibadan: Shaneson Limited C. I.in Child Development July /August Volume 75, Number 4 pp 1229–1242.

Kasl, S. A. & Cobb, S. (1966). Health behavior, illness behavior and sick role behavior. Arch Environ Health, 12, pp. 246-266.

Kochanska, G., Aksan, N., Knack, A., & Rhines, H. M. (2004). Maternal parenting and children conscience: Early security as moderator.

Leoning, V. E., Coovadia, H. M., Levine, S., & Kozzloff, M. A. (1978). The sick role: Assessment and overview, Annual Sociological Review, 4, 317-343.

Levine, R. et al. (1991). Women’s schooling and childcare in the demographic transition: A Mexican case study. Population and Development Review, 17(3), pp. 459-496.

Ministry of Health, Lagos.

Muhuri, P. K. (1995). Health programs, maternal education and differential child mortality in Matlab Bangladesh. Population and Development Review, 21(4), pp. 415-434.

Federal of Ministry of Health. (1988). NID’S, National Immunization Day’s: The Nigerian Experience. Lagos.

Obermeyer, C. M. (1993). Culture, maternal healthcare, and women’s status: A comparison of Morocco and Tunisia. Studies in Family Planning, 24(6), pp. 354-365.

Okonofua, F. E. (2005). Achieving the millennium development goals in Africa: How realistic. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 9(3), pp. 7-14.

Papp, L. M., Cummings, E. M., & Schermerhorn, A. C. (2004). Pathways among marital distress, parental Symptomatology, and child adjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(2), pp. 368-384.

Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Rosentock, I. M. (1966). Why people use health services. Milbank Men Fund, 44, pp. 94-127.

Sullivan, K. T., Pash, L. A., Cornelius, T., & Cirigliano, E. (2004). Predicting participation in premarital prevention programs: The health belief model and social norms. Family Process, 43(2), pp. 175-194.

Umar, B. A. (2004). A sociological study on the use of child immunization in Warawa and Dawakin Kudu local government areas in Kano State (Doctoral thesis, Bayero University, Kano).

Umar, B. A. (2006). Child immunization: Muslim reactions in Northern Nigeria. Kano, LOCATION: International Institute of Islamic Thought.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2001). The state of world’s children 2001. New York, NY.

UNICEF. (2002). The state of world’s children 2002, New York, NY.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ UNICEF. (1993). The state of world’s children 1993. London, England: Oxford University Press.

UNICEF. (1994). The state of world’s children 1994. London, England: Oxford Further Education College Press.

UNICEF. (1991). The state of world’s children 1991, Press Summary. New York, NY.

UNICEF. (1983). The state of world’s children 1982-1983. London, England: Oxford University Press.

UNICEF. (1990). First call for children: Convention on rights of the child/world declaration on the survival, protection and development of children.

UNFPA (2007) State of World Population 2007, Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Systems.

United Nations. (2006). The millennium development goals report, 2006. New York, NY.

The centuries-old city of Kano (Birnin Kano) is surrounded by a fifteen-mile, decaying mud-brick wall.  When used centuries earlier as a fortification, the forty-foot-high walls and moat were annually restored each December as a community project.  Photo 1 below shows one of the original fifteen entrance gates, many like this one having been restored with modern construction materials.

Photo 1

Despite the heavy traffic into the city, the quieter residential streets provide space for a range of activities, especially for children. Photo 2 show one group of boys preparing to play football (soccer) and another group receiving primary Islamic instruction from their local teacher (mallam). Activities of young girls occur more often within the walled compounds (family living quarters) that border these streets.

Photo 2 (stylized)

Photo 3 (stylized)

Photo 4 shows a line of parked go-carts and drivers, the public transportation used by women and their small children when they leave the seclusion of their family.  For years they were expected to stay inside their compound until dusk.  This custom was relaxed within the more modern suburbs outside the wall of the cities.

Photo 4

Photos 5 and 6 show a festive gathering of women within the city and within the outer wall of a family compound. These women are attending a wedding celebration, awaiting the delivery of the customary bride-price from the men gathered outside.

Photo 5 (stylized)

Photo 6

Photo 7 shows a cow that is being herded back into the city after a daytime of grazing outside the city walls.  In the northern area of the city, one often sees boys herding cows, goats, or sheep to locations inside or outside the walls.

Photo 7

About two miles outside the walls is the modern Bayero University, with an enrollment of over 30,000 male and female students, all in shared solace unlike in the city.   After passing through a busy entrance gate staffed by security officers (Photo 8), one enters a serene academic campus with spacious buildings (Photos 9-12).

Photo 8

Photo 9

Photo 10

Photo 11

Photo 12

Here students are taking final examinations, seated in a large patio next to their department building (Photos 13-14).

Photo 13

Photo 14

During this summer of 2007, the city political leaders were receptive to data collection by the Sociology Department, a survey of adolescents residing in a sample of wards within the city, replicating a survey done twice earlier.  Photos 15 and 16 show interviews conducted by students of the department.

Photo 15

Photo 16

Finally, at the conclusion of the data collection, this group project was celebrated with an exchange of gifts, Photo 17 shows the editor wearing his new baba riga, the formal attire of Hausa men, next to the presenter, Dr. Salisu Abdullahi, a faculty colleague and former student.

Photo 17

This final photo (18) shows one of the ward heads who helped identify and locate the youth in his ward in the current and previous survey.

Photo 18

Kabir Bello

This study examines the experiences of African students as strangers in an environment radically different from their own cultures. The basis for this chapter is the analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with six African university students. Over the course of these interviews, they described in detail various aspects of their experiences and the mechanisms of adjustment they developed in order to cope with the problems they confronted as students in an American university. Following a description of the research design, the chapter focuses on stereotypes the students held of the United States before their arrival in order to ascertain their initial expectations. The way in which they established relationships, the individuals with whom these relationships were developed, and issues they encountered as they formed relationships is the focus of the next section. The African students’ comparisons between their own and Americans’ moral values, especially with respect to family and crime and, most particularly, the use of guns, are explored in the following section. The subsequent section describes norms about punctuality and respect for laws, which differed radically from those operative in the African countries from which they came. Finally, even as they pointed to moral decline in the United States, they were well aware of the advantages that accrued to them as students in an American university, advantages that had not been available to them or other students in their home countries.

Method

The analysis of six interviews conducted with African students at Cleveland State University is the basis for this chapter. The main sampling technique employed was the snowball strategy. The umbrella organization of African students known as African Students’ Association (ASA) provided contacts and arrangements between the researcher and the respondents. The researcher interviewed four graduate and two undergraduate students. All of the respondents were male. Their ages ranged from 22 to 37 years. In-depth interviews were conducted with them for 1 to 2 hours and took place either in the respondent’s office or in his apartment. All of the respondents interviewed had spent at least a year in the United States— except for the youngest, who had spent less than a year. Pseudonyms have been used to ensure confidentiality. The interview schedule was used only as a reference guide to avoid turning the interviewer into conventional self-administered questionnaire. The interview schedule was carefully constructed before going to the field and contained the issues to be addressed, including prior experience of American culture, sources of information, stereotype, technology, language problems, friendship, weather problems, and experience of the university environment. The initial goal of the study was to find out the extent to which African students experience culture shock in a new environment. However, the responses changed the direction of the study to make it more comprehensive.

Findings

Stereotype Sources and Content

At the beginning of the study, the main focus was to establish the stereotypes these students had developed about American culture prior to coming to the country. All of them stated that their sources of knowledge about America were numerous and included television (mostly CNN), magazines, movies, newspapers, sports, radio, and, the least common, friends who had been to the United States before. New communication systems with satellite capability made it possible to turn the world into a small village where everything is transmitted immediately. Africa has not missed out with regard to the effects of these global changes.

The content of the stereotypes included assumptions that America is a morally bankrupt society wherein everybody is rich and where there is freedom (i.e., it is a free world) that allows people to do whatever they want to do and be whatever they want to be. In addition, each tended to stereotype America as a highly individualistic society where citizens had no respect for the law but where there were human rights. These stereotypes came mainly from the sources enumerated earlier.

Hospitality, Interpersonal Relationships, and Language Difficulties

African cultures are known to be hospitable to strangers. In most African societies, it is a common practice in cities for a stranger to knock at a door of a house and ask for permission to stay for one or two days until he locates a particular person or his tribe/country men. In addition, a stranger is free to stop anybody on the street to ask a question about anything. Because of these orientations and expectations, the African students found it very difficult to understand anything deviating from this. Being in American society was very different; what they saw was a lack of cooperation, a lack of concern, and a lack of acceptance as they interacted with the Americans.

The mechanisms of adjustment they developed, however, were not so different from that which they would normally adopt in any strange environment. As strangers in a country with such significant cultural differences, they immediately tried to locate people from their own country—sometimes going to great lengths to trace those who shared their culture, language, and traditions. Even in African cultures, there is tremendous diversity. Finding themselves immersed in American culture, most of these African students tried to establish ethnic/country associations that would provide support to new members. What these associations provided included shelter, food, clothing, help in securing a job, and emotional support to help the new arrivals feel more at home. Only after they had succeeded in this quest did the students focus on ways in which they could integrate into the new host environment.

Concerning hospitality, American culture was described as less hospitable as compared to that of Africa. According to Zabir:

At times, even if you want to talk to people, they are not ready to talk or listen to you. It is easier to get friends quickly in Africa than in America. Here is an individualistic society…here, as I noticed, it is quite different. Everyone is on his own, as nobody cares about another person.

In American culture, if a person would like to pay someone a visit, that person is expected to inform the individual he intends to visit ahead of time. This sounded strange to the respondents due to the importance attached to strangers in their cultures. Often visitors come unexpectedly and to tell any of your family members (extended as opposed to nuclear) that they have to give notice before a particular visit is considered ridiculous. Africans take the issue of comforting strangers as a traditional and religious obligation because they are expected to treat strangers with maximum respect and as much hospitality as possible. The respondents, as African students in America, understood the problem of the new value system in which they now found themselves. They felt compelled to make the necessary adjustment by finding fellow Africans in their midst, because they could not ask an American to provide them with shelter, clothing, or whatever other form of assistance they might need.

All six respondents found difficulties in establishing relationships with Americans, especially interpersonal relationships that could develop into friendships. Each found barriers in communications to be a serious dilemma, both as a problem of understanding what was being communicated to them and being sure that what they desired to communicate was understood by Americans. With only slight variations from one person to another, all of the respondents said that they experienced this problem. It should be noted that Africans have their own native/indigenous languages in addition to the ones left to them by their former colonial masters. All six of these students came from former British colonies where they learned the British style of English. As noted by one of the respondents:

I believed we have been colonized by the British and brought up in British English system. When I came here, I thought “My English was good. I will not have difficulties with the Americans.” But…when I first went to class, I realized that they have different words, which are strange to me …Whenever I talk…I have to come back and reconstruct my English the American way before they get [understand] me.

The Africans, as strangers, had to learn how to speak the Americanized English. This process involved trial and error as well as internalizing some of the words that proved different. The differences between the two cultures, in terms of language, meant that the respondent had to make necessary adjustments. When the respondents spoke to Americans, what normally followed were phrases such as “sorry, I don’t understand,” “come again,” “say it again.” At times, when asked to continue to repeat what they had already said, anger and frustration abounded, as Aliu said:

The way the Americans talk at different occasions I find frustrating encounter…you are requested to keep on repeating yourself. There is gap in the language. I try as much as possible to catch up with the way they talk so that we can understand each other.

Due to the claim that Africans possess a different accent and in order to facilitate the process of communication and better understanding, these African students began a process of decoding some of the key words that were of common/ordinary usage. Although the Americans, too, had to devise a way of listening in order to understand what the Africans said, the African students were in a new culture and were the ones who needed to adjust to the demands imposed on them by the host community.

The development of their ability to decode was explained by the respondents in different ways. According to one of them, “As I began to relate I was able to decode some words like ‘rest room,’ meaning ‘toilet’ in my country, ‘yea’ as in ‘yes,’ ‘hi’ as in ‘hello,’ ‘RSVP,’ etc.”. Another student said he was able to understand the meaning of “nap,” which referred either to siesta or a small rest as in sleeping for a short while. During this transition, communication was very slow, which inevitably affected the opportunity to cultivate friendships.

When the question of whether the respondent found it easy to have American friends was raised/asked in the interview, all of them indicated difficulty in making friends with Americans. Respondents approached this issue in different ways. Some of them focused on the lack of hospitality in American culture, while others emphasized individualism and that the culture is ‘fast,’ that is, based on time. Talking about the effect of individualism, Timothy had this to say:

In general, Americans are highly individualistic in nature. They teach [their] children the philosophy of being on their own. They are sometimes difficult people to deal with if one considers that he comes from Africa where there is the spirit of communality, cooperation, and mutual assistance of each other in many things that are done—from the level of the family to the societal level.

Not only individualism, but the concept of time, which the respondents described as built into the American culture, was identified as having an impact on the development of friendships between the Africans as strangers on the one hand and the Americans as hosts on the other. It was not necessarily seen as the fault of the Americans, but more of how the American system works. Kassim acknowledged this when he asserted that

In America, you are on your own. The system is always busy. It is not that people do not like to talk to you, as I understand, but because they don’t have the time to do so …You don’t expect people to offer help or assistance like it obtains in Africa. In America, they encourage people to be independent.

The concept of time was seen as fundamental to American culture. Because this philosophy is so different from what one obtains in Africa, these African students found it difficult to cope with the demands of the new culture. In Africa, friendships develop mainly through face-to-face contact with people and there is room for interaction between people in their daily activities as well as specific times for such kinds of relationship to develop. According to one of the respondents, the issue of time was so important in America that, with everyone trying to manage his/her time effectively,

it is not very easy to make friends with them [Americans] because of time.

Everyone is busy and in America everyone has his or her own time. It is difficult to have a long time to spend with one, to cultivate friendship, but you can talk to someone on phone, and can spend a lot of time talking. You don’t have to see each other. Seeing someone everyday will be difficult. You can only meet once in a while.

There are differences as to the kinds of experience these African strangers had with respect to friendship. Respondents who had been in America for more than a year had started to develop some friendship networks that included Americans. This shows that the process of developing friendships is gradual and that American culture does not easily allow relationships to emerge out of spontaneous encounters, as is the case in Africa. This, however, differed for the respondent who had come to the United States only a few months prior to the interview. He said, “I was able to cultivate friendship with other foreigners compared to the U.S. citizens…I have three from France, one from Chile, and some guys from different countries, and I can’t say I have an American friend”. When he made an attempt to explain why this was so with the Americans, he had no reasonable explanation. He added, “But when it comes to the old people, they are very easy to make friends with. And [I] have majority of them as friends…so I think making friends, the older ones are more approachable”.

African students, as strangers to a new environment, related more in the university than outside the university, that is, with American people in general. Within the university, relationships did take place among students through various associations and organizations, although acquiring relationships was sometimes slow. These students claimed that relationships outside were limited because they did not share anything in common with those outside community. Relationships were established only when the students went off campus for religious and tribal association meetings. Within the university, as students, they shared many things in common with other students, such as taking classes together.

Moral Issues and Crime

Although ostensibly one cannot judge another culture from the perspective of his or her own culture due to the differences in value systems and expectations. Nevertheless, the African students did, based on what they experienced in American culture. All of those interviewed stated that there were remarkable differences between the two cultures in terms of moral values. Comparing what one obtains in African cultures to their experiences in the United States, they concluded that there was moral decay in American culture. What they emphasized was that someone raised in an African culture is likely to give greater respect to traditional and religious institutions, which has an impact on marriage and family. Because the family structure is extended, there are communal relationships that ensure strong social bonds among members; this type of bonding is lacking in a nuclear type of family structure such as that found in American culture. To the respondents, the failure of the nuclear family system to bring members together has been responsible, at least in part, for what they saw as the moral collapse in American society. Most of them used the phrase “everybody is on his own” to describe how American social structure isolates the family and marriage as well as other life endeavors. Because there is such a strong emphasis placed on individual freedom and the propriety of living life based on what the individual has chosen for him or herself, everyone does whatever he/she feels is the best rather than what the society, family, or any other institution expects.

In the African societies from which these respondents came, the head of the family, who is normally the eldest, is the authoritative voice on most issues that involve discipline and decision-making and has the final say in these matters; that decision is binding to all members of the household, even if they themselves happen to have a family. In some societies, village communities are still based on the elders’ decisions. Thus, due to the respect for traditional and religious institutions, the level of marital breakdown was not considered an issue because men married one or more wives and lived together as long as they were alive. This has only recently begun to change. In Aliu’s country, as well as in most of African societies:

There is high respect to the institution of marriage. There is greater social bond and is forever. In America, I noticed that people may decide to stay together, but not married. This is a taboo in my country. This staying together without marriage is causing problems in leading to high rate of divorce. Single parenthood is on the increase, which poses threat to the institution of family in general.

Being raised in this way, these African students felt that such things as respect for traditional values and religious institutions were absent in America. These values did not exist, at least from what the African students saw. They argued that moral values develop when people develop close familial relationships. In Africa, people relate cohesively with each other in friendship, family, schools, etc.; in America, as is evident from various media sources, nearly half of marital relationships end in divorce. In America, the respondents observed that people seemingly changed partners daily. It seemed common to discover that a man or a woman had married two or three times but was currently living alone.

Other respondents noted that part of the reason for the moral decay in American culture was the absence of parental disciplining of children, as noted by Timothy;

I need to say without remorse that the morals here are far below what obtains in my country…people do whatever they like. This makes discipline to be very low. Personal discipline is becoming less. In terms upbringing of kids, I noticed…children are allowed to know things that are far above their age, due to freedom, not just in terms of adult movies they watch, but some things…ideas. If you discipline your child by beating him/her the government may run after you. This is not to be found in my culture. Parents have absolute control over kids, no matter the age…that is why there is low morals in [American] society. I have American friends that have kids. What I observe is little respect for the parents. Kids are not properly controlled like what we have in my country.

Even in African societies, however, the institutions of marriage and the family are undergoing a process of transformation due to modernization. Issues like parenthood, divorce, disciplining of children, property inheritance, and other related aspects are still under the control of traditional and religious values. In all likelihood, the four married respondents emphasized these differences because they were conversant with marital role expectations, something with which they were very familiar before coming to America. However, one of the two unmarried Africans in the sample narrated his experience of moral decay from a different perspective when he said:

I think where I came from…we have a culture in the dressing aspect. People are more different here in the U.S…in terms of the people that walk around…they move half-naked…like when they put on short clothes at times. When I was eating, a student came to the dining room with “bra” and a “skirt.”

This respondent’s experience might have been connected to a lack of exposure to the general public, even in his home country. He had little or no knowledge of what university campus life is like. Contrary to his assertion, there is evidence that some female students in African universities dress in ways similar to what he defined as immoral in an American university.

Another issue that the respondents raised when comparing the two cultures was crime. The African students noted that although there is crime in every society, the rate and the nature of crime differs from one society to another. In Africa, one would expect prevailing poverty and unemployment to be the major predictors of crime. Africans would wonder why there is a high crime rate in the United States despite the fact that it is one of the most affluent societies in the world. A source of concern to most of the African students in this study was the rate at which people are killed in America. In Africa, killings occur from time to time as a result of tribal or civil unrest, but not directly from crime. As Isyaku said:

In America, it is very common to find someone killed in his apartment [house] and without knowing who might have killed that person. There are a lot of kidnappings of kids, to keep as hostages, for money. That is ridiculous. This you hardly find in Africa. How can a human being kidnap or kill another person? You will hear every day [in the United States] about killings.

Another issue related to crime was the extent to which people were allowed to acquire guns and ammunition. In African countries, as some of the respondents pointed out, it is a felony even to see someone illegally possessing a gun or ammunition, even though a small fraction of people do have them. One’s status in the society often determines whether a person will have a firearm. In general, however, these Africans students were wary about the rate of homicide, which they found alarming. The respondents cited the uncertainty of who might be the next victim as one thing that scared them about being in America.

Punctuality and Respect for Law

The idea of respect for time was identified as something that fascinated the African students. Africans’ behavior with respect to time is well known. Disrespect for punctuality has earned different negative terms for them, within the continent as well as elsewhere. One of the most popular ones is that someone who is late to an event is described as being on “African time.” Most Africans, therefore, are accustomed to coming to an event after its posted starting time because they know very well that few people will arrive at the posted starting time. They delay their arrival in order to do other things rather than wait for long periods for others to arrive. This has become a habit rooted in the culture of Africans. In America, according to the respondents, expectations are different. As summarized by Muwazi:

The organization here is perfect, and things are done according to plans and schedule, compared to my own place…if I tell you to come by 9 A.M., you are to come by 10 A.M., but here [in America], things are well organized. Things are in order.

To the respondents, Americans seemed to value highly punctuality and to compliance with scheduled times. Events took place exactly as scheduled. Appointments were highly respected and were cancelled ahead of time if, for any reason, they could not be honored. Americans tried to extend this to all spheres of their life. In Africa, it is common for people to be late to the office or any place of work as well as to close shops at their own convenience. According to one respondent, “you cannot do that here in the United States. Nobody wants to do that because it touches on his/her integrity, and [he] can be fired”.

In addition, the African students noted that there was respect for laws. They reported that even traffic regulations, which are interpreted more as suggestions in Africa, tended to be rigidly followed. This was aptly put by one respondent who said,

The interesting thing that I saw that amazed me was the respect for traffic laws. In my country, people rarely respect traffic regulations. They tend to break it at their will. Sometimes I look through my window at different times of the night to see if someone will go on red, but you find it difficult to see one even as there was nobody watching…also, pedestrians are respected. At different times even if someone was on green, he normally stops for me to pass. I cannot remember how many times such has happened. Although there could be [another] reason for that, but, to me, is a sign of respect for the human.

The experiences these Africans had in America contradicted some of the stereotypes they held before coming to the U.S. They previously assumed that America was a free world and morally bankrupt society where everybody did what he or she liked. They found that, contrary to this, there were laws against prostitution, drug abuse, tax violations, and even smoking, as observed by one of those studied:

We assume that in such a society [United States], everything will be done freely, as people like, but that is not the case. You cannot be allowed to buy a cigarette until you reach certain age. As like in other things, people back home will be surprised at this.

Other Issues

Owing to experiencing decay in the provisioning of infrastructural facilities in African countries, all the respondents were surprised by how functional these structures were in America. During the interviews, they spoke of the efficiency and effectiveness associated with an advanced, functional infrastructure that increased convenience in everyday life. Americans, they saw, could not imagine waking up one day to find that they had no electricity or water in the tap. In Africa, most of these structures were not functional or, at best, could be described as near collapse; electricity, water supplies, hospitals, and educational facilities could not be taken for granted. In the United States, the level of technological development in computers and telecommunications has facilitated contact with various part of the world. In buildings, everything functions. Many of the African students had not seen ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) or credit card systems before coming to America. These technologies have simplified life. The use of credit card allows people to stay at home and make purchases online instead of wasting energy going to the store, which saves time to do other things. The ATMs have helped people because you need not to go to the bank to get money.

Another important topic brought up by the respondents was how the relationships between students and between students and faculty differed from universities in Africa. Four of the six students were graduate students who had their first degree from an African university. They remembered and could compare what they had gone through with what they were experiencing at a university in the United States. The other two were enrolled for the first time in undergraduate study.

When confronted with the question of their relationships with other students, they gave reasons similar to the ones they gave in explaining the difficulties they encountered in making friends in America. However, they added that it was slightly different in classes because sometimes they were forced to work closely with other students when course assignments included group projects. Students felt forced to relate, especially those who did not want to talk to others. With respect to the professors, the African students said, they were very cooperative and there was hardly any room for victimization. They were always ready to help, unlike professors in Africa, where faculty maintains a distance from students.

Universities in Africa, based on the respondents’ experiences, differed significantly in other ways from those in America, as summarized by Aliu:

In the universities at home, I see a condition of backwardness…, but the picture is that of lack of basic learning and teaching aids in the classroom. [African universities] do not have laboratories and research is almost zero because there are no facilities to undertake them. Old and obsolete materials exist. The problem of overcrowding cannot be ruled out as the number who want to acquire education is increasing by the day. Here, most of the materials in use are new and students have access to them. One amazing thing I tell my people at home [is about] the campus computers that are given for loan up to four hours in a day. That is an important landmark that we don’t have in most of our countries in Africa. They [Americans] don’t use ten- to twenty-year-old texts like we do. You find that [in Africa] even the people that teach have no access to computers and modern internet.

The picture this respondent painted of the state of universities in Africa is like what the other respondents reported.

Discussion

This study examines the experience of African students as strangers in a cultural environment radically different from their own. The chapter is based on the analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with six African university students in which they described in detail various aspects of their experiences and the mechanisms of adjustment they developed in order to cope with the problems they confronted. It begins by focusing on prior stereotypes they held about American culture in terms of their sources and content. It was established that Africans found remarkable cultural differences in the new environment that made them uncomfortable and required that they develop mechanisms of adjustment that went beyond simply trying to stay warm in a decidedly non-tropical climate. Owing to the high level of hospitality within African cultures, these student-strangers experienced people’s refusal to open up immediately as neglect and found it challenging to communicate and establish friendly relationships.  They realized the need to learn American English, because it differed from the African style, something they had not anticipated. They soon realized that American culture respects time, punctuality, and laws. Even as they judged, from their perspective, that there was a moral collapse in American culture, they still concluded that the culture allowed them to understand diversity better and identify as well as tolerate differences between their culture and the host culture. They were also able to contrast universities their own country with a university in a developed society and see first-hand the differences with respect to student-faculty relationships and quality of teaching materials.

To be in a new environment, a different culture, involves experiencing anomie, at least at the beginning of immersion. These African students, as strangers, felt cut off from their roots in Africa. They had to start somewhere to accommodate to a new way of life. They realized that in order to live well, they had to understand the new culture and learn how to behave and speak according to different dictates. From the foregoing, we can infer that experiencing American culture was difficult and required a series of adjustments including learning a new although not entirely different English, weather hostility, and problems associated with a highly individualistic culture. Within the university, this pattern of relationship halted or made very slow development of interpersonal relationships. Culture shock also stemmed from living in a society that they felt was in moral decay. Moral values differ from one society to another. The respondents judged American culture using African culture as a yardstick instead of looking at the relativity of culture. Despite the criticism of the host culture, they were still impressed with punctuality and respect for appointment, law, and privacy, as well as the level of advancement the society had achieved.

Although undertaken to find out the experiences of African students as strangers in an American university, generalizing from the findings of this study is limited. Findings cannot be used as a basis for generalizing all Africans studying in the United States. Female students were not included, and their experiences would likely be very different. The respondents were all from former British colonies and majority of them were married. If similar research is to be conducted, it should take note of these discrepancies and address them by incorporating females and those who are not from former British colonies. Data should be collected from enough students to make it possible to compare the married and unmarried and to determine the effects of age. Nevertheless, the findings reported here provide some preliminary information about how students from Africa, who are earning degrees from universities in the United States, make sense of their experience as they contrast the norms and values that they take for granted in their home cultures with what is expected of them in the United States.

Aminu Mohammed Dukku

Studies about people’s attitudes have been conducted to attempt to reveal individual’s behavior towards particular life events in different societies. Biesheuvel (1958, p. PAGE) defined attitude as “a mental set that motivates an individual’s interests, preferences, values, beliefs, etc.,” implying that that attitudes spell out individual’s behavior towards major aspects of life. This study investigates attitudes of youth in Kano, Nigeria a society characterized by both growing and valued indigenous Islamic and Western educational systems. Growing coexistence of both Islamic and Western educational systems has an entrenched trend in Kano with corresponding value attached to acquisition for both (Morgan & Armer, 1998). Thus, the acquisition of both Islamic and Western education among youth may produce significant influences on particular individual’s interests, values, beliefs, or attitudes towards important aspects of life.

This chapter presents results of an investigation on the existence of influential relationship between the two educational systems and youth attitudes towards honesty and social justice in Kano, based on the assumption that attainment of one or both types will influence attitudes in relation to the amount acquired, revealing contrasting connections. In other words, it is assumed that based on the coexistence of Islamic and Western education there may be contrasting attitudes among youth.

Travis Hirschi’s social bonding theory (1969) focuses on how an individual’s bond to society influences decisions; the “social bond” represents individual’s attitude and positive feelings (Cullen & Agnew, 2006). The theory assumes that controls on individual conduct evolve with and are sustained by the person’s bond to the society. Four major elements serve as the basis upon which behaviors of individuals are determined: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. One of the four elements, “belief” refers to the evaluative, valuable cultural dimension of the bond where an individual has more belief in the legitimacy of law or has ideas that support conventional rules. The theory, thus, asserts that control lies in a person’s attachment to society (Cullen & Agnew, 2006, p. 219).

The paper suggests that individuals who have received different amounts of Islamic and Western education may differ in important life values, including attitudes towards honesty and social justice. In Kano society, which is still somewhat more communal and sacred than fully rational and modern, belief in religious sanctions developed by Islamic education may be very important. Unlike a more modern setting where life revolves around formally rational criteria as Weber opined (Appelrouth & Edles, 2008). Societies that are more communal have religious prescriptions alongside traditional ideas and/or customary practices that have great influence on people’s life orientations (Scott & Marshall, 2005).

Research Problem

The structure of a particular society and the existing type and level of education may exert influence on individual’s behavior towards, attitudes about, perceptions of, and interpretations of social life events. Attitudes of youth in Kano cannot be separated from the influence of the indigenous type of education, which plays a maximum role right from the early stage of childhood. Out of the coexistence of the Islamic and Western educational schooling systems in Kano (Morgan & Armer, 1988), it could be argued that different socialization processes towards honesty and social justice could emanate among youth.

Typically, an individual exposed to Islamic education is likely to view honesty and social justice using a perspective that reflects more of his/her religious orientation. On the other hand, youths with a Western education are likely to have more positive attitudes towards social justice than the first mentioned category. Acquisition or training in a traditional Islamic educational system historically predates the British colonial period in northern Nigerian Muslim communities like Kano. The traditional Islamic education itself is a dual system consisting of Makarantar Allo (Qur’anic school) and Makarantar Ilmi (Knowledge school). The first category is the primary stage in Islamic education and focuses on basic Arabic literacy and reading from the Qur’an, which usually begins at childhood and continues through adolescence. While the Makarantar Ilmi stage, or the knowledge school, often spans through one’s entire life (Umar, 2001). However, a shift towards a more formal arrangement of the schooling has taken shape with the instruction patterns echoing the western style.

Islamic knowledge and scholarship of the Qur’an and other Islamic injunctions usually forms the bedrock of the main cultural content and social organization of Islamic societies such as Kano (Morgan & Armer, 1988). Therefore, the moral virtue associated with honesty will likely be related to individual’s level of Islamic educational attainment and orientation. This association exists because traditional values and beliefs of individuals are viewed as highly integrated and stable (Armer, 1970). In the 1910s and 1920s, the introduction of Western education to Nigeria (Umar, 2001) met with suspicion and resistance; it was considered alien and threatening to religion and culture, specifically in the north (Nile, 2001). The Western educational attainment made possible new ways of satisfying aspirations and new attitudes and beliefs.

However, the demand for Western education has continued to increase because of its association with bureaucratic wage employment, upward mobility, and modern life style. Unlike in Islamic society where honesty is more of a religious virtue, in a setting with more Western education the issue of honesty is tied to legal orientation, where the intervention and role of agencies of formal social control assumes specific sanctioning authority.

Honesty reflects a quality mostly identified as an ingredient to reputation building and as a highly desirable element to all, especially youth. Thus, being recognized as dishonest in a society like Kano usually leads to affirmations about one’s connection to deviance and/or delinquency. As one’s record of honesty becomes questionable among members of public, one is at greater risk of being thought of as leaning towards deviance or delinquency. Social justice in a society like Kano relates more to anticipations of governmental or institutional commitment to the provision of services to people, while honesty has much to do with an individual’s conduct. Thus, people usually consider government and its policies as acceptable when the policies concentrate more on actualizing people’s immediate needs and aspirations. This chapter is set to address the following objectives:

• To investigate the existence of relationships between youth attitudes in Kano towards honesty and social justice and the amount of Islamic and Western education received.
• To find out why there is a relationship between attitudes and type of education received.
• To analyze existing differences in attitudes towards honesty and social justice in relation to religiosity.
• To analyze existing differences in attitudes towards social justice in relation to family social composition.

Literature Review

According to Hirschi (1969), the major perspectives on delinquency, strain, and motivation propose that conforming individuals are pushed into deviance because of the failure to satisfy legitimate desires. Specifically, strain theories lean towards responding to a central question in sociological theory of why men obey the rules of society. The assertion that individuals break fewer laws suggests more about conformity depicting man as obeying rules, but strained to deviate due to pressure by legitimate desires.

One of the assumptions of control theories is that delinquent acts are produced when bonds to the society are weak or broken. Thus, the concept of bond is adopted in control theories as central to explaining behavior (Hirschi, 1969, p. 23). One of the elements of the bond belief plays crucial roles such that if a person’s belief in the moral validity of norms weakens, the more likely he or she engages in delinquent acts (1969, p. 26). Therefore, applying the argument of Hirschi’s (2006) social bonding theory that an individual’s relation to the society influences his/her decisions; it could be argued that the type of education acquired in a particular society may influence behavior. Based on Hirschi’s (1969) assertion that beliefs are major variables in most sociological explanations, youths with Islamic education are more likely to hold beliefs that lead to contrasting attitude towards honesty and social justice in comparison to those with Western education.

In the first scenario, it is assumed that the attitudes of youths with Western education are likely to reflect Western value orientations with a sense of estrangement from the roots in traditional society (Armer, 1970). They may also have a view that endorses the interpretation of social justice and its achievement. Whereas the perceptions and attitudes of young persons with Islamic education are more likely to demonstrate attitudes and reasoning that contains views and interpretations of honesty from a traditional or an Islamic point of view (Nile, 2001).

The position here is that “belief” represents the ability to incorporate broad conventional norms and values, especially the internalization that laws and society’s rules are morally correct and should be adhered to (Akers & Sellers, 2004). Therefore, in this context, the type of education received may likely affect one’s attitude towards social justice. Perhaps the higher the amount of education, the more likely the recipient is to endorse attitudes towards conventional norms and value systems. Hirschi assertions are based on the assumption that belief is the obligatory character of rules that will most effectively maintain its efficacy in producing conformity (1969, p. 30).

Furthermore, in an explanation linking an individual’s commitment to a high-status occupation, Hirschi (1969, p. 182) hypothesized that high occupational aspirations, coupled with low occupational expectations, generate pressure resulting in delinquency. Therefore, in relation to the assumption linking family social position to attitudes towards social justice, frustrated occupational status could be a cause of delinquency. In the same vein, citing Cloward and Ohlin, Hirschi (1960) reveals that the individual’s explanation attached to his/her failure in goal attainment determines the subsequent reaction. A blame to self does not challenge the system, but if the individual perceives that the faults lies in social forces beyond his control, such as responsibility of government’s provision of social justice, he then becomes alienated from the system, rejects its normative patterns, and turns to delinquency or develops negative attitudes to social justice that may result into delinquency. Hirschi further asserts that frustrated aspirations provoke delinquency (1969. pp. 183-185).

Finally, young people still enrolled in school who are preparing for public sector jobs may be less concerned about social justice than those who left school and are already working and struggling in the informal economy. General strain theory asserts that work in the secondary labor market involving “poor” jobs that pay little, have low benefits, little opportunity for advancement, and unpleasant working conditions around streets, traffic joints, or motor parks are likely to be causes of deviance.

Other alternative explanatory variables linked to youth’s attitudes towards social justice could be explained using Agnew’s general strain theory, which is centered on how monetary strain and blocked opportunity has an impact on individual’s reasoning, thinking, and decisions. General strain theory, as a micro-level approach to the concept of strain, goes beyond the discrepancy between aspirations and expectations and broadly accommodates several sources of strain or stress (Akers & Sellers, 2004). Central to the theory is the explanation of crime and delinquency as adaptations to strain through three major sources: failure to achieve positively valued goals, removal of positively valued stimuli, and confrontation with negative stimuli. Specifically, the theory assumes that strain makes people feel bad and angry and creates negative feelings such as anger, frustration, and depression.

General strain theory proposes crime and delinquency as only one of other adaptations to strain. Individual’s adaptation to conformity or deviant modes depends on a range of internal and external constraints on the individual such as peer association, beliefs, attributions of causes, self-control, and self-efficacy, which in one way or another affect individuals’ positioning to choose a delinquent response to strain (Akers & Sellers, 2004). In view of that, therefore, the beliefs about social justice as unfair or as a strain that are seen as unjust and high in magnitude possibly lead individuals to crime and delinquency. Individuals with such beliefs and strain may subsequently develop negative attitudes and emotions towards social justice that leads to delinquency.

Methods

The design for this research used the 1979 Kano Youth Survey data, with a sample of 632 individuals, and looked at correlations between the following selected independent variables: amount of Islamic education, amount of Western education, religiosity, family social composition, and enrollment status. Dependent variables measured were honesty (personal honesty and societal honesty) and social justice. The dependent variables are presented in Table 1.

Dependent Variables

 Attitudes towards Honesty

The first dependent variable, attitude towards Honesty, assessed respondents’ disagreement with a statement on admiration of law breaking to get what one wants. The second item asked respondents’ thoughts on whether it is “all right to be dishonest even if it is necessary to get what you want.” These two items measured percentages of societal honesty. Respondents agreed or disagreed that “most people are honest chiefly through fear of being caught.” Secondly, they responded to statement that “all, most, some, or only a few people are being deceptive and dishonest.” Young persons who value personal honesty are more likely to perceive and be troubled by societal corruption, particularly among their governmental leaders. Indirectly they may also be more concerned about social justice, believing it to be tainted by corrupt governmental leaders. Thus, religiosity is negatively related to perception of societal honesty and, therefore, may be partially related to social justice.

Attitudes towards Social Justice

The dependent variable attitude towards social justice was estimated with two items. Respondents answered whether “it’s fair that rich people who can pay their fines can stay out of jail while poor people may have to go to jail for the same crime.” For the second item, they answered whether “It would be more fair if people in Nigeria were paid by how much they need to live decently rather than by the jobs they do.”

Independent Variables

The first independent variable, the amount of Islamic education, was measured by asking respondents to give the total years of Qur’anic schooling they attended and their levels of Qur’anic learning by stating particular chapters of Qur’an learned. A third measure was the level of Ilmi scholarship or scholarship in Islamic writings. Secondly, three items measured Western education. Secondary educational level was the reported number of years spent in secondary school or teacher training college. English reading and speaking literacy asked whether respondents could “read and speak English separately.” Thirdly, three items measured religiosity. First was a question the respondent felt “about praying daily at the mosque.” Then respondents reported their “concern about religion” and, finally, their perception of the religiosity of society was measured. The last independent variable, family social position, was measured by subjective family wealth and fathers’ earnings. Respondents were asked compared with the financial status of families in their community and were asked if they would say their family is very wealthy or very poor.

Results

Descriptive statistics for the independent and dependent variables are utilized, while regression coefficients for the effects of the selected independent variables on attitudes towards honesty and social justice are specifically discussed. Broadly, correlations were found between Islamic education and attitudes on honesty and between Western education and attitudes on social justice. The overall results could be viewed as providing an explanation that the determinants of attitudes towards honesty are somewhat different from attitudes towards social justice. The first correlation explains that attitudes towards honesty are more associated with exposure to Islamic education and level of religiosity, while the second relationship suggests that attitudes towards social justice relates more to Western education.

*P< .05

Specifically, the regression coefficients from the results on Table 2 show that more years of Islamic schooling and the value attached to daily prayers at the mosque considered as part of religiosity is linked to personal honesty. This relationship tends to be in support of the earlier stated assumption that amount of Islamic education and religiosity is positively related to attitudes towards personal honesty. Consistently, the results also indicate support for the effects of level of Qur’anic learning and attitudes towards honesty. One of the two Western education items is weakly and positively related to personal honesty attitudes. Level of Qur’anic learning is also positively related to perceptions of societal honesty.

*P< .05

Respondents’ level of Ilmi scholarship is reported with a negative correlation on social justice views, though support was found on effects of Ilmi scholarship on the second dependent variable of social equity. In contrast, respondents with secondary level of education tend to have more views that disagree with the idea of paying people by how much they need to live, but supports the views on the mode of social equity concerning the jobs people do. Thus, as proposed, individuals with a Western education in the form of English reading literacy and secondary level of education are more likely to exhibit positive attitudes on social justice.

*P< .05, +P> .10

The results on Table 4 report the relationships of the social justice attitudes. Somewhat surprising, the factors that promote positive attitudes towards government redistribution are negatively related to legal justice for the poor. Youth with more advanced Islamic scholarship favor governmental redistribution, but not legal justice for the poor. Youths with more Western education oppose government redistribution but show a weak positive relationship to legal justice for the poor. The propositions on social justice, at best, show a partial relationship.

Discussion and Conclusion

The central proposition of this study is that the amount of Islamic and Western education acquired by youths has an influence on their attitudes towards honesty and social justice. The findings are mixed, indicating that Islamic education jointly with religiosity are positively related to attitudes towards honesty while Western education is related more to attitudes on social justice and egalitarianism.

In addition, the summary and implications of the key overall findings are two-fold and suggest separate bearings of Islamic education and religiosity on attitudes towards honesty and that of western schooling on attitudes towards social justice respectively. First, the findings broadly show the overall positive effects of some of the following independent variables’ items: years of Qur’anic schooling, levels of Qur’anic learning, feelings about daily prayers, and students’ enrollment status on attitudes towards personal honesty, societal honesty, and social justice.

That the mixed results are in line with the propositions and/or objectives suggests that interpreting the puzzling findings and explaining the complexity in greater detail are not straightforward. The results are summarized as follows:

• The amount of Islamic education is more positively related to youth attitudes towards honesty than the amount of Western education.
• The amount of Western education is more positively related to youth attitudes towards social justice than the amount of Islamic education.
• Levels of religiosity among youths increase their attitudes towards honesty.
• Family social position of youth in Kano is negatively related to their attitudes towards social justice.

First, the following conclusions emerged from the analysis: respondents’ years of Qur’anic schooling, levels of Qur’anic learning, and value attached to daily prayers are found to be associated with attitudes about personal honesty. Further, students’ enrollment status, concern about religion, and levels of Ilmi scholarship are found to be related to attitudes about societal honesty and social justice among youth in Kano. However, the results also indicate negative effects of the following independent variables lumped together: amount of Islamic education, Western education, and religiosity on attitudes about social justice among youths respectively.

The first assumption, which states that the amount of Islamic or Western education increases youth attitudes towards honesty, was supported. The results show that the independent variables of years of Qur’anic schooling and level of Qur’anic learning are positively related to attitudes towards personal and societal honesty. Youths with more years of Qur’anic schooling and more levels of Qur’anic learning appear to have positive attitudes about honesty, as evidenced by their disapproval of law violation and their placing a higher value on honesty. This relationship between Islamic education and honesty is consistent with Hirschi’s (1969) social bonding theory, although he is predicting delinquency while this research is predicting attitudes about honesty and social justice. Also, as proposed, Western education is very partially, weakly, and variably related to increased perceptions of honesty. Consistent with the Messner and Rosenfeld (1994) and others, the individual achievement goal of Western education placed in many societies has been interpreted as achievement at all costs irrespective of the means. In such cases, if more schooling increases concerns for educational achievement as a means to material success, this may de-emphasize the value of personal honesty.

Also, the weak existing relationship suggests that the amount of Islamic and Western education is positively related to attitudes towards social justice. For the social justice variable (treating the rich and the poor the same in the legal system) there were two puzzling findings. The social justice attitude was positively related to English speaking literacy, but, surprisingly, it was negatively related to level of Islamic studies. As such, the two positions together suggest a relationship that varies based on amount of education received among youth.

An additional proposition states that youth higher in religiosity will have stronger attitudes towards honesty and social justice. However, youths who valued daily prayers were higher in personal honesty but were not different than other boys in their attitudes about societal honesty and social justice. Thus, youth who are more concerned about religion are more likely to think people are honest out of fear and to believe that few people are dishonest. The overall finding regarding this proposition seem to go along with Morgan and Armer’s (1991) conclusion about the role of continued reverence of Islamic tradition in northern Nigeria in precipitating more aspirations for Islamic training.

However, the fourth proposition was not supported by this research; boys’ family social position did not affect their attitudes about social justice. Therefore, family social composition is not a factor in influencing attitudes towards social justice. In line with Morgan and Armer’s (1988) argument on the social structure of northern Nigeria, the absence of a social class effect in this finding reflects the fact that in 1979 Kano was still a more communal society than a class-based society.

Although this research has yielded some mixed findings and, except for the fourth which was not supported, it has generally found that components of Islamic education and levels of religiosity more likely account for attitudes on honesty, while those of Western education show some relation to attitudes on social justice. In that respect, the findings may suggest that attitudes about honesty are learned by youths early in life while attitudes about social justice are learned somewhat later in life. Thus, this study will still be a topic of interest for future research investigating the effects of Islamic and Western education among youth for other variables.

 References

Appelrouth, S. & Laura, D. E. (2008). Classical and contemporary sociological theory: Text and readings. LOCATION, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Armer, M. (1970). Formal education and psychological malaise in an African society. American Journal of Sociology, pp. 143-158.

Biesheuvel, S. (1958). Methodology in the study of attitudes of Africans. The Journal of Social Psychology, 47, pp. 169-184.

Geo-Jaja, M. A. (2006). Educational decentralization, public spending, and social justice in Nigeria. Review of Education, 52, pp. 125-148.

Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Morgan, W. R. & Armer, M. (1988). Islamic and Western educational accommodation in a West African society: A cohort-comparison analysis. American Sociological Review, 53, pp. 634-639.

Morgan, W. R. & Armer, M. (1991). Structural accommodation and cultural duality: The northern Nigerian education system. Journal of International Education, 21, pp. 41-48.

Morgan, W. R., Armer, J. M., & Steven, L. M. (1992). Western versus Islamic schooling: Conflict and accommodation in Nigeria. in B. Rubinson & R. Rubinson (Eds.), The political construction of education: The state, school expansion, and economic change (pp. 75–88). New York, NY: Praeger.

Niles, S. F. (2001). Parental attitudes toward female education in northern Nigeria. The Journal Social Psychology, 129, pp. 13-20.

Paden, J. N. (1973). Religion and political culture in Kano. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Paternoster, R. & Bachman, R. (2001). Explaining criminals and crime: Essays in contemporary criminological theory. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.

Scott, J., & Marshall, G. (2005). Oxford dictionary of sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Umar, M. S. (2001). Educational and Islamic trends in northern Nigeria: 1970s-1990s. Africa Today, pp. 127-150.

Yahaya, E. (2001). The Christian missions and Western education in Ilorin, Nigeria: A century of resistance and challenge: 1847-1957. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 21, pp. 149-154.

Samantha Smith

A persistent issue in macro sociology is the relationship between culture and social change.  After decades of research on socioeconomic development, and much theoretical debate, two major contending schools of thought regarding patterns of mass cultural change remain.  The first school largely contends that traditional and modern beliefs exist on a zero-sum continuum.  That is to say, modernizing forces proliferate the replacement of traditional values with more “modern” (rational) values and beliefs. Consequently, this school suggests that values will converge cross-nationally as a result of societal level modernization (i.e., progressive societal development embodying industrialization, urbanization, bureaucratization and scientific discovery).

Alternatively, the second major school of thought regarding mass value change contends that convergence is unlikely.  This school emphasizes the persistence of traditional values despite structural development.  Under this paradigm traditional values are expected to persist regardless of societal and individual level socioeconomic change and continue to maintain an independent influence on cultural values.

Clearly these two paradigms are at odds with each other, yet both schools are backed by dense bodies of research.­­­­­­­­ In this paper I report a longitudinal case study of a single society to compare the two paradigms.  I use survey data collected from West African area youth samples in 1965, 1979, and 2007.

Convergence vs. Persistence

Although theories regarding modernization have been developing for over a century, three major studies (Inkeles, 1960, Kahl, 1968, and Inkeles and Smith, 1974) appear to have established the roots of the convergence paradigm. Collectively these studies empirically identified a distinct (cross-cultural) value shift (from traditional to modern) linked to socioeconomic development.

Alex Inkeles’ (1960) exploratory study titled Industrial Man was perhaps the first empirical research to investigate the psychological effects of modern industrial environments cross-nationally.  Relying on past survey data from a group of industrialized countries, Inkeles investigated the relationship between occupational status (or individual roles in the industrial system) and attitudes and beliefs. His findings were both diverse and revealing.  First, he found that differing occupational positions mediated job satisfaction values (across societies lower status workers more often equated job satisfaction with pay while higher status workers cared more about doing work they found to be interesting).  Second, he saw that occupational status also mediated general life satisfaction (lower status workers were more likely to be unhappy and dissatisfied with life compared to higher status workers).  Third, probing the extent to which industrial position influences values, he found both child-rearing values (regarding occupational recommendations) and values regarding ambition, obedience, optimism, and trust (which he termed “human nature”) to vary by occupational status.

Thus, Inkeles (1960) concluded that large scale industrial patterns of societies influenced individual values across nations somewhat systemically. This finding (that societal level structural development fuels systematic value change—the core of modernization theory) inspired two major studies that tested empirically the claim in less developed (more traditional) nations. (If similar value shifts were evident in diverse societies global value convergence was probable).

Kahl (1968) first explored the validity of a unidimensional measure of value change in the developing world.   In what was at the time a quite novel construction, Kahl developed an empirical “measure of modernism” consisting of 14 attitudinal scales exploring/measuring hypothesized “modern” views of work and life.  After factor analyzing the resulting data from some 1,300 men in Brazil and Mexico, Kahl identified seven value orientations representing the so-called “core” components of modernism: 1) activism, 2) low integration with relatives, 3) preference for urban life, 4) individualism, 5) low community stratification, 6) mass-media participation, and 7) low stratification of life chances.

Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, Kahl identified clear patterns (remarkably similar findings in Brazil and Mexico) regarding these core traits and place of residence (e.g., provinces, metropolises) and socioeconomic status, finding “modern” values to be more prominent among city dwellers, higher status workers and the more educated in both societies.  Consequently, Kahl supported Inkeles (1960) position that industrial development (or immersion in industrial society) proliferated somewhat predictable “traditional” to “modern” value transitions across diverse (both industrial and industrializing) societies.

Inkeles and Smith’s (1974) large-scale (landmark) study of individual modernization involving six different developing nations (Argentina, Chile, India, Israel, Nigeria, and Bangladesh) further supported these findings.  Using a complex (and rather comprehensive) summary measure (the OM scale) that combined twenty-four themes derived from groupings of differing analytical, topical, and behavioral perspectives on social change, Inkeles and Smith examined “modernity” as a cross-cultural psychosocial attribute.

The resulting survey data from some 6,000 industrial and non-industrial workers revealed clear patterns of characteristics which, according to Inkeles and Smith, represented a cross-cultural “syndrome” of modernity.  “Modern values,” according to their findings, included increasing individualism and openness to new experiences, stronger beliefs in the efficacy of science, increasing ambition and valuation in planning, and greater awareness and interest in civic affairs, politics, and national and international issues.  Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, Inkeles and Smith identified three modern institutions that primarily facilitated this “syndrome”: the factory, mass media, and (most strongly) secular education.  Thus, Inkeles and Smith, in line with Kahl (1968) and Inkeles (1960), found that modern institutions proliferated predictable value transformations (i.e., a shift from “traditional” to “modern” values) across diverse societies and argued that global value convergence was likely on the horizon.

In short, these findings supported the convergence model of social change, providing a strong platform for modernization theory (or the theory that societal development is linked to predictable value shifts).  Their findings (along with countless others that followed) consistently supported the notion that individual values, even among diverse nations, converge to a remarkable degree during the process of economic development, inevitably giving rise to a single “modern man.”

Modernization theory, however, was not without its critics.  Starting in the late 1970’s social theorists began contesting the convergence model, highlighting the weaknesses and failures of the modernization approach.  Dependency-oriented scholars and world systems theorists dismissed modernization theory as ideological.  Wallerstein (1976) went so far as to pronounce it dead.  Even Portes (1979), a modernization theorist, while supporting the meaningfulness of the internal structure of “modernity” (i.e., subjacent set of sub-dimensions), criticized the model’s assumption that modern orientations were positively linked to societal development (as did Delacroix & Ragin, 1984).

Consequently, the convergence model came to be viewed by many at best as too simplistic while at worst as convoluted, idealist and self-serving.  The concept of an emerging universal “industrial” or “modern” man became heavily criticized as researchers began pointing to customs and beliefs that continued to differentiate societies rather than to new value sets that seemed to connect them.  Edward Shils (1981), in his book titled Tradition, devoted some 300 pages solely to defining and describing the resounding influence of tradition (and immutability of traditions) over time.  Later Hamilton, an economic theorist (among many others), argued that modern values were incapable of replacing culture:

“The organizational structure of rationalism and capitalism is deeply imbedded in Western life.  Their diffusion to another civilization arena, even by force, is not to transmit the whole, but only the effects of that life, the artifacts, so to speak.  Rationalism, as a mode of scientific thinking, and capitalism, as a way of doing business, enter other civilizations as inventions, albeit very important ones.  They enter as alien fragments into a complete way of life that has no holes, no institutional niches left unoccupied.  For this reason… a complete replacement of one worldview by another is impossible” (1994: 197).

Thus, the persistence paradigm (refuting value convergence) had taken shape.

Samuel Huntington’s (1993, 1996) “clash of civilizations” thesis, which projected dismal global relations, represented one of the most profound (and controversial) works supporting the persistence model.  His “clash” thesis reminded readers that contemporary values in different societies (which he grouped into eight major civilizations or “cultural zones”) reflect long-standing cultural legacies relating to national history, language, customs, and (most importantly) religion.  Further, citing a series of conflicts between Western and Islamic civilizations (among others), he proclaimed that these distinct cultural differences, specifically related to political values, would become the major source of conflict in the modern world.

Thus, in Huntington’s mind the pervasive impact of tradition and religion in different “civilizations” (and the persistence of these traditions) had led and would continue to lead to serious “ethno-religious clashes” in the increasingly globalized world.  In his eyes (and many other persistence-oriented theorists’) peoples of the world would remain culturally distinct for better or for worse.

Despite such widespread skepticism, modernization theory seems to withstand the test of time, at least in some form.  Contemporary theorists continue to offer new evidence and insights regarding universal rationalization of attitudes and behaviors (Ritzer’s (2000) McDonaldlization argument is one such example).  Thus, the debate between cultural convergence and cultural persistence continues. 

Tradition vs. Modernization (and Post Modernization)

To this author’s knowledge, Ronald Inglehart and Wayne Baker’s recent publication, Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistence of Traditional Values (2000), based on data from the World Value Surveys, is the first major empirical attempt to compare the two change paradigms.In their study, Inglehart and Baker tested modernization theory’s main premise  (that economic development is linked with systematic changes in basic values) by comparing value orientations/tendencies between countries at different levels of development.  Furthermore, to incorporate the persistence perspective, Inglehart and Baker employed Huntington’s (1993, 1996) “cultural zone” premise by dividing the nations into eight “civilizations” (or groups) according to their prominent religious traditions, said to be the preeminent source of values that persist despite modernizing forces (according to the persistence model).

Their measure of traditional vs. modern values was derived from Inglehart’s prior assessment of transforming values and beliefs (1997, also using WVS data) in which he identified two global systematic change patterns (based on factor scores of 22 WVS variables).  The first of these was said to reflect the cross-national polarization between traditional and modern (secular-rational) orientations towards authority (more specifically the differing belief structures of pre-industrial and industrial societies).  The second was thought to capture the newly emerging shift towards postmodern values linked to economic security (i.e., materialistic survival values to post-materialistic self-expression values) evident in advanced industrialized societies.

Although Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) findings supported the theory of systematic change (massive systematic cultural change was readily apparent on both dimensional scales), they also suggested that historical cultural traditions (the “zones”) maintained a significant, independent influence on values.  Thus, Inglehart and Baker deemed cultural change to be path dependent (in line with the persistence model), and offered a series of revisions to modernization theory (including the argument that modernization is probabilistic rather than deterministic).

Exploring Social Change in the Developing World

One weakness of Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) study (and the WVS data thus far) is that the least developed nations, particularly African nations, are underrepresented.  Although Inglehart and Baker’s dimensions of change (both modernization and post modernization) appeared valid across most nations (particularly advanced nations), their African zone included only three nations.  Further, the “culture” of these nations seemed to be an anomaly to their cultural-influence (i.e., persistence) perspective (see Table 4 pg. 33 in Inglehart & Baker 2000).  Thus the relationship between modernizing institutions, tradition, and social change in these nations, which due to years of Western colonization are perhaps the world’s most traditional and underdeveloped societies, remains somewhat unclear.

This paper reports the results of a case study that retests and evaluates Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) perspectives on social change (both their general conclusions and their two-dimensional model) by focusing at the individual level on a city in Africa.  One critical methodological issue in testing the persistence model is whether units of analysis can be defined by modern, nation-state boundaries.  Traditions may persist within boundaries and, in some cases, across boundaries, which is particularly likely in Africa, especially West Africa.  The Northern region of Nigeria has a recorded continuous cultural tradition dating back to the 15th century and, at the same time, is a central player in the modern economy of the nation.  It is, therefore, an appropriate site for examining these two theories in that arbitrary national boundaries should not bias the findings.

A past study focusing on the region, which used the earliest wave of the data used here, provided some support for the convergence model, specifically noting a strong relationship between modern secular education and modern value orientations (Armer & Youtz 1971).  Using two new waves of data, this study takes a second look at the modernizing power of secular education across time on young people.  In addition, to simultaneously evaluate the validity of the persistence model, the current study investigates the effect of traditional Islamic schooling on values.  The Qur’anic teachings in these schools exemplify a sustaining traditional force in society.

The main hypotheses of this project are:

• H1: Modern (secular-rational) values will increase, and traditional values will decrease, over time.
• H2: Postmodern (self-expression) values will increase, and materialistic (survival) values will decrease, over time.
• H3: Increasing modern and postmodern values will be largely explained by increasing secular education.
• H4: Higher levels of traditional Islamic schooling will be associated with more traditional and survival-oriented values.

Method

 Setting

The current study draws on data collected in the city of Kano, Nigeria.  Although industry has grown over the last century (textile manufacturing and petroleum-based industry in particular) and public employment is relatively high (e.g., all teachers are government employees), Nigeria is a distinctly traditional, developing society.  Agriculture is still a dominant economic sector, accounting for more than half the Nigerian labor force, and craftsmen, traders, and religious leaders (or mallams) all maintain significant roles both in the economy and the community (Harmon 2001; Morgan & Morgan 1998; Morgan & Morgan 2004).

Kano is a particularly appropriate setting for research regarding the juxtaposition of traditional and modern forces not only because it is one of the oldest cities in West Africa (with predominantly traditional/religious leadership dating from the 1400’s until 1967), but also because it represents the dominant urban economic center of Northern Nigeria today.  Kano is one of the few societies in Africa to “maintain an unbroken organizational tie with its past throughout the colonial period” (Armer & Youtz 1971:606).  Thus, religious authority and pride in cultural (predominantly Hausa-Fulani) heritage remain high among citizens while modern secular education systems remain somewhat underdeveloped (e.g., still noncompulsory).

As a major national city, Kano also embraces the predominant cultural patterns of Nigeria.  Data from the 1990-93 World Value Survey, which compares basic beliefs and values among the peoples of more than 40 societies (representing some 70 percent of the world’s population,) further supports the notion that Nigeria is a remarkably traditional nation.  Religion and family continue to be of utmost importance in Nigerians’ lives.  For example, among all the nations surveyed, Nigeria had the highest percentage of people (85%) that answered “very important” to the question “How important is religion in your life?” (As a point of reference the percent answering “very important” to this question in South Africa was 66% [ranked 2nd] and 61% in Turkey [ranked 3rd]; while only 53% of Americas felt religion to be very important in their lives and 21% of respondents in Spain to a strikingly low 1% of respondents in China, to name only a few).  Nigeria also had the highest percentage of respondents agreeing that God was “very important” in their lives (98%) and the highest percentage of people who said that they “take some moments of prayer, mediation, or contemplation (99%) or pray to God “often” or “sometimes” outside religious services (97%).  Regarding the importance of family and community, Nigerians again ranked first in percentage citing family as “very important” in their lives (94% of respondents) and last (only 16%) in viewing independence as an especially important quality (Inglehart, Basanez & Moreno 1998). 

Sample

 The current analysis is based on data from the Kano Youth Survey (KYS).  The KYS is a continuing longitudinal survey of 17-year-old boys in Kano, Nigeria.  The first cohort was surveyed in 1965, the second in 1979, and the third in 2007.  An identical random area sampling design was used for each cohort that yielded 591 respondents in 1965, 632 in 1979, and 507 in 2007, for a total sample size of 1,730 boys.  The surveys were conducted with permission and support from local authorities.  Indigenous Hausa speakers conducted all interviews.

 Measures

 Dependent Variables

 The study design, which draws heavily on Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) study of societal modernization using World Value Survey data, is a deliberate attempt to replicate their study on an individual level in a populous, developing, traditional Muslim society that was shaped by decades of colonial rule.  The applicability of their two-dimensional development theory is tested using two indexes designed to mirror the two unique dimensional scales they identified.

Scale 1

The first scale, said to measure the “polarization between traditional versus secular-rational orientations toward authority” is an index of 16 indicators selected to parallel Inglehart and Baker’s (common) conception (and operationalization) of traditional versus modern values/culture (Inglehart & Baker 2000: 23, emphasis in original).  Selected indicators included five (5) attitudinal questions regarding religion, five (5) questions about the importance of family and traditional/parental authority, and six (6) questions regarding conformity and/or propensity to adopt or accept “European (Western) ways,” and/or value individualism, science and change. (For a full list of the indicators see Appendix A).  All indicators were coded/recoded so that higher scores represented more secular or rational values.

Initially individual responses were totaled to compute overall level of traditionalism or “secular-rationalism” (i.e., modernity), but this method dropped some 500 respondents due to listwise deletion.  Thus, the final index term used was computed by first creating a count variable for the scale (a variable denoting the number of questions each respondent answered) and then dividing each respondent’s “score” on the index by their count.  This method, based on average scores, retained the full sample of 1,730 boys.  Average scores ranged from 1.19 to 2.93, with a mean of 1.836 for the full sample.

Overall, specific care was taken to produce a scale that would be comparable to Inglehart and Baker’s measure (on an individual level).  Their scale was intended to reflect the contrast between societies where religion and family are central (the supposed value structure of pre-industrial societies) and those in which they are not (more advanced nations [thus seemingly a measure of modernity]).  By selecting questions that were asked each survey year (16 vs. 5 in Inglehart and Baker (2000)), which were similar to theirs, the multifaceted dimension of change they presented and tested across 65 nations is fully reflect. 

Cronbach’s alpha indicated an overall scale reliability of .362 for the full sample, admittedly modest but fairly consistent with prior analyses using these data.  By cohort, the alphas were as follows: .449 in 1965, .404 for 1979 and, .244 for 2007.  (Appendix A also includes results of exploratory factor analysis of the scale variables, assessing possible sub-dimensions.)

 Scale 2

Similar to scale one, scale two’s construction draws on Inglehart and Baker (2000) (and Inglehart (1997)).  As noted earlier, Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) analysis is based on the premise that social development is not linear, but reflective of two dimensions, the first representing the transition from a traditional to modern society (see scale one) and the second roughly representing the shift from a modern to postmodern society.  Accordingly, scale two is a measure of the (second) transition from survival values to self-expression (or quality of life) values.

The alleged “central component” of this dimension “involves the polarization between materialist and post-materialist values” (Inglehart & Baker 2000: 26).  Inglehart and Baker further explained this second phase of social change to be representative of “the syndrome of trust, tolerance, subjective well-being, political activism, and self-expression that emerges in postindustrial society with high levels of security” (2000: 25).  Thus, sixteen attitudinal indicators were selected (representing all the relevant questions, found in the KYS survey that were asked of each cohort, less one)  regarding openness and awareness (3), women’s equality (2), ethnic tolerance (4), interpersonal trust (3), and/or focusing on survival vs. security outlooks/mindsets in a broad or specific sense (4).  (See Appendix B for the full list of questions).  All the indicators were then coded so that higher values represented more self-expressive (or post-materialistic) values.

Finally, as with scale one, respondent scores were added (and divided by a count term) to establish the final index indicator.  The full sample size was again 1,730, with average scores ranging from 1.40 to 3.56 with a mean of 2.54.  Cronbach’s alpha indicated a modest scale reliability of .395 for the full sample (.377 for 1965, .391 for 1979, and .481 for 2007).                  

Explanatory Variables

Focusing on change over time, the main independent variable was survey year operationalized as two dummy variables with the first survey year (1965) as the reference category.  Both Western and Islamic schooling were also included, because education was the other major explanatory variable (while years of Islamic schooling also served as a measure of sustaining tradition).  Western schooling was included as number of years of modern secular education, while Islamic, or Qur’anic, instruction was measured by number of years spent studying either in makarantar allo (i.e., elementary Islamic education) and/or makarantar ilmi (i.e., advanced Islamic education, which includes reading commentaries and other materials).  (Years of each form of Qur’anic instruction were totaled with the maximum set at twelve years and missing values coded as zero.)  Interaction terms were also created to assess any unique effects of secular schooling by survey year (yrs. secular ed. x survey year) because modern schooling became more widespread with the passage of time.

Demographic controls included three (3) dummy variables for residential district (with the northern-most Arwea district as the reference group), since the districts originally defined distinctive occupational sectors (and associated cultures), and a dummy for employment status (where working in any field=1 and reporting no occupation or “student” as an occupation =0) since some occupations have been seen to influence values.  Father’s modern schooling and father’s estimated income were also included as measures of social status.  Father’s schooling was an ordinal measure with 1=some primary school, 2=completed primary school, 3=some secondary, teacher-training, etc., 4=completed secondary, teacher training, etc., 5=beyond secondary (university, etc.), and “don’t knows” and “other” coded as missing.  The scale for father’s income varied by survey year (to compensate for annual monetary value changes) but was also an ordinal measure (reverse) coded 1 to 5 so that higher scores consistently represented larger annual earnings (in naira), with “don’t know” and “other” again coded as missing.  Interaction terms for father’s schooling and income by survey year were also tested.

Last, a measure of respondent’s attitude towards Western secular education was created and explored as a possible theoretical interpretive aid and/or mediating factor.  Attitudes were measured using an index of five terms probing beliefs of the positive and/or negative effects of Western schooling and the desirability of different levels and aspects of modern education.  The items were recoded (where necessary) so that a higher score represented a more favorable attitude.  The final term represented respondent’s total score. (See Appendix C for indicator list.)

Analysis

 Hierarchical multiple ordinary least square (OLS) regressions were used for the total analysis to assess the independent and mediating effects of education (both traditional and modern) and other background characteristics on modern and postmodern values.  Traditional to secular-rational value transitions [scale 1] were tested separately from survival to self-expression value shifts [scale 2] in accordance with the two-dimensional (or two stage) societal development (modernization/post modernization) process proposed by Inglehart (1997) and Inglehart and Baker (2000).  Six models are presented for each analysis, increasing in complexity and strength; all R2 changes (by model, for both dimensions) were statistically significant, thus, all the models are discussed.

For both scales the first model looked solely at change over time (survey year), while the second (Model 2) did so controlling for education (the other major explanatory variable).  Interaction terms and demographic/social status controls were added in the remaining models (Models 3 thru 5) hoping to expose area of residence, and/or other background characteristics (by cohort) as mechanisms (or inhibitors) of value change.  Respondents’ attitudes toward Western schooling were controlled for in the final model (Model 6 for both scales).

RESULTS

Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for the full sample by cohort.  As hypothesized, modern (secular-rational) values increased over time.  Average scores on the traditional vs. rational-secular value index (scale 1) increased from 1.796 in 1965 to 1.841 in 1979 to 1.876 in 2007 (with standard deviations slightly decreasing over time), which indicates a shift towards more modern values over the last four decades.  The trend towards increasing self-expression (or postmodern) values over time was less clear.  Although the average score (for scale 2) was highest (2.565) in 2007, average scores were lowest in 1979 (2.521), rather than 1965 (2.539), suggesting an increase in survival tendencies (or materialistic values), rather than self-expression (or post materialistic) values, from 1965 to 1979 in Kano.

Table 1 also shows that education levels (both Western secular and Qur’anic) increased over time in this developing society.  Seventeen-year-old boys averaged only 2.8 years of modern schooling in 1965 versus 6.2 years in 1979 and 8.6 years in 2007 (this is not surprising as Western secular schooling became increasingly available over this period).  Islamic schooling, more prominent in all cohorts than secular schooling, also consistently increased by survey year from an average of 5 years in 1965 to nearly 9 years in 2007.

As for the other demographic indicators, employment levels were seen to be somewhat inconsistent, with nearly half the boys surveyed in 1965 indicating they were currently working while only 24.4% in 1979 and 30% in 2007 reporting they were (this overall decline is probably associated with increases in modern schooling as seen above).  Father’s modern schooling, not surprisingly, was low overall (the mean of 1.2 for the full sample indicates only “some primary schooling” as average), but both level of education and father’s income were seen to have increased over time.  Last, Table 1 indicates that favorable attitudes towards Western schooling increased from 1965 to 1979 (with average attitudinal scores increasing from 15.0 to 15.7) but decreased between 1979 and 2007 to the overall lowest average score of 14.6.

*Standard deviation not applicable for proportions

**Reported N is for full sample (591 boys were surveyed in 1965, 632 in 1979, and 507 in 2007)

Traditional vs. Secular-Rational Values

The results from Model 1 in Table 2 further support the principal hypothesis that secular-rational (or modern) values increased over time.  Boys’ average scores on Scale 1 were .035 points higher in 1979 and .054 points higher in 2007 than 1965.  Both increases are statistically significant.  But survey year alone had limited predictive power with an R2 of only .007.  Model 2 (adding education into the model) indicated that years of secular education had a highly significant (p<.001) positive effect on increasing secular-rational values (as hypothesized), with average scores increasing by .021 for each additional year of Western schooling.  Islamic schooling, on the other hand, had no effect on secular-rational values, which indicates that traditional schooling and sustaining religious beliefs do not pose a major barrier to individual modernity (i.e., increasingly secular-rational beliefs).

Although significantly more variance was explained by including education levels into the model (R2 jumped to .090), passage of time was now seen to be negatively associated with modern values.  Average scores for Scale 1 were significantly lower in 2007 compared to 1965 (indicating an overall increase in traditional values over time).  This effect was explored in Model 3 by adding two interaction terms crossing years of modern schooling by survey year.  Both were highly significant and together significantly improved the predictive power of the equation (R2 increased to .104).  Furthermore, survey year was again seen to be positively related to increasingly secular-rational values as in Model 1.  Average scores (for Scale 1) were seen to be slightly (but not significantly) higher in 1979 compared to 1965 and significantly (p<.05) higher in 2007 (with an average score increase of .094).  Perhaps even more importantly, this model also revealed a more complex relationship between education and time.  Although modern schooling continued to have a highly significant positive affect on modern value scores (p<.01), the effect appeared to decrease over time (the average increase in scores for each additional year of modern secular schooling was .031 in 1965, but only .017 in 1979, down to .007 in 2007).

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

a 1965 is omitted reference year.

b Arewa is omitted reference district.

c Survey year x father’s education interaction terms were found non-significant and dropped from the final model

A similar trend appeared in Model 4 when demographic and social status controls were added to the equation.  The coefficient for 1979 was still non-significant (indicating no real value change from 1965 to 1979), while the coefficient for 2007 increased slightly (remaining significant (p<.05)).  The effects of modern schooling changed little, remaining consistent with Model 3, and years of Islamic schooling continued to be non-significant.  Somewhat surprisingly, work status, father’s education and father’s income were also found to be unrelated to individual traditional or modern (secular-rational) beliefs (i.e., non-significant).  District in which respondent resided did appear to play a role, although not as expected.  The results indicated that boys from Kudu averaged significantly higher scores (p<.05) on Scale 1 compared to the Northernmost district Arewa, traditionally considered more economically active.

To further probe the connection between social status and traditional vs. secular-rational values, interaction terms crossing father’s income (and father’s education) by survey year were added in Model 5.  This practice improved the predictive power of the equation significantly (R2 increased to .124) and brought the effect of father’s earnings to light.  Father’s income in 1965 was negatively related to Scale 1 scores (significant at p<.05), which indicates that higher economic status was somewhat of an inhibitor to modern values in this year (or a force for sustaining traditional values), while father’s earnings was positively related to secular-rational value scores in 1979 (significant at p<.05) and 2007 (p<.001), showing socioeconomic status to be positively associated with more modern values in the two later years.  Father’s income also appeared to explain away the effect of time, as both dummies for survey year were now seen to be non-significant.  Nevertheless, the influence of modern secular education persisted, showing highly significant (p<.001) trends consistent with the previous models.

The final model (Model 6) assessed the effect of attitudes towards Western schooling on modern values.  Although the full model explained the most variance in value scores (R2=.145), and more favorable attitudes were seen to be associated with higher scores (significant at p<.001), little changed in regard to the effects of the other independent variables.  Respondent’s years of modern secular schooling remained highly significant across cohorts, with the strongest association being seen in 1965 (where each additional year of modern schooling equated to and average score increase of .029).  Years of Islamic instruction appeared to be unrelated to traditional/secular-rational value scores in all cohorts.  Finally, the effect of father’s income continued to vary by year (while father’s education remained non-significant) and boys from Kudu averaged higher scores than boys living in other districts.

Survival vs. Self-Expression Values

Table 3 presents results assessing the effect of survey year, education, and social status on self-expression (or post-materialistic) values.  Models 1 and 2 indicated trends inconsistent with the hypothesis that postmodern values emerge, and increase, over time.  According to Model 2 (which included survey year and education levels), boy’s average score on the survival vs. self-expression index was negatively related to survey year, thus indicating a decrease in self-expression values over time (average score for Scale 2 was .123 points lower in 1979 and .103 points lower in 2007, compared to 1965 [significant at p<.001]).

The modern education hypothesis was again supported (in Model 2), with every additional year of modern secular schooling representing an average increase of .021 on Scale 2 scores (p<.001; strikingly similar to the secular-rational value scale).  Furthermore, consistent with the traditional vs. modern value index (Scale 1), Model 2 indicated that years of Islamic schooling did not influence (positively or negatively) postmodern (or self-expression) value scores.

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

a 1965 is omitted reference year.

b Arewa is omitted reference district.

c Survey year x father’s education interaction terms were found non-significant and dropped from the final model.

Models 3 and 4 elaborated these findings by adding interaction terms for secular schooling by cohort (1979xYrs.sec.ed. and 2007xYrs.sec.ed) as well as other social status indicators.  Again, a more complex relationship between modern schooling and values was revealed; much like Scale 1, the results indicated that modern education had a declining effect on fueling postmodern values over time (adding these terms also seemed to explain away the general effect of time as survey year lost significance).  Model 4 also showed that having a job and/or having a father who achieved a higher level of education significantly increased postmodern value scores.  Finally, Model 4 indicated that boys living in the Yamma district held the most survival-oriented values.

Similar to the analysis of Scale 1, Model 5 teased out the effect of father’s education and income on values by adding interaction terms.  Father’s modern schooling remained highly significant (p<.001), with increasing schooling seen to be associated with higher (more “postmodern”) Scale 2 scores.  Father’s income was now seen to be a significant predictor of survival values, but only in 1979, with average scores in this cohort significantly decreasing as father’s income increased (p<.05).  Overall the other independent variable effects remained fairly consistent, although the declining impact of secular education on self-expression values was now seen to shift (i.e., become negative) in 2007, with each additional year of education showing an average .002 decrease in post-materialistic scores (or .002 increase in average survival-oriented values) in this year (p<.001).

Finally, in Model 6 the influence of respondent’s attitude towards Western secular education was assessed.  Respondent’s attitude towards secular education was seen to be highly significant, with more favorable attitudes towards Western schooling relating to higher average Scale 2 scores (p<.001).  However, adding the attitude term had little impact on the other coefficients (although it did significantly improve the predictive power of the equation, with the full model explaining over 15% of the variance in Scale 2 scores).  Thus, the overall trend remained clear: Years of modern secular education (both the respondent’s and the respondent’s father’s) significantly influenced survival vs. self-expression value scores across cohorts (while father’s income did so only in 1979).  Father’s level of schooling was consistently positively related to increasingly postmodern beliefs over time while the effect of respondent’s years of secular schooling decreased (and eventually reversed) over time.  Furthermore, traditional Qur’anic instruction was revealed to be neither a barrier or a facilitator of postmodern values.

DISCUSSION

The current study aimed to shed light on the relationship between social change and culture in the developing world.  In particular, the applicability of two alternative models of socioeconomic development were weighed.  The first paradigm, emphasizing a convergence model, presupposes replacement of traditional beliefs and values with more “modern” (i.e., rational) values through the forces of modern institutions, most specifically modern work environments and modern secular schooling.  Alternatively, the second paradigm, which emphasizes so-called persistence, allows for a possible relationship between (or the coexistence of) traditional and modern values, and argues that traditional beliefs have a pervasive and persistent impact on culture and values during socioeconomic development.

Inglehart and Baker (2000) used World Value Survey data to test empirically these perspectives on a societal level and concluded that traditional values maintain an independent influence on cultural change.  Further, in line with Inglehart (1997), they suggested/argued that social change happens in two phases (or on two dimensions) linked to level of industry and economic security.  The first dimension is said to encapsulate the shift away from traditional authority towards more secular and rational orientations, while the second cites a shift from materialistic survival-oriented values to post materialistic self-expression (i.e., quality of life) values (the latter of which is believed to symbolize the emergence of postmodernism).

The current study compared these theories and conclusions on an individual level using data from Kano, Nigeria to test four hypotheses generated from them.  The resulting multiple findings are only partially consistent with the theories.  First and foremost, in line with Inglehart and Baker (2000), the convergence model proved to be too simplistic.  Although there was some evidence that secular-rational values increased over time, and they appeared to be mediated predominately by years of secular education (consistent with Inkeles & Smith (1974), Kahl (1968), and Means (1989)), the parallel, consistent increase in traditional Islamic schooling suggested that traditional beliefs persist in some form regardless of individual modernization.  This finding is supported by Al-Haj (1995) who found traditional extended family kinship structures among the Arab population in Israel to be remarkably flexible and adaptive rather than submissive to individual modernization.

However, the current findings regarding traditional education confounded both perspectives of social change.  The fact that traditional Islamic schooling was seen to have no significant influence on values (yet became more widespread) did not fit particularly well with the convergence perspective or the “persistence” model.  (The convergence perspective predicts replacement of traditional beliefs while the persistence perspective claims that traditional values maintain an ongoing independent influence on culture.)  In line with both paradigms, it was originally hypothesized that sustaining tradition, in this case persistent Qur’anic teachings guided by traditional religious authorities (mallams), would come to be viewed as somewhat of a barrier to modern (or secular-rational) orientations.  Surprisingly, the level of Islamic education was seen neither to retard or promote modern or postmodern beliefs.

This suggests that neither model is adequate to explain patterns of change in this developing nation.  Findings by Morgan and Armer (1988), who also used these data, seem to support this notion. In studying the pattern of determinants for years of Western and Islamic schooling they identified a structural convergence, or accommodation, between the two systems, rather than convergence towards modern Western ideals (as predicted under modernization theory) or a distinct parallel continuity.

Inglehart (1997) and Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) two-dimensional development model (expanding on persistence theory) also did not appear to apply to Kano.  Although industry grew immensely in Nigeria from 1965 to 2007, survey year proved to be an insufficient predictor of value shifts (both modern and postmodern).  Furthermore, there was some evidence that Kano actually regressed on the survival vs. self-expression dimension (transitioning towards a more survival-related rather than a self-expressive orientation) after its most prosperous decade (the 1970’s petroleum boom).

This finding suggests either that Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) two-dimensional change theory is ill-fitted to traditional developing nations or, alternatively, that Nigeria has not yet reached the so-called “inflection point” (i.e., the appropriate level of economic security) at which this trend fully materializes.  Kotze and Lombard (2003) seem to support somewhat of a composite of these two interpretations in their study of the validity of the materialist vs. post-materialist (survival vs. self-expression) dimension in South Africa, when they conclude that Inglehart’s hypothesis is “uncorroborated” but show that South Africa would fit a pre-materialist vs. materialist model better.  In short, more research (or perhaps more time) is needed to confer or deny this dimension’s applicability in the developing world.

Additional findings further suggest the need for a new, more accommodating perspective on social change.  The modernizing power of secular education was perhaps this studies most consistent finding, yet even this relationship proved to be complex.  Although modern secular education was seen to have a highly significant positive effect on secular-rational values (in all three cohorts), its influence also appeared to have waned in recent years.  This was also true for the survival vs. self-expression index, although in that case the modernizing influence of secular education not only decreased over time but was seen to have reversed by 2007 (i.e., the association was negative).

These findings are difficult to explain, especially within the current frameworks of change.  One possibility is that education simply played a more dominant role in harboring modern (or postmodern) values in 1965 than in the following decades in this West African city.  It is also possible that the members of the 1965 cohort who received higher levels of education were somehow different from members of the subsequent cohorts.  The latter seems more likely as secular education was more widely available in Kano in 1979 and 2007.

On the other hand, Eisenstadt’s (2001) civilizational perspective of modernization offers a much different interpretation.  Eisenstadt claims that “multiple modernities” exist, in the sense that individual societies develop their own distinct “social imaginares” (or culturally unique world interpretations) over time to promote their own so-called “programme of modernity” (in response to observations of Western “programme” of modernization).  Thus, perhaps Nigeria has (since 1965) effectively established its own “social imaginare” capable of promoting its own “programme” by way of higher education.  This model has yet to be tested empirically on a societal level.

Overall, these findings offer only some marginal support for the general persistence paradigm while the convergence paradigm (and Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) two-dimensional theory of change) appeared largely unfounded.  Consequently, these models, in their current form, are shown to be somewhat inadequate in explaining social change, at least for this traditional society.  With regards to both perspectives, this study suggests one major modification.  It seems that rather than a transition from traditional to modern systems, the two might actually merge.  Perhaps both systems of belief shift to accommodate one another rather than persisting separately or one replacing the other.  Kano’s dynamic pattern of educational expansion documented by Morgan and Armer (1991 & 1992) support this view. They found that the absence of state authority during the implementation of modern Western schooling, coupled with parental demand, permitted the entry of Qur’anic teachers into the modern school system, thereby helping to validate (and maintain) both modern and traditional instruction.

Of course, the theoretical anomalies found might also pertain to this study’s weakness.  Perhaps Kano’s unique history best explains the trends discovered, which would, in turn, void its comparability with other developing nations.  The confusing findings regarding the role of social status (in this case father’s level of education influencing only self-expression values and father’s income influencing traditional values in 1965 but more modern values in later years) are consistent with this interpretation; perhaps social prestige is assessed in some distinct way in the city of Kano and is not captured by education and income.  However, these findings may also highlight the value differences associated with “old wealth” versus “new wealth” in traditional, developing societies.  Further research is needed.  Nevertheless, these findings do contribute to the literature on modernization and social change.  Findings produced by comparable replications in other developing societies may warrant the suggested adjustments to theories.

REFERENCES

Al-Haj, Majid.  1995.  “and Modernization in Developing Societies: The Emergence of Instrumentalized Kinship.”  Journal of Comparative Family    Studies XXVI(3): 311-328.

Armer, Michael and Robert Youtz.  1971.  “Formal Education and Individual Modernity in an African Society.”  The American Journal of Sociology 76(4): 604-626.

Bell, Daniel.  1973.  The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting.  New York: Basic Books.

Delacroix, Jacques and Charles Ragin.  1978.  “Modernizing Institutions, Mobilization, and Third World Development: A Cross-National Study.”  The American Journal of Sociology 84(1): 123-150.

Eisenstadt, Shmuel N.  2001.  “The Civilizational Dimension of Modernity: Modernity as a Distinct Civilization.”  International Sociology 16(3): 320-340.

Gergen, Kenneth J.  1991.  The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life.  New York: Basic Books.

Hamilton, Gary G.  1994.  “Civilizations and the Organization of Economies.”  Pp. 183-205 in The Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by Smelser, N. J. and R. Swedberg.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Harmon, Daniel E.  2001.  Nigeria 1880 to the Present: The Struggle, the Tragedy, the Promise.  Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers.

Huntington, Samuel P.  1993.  “The Clash of Civilizations?”  Foreign Affairs 72(3): 22-49.

—  1996.  The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order.  New York: Simon and Schuster.

Inglehart, Ronald.  1997.  Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Inglehart, Ronald and Wayne E. Baker.  2000.  “Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistence of Traditional Values.”  American Sociological Review 65: 19-51.

Inglehart, Ronald, Miguel Basanez, and Alejandro Moreno.  1998.  Human Values and Beliefs: A Cross-Cultural Sourcebook.  Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

Inkeles, Alex.  1960.  “Industrial Man: The Relation of Status to Experience, Perception, and Value.”  The American Journal of Sociology 66(1): 1-31.

Inkeles, Alex and David Horton Smith.  1974.  Becoming Modern: Individual Change in Six Developing Countries.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Kahl, Joseph A.  1968.  A Measurement of Modernism: A Study of Values in Brazil and Mexico.  Austin; London: The University of Texas Press.

Kotze, Hennie and Karin Lombard.  2003.  “Revising the Value Shift Hypothesis: A Descriptive Analysis of South Africa’s Value Priorities between 1990 and 2001.”  Pp. 183-207 in Human Values and Social Change: Findings from the Values  Surveys, edited by R. Inglehart.  Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill.

Lloyd, Cynthia B. and Ann K. Blanc.  1996.  “Children’s Schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Fathers, Mothers, and Others.”  Population and Development Review 22(2): 265-298.

Means, Gordon P.  1989.  “Exploring Individual Modernity in Sumatra.”  Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 4(2): 157-189.

Morgan, William R. and J. Michael Armer.  1988.  “Islamic and Western Educational Accommodation in a West African Society: A Cohort-Comparison Analysis.”   American Sociological Review 53(4): 634-639.    

—  1991.  “Structural Accommodation and Cultural Duality: The Northern Nigerian Education System.”  International Education 21: 41-48.

—  1992.  “Western versus Islamic Schooling: Conflict and Accommodation in Nigeria.”  Pp. 75-88 in The Political Construction of Education: The State, School Expansion, and Economic Change, edited by Fuller, B. and R. Robinson.  New York: Praeger.

Morgan, Stephen L. and William R. Morgan.  1998.  “Education and Earnings in Nigeria, 1974-1992.”  Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 16: 3-26.

—  2004.  “Educational Pathways into the Evolving Labour Market of West Africa.”  Research in Sociology of Education 14: 225-245.

Portes, Alejandro.  1979.  “The Factorial Structure of Modernity: Empirical Replications and a Critique.”  American Journal of Sociology 79(1): 15-44.

Ritzer, George.  2000.  The McDonaldization of Society.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Ridge Press.

Shils, Edward.  1981.  Tradition.  Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Smith, Samantha.  2008.  “A Case Study of Individual Modernity in Kano, Nigeria.”  Unpublished.

Wallerstein, Immanuel.  1976.  “Modernization: Requiescat in Pace.”  Pp. 131-135 in The Uses of Controversy in Sociology, edited by Coser, L. A. and O. N. Larsen.  New York: The Free Press

See Footnotes

APPENDIX A

Scale 1: Traditional vs. Secular-Rational Values

Religion

V87  Do you think a boy can be truly good without having any religion at all?

• No/Yes

V85  One boy says, “Religious men and sacred books contain all truth.  We must do whatever they tell us to do.” Another boy says, “Religious men and sacred books may be true, but we must do what our conscience tells us.” Do you think that boys should

• Always follow what religious men and sacred books tell them to do
• Mostly follow what religious men and sacred books tell them to do
• Mostly follow what their conscience tells them to do
• Always follow what their conscience tells them to do

V117*  Some boys pray at home and some boys go to the mosque (or church) to pray. How often do you go to the mosque (or church)?

• Every day/A few times a week/Once a week/Once or twice a month/Rarely

V118  Compared to most boys your age, would you say you were

• Much more concerned about religion
• Slightly more concerned about religion
• Slightly less concerned about religion
• Much less concerned about religion

V161  Do you think people should be

• More concerned about religion than they are today, or
• Less concerned about religion than they are today

Family/Obedience

RV15  If a man has a chance to hire an assistant in his work, do you think it is better to hire a relative than a stranger even if the relative is less qualified than the stranger?

• No/Yes

V16  Do you feel a man should depend on his family to make

• All major decisions for him
• Most major decisions for him
• Only a few major decisions for him or
• No major decisions for him

V214  When it will be time for your son to marry, do you think that

• You and your wife will select the mate by yourselves
• You and your wife will select the mate but will get your son’s consent to the girl you select.
• You and your wife will let your son select who he would like to marry, and then give or not give your consent.
• You and your wife will let your son select his mate entirely by himself.

V97  When looking for a place of one’s own family to live, a man ought to find a place located in the same quarters as his parents, even if that means losing a better place elsewhere

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

RV218  Two men were talking.

One man says, “The happiest home is one in which the husband and wife both decide what shall be done.”

The other says, “The happiest home is one in which the husband decides what shall be done, and the wife carries out the husband’s wishes.”

Which of these men do you agree with the most?

• The first man/The second man

Pro-West

RV139  Some boys have adopted many of the new ways of the Europeans and some boys have stuck fast to the traditional ways of our forefathers.  In thinking about your own feelings, beliefs, and behavior, would you say that you have

• Adopted very much from the new ways of Europeans
• Adopted quite a bit (some) from the new ways of the Europeans
• Adopted only a little from the new ways of the Europeans, or
• Stuck fast to the traditional ways of our forefathers.

RV163  Some say that boys who adhere mainly to the traditional ways of our forefathers have the most discontent and unhappiness.  Others say that boys who adhere mainly to the new ways of the Europeans have the most discontent and unhappiness.  Yet others say that boys who mix traditional and European ways of life have most discontent and unhappiness.  Which boys do you think have the most discontent and unhappiness?

• Those who adhere mainly to traditional ways
• Those who adhere mainly to European ways
• Those who mix equally traditional and European ways.

RV43  Suppose a man has a young son about to begin school.  The man is too poor to

keep his son in school for more than a few years.  Here are some subjects the boy might

study in school.  Which subject do you think it is more important for the boy to learn?

• To learn to read and write English very well
• To read the Koran and learn other religious activities
• To learn some useful trade, like how to repair modern machines.

Science/Independence/Change

RV144  Scientists in the universities are studying such things as what determines whether a baby is a boy or a girl and how it is that a seed turns into a plant.  Some people say that such study

• Will benefit man greatly.  Others say that
• Man should not ask about such things because they are the work of God.

Which opinion do you agree with more?

V59  People do not admire a young man who displays much individual initiative and self-reliance.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

V91  If you start trying to change things very much, you usually make them worse.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

APPENDIX B

Scale 2: Survival vs. Self-Expression Values

Openness/Awareness

RV81  Do you think a person should be allowed to express ideas you and many other people do not accept?

• Always/Sometimes/Rarely/Never

RV90  It is best to look for new and different experiences rather than to stick with what is familiar.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

RV219*  How often do you listen to news on the radio?

• Everyday/Few times a week/Rarely/Never

Women’s Equality

RV100  Girls should have the same opportunity to obtain an education as boys.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

RV158  Do you think the freedom of girls to do things like going to school should be

• Increased rapidly/Increased slowly/Not changed at all

Tolerance

V143  Do you think foreigners bring to this country

• Much more harm than good
• A little more harm than good
• A little more good than harm
• Much more good than harm.

V98  A boy should be taught to protect the welfare of his own people and let other tribal groups look out for themselves.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

V99  Playing sports and making friends with boys of other tribal groups are risky, if not impossible.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

RV188  Do you greatly prefer, slightly prefer, or dislike work that involves meeting and mixing with people of other tribes.

Trust

V65  Most people are honest chiefly through fear of being caught.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

V82  Which of the following statements do you agree with?

• All people are deceptive and dishonest
• Most people are deceptive and dishonest
• Some people are deceptive and dishonest
• Only a few people are deceptive and dishonest

RV84  One boy says, “If you trust and show respect for people, they will treat you fairly.” A second boy says “Even if you trust and show respect for people they will take advantage of you.” Do you agree

• Strongly with the first boy
• Slightly with the first boy
• Slightly with the second boy
• Strongly with the second boy

Security vs. Quality/Outlook

V184  Do you greatly prefer, slightly prefer, or dislike work that is easy

RV189  Do you greatly prefer, slightly prefer, or dislike work that demands a lot of thinking

RV60  Life is easier now than five years ago, and it is getting easier every year.

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

V57  There is really little or no purpose and meaning in life

• Strongly Agree/Agree slightly/Disagree Slightly/Strongly Disagree

APPENDIX C

Attitude towards Western Secular Education, 5-item index

V42  If schooling was freely available and there were no obstacles, what level of western education do you think the ideal among people like yourself should have?

• None/Primary/secondary, teacher-training, etc./University or higher

V49  Do you think western education in this country produces

• Much more harm than good
• A little more harm than good
• A little more good than harm
• Much more good than harm

V50  As a second language, schoolboys should be taught Arabic rather than English.

• Strongly Agree/Slightly Agree/Slightly Disagree/Strongly Disagree

V52  Boys who go to school frequently lose respect for their own culture and religion

• Strongly Agree/Slightly Agree/Slightly Disagree/Strongly Disagree

RV53  A Naira spent for education is repaid many fold wealth and happiness

• Strongly Agree/Slightly Agree/Slightly Disagree/Strongly Disagree

FOOTNOTES