Child Care and Socialization in Borana Culture (Birth to Three Years)

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Date

2006-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

The main obj ective of thi s s tudy was to desc ribe the infa n t care prac tices and socia liza tion in Borana c ulture . The instruments u sed to co llec t the data were questionna ire, Foc us Group Di scussion (F'(~D) and natura l obse rvation. The study popu la tion included I 10 re s pondents and consis ted of 80 mothers and 30 fa th ers, 15 infants and 10 Focus Group Discu ss ion persons were involved in the study. The qualita tive techniques a nd describing behavior through s imple s tati s tics were employed to a na lyze the collected data. In the findings of th e s tudy, the pa re ntal investment s tra tegy, feeding practices, co-sleeping a nd sleeping management, caretakers response to infan ts crying, physical a nd verba l care, bi r th and in it iation ce remon ies, tra dition a l and med ical infant care prac tices were described. The outcome of the data a n a lys is revealed that th e re are useful ca re pra ct ices like prolon ged duration 01" b reas t feeding, co-s leeping, parenta l d isc ipline and o thers . However, the re a rc ha rmful traditional p ractices such as fema le genita l mutilation and the absence of thc Lise of modcrn medical institutions during de livery. Polygamous ma r riage, the abse nce of the use of fa mily pla nning methods and the be lief th a t they bear a c hild whenever God wills contribute a lot to the h igh ra te of fe r t ility. Fina lly, recommenda tions were given on infant and child care practices In area of feed in g, female ge ni tal mut ilation, gender inequalities, fathers ' role in c hild care practices and pa ren ta l d isc ipline.

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