Male and female age organizations and secret societies in Africa

Behavior Science Research • Vol/Iss. 23 (1-4) • sage • • Published In • Pages: 234-264 •
By Ericksen, Karen P.

Abstract

The author explicitly defines and provides code for male and female age organizations and secret societies in Africa, as well as their significant sociopolitical roles within society. The author conducts preliminary analysis using the codes to explore characteristics and regional patterns of such organizations and societies. The analysis is compared to existing studies in order to assess the code and better understand cross-cultural patterns and variances. The author identifies the usefulness of the code beyond Africa, and discusses avenues for future research. No explicit hypotheses were tested, but Ericksen includes some descriptive generalizations.

Note

While no hypotheses were tested, the author uses the code to examine African age organizations and secret societies. Results of these analyses indicate important generalizations. Evidently, the author's code is useful for cross-cultural research on age organization and secret societies in Africa, and can be useful for studying organizations in other parts of the world.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
HRAF Collection of Ethnography (paper/fiche)
Standard Cross Cultural Sample (SCCS)
Ethnographic Atlas (EA)

Hypotheses (7)

HypothesisSupported
"Female age organizations never occur in the absence of male ones, and about half of the societies with male organizations also contain female ones"(243).NA
"Among male age organizations, 56.2% contain one or more grades through which members pass ceremonially"(243).NA
"In the vast majority of the cases (75.9%), marriage by a member has no effect on his membership in the organization"(243).NA
"Probably the most outstanding characteristic is the extent to which male age organizations cut across kin groups; only 2 cases contained only members of a single kin group"(243).NA
"The major role of age organizations in the economy, outside of mutual economic aid, is to provide a labor force for tribal elites or elders"(243). Age grades also affect social roles of male age organizations: "compared to those without grades, graded organizations are much more likely to (1) cut across communities (2) determine a man's appointment to political office, and (3) allow membership to continue after marriage"(243).NA
"Both graded and ungraded male age organizations seem to create cross-cutting ties, but neither has an important economic power in the society"(243).NA
Women's age organizations were found to have shorter lived cross-cutting ties, confined to local communities, and more devoted to mutual aid. (245)NA
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: matthew.g.roth  emily.pitek