{"id":13247,"date":"2020-02-08T11:03:14","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T11:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/?p=13247"},"modified":"2024-05-11T22:33:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T21:33:25","slug":"sharing-care-parenting-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/sharing-care-parenting-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing the care of children diminishes the impact of variations in the quality of individual parenting: a community example from Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Sharing care of children within\u00a0<\/span>a community<\/span>\u00a0buffer<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0children<\/span>\u00a0against differences\u00a0<\/span>in parenting\u00a0<\/span>between families.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>culture<\/span>\u00a0that emphasise<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0social equality and sharing,\u00a0<\/span>variations in\u00a0<\/span>the quality of parenting in a family \u2013 including\u00a0<\/span>father<\/span>s\u2019 parenting<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013\u00a0<\/span>ma<\/span>d<\/span>e\u00a0<\/span>less difference to the wellbeing of the children\u00a0<\/span>than they did in a more competitive culture nearby, according to a recent study<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Sharing care of children in\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>community<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>appeared to\u00a0<\/span>buffer children against differences\u00a0<\/span>in parenting\u00a0<\/span>between families.<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0<\/span>finding comes from<\/span>\u00a0a comparative study of two small-scale societies in the\u00a0<\/span>west\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Both\u00a0<\/span>societies<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0<\/span>BaYaka<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Bodongo<\/span>\u2014<\/span>liv<\/span>e side by side<\/span>\u00a0in a single village along the\u00a0<\/span>Motaba<\/span>\u00a0river.<\/span>\u00a0The study looked for correlations between the quality of fathering (as defined by fathers in each community) and child<\/span>ren\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0energy status (height, weight and\u00a0<\/span>body fat<\/span>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The BaYaka are egalitarian foragers.\u00a0<\/span>They emphasise<\/span>\u00a0sharing resources, space and time, and\u00a0<\/span>show\u00a0<\/span>respect for individual autonomy. A BaYaka \u201cchief\u201d is well-respected but not afforded special privilege. Meanwhile<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Bodongo<\/span>\u00a0culture focuses more on relationships\u00a0<\/span>within<\/span>\u00a0families.\u00a0<\/span>Bodongo<\/span>\u00a0f<\/span>amilies can be highly competitive with each other, for example, blaming other families for\u00a0<\/span>their\u00a0<\/span>misfortunes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers started by determining what\u00a0<\/span>each community considered to be\u00a0<\/a><\/span>good fatherhood<\/span>\u00a0by<\/span>\u00a0asking a number of men and women. Good fatherhood in the BaYaka community has four components: (1) acquiring resources \/ working hard, (2) maintaining marital harmony, (3) welcoming others to the community and sharing with them, and (4) teaching children about the forest.\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>Bodongo<\/span>\u00a0community\u00a0<\/span>placed\u00a0<\/span>more emphasis on\u00a0<\/span>fathers<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>responsibility their\u00a0<\/span>own<\/span>\u00a0families.<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers then asked fathers to rate their peers in relation to the\u00a0<\/span>identified\u00a0<\/span>attributes of good fatherhood. In both communities, the<\/span>y found<\/span>\u00a0considerable variation\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>how fathers were rated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers found less correlation between fatherhood ratings and child energy status for BaYaka children<\/span>, suggesting that the quality of individual parenting has less influence\u00a0<\/span>when care of children is<\/span>\u00a0shar<\/span>ed<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0This\u00a0<\/span>finding\u00a0<\/span>corresponds with other research\u00a0<\/span>among\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>BaYaka<\/span>\u00a0(Aka) in the Central African Republic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers consider<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0whether there might be a genetic explanation, but no evidence suggests\u00a0<\/span>variation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in health outcomes is shaped by genetics. Such variation is most likely derived from developmental experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers looked<\/span>\u00a0only<\/span>\u00a0at\u00a0<\/span>children\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>physical development, not at social and emotional development.\u00a0<\/span>However,\u00a0<\/span>when\u00a0<\/span>BaYaka<\/span>\u00a0fathers were rated low<\/span>er<\/span>\u00a0for marital harmony, children\u2019s height was likely to be lower<\/span>, suggesting a social and emotional dimension<\/span>. Father-child attachment is strong in\u00a0<\/span>BaYa<\/span>ka<\/span>\u00a0fathers, where fathers are active carers.\u00a0<\/span>Meanwhile, i<\/span>n the\u00a0<\/span>Bodongo<\/span>\u00a0community, marital discord predicts increased stress response in children.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>he role of fathers in social and emotional development\u00a0<\/span>merit<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0further investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The BaYaka community is a particularly strong example of the benefits of sharing the care of\u00a0<\/span>children<\/span>, in this case across an entire community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

References<\/h4>\n

\u00a0Boyette AH, Lew-Levy S,\u00a0<\/span>Sarma<\/span>\u00a0MS,\u00a0<\/span>Valchy<\/span>\u00a0M &\u00a0<\/span>Gettler<\/span>\u00a0LT (2019),\u00a0<\/span>Fatherhood, egalitarianism, and child health in two small-scale societies in the Republic of the Congo<\/span><\/a>, American Journal of Human Biology<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Sharing care of children within a community buffers children against differences in parenting between families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":13254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5773,438],"tags":[35,25,267],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13247"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19577,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13247\/revisions\/19577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}