Structural Assimilation and Ethnic Fertility in Ghana

Bibliographic Data

ID2969261
AuthorsIsaac Addai (0000-0003-1637-6320, Lansing Community College), Frank Troyato (Department of Sociology University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H4 Canada)
Year1999
Volume30
Issue3
Pages409-427
Publication date1999-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Comparative Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2328 • E-ISSN: 1929-9850
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/jcfs.30.3.409
OpenAlexW2210419936
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited20

This study explores the relative importance of socioeconomic and cthnic/cultural factors on possible convergence in reproduction among four and residual Ghanaian ethnic groups. Two views on differences in ethnic fertility have emerged in the literature. The first is the characteristics assimilation thesis which is based on the premise that when socioeconomic and demographic differences between social groups are statistically controlled, their fertility levels should converge. The other view, the cultural/ ethnic effect thesis, attributes group fertility differences to the influence of subgroup culture and experiences. No study in this area of research has explored the relative efficacy of these explanations within the context of Ghana. We study the Twi, the Fante/Other Akan, the Ewe and the Ga-Adangbe ethnic groups and the Northern Groups using data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey of 1993. The results derived from the analysis are more congruent with characteristics assimilation thesis because once sociodemographic differences between these groups and a standard population are equalized through statistical controls, the fertility differences virtually disappear. The cultural/ethnic hypothesis, which stresses the influence of group norms, beliefs, values and experiences in group behaviour, including reproduction, is of no importance among the groups under study

Context (archaeology) · Ethnic group · Fertility · Geography · Political science · Population · Social class · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Anthropology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Global Maternal and Child Health · Psychology · Social Psychology

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