Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Capital and Premarital Sexual Activity in Africa: The Case of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prior research has pointed to several factors that may affect sexual behavior in Africa, but much of the work has been atheoretical or descriptive, thus reducing the explanatory value of some findings. In this study, the influence of individual characteristics and family background were examined in a sample of 2,000 women aged 14–24 interviewed in Kinshasa in 1995. The analysis was guided by the social capital framework and the discussion focused on three theoretical perspectives: rational adaptation, social disorganization, and patrilineal bias. The results from the event history analysis showed that poverty, exposure to mass media, patrilinearity, and AIDS awareness greatly reduce the risk of premarital sexual activity. In contrast, social capital, as measured by the number of siblings, was positively associated with sexual permissiveness, suggesting a dilution of adults' attention to children in larger families.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

REFERENCES

  • Ahlberg, B. M. (1994). Is there a distinct African sexuality? A critical response to Caldwell. Africa, 64, 220–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, G. K., & Rich, S. (1992). Influences on adolescent sexuality in Nigeria and Kenya: Findings from recent focus-group discussions. Studies in Family Planning, 23, 199–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, J. (1996). Global trends in AIDS mortality. Population and Development Review, 22, 21–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster, K. L. (1994). Neighborhood context and the transition to sexual activity among young black women. Demography, 31, 603–614.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockerhoff, M., & Biddlecom, A. E. (1999). Migration, sexual behavior and the risk of HIV in Kenya. International Migration Review, 33, 833–856.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broude, G. J. (1981). The cultural management of sexuality. In R. H. Munroe, R. L. Munroe, & B. B. Whiting (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural human development (pp. 633–673). New York: Garland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C. (1976). Toward a restatement of demographic transition theory. Population and Development Review, 2, 321–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C., & Caldwell, P. (2002). Is integration the answer for Africa? International Family Planning Perspectives, 28, 108–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C., Orubuloye, I. O., & Caldwell, P. (1998). Methodological advances in studying the social context of AIDS in West Africa. In A. M. Basu & P. Aaby (Eds.), The methods and uses of anthropological demography (pp. 22–38). Oxford, England: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Statistical Authority [Ethiopia] and ORC Macro. (2001). Ethiopia demographic and health survey 2000. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Calverton, MD: CSA & ORC Macro.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1966). Female status and premarital sexual codes. American Journal of Sociology, 72, 217–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1986a). Social theory, social research, and a theory of action. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 1309–1335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1986b). Individual interests and collective action. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Suppl.), S95–S120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Djamba, Y. K. (1995). Premarital sexual experience of married women in Kinshasa, Zaire. Journal of Biosocial Science, 27, 457–466.

    Google Scholar 

  • Djamba, Y. K. (1997). Theoretical perspectives on female sexual behaviour in Africa: A review and conceptual model. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 1, 67–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckhardt, K. W. (1971). Exchange theory and sexual permissiveness. Behavior Science Notes, 6, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P. R. (2002). Human natures: Genes, cultures, and the human prospect. New York: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias, C., & Heise, L. (1993). The development of microbicides: A new method of HIV prevention for women (Programs Division Working Paper No. 6). New York: The Population Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evelyn, U. L., & Osafu, O. (1999). Sexual behaviour and perception of AIDS among adolescent girls in Benin City, Nigeria. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 3, 39–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fawole, O. L., Asuzu, M. C., & Oduntan, S. O. (1999). Survey of knowledge, attitudes and sexual practices relating to HIV infection/AIDS among Nigerian secondary school students. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 3, 15–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goethals, G. W. (1978). Factors affecting permissive and nonpermissive rules regarding premarital sex. In J. M. Henslin & E. Sagarin (Eds.), Sociology of sex: An introductory reader (Rev. ed., pp. 41–58). New York: Schocken Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Görgen, R., Maier, B., & Diesfeld, H. J. (1993). Problems related to schoolgirl pregnancies in Burkina Faso. Studies in Family Planning, 24, 283–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haurin, J. R., & Mott, F. L. (1990). Adolescent sexual activity in the family context: The impact of older siblings. Demography, 27, 537–557.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heald, S. (1995). The power of sex: Some reflections on the Caldwells' ‘Africa sexuality’ thesis. Africa, 65, 389–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath, K. M., & Hadley, C. (1998). Dichotomous male reproductive strategies in a polygynous human society: Mating versus parental effort. Current Anthropology, 39, 369–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Blanc, M. N., Meintel, D., & Piché, V. (1991). The African sexual system: Comment on Caldwell et al. Population and Development Review, 17, 497–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, C. B. (1995). Household structure and poverty: What are the connections? (Working Paper No. 74). New York: The Population Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meekers, D. (1994). Sexual initiation and premarital childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa. Population Studies, 48, 47–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdock, G. P. (1964). Cultural correlates of the regulation of premarital sex behavior. In R. A. Manners, Process and pattern in culture (pp. 399–410). Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murstein, B. I., & Mercy, T. (1994). Sex, drugs, relationships, contraception, and fears of disease on a college campus over 17 years. Adolescence, 29, 303–322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngondo, P. (1996). Nucléarisation du ménage biologique et renforcement du ménage social à Kinshasa: Les retombées d'une transition démographique de crise. Zaire Afrique, 308, 419–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, R. (2001). Sexuality, culture, and power in HIV/AIDS research. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 163–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philipson, T., & Posner, R. A. (1995). The microeconomics of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Population and Development Review, 21, 835–848.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillai, T., & Barton, T. R. (1998). Modernization and teenage sexual activity in Zambia: A multinomial logit model. Youth and Society, 29, 293–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, D. C., & Rodgers, J. L. (1994). A social contagion model of adolescent sexual behavior: Explaining race differences. Social Biology, 41, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoepf, B. G. (2001). International AIDS research in anthropology: Taking a critical perspective on the crisis. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 335–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Setel, P. W., Lewis, M., & Lyons, M. (1999). Histories of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS in sub–Saharan Africa. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, D. (1996). Fertility decline in Kinshasa. Population Studies, 50, 89–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, J. M., Zimet, G. D., Aalsma, M. C., & Orr, D. P. (2002). Self-esteem as a predictor of initiation of coitus in early adolescents. Pediatrics, 109, 581–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, J. (1998). What women want–what men want: Why the sexes still see love and commitment so differently. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Udry, J. R., & Billy, J. O. G. (1987). Initiation of coitus in early adolescence. American Sociological Review, 52, 841–855.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNAIDS. (1999). Differences in HIV spread in four sub-Saharan African cities. Retrieved August 1, 2002, from http://www.unaids.org/publications/documents/epidemiology/determinants/lusaka99.html

  • UNAIDS. (2002). HIV and AIDS in Africa. Retrieved August 1, 2002, from http://www.avert.org/africa.htm

  • UNICEF. (2002). Young people and HIV/AIDS: Opportunity in crisis.New York: United Nations Children Fund.

  • Weiss, B. (1993). Buying her grave: Money, movement and AIDS inNorth-West Tanzania. Africa, 63, 19–35.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Southeastern Louisiana University, SLU 10686, Hammond, Louisiana, 70402

    Yanyi K. Djamba

Authors
  1. Yanyi K. Djamba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Djamba, Y.K. Social Capital and Premarital Sexual Activity in Africa: The Case of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Arch Sex Behav 32, 327–337 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024090915272

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024090915272

Search

Navigation