There
are many types of families in Africa. A common one is the nuclear family
system. In Africa, the nuclear family consist of the mother, father, and their
children (This system is different from an extended family system, in which the
household may include non-immediate family members, such as grandparents, aunts
and uncles) constitutes the smallest unit of the kinship system, the
traditional family consists of several nuclear units held in association by a common
father. Because the people are patrilineal, the household family also includes
other relatives of the father such as younger unmarried or widowed sisters,
aged parents, and children of the father's clan sent to be brought up by him.
Included in this same bigger household will be servants, female slaves, and
their children. The father remains the head of the nuclear family units.[1]
Polygamy
was widely practiced in Africa and it often formed the backbone of the
traditional African family patterns. The polygamous family, consisting of a
man, his wives (more than one wife), and their children, is the ideal for most
Africans[2].
Studies conducted from the 1930s to 1950s indicate that polygamy was common
virtually in all regions of Africa.
In
spite of the perversity of polygamy, there was evidence that it was on the
decline. The major reason cited is that with increasing modern influences,
marrying more than one wife became an economic burden[3].
Even traditionally, ordinary citizens could not achieve marrying more than one
wife. Often only Kings, chiefs and men who had wealth could afford it. Polygamy
though set the tone and often determined the strength of the society and
pattern of social organization of the traditional African family.
In
the late and early 19th century, a detailed study conducted among the different
countries in Africa found that, "Polygamy, the type of marriage in which
the husband has plural wives, is not only the preferred but the dominant form
of marriage. Commoners had two or three, chiefs had dozens, and the Kings had
hundreds of wives. What was the structure of the polygamous family?
Having
so many people in this household should not be confused with other types of
large families like, "the joint' family, with its several married brothers
and their families living together or the 'extended' family, consisting of a
group of married off spring living in one household under a patriarch or
matriarch." Most Africans are also patrilocal. Therefore, the new families
tend to generally live near or with the husband's parents.
Nuclear Family in Africa
There
are a number of advantages for having a nuclear family. In today's traditional
nuclear families, it is common to have dual incomes. Both parents work to
provide financial stability for the household, creating a larger cash flow to
supply the basic family needs of housing, food and healthcare. Financial
stability also allows the parents to provide additional extracurricular
opportunities for their children, such as music or athletic lessons. These
opportunities allow children to flourish socially and develop a higher level of
confidence.[4]
A
2-parent household is more likely to have a higher consistency with raising
their children. By reaching agreements on discipline and modeling appropriate
behavior, parents act as a team to strengthen and reinforce child behavior.
Children get consistent messages about behavioral expectations. Nuclear
families have more daily routines, like eating dinner together, adding to
consistency.
Nuclear
families tend to establish stronger bonds as they work together and rely on one
another to overcome challenges. Children witness their parents' supportive and
loving relationships, which help them learn how to interact appropriately.
Nuclear families tend to be more resilient when faced with obstacles, as they
learn to problem solve together and support each other emotionally.[5]
Polygamy in Africa
The
polygamy has existed in all over the African continent thanks to the fact that
it represents an aspect of their culture and religion. These types of marriages
have been more present in the whole history of Africa like no other continent
in the world. One of the reasons why this has happened is because the African
societies have managed to see that children were a form of wealth and this way
a family with more children was considered to be more powerful. Under these
circumstances the polygamy in Africa was considered to be part of the way you
could build an empire.
Only
after the colonial era in Africa has appeared the polygamy has started to be
perceived as a taboo, as this was one of the things imported along with the
colonists that took over some regions of Africa. Some people are saying that
there was also an economic reason why this has happened: there were many issues
of property ownership that conflicted a lot with the European colonial
interest.
At
first the polygamy was very popular in the west part of Africa, but as the
Islam has started to diffuse in this region, the prevalence of polygamy has
started to continuously reduce due to the restrictions that appeared to the
number of wives.
Even
if people are thinking about the fact that Africa is by far one of the most
developing continent in the world, there are still many traditionalists out
there that are constantly practicing polygamy. [6]
Overall
the polygamy in Africa is a very common practice that you are going to find all
over Africa, but it tends to be more popular especially in the West African
countries. This practice is very common among the animist and the Muslim communities.
For example in Senegal there are almost 47% of the marriages where they feature
more than one woman. In the Arab nations the percentages are even higher and
there is also the Bedouin population that you can find in Israel, where around
30% of them are part of multiple marriages. And along with all that there are
also the Mormon fundamentalists who also live in polygamous families.
One
of the preconceptions more popularly held by both academics and lay public
alike in regard to African rural society is that the indigenous family unit is
polygamous in nature. This is only partly true. A broad survey of homestead
patterns in the region reveals that whilst a number of polygamous settlements
may still be found in the rural countryside, these are in a distinct minority,
and nuclear (monogamous) marriages appear to be the general norm. It could of
course be argued that this is a recent development brought about by the work of
Christian missionaries, but the validity of such an assumption needs be questioned.
Not only do the Christian churches which enjoy the largest following in Africa
countries, the so-called Independent Churches, permit their followers to
practice polygamy, but although the practice of polygamy was indeed more
prevalent during the last century, its presence was not as widespread as
various missionaries way have wished us to believe.
Lichtenstein
(1812) wrote that:
"Most of the ordinary men have but one wife; the
kings and chiefs in Africa only have four or five."
This
was reinforced by Alberti (1812) who stated that:
“Those with least resources, must be satisfied with one
woman, others have two, and rarely more.”
Contemporary
visitors to other parts of the country have come to similar conclusions.
Livingstone
(1857) went one step further and estimated that approximately 43% of African
men practiced polygamy, and then only a very small minority of these had more
than three wives. By 1946 an official census revealed that this figure had
dropped to 11% with only 1.3% having three wives or more.
The
practice of polygamy may, in most cases, be explained in terms of a levirate, a
social practice, used to ensure the continued status and survival of widows and
orphans within an established family structure. While it is true, therefore,
that every rural family is potentially polygamous in nature, we need to
question whether such polygamy was the result of "male sexuality and
lust", as the missionaries would have it, or merely the enforcement of
social obligations intended to reinforce ties between family or clan groupings.
Recent data would seem to show that some 27% of rural households are currently
headed by widowed or single women. If we were to assume that in the 1850s an
equivalent number of women could have become widows and were thus absorbed into
the nuclear (monogamous) households of family members, thus making them
polygamous, then it will be seen that this form of union could have accounted
for most of the polygamous marriages recorded by Livingstone among the Africans.
The remaining group, those with three wives or more, were a distinct minority
and their polygamy may be explained in terms of group leaders creating
political alliances and gaining control of resources for their own communities.
The
general trend away from polygamous unions evidenced since 1900 could therefore
be explained in two ways. The growth of urbanization and the establishment of
urban-based political structures has brought about a decreased emphasis upon
both regional group identity and the power of the traditional and inherited
rural leadership. The need for making unions based upon political expediency
has thus lessened considerably. The economics of obtaining a bride in the rural
areas has also changed substantially over the past five generations, as women
also began to enter the ranks of an industrialized and urban proletariat in
increasing numbers after the 1930s.
Polygamy in Christianity
The
Bible states in the New Testament that polygamy should not be practiced [by
certain church leaders]. [7]1
Timothy states that certain Church leaders should have but one wife: "A
bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of
good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach" (chapter 3, verse 2;
see also verse 12 regarding deacons having only one wife). Similar counsel is
repeated in the first chapter of the Epistle to Titus. [8]1
Corinthians (chapter 7, verse 2) also writes, "Nevertheless, to avoid
fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own
husband."[9]
Periodically,
Christian reform movements that have aimed at rebuilding Christian doctrine
based on the Bible alone (sola scriptura) have at least temporarily accepted
polygyny as a Biblical practice. For example, during the Protestant
Reformation, in a document referred to simply as "Der Beichtrat" (or
"The Confessional Advice"), [10]Martin
Luther granted the Landgrave Philip of Hesse, who, for many years, had been
living "constantly in a state of adultery and fornication," a
dispensation to take a second wife. The double marriage was to be done in
secret, however, to avoid public scandal. [11]Some
fifteen years earlier, in a letter to the Saxon Chancellor Gregor Brück, Luther
stated that he could not "forbid a person to marry several wives, for it
does not contradict Scripture." ("Ego sane fateor, me non posse
prohibere, si quis plures velit uxores ducere, nec repugnat sacris
literis.")[12]
"On
February 14, 1650, the parliament at Nürnberg decreed that, because so many men
were killed during the Thirty Years' War, the churches for the following ten
years could not admit any man under the age of 60 into a monastery. Priests and
ministers not bound by any monastery were allowed to marry. Lastly, the decree
stated that every man was allowed to marry up to ten women. The men were admonished
to behave honorably, provide for their wives properly, and prevent animosity
among them."[13]
The
trend towards frequent divorce and remarriage is sometimes referred to as
'serial polygamy'. In contrast, others may refer to this as 'serial monogamy',
since it is a series of monogamous relationships. The first term highlights the
multiplicity of marriages throughout the life-cycle, the second the
non-simultaneous nature of these marriages.[14]
In
Sub-Saharan Africa, there has often been a tension between the Christian
churches' insistence on monogamy and traditional polygamy. In some instances in
recent times there have been moves for accommodation; in other instances,
churches have resisted such moves strongly. African Independent Churches have
sometimes referred to those parts of the Old Testament that describe polygamy
in defending the practice.
Polygamy in Islam
In
Islam, polygyny is allowed upon the condition that the husband treats all his
wives equally and also the Sharia law allows a man to have at most four wives
at any time. This is based on verse 4:3 of Quran which says:
If
ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women
of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able
to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands
possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.
The
verse 4:129 also cautions men against polygyny and has been cited as an
implicit prohibition of polygyny in Quran by some.:[16]
Ye
are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent
desire.
—Qur'an, Sura 4 (An-Nisa), Ayah 129
The
Muslim Prophet Muhammad had total nine wives, but not all at the same time,
depending on the sources in his lifetime. He had nine wives at the time of his
death. The Qur'an clearly states that men who choose this route must deal with
their wives justly. If the husband fears that he cannot deal with his wives
justly, then he should only marry one. The Qur'an does not give preference in
marrying more than one wife but allows it to make it easier on a woman who has
no support. A husband does not have to have permission from his first wife.[17]
However, the wife can set a condition, before marriage, that the husband cannot
marry another woman during their marriage. In such a case, the husband cannot
marry another woman as long as he is married to his wife.
Women,
on the other hand, are only allowed to marry one husband, although they are
allowed to remarry after a divorce. Although many Muslim countries still retain
traditional Islamic law that permits polygyny, secular elements within some
Muslim societies challenge its acceptability. Polygyny is prohibited by law in
some Muslim-majority countries that have not adopted Islamic law for marital
regulations.
Why some men practice polygyny - Modern
Practices of Polygyny
A
number of factors contribute to the high rate of polygamy in the modern day Africa.
Basically, there are cultural reasons, biological reasons, religious or
practical reasons such as satisfaction.[18]
By
some cultural nuances across the African continent, it is permissible for a man
to have more than one wife. Some religious tenets such as Islam allow a man to
have more than one wife provided that he is capable of loving and taking care
of all of them equitably. Islamic religion allows a man to marry four wives for
several reasons: fulfillment in terms of infertility, sexual prowess, the
number of female births in comparison to male child and the belief as stated by
the Prophet Muhammad that the more the people, the larger his community.
To
correct the misinterpretation usually alluded to this, Alhaji Ibrahim Moshood
Lawal lamented that faithful(s) should not take the teachings of the Quran at
face value, as if forced to do so. The Quran, he explained, made allowance for
polygamy on the condition that the man love all four wives equally and also
effectively foster the four pillars of marriage in Islam: to clothe, feed,
educate and shelter your wife. The Quran instructs Muslim men to "marry
women of your choice two or three or four," but warns that "if you
fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them) then only one or
your (concubines). That is more fitting so that you do not deviate from the
right course." The Prophet Muhammad said, "Whosoever has two wives
and he inclines towards one to the exclusion of the other, he will come on the
Day of Judgment with his body dropping or bending down".[19]
In
some instances people ignores such conditions. Illiterate Muslims blatantly
ignore these conditions which he terms Human-Created Polygamy, polygamy without
justice and finance. "Some of our Muslim brothers are stark illiterates, a
literate Muslim finds it difficult to hold a family while the illiterate ones
(western education and Islamic religion) has four wives. How can you cope?
There are such people in government offices looting government treasury."
According to reports of cases filed at different Court around Africa, in 2012 -
2015, 5 out of 8 cases were based on abandonment (includes lack of care and
support).[20]
For
example, a husband who makes small income per day marries four wives and
eventually leaves his family incommunicado for a year or two. Secondly,
according to a particular cultural tradition across Africa, Polygamy is an
acceptable practice. It is important to be mindful of the fact that African societies
used to be mainly rural. A man would get married to two or more wives in order
to have a large family to assist him in the farm. The logic of division of
labour provides rational basis for polygamy in that era.
In
some cases, family members may encourage some men to marry more than one wife
for the purposes of procreation. According to African cultural tradition and
the bible, marriage or conjugal relationship exists so that procreation can
continue. Where after a while, a marriage has been consummated and children are
not forthcoming, members of the extended family may start getting worried,
eventually, the man is encouraged to explore elsewhere by taking another wife.
Another
reason outside the problem of infertility is when a man is not happy with the
marriage or with the wife he is married to. Rather than going on conjugal
escapades outside of the matrimonial home, he might be compelled to look
elsewhere for marriage and the exploration may get consummated. There are men
who take Temporary Wives. The length of temporary marriage is defined in
advance and can last anything from hours to decades as practiced by some
Muslims in Britain.
In
Africa, the man uses every method of injection or family planning (they warn
these women they do not want children) to ensure they do not bear children for
them. This case holds true in the case of the rich director who almost every
year divorces one of his wives to marry another. "Men that practice such
by Islamic Laws are wrong, they have decided to ignore their religious
teachings and marry a woman, two to three months he divorces her because he has
gotten what he wants from the union - sex. Islamic Law teaches that you must
maintain your wives. Temporary wives, Amnesty International reports, generally
face social ostracism, and their children may face difficulties in accessing
public services such as education because if the marriage is unregistered, it
may be hard for the mother to prove paternity.
Contrary
to Temporary Wives, there are situations of some wives that are aware of the
second wife as she is moved into the same house as the first. The Abdullah's is
a household of ten including husband, two wives and seven children. The
children all attend the same school, two of the wives' children are in the same
class although the children of the second get better grades in school.
Their
husband provides the children equal opportunities and attention that they both
live happily since the husband does not show his preference for either one.
Abdullah married his second wife three months apart from his first marriage.
Sources close to the couples explained that the first wife was his parent's
choice while the second was his true choice, the one he met before his first
wife. Forced Marriage results to polygamy, especially when the couple involved
have nothing in common.[21]
Another
modern form of polygamy is the instance exhibited by a married to three wives
who are aware of the other wives' existence. However, they live under separate
roofs. The man has no permanent residence rather spreads himself around to the
wives. He spends two weeks with each wife. On occasions when he travels, he
takes one along with him, spends quality time with her depending on the
timetable of each wife. He never takes two at a time.
Single
mothers lack the choice of picking a husband, thus, they practically seek the
position of second wives especially from men who view polygamy as a religious
purpose. For religious purposes, men marry many wives to keep the widow and
'wallflowers or almost on the shelf ladies' from the streets. It is believed
that these women have sexual as well as financial and security stability needs.
Rather than leave poor widows exposed to the dangers in our socio-economic
environment, he advised that men should legally assume full responsibility of
the woman in question and her children.
'Wall
flowers' and 'almost on the shelf' are graduates. They tend to accept marriages
as second wives out of desperation and fear of hitting menopause without giving
birth to a child. When suitors come asking for her hand in marriage, even if
they were men who already have a family, they quickly jump at such opportunity
to have children, and on many occasions, financial security.
A
more callous approach to polygamy is where the woman in question is not aware
that the husband she is legally married to is keeping another woman, away from
home. There have been several stories circulating about women who find
themselves in such situation. Sometimes they discover too late after the death
of the husband and accommodate them as concerns inheritance and the will of the
deceased. On other occasions they do recover on time but had to tolerate the
act.
Criticism
Refuting
allegations that polygamy helps reduce the rate of poverty among struggling
widows and orphans, a medical study conducted by the Croatian Medical Journal
in African nations that legalized the practice found the odds are more likely
that families of men having the right to marry multiple wives will conceive
more children for whom it would cost more to provide. The study also noted that
the temptation for sexual intercourse that has often come with polygamy,
regardless of whether a man has multiple wives or vice versa, has been a major
contributor to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa as well.[22]
Also,
a 2012 study from the University of British Columbia shows that, in polygamist
cultures, "the intra-sexual competition that occurs causes greater levels
of crime, violence, and poverty and gender inequality than in societies that
institutionalize and practice monogamous marriage".[23]
A
2013 study of African students, published in the International Journal of
Psychology and Counselling, showed that "there is a significant difference
in the overall academic achievement of students from monogamous families and
those from polygamous families" and "that life in polygamous family
can be traumatic and children brought up in such family structure often suffer
some emotional problems such as lack of warmth, love despite availability of
money and material resources, and disciplinary problems which may hinder their
academic performance."[24]
A
study of Bedouin-Arab women found that "Women in polygamous marriages
showed significantly higher psychological distress, and higher levels of
somatisation, phobia and other psychological problems. They also had
significantly more problems in family functioning, marital relationships and
life satisfaction".[25]
Summary
It
is no longer news nor can surprising that women in modern Africa can afford to
share their spouse with another woman. But the rate at which this practice is
increasing in different African countries has become worrisome.
Not
minding their level of education, the consciousness of the average African man
especially those raised in the cultural setting, has not changed. Regardless of
the level of westernization imbibed by an average African man in terms of his
academic qualification, exposure, dressing, among others, when it comes to
marriage, he remains an African man in his consciousness.
Hence,
the moment they are able to achieve some measure of success materially, there
is always the tendency to let go of the inhibition that the white man's
religion or education imposes on them and find them marrying many women. And if
the white man's religion becomes a challenge, they find a way around it by
keeping many mistresses. Invariably, an African man is still an African man
underneath. It is purely more a cultural issue than any other factor. What then
are the other factors that encourage this concept?
The
conclusion therefore is that the practice of polygamy may have been common in
Africa up to the end of the last century but that it was never as widespread as
has been popularly represented.
Bibliography
Emblems of pluralism: cultural differences and the state,
Cultural lives of law, Princeton paperbacks,Carol Weisbrod, p. 53, Princeton
University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-691-08925-6
Alfred Altmann, "Verein für Geschichte der Stadt
Nürnburg," Jahresbericht über das 43 Vereinsjahr 1920 [Annual Report for
the 43rd Year 1920 of the Historical Society of the City of Nuremberg]
(Nürnberg 1920): 13–15 (Altmann reporting a lecture he had given discussing the
polygamy permission said to have been granted in Nuremberg in 1650, Altmann
characterizing the Fränkisches Archiv as "merely a popular journal, not an
edition of state documents," and describing the tradition as "a
literary fantasy").
Al-Krenawi, Alean; Graham, John (January 2006). "A
Comparison of Family Functioning, Life and Marital Satisfaction, and Mental
Health of Women in Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages". International
Journal of Social Psychiatry 52 (1).
Effects of family type (monogamy or polygamy) on students'
academic achievement in Africa. International Journal of Psychology and
Counselling. Published: October 2013
Fisher, Helen (2000). The First Sex. Ballantine Books.
pp. 271–72, 276. ISBN 0-449-91260-4.
Fox, Martin and O'Ciarrai, Breandan. "Céard is
Sinnsreachd Ann? (What Is Sinnsreachd?)", Tuath na Ciarraide, March 7,
2007. Retrieved on July 27, 2012.
Is HIV/AIDS Epidemic Outcome of Poverty in Sub-Saharan
Africa Noel Dzimnenani Mbirimtengerenji, Croatian Medical Journal, October 2007
edition, Accessed February 5, 2014
James Bowling Mozley Essays, Historical and Theological.
1:403–404 Excerpts from Der Beichtrat. books.google.com
Joseph Alfred X. Michiels, Secret History of the Austrian
Government and of its Systematic Persecutions of Protestants (London: Chapman
and Hall, 1859) p. 85 (copy at Google Books), the author stating that he is
quoting from a copy of the legislation.
Larry O. Jensen, A Genealogical Handbook of German
Research (Rev. Ed., 1980) p. 59.
Leonhard Theobald, "Der angebliche Bigamiebeschluß
des fränkischen Kreistages" ["The So-called Bigamy Decision of the
Franconian Kreistag"], Beitrage zur Bayerischen kirchengeschichte
[Contributions to Bavarian Church History] 23 (1916 – bound volume dated 1917)
Erlangen: 199–200 (Theobald reporting that the Franconian Kreistag did not hold
session between 1645 and 1664, and that there is no record of such a law in the
extant archives of Nürnberg, Ansbach, or Bamberg, Theobald believing that the
editors of the Fränkisches Archiv must have misunderstood a draft of some other
legislation from 1650).
Letter to Philip of Hesse, December 10, 1539, De
Wette-Seidemann, 6:238–244
Letter to the Chancellor Gregor Brück, January 13, 1524,
De Wette 2:459.
Monogamy reduces major social problems of polygamist
cultures. Science Daily. Published: 24 January 2012.
See Heinrich Christoph Büttner, Johann Heinrich Keerl,
und Johann Bernhard Fischer. Fränkisches Archiv, herausgegeben. I Band. 1790.
(at p. 155) (setting forth a 1790 printing of the legislation).
The Digital Nestle-Aland lists only one manuscript (P46)
as source of the verse, while nine other manuscripts have no such verse, cf.
http://nttranscripts.uni-muenster.de/AnaServer?NTtranscripts+0+start.anv
The Life of Luther Written by Himself, p.251. Retrieved
2011-09-13.
William Walker Rockwell, Die Doppelehe des Landgrafen
Philipp von Hessen (Marburg, 1904), p. 280, n. 2 (copy at Google Books), which
reports the number of wives allowed was two.
Work Cited
1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 2; see also verse 12
Epistle to Titus - first chapter
1 Corinthians (chapter 7, verse 2)
[1] Nuclear
family: Instructor: Kimberly Devore
[2] “Polygamy".
Online Etymology Dictionary
[3] Lucy
P. Mair, "African Marriage and Social Change," in Survey of African
Marriage and Family Life. Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University
Press, 1953)
[4] Mwizenge
S. Tembo, Ph. D. The traditional marriage family
[5] Nuclear
family: Instructor: Kimberly Devore
[6] Yizenge
A. Chondoka, Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History.
(Ndola: Mission Press, 1988)
[7] 1
Timothy chapter 3, verse 2; see also verse 12
[8] Epistle
to Titus - first chapter and 1 Corinthians (chapter 7, verse 2)
[9] The
Digital Nestle-Aland lists only one manuscript (P46) as source of the verse,
while nine other manuscripts have no such verse, cf.
http://nttranscripts.uni-muenster.de/AnaServer?NTtranscripts+0+start.anv
[10] The
Life of Luther Written by Himself, p.251. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[11] Letter
to Philip of Hesse, December 10, 1539, De Wette-Seidemann, 6:238–244
[12] James
Bowling Mozley Essays, Historical and Theological. 1:403–404 Excerpts from Der
Beichtrat. books.google.com
[13] Larry O. Jensen, A Genealogical Handbook of German
Research (Rev. Ed., 1980) p. 59.
[14] Fisher, Helen (2000). The First Sex. Ballantine Books.
pp. 271–72, 276. ISBN 0-449-91260-4.
[15] Quran
4:3
[16] Modern
Muslim societies
[17] "IslamWeb".
IslamWeb. 2002-02-07. Retrieved 2015-02-20
[18] Chikelu,
Chinelo. Nigeria: Polygamy - Why Men Marry More Women. Published in leadership
newspaper
[19] Quran
4:129
[20] http://www.polygamy.com/polygamy-in-africa.html
[21] Stuart
Queen, Robert W. Habenstein, and John B. Adams, "The Polygynous Baganda
Family," in The Family in Various Cultures, (New York: J.B. Lippincott
Company, 1961) Ch. IV, pp.66-87.
[22] Is
HIV/AIDS Epidemic Outcome of Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa Noel Dzimnenani
Mbirimtengerenji, Croatian Medical Journal, October 2007 edition, Accessed
February 5, 2014
[23] Monogamy
reduces major social problems of polygamist cultures. Science Daily. Published:
24 January 2012.
[24]
Effects of family type (monogamy or polygamy) on students' academic achievement
in Nigeria. International Journal of Psychology and Counselling. Published:
October 2013
[25] Al-Krenawi, Alean; Graham, John (January 2006). "A
Comparison of Family Functioning, Life and Marital Satisfaction, and Mental
Health of Women in Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages". International
Journal of Social Psychiatry 52
(1).