AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OP MARRIAGE TERMINATION IN TRIBAL SOCIETIESj USING A ROLE-ANALYSIS APPROACH by Toby Elaine Ornstein B.A., University of Manitoba, 19*>3 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIJIEMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, 1968 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and Study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h Ms representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Anthropology and Sociology The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date September 10th, 1968 i. ABSTRACT Two problems are considered in this thesis. There is an attempt to explore the nature of marriage termination cross- culturally while at the same time investigate the value of basing comparative studies on analyses of systems of roles. Thus the investigation of the two problems is interdependent. Since "marriage" is defined as establishing a series of relationships particularly for the husband and wife, "marriage termination" is seen as creating at least a change in these relationships. The focus of the study then is the point at which the marriage ceases. Six categories of the major redefinitions of roles that must occur at this point were established. The fund of ethnographic data used in this study comes from sixteen tribal societies which were selected from sixty works for their containing information in at least three of the six categories. The relevant data was coded and phrased in terms of the various problems that the husband and wife confront at the termination of their marriage. The solutions to these problems were also coded and presented as the choices made by the couples in each society. A total of sixteen problems and 243 variables were coded. It was hoped that when the variables were tabulated that some connections between the variables could be found, giving rise to principles of marriage termination which, with more research, might produce hypotheses. ii In fact no relationships between the variables could be drawn. This is seen as primarily due to too small a sample and a lack of crucial data, making accurate comparisons impossible. However this study does delineate the problems in a comparative study of marriage termination and demonstrates the kind of cross-cultural tableau nade possible by a role- analysis which, on logical grounds, should facilitate anthropological generalizations. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. FROM MARITAL INSTABILITY TO MARRIAGE TERMINATION AND THE ROLE-ANALYSIS APPROACH 19 III. THE APPLICATION OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUE TO MARRIAGE TERMINATION 48 IV. THE ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUE AND AN EVALUATION OF ROLE-ANALYSIS 82 V. CONCLUSIONS 112 BIBLIOGRAPHY 120 APPENDIX I. Ethnographic Details 129 II. Work Sheets 144 III. Explanation for the Choice of Variable where Material was Vague 176 iv LIST OF TABLES Page KEY TO VARIABLES FOR TABLES I - VII 83 TABLE I. Problem Solutions for the Role-Analysis 86 II. Percentage Compilation of all Variables 88 III. Problem Solutions of Iteso and Kgatla in Contrast to the Mae-Enga and Nuer 97 IV. Problem Solutions of Gonja, Yako and Somali 99 V. Problem Solutions of Gonja and Samburu ^-03 VI. Problem Solutions of The Lakeside Tonga, Gonja, Somali and Trobriand J-0-) VII. Problem Solutions of the Lakeside Tonga, Plateau Tonga, Gonja, Mae-Enga, Sonjo, Amba and Somali 107 V I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Cyril S. Belshaw for a number of the cogent ideas on which this thesis is based and to Miss Helga Jacobson for her many efforts in helping to complete this thesis • made all the more difficult by my residence in England. Also, I wish to thank my husband, Jack, for his encouragement, patience and invaluable assistance. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This is a comparative study that combines an inquiry into marriage termination with a new method of conducting the inquiry. Anthropological research in the field of marriage termination has produced a number of propositions none of which has been adequately explored. It is one of the premises of this study that the propositions and the standard means of testing them hinder analysis rather than nurture it, hence the necessity for new methods and new formulations. The objectives of this study were limited to investigating the merits of the role-analysis method and in the process seeking to characterize marriage termination. Unfortunately, not even these modest aims were fully realized. Nothing conclusive was learned about marriage termination although role-analysis has, in my opinion, been shown to be a potentially dynamic process of investigation. Despite the inconclusiveness of this study, I believe that its usefulness lies in three areas. One of its contributions is its attacking the problem of marriage termination (explanations of terms will appear shortly). I have found in the course of preparing this thesis that most ethnographers in their field studies raise the issue of marriage termination (as "divorce") but usually in a cursory fashion. This has tended to restrict analysis of the subject and where propositions have been formulated their validity has remained 2 untested. Furthermore, the type of information given about marriage termination has tended to follow a pattern. We are informed of the sociological causes of divorce, which spouse initiates it and how common an occurrence it is or is not, and little else. The following is one of many examples of the superficial treatment given divorce in an ethnography. Barrenness and adultery by a wife are grounds for divorce About two marriages in ten end in divorce Divorce occurs less regularly after the birth of a child, especially a son If a woman is divorced, she returns to the care of her natal lineage. Middleton (1965:56-7). Middleton has not given, among other things, any indication of what happens to the children, what changes divorce creates for both of the ex-spouses and in their relationships with relatives and affines. He does not even explain how he defines "divorce" nor attempt to differentiate between "divorces that occur before the birth of a child and those that occur after, even though he notes that there are differences. Virtually the only information about marriage termination which appears with some regularity in most of the ethnographies has to do with the frequency of divorce. It is for this reason that most of the relevant analyses concentrate on marital instability. This thesis is based upon a survey of the literature on marriage termination both in ethnographies and comparative studies. In it, it is argued that discussions of marital stability do not represent a total treatment of marriage 3 termination. Before marital stability can become a valid subject of analysis it is necessary to outline the principles and definitions of the phenomena pertaining to the dissolution of a marriage, which can then be applied accurately in comparative analyses. Although this study does not advance our knowledge of marriage termination, it does argue for establishing priorities in the investigation of this problem and it does introduce a possible method of achieving this end. This method of conducting comparative analyses is seen as a second useful aspect of the study. A role-analysis method was devised to suit the subject but at the same time an attempt was made to overcome the shortcomings of earlier comparative studies. This is dealt with at length in the thesis. The major feature of role-analysis is its attempt to eliminate the use of rigid categories and preconceived concepts, such as patrilineal, clans, etc. This is the ideal on which the role-analysis was structured but this ideal could not be attained in the application of the method. All too often the material in the ethnographies is presented in terms of institutions or concepts which had to be analyzed in order to extract the data necessary for the study. The role-analysis approach is founded on the principle that the basic unit of social action is the "role" and is thus the proper basis of investigation in social anthropology. The model employed in this study sees the termination of a marriage as involving a series of role redefinitions since 4 the break up of a marriage is a disruptive process. It was hoped that fcy analyzing a series of these role redefinitions throughout a number of societies, some elements or principles could be drawn and perhaps an internal system would take shape. This system based on interacting relationships in a specific situation would yield information about marriage termination which could then be understood and explained as it occurs in a number of societies. Neither systems nor principles were extracted from this analysis due largely to the unsuitability of the ethnographic material. However the application of the role-analysis method did demonstrate that it is possible to isolate dimensions of the behaviour being investigated without regard to preconceived categories and classificatory systems. Given the necessary data and a much larger sample it should be possible to find patterns of variables repeated throughout and subsequently to formulate hypotheses from these. A third development of this study is its directing attention to the kind of ethnographic data that would be useful in comparative studies. Not only does it discuss the type of questions that can be directed at the ethnographies to learn about marriage termination specifically but it also shorethe type of data needed generally.