Faculty of Arts
9803428v / This dissertation examines husbands and wives’ understandings of family planning and
communication processes. It examines family planning approval, knowledge of contraceptives
and motivations for contraceptive use by husbands and wives. The study provides insights into
these variables as held by husbands and wives and implications for contraceptive use. The
dissertation also provides insights into the nature of communication processes while relating this
to couples’ inconsistencies noted from quantitative data, their marital and reproductive history,
and contraceptive use implications.
The study uses KDHS 1998 survey Western Province couples’ data set that includes 176 married
couples. The study further uses data from Focus Group Discussions conducted amongst husbands
and wives in Vihiga District of Western Kenya. The study notes that variables such as
contraceptive knowledge, approval of family planning and spousal family planning
communication continue to have inconsistent and unclear relationship with contraceptive use. The
study argues that these variables are not simply related to contraceptive use and need further
examination using qualitative methodologies.
The culture and political-economy of fertility conceptual framework and its various aspects of
levels, process, causality, time and methodology is applied in the examination of husbands and
wives’ understandings of family planning and contraceptive use communication between spouses.
The findings of this study reveal that family planning understandings by husbands and wives
including knowledge, attitudes and motivations for contraceptive use and spousal family planning
communication are related to contraceptive use yet the relationship remains complex and can be
understood through examining how different contextual levels and processes enhance varied
notions of these factors as held by husbands and wives in relation to contraceptive use; the timing
in terms of couples’ marital and reproductive history; the various socio-cultural and politicaleconomic
processes surrounding the couples and the individual agency of the husband and wife in
pursuing their fertility goals. While none of these factors adequately predicts contraceptive use on
their own, an examination of husbands and wives within such a framework provides a better
linkage to potential for contraceptive use or lack of it at married couple level.
Thus while knowledge or approval of family planning perse fails to provide a clear or consistent
link to contraceptive use, the study highlights the various notions of knowledge including
individual husbands’ and wives’ perceptions about own knowledge of family planning; and
differences in approval ranging from widespread general approval in line with community
perceptions, twin perceptions of approval and disapproval common at individual level and
disapproval of family planning and the fact that these may change across reproductive histories
are factors within the concepts of family planning knowledge and approval that provide better
understanding for potential for contraceptive use. The study therefore provides further insights
regarding how husbands and wives understand variables commonly related to family planning
and varied implications for contraceptive use.
With regards to communication, the study underlines that spousal family planning
communication is not simply linked to contraceptive use. Instead spousal family planning
communication is a complex process informed partly by husbands’ and wives’ understandings of
family planning; their perceptions of own knowledge regarding contraceptive methods; their
various motivations for family planning involvement and their gender based relationship and
perceptions of dominance. The study highlights various forms of spousal family planning
communication processes and implications for contraceptive use. This study further argues that
the potential of spousal family planning communication’ complex relationship with contraceptive
use is related to the nature, timing, content of the communication processes and the agency of the
individual husband and wife in influencing spousal family planning communication and decision
making. The thesis ends with conclusions and provides recommendations for family planning
programs and future studies while highlighting limitations of this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/1689 |
| Date | 14 November 2006 |
| Creators | Chitavi, Salome Omuyoma |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 32921 bytes, 743848 bytes, 87219 bytes, 21476 bytes, 135452 bytes, 14172 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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