Emile Crognier

Determinants of contraceptive use in Morocco: stopping behaviour in traditional populations.

The determinants of modern contraceptive use in traditional populations are analysed in married women aged 30-44 living in the province of Marrakech (Morocco). Women who have never used contraception have smaller family sizes than those who do: the number of live children (or live births) is the variable with maximum predictive power on contraceptive use, while child mortality is the main inhibiting factor. The probability of contraceptive use increases with female age at marriage and decreases with the womans age, indicating a generational change in reproductive behaviour. The socioeconomic variables education, employment and residence, have no significant independent predictive character on contraceptive use, although the interaction between education and residence does. The paper evaluates the hypothesis that traditional populations in the initial phase of their demographic transition resort to modern contraception in order to stop childbearing, when they have reached a desired number of children, rather than to space births or reduce their fertility.

The pattern of reproductive life in a Berber population of morocco

Reproductive patterns were studied from data collected in 1,450 Berber households in the province of Marrakesh, Morocco in 1984. Women aged 45-49 years had a mean of 8.9 pregnancies to achieve 5.7 living children. Social influences on fertility rates show the importance of tradition, particularly through time-dependent variables such as age at marriage, waiting time to first birth, interbirth intervals, and duration of breastfeeding. Birth control does not appear to affect the tempo of fertility; rather, its main use is to bring the reproductive period to a close. The comparison of two subsamples of women separated by a 25-year interval indicates an actual acceleration of the tempo of fertility by the reduction of waiting time to first birth and of interbirth intervals. The supposed ongoing process of demographic transition is not clearly observed in this population.

Reproduction in high altitude Aymara: physiological stress and fertility planning?

Reproductive characteristics at high altitude are described based on the reproductive histories of 720 Aymara women, collected in 1998 and 1999 in a group of twelve peasant communities at a mean altitude of 4000 m in the Bolivian Altiplano. The reproductive pattern is shaped by a late onset of childbearing, associated with a rather short reproductive span and large birth intervals. Environmental conditions could explain the particularly late age at menarche of rural girls compared with their urban counterparts, whereas the age at first birth is likely to be under cultural control. The short reproductive span appears to result from a large mean interval between last birth and menopause, which is essentially determined by cultural decisions. The birth intervals, which are longer than in many traditional societies, could be the result of a slower restoration of postpartum fecundability induced by the hard way of life inherent in the Altiplano (including poor sanitary and nutritional conditions and high workload), perhaps aggravated by hypoxia. However, a secular trend in fertility is perceptible, towards earlier menarche, earlier age at first birth, increasing reproductive span and a slight increase in live births and surviving offspring, which is probably the result of a slow improvement in living conditions. The existence of birth control on the one hand, and a total fertility rate averaging six live births among the couples who do not practise contraception on the other, are other arguments against the hypothesis of a low natural fecundity in these Aymara groups.

Consanguinity and social change: an isonymic study of a French Peasant Population, 1870–1979

The evolution of the inbreeding coefficient estimated by the isonymic method is studied in a rural canton of mid-France, using data divided into 10-year intervals of 6277 marriages recorded in the civil registers between 1870 and 1979. The results show a strong diminution of the values of F from 1930 onwards, probably related to the drop in population due to exodus from rural areas. The evolution of the inbreeding coefficient observed in three large occupational groups (farmers, craftsmen and labourers) shows that after 1930 it was only the farmers who maintained the low positive values of F . The coefficient of genetic relationships by isonymy ( Ri ) calculated among the principal occupational groups shows their community of origin, which is still perceptible today.

Child mortality and society in Morocco.

Multivariate (correspondence) analysis is employed to identify socioeconomic factors affecting fertility and infant mortality in Marrakesh (Morocco), using questionnaire data from some 3000 women attending 20 dispensaries in different parts of the city. The survey was conducted in January 1982. Data were collected on age, age at marriage, menopause, monogamy or polygyny, total number of children born, number of miscarriages, number of stillbirths, number of children currently living, and contraception. Factors of the material environment (availability of water and electricity in the residence), size of a household and number of wage earners in it are pervasive and suggest a polarity between archaic elements in the society (low material comfort, polygyny, absence of contraception) and the more forward looking (monogamy, tertiary occupations). Monogamy is among the factors of a satisfactory material environment. Polygyny, on the other hand, tends to be located towards poorer material comfort, the absence of electricity and running water from the house. Fertility and child mortality variations reflect the apparent polarity. The differences that occur among the 20 dispensaries direct attention to the neighborhoods where public health measures may be expected to be most effective and rewarding. Material comfort is strongly associated with the use of a contraceptive method. There is also a strong association between the absence of material comfort, the absence of contraception, and the highest mortality rate. The 2 highest fertility classes are strongly associated with the higher mortality rates.

Culture universals and genes

The Western idea of culture is built in opposition to that of nature. Among anthropologist the culture is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, law, custum and any capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. The human specificity of culture is now openly discussed, the idea of an envolved structural base to behaviour is more admitted by the community of scientist but the question of an hereditary base to cultural traits is still unsolved.

Polygyny and fertility in Morocco: the effect of marital instability

This paper analyses the relationship between polygyny and female fertility in the province of Marrakech (Morocco) taking into account the effect of the previous marital instability (number of marriages) and the possible association between female sterility and type of marriage. In the analysed population, polygyny increases in the small towns. Polygynously married women have a higher level of education and show a higher percentage of use of contraceptive methods than the monogamously married ones. Although polygynously married women initially show lower fertility, multivariate analysis carried out on the group of women between 35 and 49 years old show that there are no significant differences in fertility between monogamously and polygynously married women when the effect of the previous marital instability is considerer. Female sterility does not determine marital instability, although it does determine a significant increase in polygynous marriages among the women without children.