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 Form 4 CRE online lessons on the family

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a traditional african family?

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Answer Text:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a traditional African family?
Advantages
-It promotes collective responsibility. For example, it is the duty of every member of the extended family to discipline errant members of the family.
-Elders are respected by the young.
-It promotes a sense of belonging for all its members. For example, the mutual caring for members and provision of material and moral needs of an individual.
-It enhances the stability of a marriage. The extended family is involved in the selection of spouses. This minimizes the chances of
selecting the wrong spouses. The extended family also participates in solving marital problems.
-It facilitates a meaningful employment for everyone. Since everybody is a worker and work is divided according to age, gender and status, all members of the extended family participate
and contribute to the welfare of the whole community.
-It fosters unity among all members.
Disadvantages:
-Problems of managing a large household. For example, a polygamous man may lack leadership or qualities to manage a family. This may lead to conflicts
that destabilize the family. Such conflicts include feelings of jealousy, quarrels, hatred and competition among wives and children due to favouritism practiced by the man towards some wives and children.
- It encourages dependency and discourages initiatives. Some members of the extended family may not work hard even when they are capable because they rely on the responsible members.
-Promotes exploitation of responsible individuals, for example, responsible members may be pressurized to shoulder many responsibilities in order to support many needy members of the family.


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