Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T06:38:09.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

RELIGION, RELIGIOSITY AND PREMARITAL SEXUAL ATTITUDES OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OF NAIROBI, KENYA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2012

STEPHEN OBENG GYIMAH ,
IVY KODZI ,
JACQUES EMINA ,
NICHOLAS COFIE  and
ALEX EZEH
STEPHEN OBENG GYIMAH
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
IVY KODZI
Affiliation:
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
JACQUES EMINA
Affiliation:
CEPS/INSTEAD, Luxembourg
NICHOLAS COFIE
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
ALEX EZEH
Affiliation:
APHRC, Nairobi, Kenya
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Although attitudes to premarital sex may be influenced by several factors, the importance of religion to that discourse cannot be underestimated. By providing standards to judge and guide behaviour, religion provides a social control function such that religious persons are expected to act in ways that conform to certain norms. This study investigated the interconnectedness of several dimensions of religion and premarital sexual attitudes among young people in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. Using reference group as the theoretical base, it was found that those affiliated with Pentecostal/Evangelical faiths had more conservative attitudes towards premarital sex than those of other Christian faiths. Additionally, while a high level of religiosity was found to associate with more conservative views on premarital sex, the effect was more pronounced among Pentecostal groups. The findings are discussed in relation to programmes on adolescent sexuality.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 13 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addai, I. (2000) Religious affiliation and sexual initiation among Ghanaian women. Review of Religious Research 41(3), 328–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) (2002) Population and Health Dynamics in Nairobi's Informal Settlements. African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Agadjanian, V. (2001) Religion, social milieu, and contraceptive revolution. Population Studies 55, 135–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BBC News (2005) Africans Trust Religious Leaders. URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4246754.stm (accessed 4th September 2005).Google Scholar
Beeghley, L., Bock, W. E. & Cochran, J. K. (1990) Religious change and alcohol use: an application of reference group and socialization theory. Sociological Forum 5(2), 261–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beeghley, L., Van Velsor, E. & Bock, E. W. (1981) The correlates of religiosity among black and white Americans. Sociological Quarterly 22, 403–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beguy, D., Kabiru, C. W., Zulu, E. M. & Ezeh, A. C. (2011) Timing and sequencing of events marking the transition to adulthood in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Journal of Urban Health 88(2), s318–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brockerhoff, M. & Brennan, E. (1998) The poverty of cities in developing region. Population and Development Review 24(1), 75–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochran, J. K. & Beeghley, L. (1991) The influence of religion on attitudes toward nonmarital sexuality: a preliminary assessment of reference group theory. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 30(1), 45–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochran, J. K., Chamlin, M. B., Beeghley, L. & Fenwick, M. (2004) Religion, religiosity, and non-marital sexual conduct: an application of reference group theory. Sociological Inquiry 74(1), 102–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doctor, H. V., Phillips, J. F. & Sakea, E. (2009) The influence of changes in women's religious affiliation on contraceptive use and fertility among the Kassena-Nankana of Northern Ghana. Studies in Family Planning 40(2), 113–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellison, C. G., Hummer, R. A., Comier, S. & Rogers, R. G. (2000) Religious involvement and morality risk among African American Adults. Research on Aging 22(6), 630–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, T. D. (2007) Sex of experimenter and social norm effects on reports of sexual behavior in young men and women. Archive of Sexual Behavior 36, 89–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallup International (2000) Religion in the World at the End of the Millennium. Gallup International. URL: http://www.gallup-international.com (accessed 16th October 2003).Google Scholar
Garner, R. C. (2000) Safe sect? Dynamic religion and AIDS in South Africa. Journal of Modern African Studies 38, 41–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guiella, G. & Madise, N. (2007) HIV/AIDS and sexual-risk behaviors among adolescents: factors influencing the use of condoms in Burkina Faso. African Journal of Reproductive Health 11(3), 182–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gyimah, S. O. (2007) What has faith got to do with it? Religion and child survival in Ghana. Journal of Biosocial Science 39(6), 923–937.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gyimah, S. O., Kodzi, I., Emina, J., Adjei, J. & Ezeh, A. (2012) Adolescent sexual risk-taking in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya: understanding the contributions of religion. Journal of Religion and Health DOI 10.1007/s10943-012-9580-2Google Scholar
Gyimah, S. O., Takyi, B. K. & Addai, I. (2006) Challenges to the reproductive health needs of African women: on religion and maternal health utilization in Ghana. Social Science & Medicine 62, 2930–2944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gyimah, S. O., Takyi, B. K. & Tenkorang, E. (2008) Denominational affiliation and fertility behavior in an African context: an examination of couple data from Ghana. Journal of Biosocial Science 40(3), 445–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gyimah, S. O., Tenkorang, E., Takyi, B. K., Adjei, J. & Fosu, G. (2010) Religion, HIV/AIDS and sexual-risk taking among men in Ghana. Journal of Biosocial Science 42, 531–547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halstead, J. M. (1997) Muslims and sex education. Journal of Moral Education 26(3), 317–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hummer, R. A., Ellison, C., Rogers, R. G., Moulton, B. E. & Romero, R. R. (2004) Religious involvement and adult mortality in the United States: review and perspectives. Southern Medical Journal 97(12), 1223–1230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabiru, C. W., Beguy, D., Crichton, J. & Zulu, E. M. (2011) HIV/AIDS among youth in urban informal (slum) settlements in Kenya: what are the correlates of and motivations for HIV testing? BMC Public Health 11, 685.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics & ICF Macro (2010) Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008–09. KNBS and ICF Macro, Calverton, MD.Google Scholar
Koenig, H. G. (2001) Religion and medicine II: religion, mental health and related behaviors. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 31(1), 97–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Long, J. S. (1997) Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
Luquis, R. R., Brelsford, G. M. & Rojas-Guyler, R. (2011) Religiosity, spirituality, sexual attitudes, and sexual behaviors among college students. Journal of Religion and Health DOI: 10.1007/s10943-011-9527-z.Google Scholar
McCullough, M. E., Hoyt, W. T., Larson, D. B., Koenig, H. G. & Thoresen, C. (2000) Religious involvement and mortality: a meta-analytic review. Health Psychology 19, 211–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manglos, N. D. (2010) Born again in Balaka: Pentecostal versus Catholic narratives of religious transformation in rural Malawi. Sociology of Religion 71(4), 409–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manglos, N. & Trinitapoli, J. (2011) The third therapeutic system: faith healing strategies in the context of a generalized AIDS epidemic. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52, 107–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, N. B. & Davidson, J. K. (2006) College women and personal goals: cognitive dimensions that differentiate risk-reduction sexual decisions. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 35, 577–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mugisha, F. (2006) School enrollment among urban non-slum, slum and rural children in Kenya: is the urban advantage eroding? International Journal of Educational Development 26(5), 471–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ndugwa, R. P., Kabiru, C. W., Cleland, J., Beguy, D., Egondi, T., Zulu, E. M. & Jessor, R. (2011) Adolescent problem behavior in Nairobi's informal settlements: applying problem behavior theory in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Urban Health 88 (Supplement 2), s298–317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odimegwu, C. (2005) Influence of religion on adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviour among Nigerian University Students: affiliation or commitment? African Journal of Reproductive Health 9(2), 125–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paternoster, R., Brame, R.Mazerrolle, P. & Piquero, A. (1998) Using the correct statistical test for the equality of regression coefficients. Criminology 36(4), 859–866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pew Research Center (2010) Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub–Saharan Africa. URL: http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Belief_and_Practices/sub-saharan-africa-preface.pdf (accessed 17th February 2012).Google Scholar
Regnerus, M. D. (2007) Forbidden Fruit? Sex and Religion in American Adolescence. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Rostosky, S. S., Wilcox, B. L., Wright, M. L. C. & Randall, B. A. (2004) The impact of religiosity on adolescent sexual behavior: a review of the evidence. Journal of Adolescent Research 19, 677–697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shibutani, T. (1962) Reference groups and social control. In Rose, A. (ed.) Human Behavior and Social Processes. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, pp. 128–147.Google Scholar
Smith, C. (2003) Theorizing religious effects among American adolescents. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42(1), 17–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D. J. (2004) Source youth, sin and sex in Nigeria: Christianity and HIV/AIDS – related beliefs and behaviour among rural–urban migrants. Culture, Health & Sexuality 6(5), 425–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, T. W. (1990) Classifying Protestant denominations. Review of Religious Research 31, 225–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steensland, B., Park, J. Z., Regnerus, M. D., Robinson, L. D., Bradford Wilcox, W. & Woodberry, R. D. (2000) The measure of American religion: toward improving the state of the art. Social Forces 79(1), 291–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takyi, B. K. (2003) Religion and women's health in Ghana: insight into HIV/AIDS preventive and protective behavior. Social Science & Medicine 56, 1221–1234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tenkorang, E., Jones, A. & Gyimah, S. O. (2010) Perceptions of HIV/AIDS risk and sexual behavior of young people in Ghana. Canadian Journal of Development Studies 3–4, 439–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trinitapoli, J. (2006) Religious responses to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Review of Religious Research 47(3), 253–270.Google Scholar
Trinitapoli, J. A. & Regnerus, M. D. (2006) Religion and HIV risk behaviors among married men: initial results from a study in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45(4), 505–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uecker, J. E. (2008) Religion, pledging, and the premarital sexual behavior of married young adults. Journal of Marriage and Family 70(3), 728–744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNAIDS (2008) Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. UNAIDS and WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
UN-Habitat (2003) Slums of the World: The Face of Urban Poverty in the New Millennium? Monitoring the Millennium Development Goal, Target 11 – Worldwide slum dweller estimation.Google Scholar
Weeden, J. & Sabini, J. (2007) Subjective and objective measures of attractiveness and their relationship to sexual behavior and sexual attitudes in university students. Archive of Sexual Behavior 36, 79–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, R., Cleland, J. & Carael, M. (2000) Links between premarital sexual behaviour and extramarital intercourse: a multi-site analysis. AIDS 14(15), 2323–2331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zulu, E. M., Dodoo, F. N. & Ezeh, A. C. (2002) Sexual risk-taking in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, 1993–1998. Population Studies 56(3), 311–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar