Kultuurverwerwing by Suid-Sothogesinne in 'n stedelike konteks

English: This thesis focuses mainly on three subjects: The nature of the process of culture acquisition as it is encountered amongst selected Southern Sotho families in an urban neighbourhood of Greater Bloemfontein; the extent to which the child develops a clear cultural identity within the urban family context; and the family as primary context of culture acquisition. The study is qualitative, holistic and interpretative in its approach. The datacollection techniques (in-depth interviews, semi-structured interviews and participant observation) as well as data-analysis techniques (categorisation, comparison, generalisations, theoretical explanations) have therefore been employed to gain reflective and theoretical insight. The families in the study vary in structure to include the typical nuclear families, single-parent families, male-headed multigenerational families and female-headed multigenerational families. The mean income level of families is average to below average but all the families show an inclination towards social and economic mobility. The majority of the parents are full-time employed in non-professional positions while only 22,72 percent received tertiary education. It has been established that the majority of the parents are urbanised in their way of thinking and acting and that they feel positive about city life in general. Marriage relationships within families were discussed in terms of three characteristics, namely jointness, closure and fidelity. With regard to closure the question was posited: To what extent is the marriage couple's involvement in their marriage and consequently their relationship with each other, in conflict with their relationships and obligations towards their relatives? It seems as if married couples in general regard closure as ideal but they are often forced by custom and circumstance to accept the interference and presence of relatives in their lives and the rendering of assistance on occasion also seems unavoidable. The characteristic of jointness refers to malelfemale expectations of roles in the marriage. Aspects such as decisionmaking, budgeting, sharing of chores and the amount of time spent in one another's company were investigated. Spouses differ in their views: the majority of the men perceive chore-sharing as a modem phenomenon and claim that they are willing to share the household chores of their wives. In the majority of cases, this seemed to be only lip service. The same applies to decision-making and budgeting. Even where husbands and wives both eam an income, it is considered best if the husband makes the decision regarding the buying of so-called big items, such as a stove. Fidelity of marriage partners was not directly determined. Couples were however, asked to indicate how they spend their free time. Some of the couples do share activities like shopping, going to church and visiting friends together. Sharing free time is not, however, regarded by the wives as a sign of companionship and in most cases leisure time is organised according to gender. These couples are also parents and as such have certain tasks. It was established that mothers to a certain extent still follow the traditional practices during pregnancy and after birth. Parents give an ascribed status to the child. Traditionally it was very important to be aware of one's status and to act accordingly, but in the urban context acquired status became more important. Thus parents strive to give their children a good school education with a view to better future prospects. Parents are also responsible for nurturing, training and protection of their children. Mothers are still mainly responsible for nurturing and training the children. They emphasise that children should be independent and assign household tasks that are congruent with children's capabilities. Fathers are mostly in the background, although the younger fathers are becoming more involved in the physical and emotional nurture of babies and toddlers. Traditionally fathers were expected to see to the moral training and ritual protection of children. It seems that this task of the fathers is continuing in the urban context. In the study the profile of the children in families is presented through a discussion of the cultural identity of teenagers and young adults still in their parents' home. Identity is subdivided into the three dimensions of personhood, selfhood and individuality. Personhood refers to those cultural forms and social forces that together confer on the individual an array of social positions and render him/her accountable as a moral being. In accordance with this definition the nature of children's social relationships was investigated, as well as the moral responsibilities linked to the relationships. In their relationship with their parents, children have a high regard for their mothers as confidantes and advisors. In contrast with related literature, children reported that they also experience a close relationship with their fathers, although not of the same intensity as with their mothers. In general the traditional position and responsibilities of the eldest sister and brother in the sibling group are maintained. As can be expected, the relationships with their peer group are of paramount importance to children and through their interaction with friends they develop a richer understanding of the socio-cultural perspectives of other persons. In comparison their relationships with members of the opposite sex are even more important to them than relationships with friends of the same sex. This aspect is also one of the points of conflict with their parents because the young people would like to follow the modem trends of a dominant westernised way of courting while their parents prefer a more traditionalised procedure. In analysing the selfhood of children it was noticeable that they mostly used abstract terms, as well as descriptive references to concrete actions and contextual qualifications to describe themselves. In the majority of the answers children indicated a spontaneous and unconscious preference for a socio-centric orientation. With this orientation they emphasise the public self while the private self remains in the background. From the research data it was clear that children are reluctant to show too much individuality in their behaviour. In reaction to questions on certain traditional customs and behaviour the majority of the children indicated that they are not familiar with traditional practices or that they do not have any strong convictions on the matter. On the other hand it was deduced that they do not consciously break away from their parents' learning and values.