Domestic Violence A Consequence of Acculturation among Kamba Couples

Abstract

This study hypothesized that acculturation is a factor that has contributed to the increase in domestic violence among the Kamba family. The Kamba family has gone through cultural changes especially in communication arising from the adaptation of foreign cultural values, before, during and after colonization. The study argued that, while there was little evidence of domestic violence in the traditional Kamba family, the modern Kamba family is a product of the acculturation process. This domestication of foreign cultural values has led to changes in the stock of knowledge, which the husband and wife draw from while communicating. The study sought answers to the questions on the prevalence, types and characteristics of domestic violence within the Kamba family, and the extent to which the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial changes have influenced the traditional Kamba cultural values that previously served as social sanctions against domestic violence. Purposive sampling was used in identifying and selecting the study units Data collected for analysis was both secondary and primary. Secondary data was collected from six organizations currently dealing with issues of gender domestic violence. Primary data was obtained from key informant interviews conducted with 12 senior officials of organizations dealing with domestic violence based in Nairobi and also with 8 Kamba elders drawn from the Kamba community. The data obtained was mainly qualitative and was analyzed through the use of content analysis methodologies, The results indicated that there is evidence of domestic violence occurring in the Kamba family. The types of domestic violence reported wer physical, sexual, and psychological characterized by battering, burning and sexual assaults among others. The perpetrators of violence wer both the husband and wife, though wife battering was more common 36 Abstracts Further, spousal violence was reported as being common among the urban Kamba families of police constables, prison warders, primary school teachers, and military men. The main causes or reasons for violence were unfaithfulness, misunderstandings, frequent quarrels, drunkard ness, and failure to get the preferred child. The study concluded that changes in cultural values, norms, beliefs and attitude arising from the sustained domestication of Western cultural values in place of the traditional Kamba cultural values might explain the rising cases of spousal violence. The study recommends a sustained enculturation of Kamba value systems.