CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners (Zeitzen, 2008). When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, the relationship is called polygyny, and there is no marriage bond between the wives. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry, and there is no marriage bond between the husbands. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called group marriage (Zeitzen, 2008).
The term is used in related ways in social anthropology, socio-biology, sociology, as well as in popular speech. In social anthropology, polygamy is the practice of a person’s making him available for two or more spouses to mate with. In contrast, monogamy is a marriage consisting of only two parties. Like monogamy, the term is often used in a de facto sense, applying regardless of whether the relationships are recognized by the state. In socio-biology and zoology, polygamy is used in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating.
In the last two decades, polygamy has been considered as an important issue public, political, and academic arenas (Elbedour, 2004). Polygamy in particular constitutes one of the distinctive features of the marriage in many countries and while its frequency may be declining, it is still widely practiced (Kincaid, 2003).
The Sub-Saharan Africa is the major global region where the practice remains widespread, accounting for about 20-50 percent of all marriages (Caldwell & Caldwell, 1990). Although polygamy has been practised all over the world for many centuries, there is an argument whether polygamy is appropriate or inappropriate to our society. Some believe that polygamy is very helpful to career women who might have to work late, then go home, and take care of their children or husband. Conversely, majority believe that polygamy is inappropriate as it has a huge negative effect to the family. The common effect of polygamy is making a conflict among wives. In polygamy, conflict among wives usually arises in the management of family. It is difficult for family management especially to arrange and sharing the task. On the other hand, it is difficult for husband to be fair to his wives. (Altman & Gmat, 1996).
Kincaid (2003) observed that in polygamous family, children also might lose their respect to their parents. The paper attempts to examine the overall effect of polygamy on family and society. Too many, polygamy is seen as an inappropriate relationship because they believe that polygamy oppresses women and children, but there are also those who believe that polygamy is appropriate and beneficial to society. Polygamy is always associated with problems and bad effects like jealousy, strife, murder and disparities.
Behaviour pattern can be described as a psychological construct that helps in defining an individual’s likely disposition towards an event such as examinations (Parker, Spears & Jones, 2002). Behaviour pattern refers to the unique and distinctive characteristics which sets a person apart from another (Sanni, 1999). Aspect of Behaviour pattern include one’s qualities or attributes, the way one really is, one’s general habitual behaviour, politeness, submissiveness and so on (Olowonirejuaro, 2008).