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The Acculturatlve Effects of Schooling onAfrican Attitudes and Values

Betty Jo MurphreeCentre for Inter-Racial Studies, University of Rhodesia, Salisbury.

The use of the term 'acculturation' has beenthe subject of considerable controversy amonganthropologists and other social scientists forseveral decades. This is largely because thephenomena involved are highly variable andoverlap with those covered by other terms inthe field of culture change. The complex natureof acculturation study has been emphasized bymany scholars working in the field, notablyThurnwald (1932), Herskovits (1937), Spindlerand SpindJer (1965), Dohrenwend and Smith(1962), Burger (1966), and Spicer (1958).

However, in spite of the long debate over theterminology, a certain broad consensus has beenachieved. For the purpose of this studyKeesing's (1964, 7) definition of acculturationas 'that process of culture change in whichmore or less continuous contact between two ormore culturally distinct groups results in onegroup taking over elements of the culture ofthe other group or groups', is accepted.1

The conditions necessary for such changes tooccur have been summarized by Graves (1967,337) as follows:

1. adequate exposure to beliefs and be-haviours of the dominant group so thatthese traits can be potentially learned,

2. an identification with the dominantculture as a new reference group inorder to provide the motivation forchange, and

3. access to the valued resources or goalsof the dominant society such thatreasonable expectation can developamong the aspirants that a change inbeliefs and behaviour will prove reward-ing.

This article is concerned primarily with anexamination of the first of these conditions andspecifically with the exposure resulting fromschooling. We are interested in observing towhat extent the schools are instrumental inchanging and moulding the ideas, attitudes andvalues of the pupils who come under theirinfluence. Several studies have shown thatacculturation is greatly facilitated by accessto formal education (e.g., Broom and Kitsuse,1955; Graves, 1967). In his study of the AleutIndians of Alaska, Berreman (1964, 231) notedthat:

Rejection of traditional culture occurs mostwhere contacts have been extensive andintensive and where culture change hasbeen 'directed' — where alien people havebeen dominant as administrators, schoolteachers, and other agents of authority,and where the traditional economy hasbeen undermined or replaced.

He further says that acculturation takesplace as a result of the interaction in socialsituations of individuals who carry the twocultures. These individuals have altered their

11

definitions of the situation in which they liveand their self-definitions. These alterations leadto changes in attitudes, ideals, values andbehaviours and Berreman recommends that anexamination of such alterations is a fruitfulway to look at acculturation.

METHOD

Any study of acculturation is facilitated to theextent that a means can be established to controlcomparisons (Eggan 1954, 747; Bruner 1956,605). A good example of the use of controlledcomparisons is Bruner's study in which controlstemmed from a comparison of group differen-ces in acculturation within one village based onthe criteria of participation in contemporaryIndian life.

In the present study four different groupshave been selected from three different geo-graphical areas. The groups were selected onthe basis of their differential exposure toEuropean culture through schooling. Therange was from no schooling to two years ofsecondary education. The groups selected were:

1. A group of men and women in a remotevillage on the Mazoe River on the northeastern border of Rhodesia.

2. A group of men and women inNyahuku, a village 30 miles away fromthe Mazoe Village, which had a recent-ly established primary school that wentup to Standard III (Grade 5).

3. A group of boys and girls in StandardIII at Nyahuku.

4. A group of Form I and II boys andgirls at Mrewa Secondary School, thenearest high school.

In order to attempt the measurement of thechange in attitudes effected by schooling, twelvequestions were prepared, each in the form of astory with a multiple choice ending.2 Thequestions were divided into six different cate-gories with two questions in each category deal-ing with attitudes toward legal administration,medicine, ethics, marriage, agriculture and re-ligious beliefs. The respondents were asked tochoose the most appropriate ending for eachstory. In addition to the three suggested endingsthere was a fourth category for an open-endedreply. The three story endings were devised toelicit a traditional, neutral, or acculturated re-sponse. In cases where a respondent wrote inhis own ending or made additional commentsit was decided after consultation with African

informants in which category it belonged.Powdermaker (1956, 783) in her study of teen-age Africans in Northern Rhodesia noted, 'Inthe transition from a traditional pre-industrialculture to a modern industrial one, all membersof a society can be placed somewhere on acontinuum with traditional and modern valuesat opposite ends.' This we have attempted todo with the four groups in this study.

The data for the main study were gatheredduring the months of May to August 1963,while the author was a graduate student in theDepartment of Education, University Collegeof Rhodesia.3 The survey was first conductedin a remote Mazoe River village among apeople who had had minimal access to formalschooling or contact with European culture.This village was located approximately 180miles from Salisbury, the last 30 miles being arough trail through the bush. The mode of lifeshowed very few influences of western culture,people gained their living from fishing andgrowing millet and other grains. Very littlecash was involved in the economy of the village.

It was necessary to establish a rapport withthe people and to carry out the survey through'conversations', a method employed byBiesheuvel (1955) in his studies of attitudes ofAfricans toward western ethical concepts. Itwas difficult to obtain the co-operation of thewomen who were extremely shy and reticentto answer. The group sampled was small andconsisted of five males and five females. Thepopulation of the village was approximatelyeighty.

The next group interviewed was the peopleof the Nyahuku River Village in the MkotaTribal Trust Land. This community is 150miles from Salisbury, 70 miles from the nearestmission centre or government post, and 30miles from the previous group interviewed, theMazoe River people. In Nyahuku, at the timeof this study, there was a school offering edu-cation up to Standard III (Grade 5), a clinicand a church. All of these had been establishedfive years previously. These institutions were allstaffed by educated Africans (carriers of bothcultures) and supervised by European personnelfrom the mission seventy miles away who mademonthly visits. A local African businessmanran a small store where a limited range oftinned goods, tea, sugar, minerals, pots, dishesand clothing could be bought. The store wasalso the terminus of a bus route. The people

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in the village were largely subsistence farmerspractising a shifting agriculture. The villagealso boasted of having five thriving ngangas(diviners), one of whom was a woman.

It was hoped to be able to measure to someextent the effect of education on the attitudesof the pupils in the school versus those of thevillage people and also to compare the attitudesof the two village communities. Therefore asimilar sample was obtained from the NyahukuVillage consisting of ten people, and interview-ing methods were the same. Here no difficultywas encountered in obtaining data from thewomen. The twenty-five pupils in StandardIII (Grade 5) were given a mimeographedquestionnaire containing the twelve storiesin Shona. The class interviewing was conductedby an African teacher at the school.

The fourth group which completed this studywere Form I and II pupils at Mrewa Second-ary School. At the time of this study thissecondary school had been in operation twoyears but was part of a well established missioncentre that had its beginnings in 1923. Aboutsixty per cent of the staff of the secondaryschool were European missionaries. Themission was located one mile from the town-ship and government post of Mrewa. in theMangwende Tribal Trust Land and was fiftymiles from Salisbury. The people in this areawere largely subsistence farmers but some cashcrops were grown. Transportation to marketsin Salisbury was much more convenient andthere was a fairly good road.

At Mrewa one hundred pupils were inter-viewed. Half the pupils answered the question-naire in Shona to see if language would be afactor influencing their responses — the hypo-thesis being that those answering in the ver-nacular would be more likely to respond in atraditional way. The interviews were conductedin the classroom by the author.

RESULTS

In the questionnaire the order of the storieswas mixed, the numbering used here beingfor convenience in reporting. Moser (1958)has pointed out that the order of questions mayaffect the answers obtained. In the analysis ofeach question which follows, the responses weretabulated on a three point scale and thefollowing categories utilized: 1. traditional, 2.neutral. 3. acculturated. The results are pre-sented in tabular form with percentages. Because

of the small sample in the two villages the per-centages are useful as comparative indices only.Chi-square tests of significance were applied tothe data on each group of questions and theresults were found to be significant beyond the0,001 level of significance. The responses weredichotomised and chi-square was again signifi-cant beyond the 0,001 level.

Table I

CATEGORY I LEGAL ANDADMINISTRATIVE

STORY A

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

MazoeVillape

90,00,0

10.0

TOTAL 100.0(n-10)

NyahukuVillage

10,070.020,0

100.0(n=i0)

Nyahuku MrewaStandard Secondary

III

24.020,056,0

15,013,072.0

100,0 100,0(n=25) (n=100)

A. Tembo found a place in the forest wherea big kudu always came to drink. He wantsto hunt it. What should Tembo do? 1. Ask thechief for permission to hunt. 2. Go and kill itwhen no one is looking. 3. Go to the DistrictCommissioner and buy a licence to shoot it.

The two stories in Category I dealing withlegal and administrative matters were preparedto measure the extent to which informantsfelt it better to appeal to or abide by the estab-lished European administration of the countryas against the use of older, more traditionalmethods of control. Question A involves thelegal permission to hunt.

There is a definite traditional response fromthe Mazoe Village people (ninety per cent).But there is quite a considerable difference be-tween the traditional response of this group andthe Nyahuku Village people. The largestpercentage falls into the category designated'neutral' and not the acculturated one. Most ofthe informants of Nyahuku Village said that nopermission was needed and then proceeded togive advice as to what kind of trap to build tocatch the animal. This may indicate an ig-norance of the hunting laws of the Europeanadministration, but it may also indicate that inthis area permission of the chief may not benecessary for hunting although they wouldprobably be expected to give him a portion ofmeat (Holleman, 1952, p. 18). Therefore theirneutral responses might be considered moretraditional than acculturated. One womancommented: 'Kill it, then tell the chief.'

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The pupils in Standard III who respondedneutrally also felt that no permission was need-ed. However twenty-four per cent of themgave a definite traditional response and fifty-sixper cent a definite acculturated one. Theacculturated response indicated a shift in atti-tude away from traditional authority. There isa significant difference between the accultura-tion of the students in the school and the othermembers of the Nyahuku community (fifty-sixversus twenty per cent).

Table II

CATEGORY I LEGAL ANDADMINISTRATIVE

STORY B

Response MazoeVillage

NyahukuVillage

Nyahuku MrewaStandard Secondary

III1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.TOTAL 100,0

(n=10)

90,00,0

10,0

60,010,0

100.0(n=10)

20,020,060,0

27,015,058,0

100,0 100,0(n=25) (n=100)

B. Marwei became very sick. She thoughtthat Puna had poisoned her by putting medicinein her sadza. What should she do? 1. Ask herfather to call the nganga to find the reasonfor her sickness. 2. Go to Puna and ask her, her-self. 3. Go to the police with her story.

This question deals with the correct pro-cedure in a suspected case of poisoning. Thetraditional response of the two village com-munities is not surprising since recourse to tra-ditional diagnosis is very prevalent in cases ofthis kind where the person suspected of poison-ing food would be thought to be a rnuroyi (evilwitch). (Gelfand, 1956, p. 55). In the Nyahukucommunity one man said, 'Akafanira kunyararahake. (She must keep quiet)'. Then he wenton to give the recipe for the antidote whichmust be administered by a man. These re-sponses are also consistent with Gelfand'sfindings. He notes that it is rare for a personto accuse another of being a witch even whenstrongly suspected: 'He generally restrains hisanger and resigns himself to finding a reliablenganga to exorcise the spell and so cure the ill-ness' (Gelfand, 1968, p. 15).

Both groups of school pupils give highlyacculturated responses. Especially is this sowhen upon reflection the designated neutralresponse is really more of an acculturated onebecause it involves direct confrontation which isdifferent from the traditional pattern. There

were also more open responses on this questionthan on any of the others. This may indicatethat this question is multi-dimensional, bothlegal and curative. The school respondentstended to ignore the legal aspects and weremore concerned with the curative. Most ofthem recommended that she go to the hospitaland be cured. In scoring the open responses arecourse to modern medicine was scored asacculturated. One secondary pupil said 'She'lldie if she waits for these enquirements.' Anotherinteresting comment was, 'Go to the doctor anddon't eat sadza with Puna again.'

Table III

CATEGORY II MEDICINE STORY A

Response MazoeVillage

NyahukuVillage

Nyahuku MrewaStandard Secondary

III

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

60,010,030,0

30,00,0

70,0

8,04,0

88,0

1,00,0

99,0

TOTAL 100,0(n=10)

100,0(n=10)

100,0 100,0(n=25) (n=100)

These story situations were included becauseit is obvious that the techniques of traditionalShona culture with regard to the practice ofmedicine conflict with the techniques of themodern culture. Gelfand (1956, pp. 11-12)describes the Shona traditional practitioner, thenganga, as a magician, although he may alsohave wide knowledge of herbs and other bonafide remedies. In this situation conflict couldbe expected to arise in the minds of thosefamiliar with both cultures. In the Nyahukucommunity with a modern clinic there were alsofive practising ngangas, all of whom were doinga thriving business. The two questions in thiscategory deal with the reaction to the need formedical attention.

A. Treatment for blood in the urine. Rudonotices while playing at the river that he andhis playmates are passing blood in their urine.What should he do? 1. Ask his father to getsome charms from the nganga to protect him.2. Ask his father to go to the store and getmedicine to keep his blood strong. 3. Go to theclinic and be treated. After that stay away fromthe river and do not drink water that has notbeen boiled.

It is interesting to note the greater accultu-rated response on this question among all fourgroups. Even the Mazoe Village people indi-cate some influence from the new culture.

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CATEGORY II

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

TOTAL

MazoeVillage

80,00,0

20,0

100,0(n=10)

Table IVMEDICINE

NyahukuVillage

60,00,0

40,0

100,0(n=10)

NyahukuStandard

III

0,04,0

96,0

100,0(n=25)

STORY B

MrewaSecondary

2,01,0

97,0

100,0(n=100)

B. Treatment for diarrhoea. Tendai's littlesister is always crying. She is very thin and hasdiarrhoea often. What should Tendai's motherdo? 1. Ask father to get some medicine fromthe nganga and tie it around the baby's waist.2. Let the baby alone, maybe it will get well.3. Only take the baby to the clinic, keep itclean and keep the flies away from its food.

From Tables III and IV one can concludethat even with a small amount of educationthere is a high degree of confidence in modernmedical practice, whereas, in the villages faithis in the traditional medicines with a tendencyto try both and be on the safe side, demon-strated by the fact that many patients attendthe clinic at Nyahuku wearing numerouscharms.

CATEGORY III

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

TOTAL

MazoeVillage

60,010,030,0

100,0(n=10)

Table V

ETHICS

NyahukuVillage

50,010,040,0

100,0(n=10)

NyahukuStandard

III

0,024,076,0

100,0(n=25)

STORY A

MrewaSecondary

3,0

90,'o

100,0(n=100)

The two questions in this group involve theproblem of adherence to the truth as againstsome type of loyalty putting special emphasis onkinship, though this is stronger in question Athan B.

A. Mr. Ndebvu sells a donkey to Mr. Mbizifrom another village, telling him that it isyoung and in good health. Muzukuru (hisnephew) is watching and knows that it is reallyvery sick. Before Mr. Mbizi reaches his villagethe donkey dies. He tells his story to the policeand when the case comes to court, Muzukuru iscalled to testify. What should he do? 1. Heshould go to court and say the donkey was well.

2. Hide until the case is over, refusing to testify.3. He should go to court and say the donkey wasvery sick, even if they send his uncle to jail.

It is obvious that loyalty to the kinship groupis weaker among those who are in school. How-ever, one Standard III boy at Nyahuku said,'If it were me, I would kill myself so that Iwouldn't be caught.' A secondary school pupilfelt strongly enough to comment, 'I hope thatperson will not be a traitor though it may becorrect to summon him.' This statement indi-cates a learning of the new ethic without neces-sarily an internalization of the norm.

CATEGORY III

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

TOTAL

MazoeVillage

50,020,030,0

100,0(n=10)

Table VI

ETHICS

NyahukuVillage

30,030,040,0

100,0(n=10)

NyahukuStandard

III

16,024,060,0

100,0(ii=25)

STORY B

MrewaSecondary

3,05,0

92,0

100,0(n=100)

B. Khama is given five shillings by hismother to buy tea and sugar. The storekeeperwas very busy and gave him change for tenshillings. What should he do? 1. Take themoney home and give it to his mother. 2. Putthe money in his pocket and leave quickly beforethe storekeeper notices his mistake. Hide it andspend it later. 3. Return the money to thestorekeeper and tell him he has given him toomuch money.

It is perhaps significant that even in theMazoe Village group there is only fifty per centresponse in the category designated traditional.This may indicate that this question does notmeasure a traditional versus acculturated re-sponse but is basically a moral issue involvingright versus wrong behaviour. This kind ofbehaviour is not exclusive to the new cultureethic but is inherent in the Shona ethic as well.Gelfand (1968, p. 36) corroborates this obser-vation in his study of the morals and ethics ofthe Shona. He discusses the fact that 'good'behaviour and manners are taught in traditionalsociety with a language that includes the ideaof good, kunaka, and of a person being righteousor perfect, kururama.

Nevertheless, education does seem to affectthe stated pronouncements on honesty asmeasured by this question. It may be that withthe secondary school pupils there is a 'halo'

15

effect due to the fact that the author was amissionary at the time of this study. Therewere some interesting comments on thisquestion. From the secondary school pupilscame the following: 'he should return themoney and ask the storekeeper for a reward forhis honesty'; 'buy something in the store withthe money', and 'put it in the church collection.'

From a Nyahuku standard three pupil camethe following advice: 'Stay in the store untilyou see that he is not going to question you,then go with the money'. Another piece ofhomely advice: 'Chawawana batisa mudzimuhaupi kairi. (Hold tight or keep what youhave found, for the spirits will not give youagain)'.

CATEGORY IV

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

TOTAL

MazoeVillage

70,020,010,0

100,0(n=10)

Table VIIMARRIAGE

NyahukuVillage

40,010.050,0

100,0(n=10)

NyahukuStandard

III

36,08,0

56,0

100,0(n=25)

STORY A

MrewaSecondary

54,017,029,0

100,0(n=100)

A. Choosing a marriage partner. Tsonzo fellin love with Nyasha who lived in the next vil-lage. He asked his father to pay roora (brideprice) for her. But his relatives did not thinkshe would make a good wife for him and theychose another girl. What should he do? 1. Heshould do as his relatives think best and marrythe girl they chose. 2. He should refuse hisrelatives and say he will not marry yet. 3. Heshould go to live with the girl anyway so thatthe parents would be forced to agree.

This question deals with the problem ofpersonal versus family choice of a marriagepartner. As a result of contact with the newculture which emphasizes the individual ratherthan the community, conflict might be expectedto arise because of the communal aspects intraditional Shona marriage customs. The mar-riage contract is really an agreement betweentwo families and the individual aspect is aSubordinate element in the dominant commu-nal arrangements. Holleman (1952, pp. 127-9)discusses three factors in the marriage arrange-ments which show the dominance of thecommunal aspects of marriage.4 Shona customhas, however, recognized that a successfulmarriage is based on the consent of the couple

involved, especially the permission of the girl.Shona law pays less attention to the feelings ofthe groom. 'On no account, however, wouldthe children's refusal to consent, by itself rendera marriage agreement made by families in-valid' (Holleman, 1952, p. 131).

Table VII reveals some interesting figures.An explanation is required for the high tra-ditional response of the secondary pupils andthe relatively high acculturated response of theNyahuku community both the adults and schoolchildren. The secondary school pupils beingnearer to a marriageable age may realize theirdependence upon their families in this area.Several commented that if the boy does what helikes where would he get money for the roora.Another factor inhibiting an acculturated re-sponse among this group may be the morality ofan elopement marriage due to the influence ofChristian teaching on marriage. The secondaryschool pupils had alternative suggestions as tohow the situation should be handled. Most ofthese recommended discussing the matterthoroughly with the parents and village elders inan effort to come to a solution that wouldplease both sides. Some of the students ex-pressed the opinion that in these days no onecan be forced, which is probably true in mostcases. Nevertheless, it is interesting that fifty-four per cent of these pupils felt that a personshould accept the family's choice of a marriagepartner.

The similarity in response of the adults andpupils in the Nyahuku community may indicatethat elopement marriage is not inimical to localcustome. Holleman (1952) p. 113) argues thatelopement has always been part of Shonamarriage customs and its increase today shouldnot be attributed to changing social conditions.5

His argument is weakened somewhat when hegoes on to admit that its practice is somewhatirregular within the traditional pattern. Elope-ment marriage does seem to be on the increasetoday and it seems only logical to look for thereasons in changing social conditions. Tensionsbetween children and parents over choice ofpartner and the mercenary aspects of the 'bride-price' could certainly be contributing causes'(Mair, 1969, pp. 153-4).

The parents of Nyahuku exhibited a verytolerant attitude toward the wishes of theirren. Two comments worth noting: 'Vaberekivakafanira kuda kwa mukomana wavo ( Theparents must permit the will of their son)'; and

16

'Rega mwana ayite kuda kwake, mupei manachirowora (Let the child do what he wants,give him the money for the marriage)'.

The most confident remark come from aStandard III boy at Nyahuku who said, cKodai mukadzi ndiri kumuda hamuzivi kuti mutiunomera pawo unoda (If I want a woman,well don't you know that a tree takes rootwherever it wants to).' Another lad suggestedhe must 'take both girls'.

Table VIII

Table IX

CATEGORY IV

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

MazoeVillage

90,010,00,0

MARRIAGE

NyahukuVillage

50,010,040,0

NyahukuStandard

III

12,036,052,0

STORY B

MrewaSecondary

37,026,037,0

TOTAL 100,0 100,0(n=10) (n=10)

100,0 100.0(n=25) (n=100)

B. Divorce. Murume and Mukadzi sincetheir marriage quarrel frequently. He beather and she went to the hospital because herarm was broken. What should she do? 1. Com-plain to her husband's relatives about him. 2.Return to her village and ask her father toarrange a divorce. 3. Go to the District Com-missioner's office and complain about her hus-band's cruelty.

The pattern of response is similar in thisquestion to the previous one. There is a rela-tively high degree of acculturation in theNyahuku community and school, a greaterdivergence between the two villages and amore traditional response from the secondarypupils.

In examining the question itself, it is morelikely that response 2, intended to be neutral, isreally more traditional. According to Holleman(1952, p. 219) it wouW be the" wife's secondcourse of action if the first one failed. A Shonahusband has the right to beat his wife lightlybut if he beats her unreasonably he is guilty ofrushusha (maltreating) and she can run awayto her own family and seek a divorce. If theresponses are dichotomised in this way thetraditional response for the secondary schoolpupils is sixty-three per cent. In these twoquestions on marriage the secondary schoolpupils deviate from the expected acculturationpattern.

CATEGORY V AGRICULTURE STORY AResponse Mazoe

Village

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

60,030,010,0

NyahukuVillage

10,060,030,0

NyahukuStandard

III

MrewaSecondary

0,060,040,0

6,00,0

94,0

TOTAL 100,0(n=10)

100,0(n=10)

100,0 100,0(n=25) (n=100)

A. Last year Mr. Gurure's mealies grew badlyand the family did not have enough to eat.What should he do this planting season?1. Cook beer and give a special offering to theVadzimu (family spirits). 2. Get a new fieldand try again. 3. Put manure and compost onthe fields.

This first question deals with causal expla-nations for crop failure with an appeal to theancestor spirits for good crops representingthe traditional response as against using modernmethods of farming. A significant fact here isthe large neutral response for the NyahukuVillage and school and also for the MazoeVillage compared with previous responses. Thereason probably lies in the fact that a shiftingagriculture is practised here and people dochange their fields frequently. The trees andbrush are burnt for fertilizer. However, aninformant from Nyahuku made this observationafter checking the neutral response: 'If it con-tinues every year, he must make a sacrifice tothe family spirits'.

The degree of acculturation of the secondarypupils on this question is very high, ninety-fourper cent.

Table X

CATEGORY VResponse Mazoe

Village

AGRICULTURE STORY BNyahuku Nyahuku Mrewa

Village Standard SecondaryIII

1. Trad.2. Neut.?y. Ace .

80,020,00,0

30.020,050.0

4,028,068,0

2.023,075,0

TOTAL 100,0 100,0(n=10) (n=10)

100,0 100,0(n=25) (n=100)

B. Mrs. Bambo is ill and cannot work in thefields. What should her husband do? 1. Takeanother wife. 2. Hire someone to work in thefields. 3. Go himself and work with the childrenin his wife's fields.

17

In some ways this question is also multi-dimensional having to do with marriage cus-toms as well as with the division of labour asit affects agriculture. The Mazoe Village peopleare seen to be very traditional with eighty percent suggesting he take another wife. Accordingto Holleman (1952, p. 190) if a Shona wife isunable to perform her duties the husbandcould take another wife or ask for a replace-ment for her from her family. One man atNyahuku who chose the traditional responseadded, 'Petudza uyo unorwara nguva dzese(Return the one who is sick all the time)'.This traditional response drops sharply witheducation. Only four per cent of the pupils atNyahuku School and two per cent of thesecondary pupils recommend that he takeanother wife.

The second response ('Hire someone to workin the fields') is probably more of an accultu-rated than a neutral response. Therefore ifthe responses are dichotomised this question hasa very high acculturated response from pupilsin both schools.

The third response, however, probably doesnot discriminate the direction of change asclearly as it might have if the question had beenrephrased and the husband had been requiredto do some of the forbidden tasks such as pre-paring the family's food or caring for the child-ren. In Shona society in the area of food pro-duction the responsibilities of each sex are notas clearly divided. Although a woman wouldbe primarilv responsible for her fields, she couldcall upon her husband to help at times(Holleman. 1952, p. 211; Murphree, 1969. p.

21).Table XI

CATEGORY VI

Response

1. Trad.2. Neiit.3. Ace.

TOTAL

MazoeVillage

100,00,00,0

100,0(n-10)

RELIGIOUSBELIEFS

NyahukuVillage

60,00,0

40,0

100,0(n=i0)

NyahukuStandard

III

8,036,056;o

100,0(n=25)

STORY A

MrewaSecondary

8,051,041,0

100,0(n=100)

A. Mr. Muvimi went out to hunt and wasunsuccessful because: 1. He had failed to makea bikiro (offering to the spirits). 2. He had badluck. 3. The streams had dried up and thegame had moved to other water holes.

The responses supplied for this question weredesigned to provide for: 1. an answer represent-ing a traditional, supernatural explanation forfailure in hunting, 2. 'bad luck' representing anintermediate position on the traditional-moderncontinuum, 3. representing an effort to findnatural, scientific explanations for phenomena.

Both village groups proved to respond in atraditional manner while the school childrenby and large fell in the neutral to acculturatedcategories.

Table XII

CATEGORY VI RELIGIOUSBELIEFS

STORY B

Response MazoeVillage

Nyahuku Nyahuku MrewaVillage Standard Secondary

III

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

90.010.0

TOTAL 100,0(n=10)

60,040,00,0

100,0(n=10)

24,0 21,072.0 18,04,0 61,0

100,0 100,0(n=25) (n=100)

B. For two years there have not been goodrains in Chief Makuni's area. The people arebeginning to starve. Why? 1. The mhondoro(tribal spirits) refuse to send the rains becausethe people have not made the proper sacrifices.2. God has not sent the rains. 3. The windshave not blown the rains on that area.

The first response represents the traditionalreligious ideology while the second one wouldhave been taught by the Christian churches andtherefore might be considered to be a modifiedacculturated response even though it wouldattribute causation to a supernatural being. Theword used to translate God into Shona is'Mwari'. This is the term used by the Christianchurches. The traditionalists would be morelikely to use the term 'Nyadenga' (Murphree,1969, p. 179). The third response representsa scientific theory of causation such as is taughtin the schools.

In this area of religious beliefs the spiral isdefinitely an upward one with the secondaryschool pupils exhibiting the most acculturatedattitude. However, it is worth noting thatboth groups of school children were also moretraditional in this area than in some others.The Nyahuku Standard III pupils indicatedsome confusion in their religious thinking in thecomments they made on this question. Oneboy marked the second response, 'God has notsent the rains', but went on to comment.

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"Mondoro ndiyo muridzi we mvura (The tribalspirit is the owner of the rains)'. Another in-formant said that the Mhondoro and God arethe same. Another that God had not sent therains because he was angry with the peoplewho had sinned. A secondary school pupilcommented that, 'We are taught in our Geog-raphy that the wind brings the rain. Eventhe winds are God's'. Another student said'Wakanganwa mhondoro (They have forgottenthe tribal spirit)'.

An explanation for this seeming confusionand ambiguity of the replies of the schoolchildren may be found in a comparison of tra-ditional Shona religious concepts and Christian-ity. Murphree (1969, p. 59) points out that thereis much in common between the two religiousideologies. It is possible then that what isevidenced here is a type of acculturation identi-fied as syncretism,, which is the tendency toidentify those elements in the new culture withsimilar elements in the old one (Herskovitsquoted by Burger, 1966, 103). This enablesthe person experiencing the contact to movefrom one to the other and back again withpsychological ease.

SUMMARY

The findings of this study tend to support thehypothesis that formal education is an import-ant factor in acculturation. Attention is drawnto Table XIII which is a composite table ofresponses on all twelve stories. The differencesin the acculturated responses of groups havingdifferential schooling is significant beyond the0,001 level.

Table XIII

CATEGORIES I-VI

Response

1. Trad.2. Neut.3. Ace.

TOTAL

MazoeVillage

76,710,812,5

100,0(n=10)

TOTALRESPONSES

NyahukuVillage

40,821,737,5

100,0(n=10)

NyahukuStandard

III

12,728,059,3

100,0(n=25)

TWELVESTORIES

MrewaSecondary

14,914,770,4

100,0(n=100)

The Mazoe Village people with no schoolingand very little contact with the new culturewere consistently traditional in their responseson each question. When the responses weretotalled (see Table XIII) acculturated re-sponses for this group constituted only 12,5 per

cent of the total. The highest acculturated re-sponses were in the areas of medicine (twenty-five per cent) and ethics (thirty per cent).6

The Nyahuku Village people with greaternew culture contact through the school, clinic,church and store exhibited a higher degree ofacculturation particularly in the areas of medi-cine (fifty-five per cent), ethics (forty per cent),marriage (forty-five per cent), and agriculture(forty per cent) ,7 Their acculturated responseson all questions totalled 37,5 per cent. A sig-nificant difference occurred between the Nyahu-ku Village people and the pupils in StandardIII.

The Standard III pupils at Nyahuku had atotal of 59,3 per cent acculturated responsesand the Mrewa Secondary pupils had a totalacculturated response of 70,4 per cent. Bothgroups of pupils had the highest acculturatedresponses in the areas of medicine, ethics andagriculture. Their highest traditional responseswere in the areas of legal and administrativematters, marriage, and religious beliefs. In onearea, that of marriage, the Standard III pupilshad a higher acculturated response than thesecondary pupils. This would appear thereforeto be one area in which an acculturative trenddoes not correlate with an increased exposureto schooling. Our analysis has shown, however,that a number of other cultural variables im-pinge on this particular area, and that thecontradiction may be more apparent than real.

Half of the secondary school pupils answeredthe questionnaire in the vernacular to see iflanguage affected the type of response. In theareas where the pupils gave the highest tra-ditional responses (legal matters, marriage andreligious beliefs) there was a slightly highertraditional response rate for those answering inthe vernacular. However, chi-square tests ofsignificance applied to this data indicated thatthe differences were not significant.

The story technique used in this study toidentify the acculturative effects of educationpresents certain difficulties. For one thing, itis not known to what extent the responses givenrepresent the ways in which the respondentwould actually behave in such situations. Thispaper, however, does not purport to study theentire attitude syndrome, which may includeaction. We have rather been studying the learn-ing of beliefs and behaviour patterns which mayor may not result in cognate action. The as-sumption that the responses given to questions

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such as those posed in this study bear a signifi-cant relationship to the internalization of anattitude or value and therefore to the be-haviour of the respondent (cf. Spindler andSpindler, 1965, 9) may be valid, but the natureof that relationship is not the focus of thispaper.

Another difficulty in this technique lies inidentifying a situation and devising graded re-sponses to it which accurately reflect stages inthe acculturative process. Our analysis of thesituations actually posed in the questionnaireinstrument reveals that some were more andsome less effective in achieving this goal. Someof the questions did not discriminate thedirection of change as well as others, particular-ly the following: category III (ethics) questionB, category IV (marriage) question A, andcategory V (agriculture) question B. Some ofthe response categories would also appear tohave been inadequately constructed, and inparticular many of the neutral responses couldhave been placed on the continuum as modifiedtraditional or acculturated responses.

Nevertheless, despite these difficulties andshortcomings, the upward spiral of accultura-tion which is evident in Table XIII when theresponses from all the questions are combineddoes show a consistent positive correlation be-tween the degree of exposure to formal edu-cational processes and the degree of accultura-tion of the group tested. This is a significantindication that to a large degree the schools ofthis country are instrumental in changing andmoulding the ideas, attitudes and values of thepupils who come under their influence.

These findings are consistent with findingsof studies elsewhere (Haium and Macaraya,1956: Berreman, 1964; Broom and Kitsuse,1955: Leis, 1964). The importance of this fora plural society such as Rhodesia is that theschools do act as agents and accelerators ofchange. They are instrumental in inculcatingthe value system of a new culture and if theschool system has the support of other institu-tions of society it can be a bridge linking mem-bers of one sub-culture of the society to theother.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am very grateful to Professor J. C. Mitchell and Dr. S. Irvine for their advice and help onresearch design, to Miss Eunice Masho and Mrs. Beatrice Mutasa for help with the interpretationand translation of the Shona and to Professor D.H. Reader for valuable suggestions on the analysisof responses.

NOTES

1. Tn 1936 the United States Social Science Research Council appointed a sub-committee consisting of R.Redfield, R. Linton and M. J. Herskovits to define the term acculturation. The definition is basically a re-stating of the one contained in their report (see References).

2. This technique is similar to one used by David L. Hamm and Batua A. Macaraya in a study of acculturationin a Junior College in the Philippines (See references).

3. During this period there was considerable political upheaval and a wave of nationalist activity swept thecountry. Undercurrents of anti-European sentiment were in evidence, with efforts at reviving Africantraditional forms of worship and punitive action being taken against women and girls who had affectedEuropean ways by straightening their hair and wearing short, tight skirts. People were sometimes forced toremove their shoes and walk barefoot. To see whether the responses had been affected by the political tenorof the times a partial replication of the study was carried out in June, 1971. Form I and II pupils atthe Mrewa Secondary School were given the same questionnaire. In the totalled responses the differencesbetween the 1963 and 1971 survey were not significant (70,4 versus 73,5 per cent acculturated responses).The only significant difference was in category IV, marriage, where the 1971 group showed a twelve per centincrease in the acculturated response.

4. In the initial bargaining stages the identity of the future husband and wife need not be openly revealed. Theprincipal question is whether a marriage relationship between two families is acceptable. The second factorIs that the bride is first handed over to the family which procured her and then a few days later she is handedover to her husband by the head of the family. The third is that in cases of early death or failure to keepthe contract either or both spouses can be replaced by a member of the same kin group.

5. Holleman speculated that under the influences of missionary teachings the percentage of elopement marriageshas decreased in favour of regular proposal marriages. He bases this on a study of 700 marriages in differentparts of the Sabi Reserve. Near a large mission station regular proposal marriages increased by twenty-fiveper cent.

6. These figures represent the combined responses of questions A and B in this category.7. These figures represent the combined responses of questions A and B in this category.

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REFERENCES

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BIESHEUVEL, S. 1955 The Measurement of African Attitudes towards European Ethical Concepts, Customs,Laws and Administration of Justice. Journal of the National Institute of Personnel Research, 6, 5-17.

BROOM, L. and KITSUSE, A. 1955 The Validation of Acculturation: A Condition to Ethnic Assimilation.Am. Anthrop., 57, 44-8.

BRUNER, E. 1956 Primary Group Experience and the Process of Acculturation. Am. Anthrop., 58, 605-23.BURGER, H. 1966 Syncretism, An Acculturative Accelerator. Human Organization, 25, 103-15.DOHRENWEND, B. and SMITH, R. 1962 Toward a Theory of Acculturation. Southwestern Journal of

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New York, The Free Press of Glencoe.LEIS, P. 1964 Ijaw Enculturation: A Re-examination of the Early Learning Hypothesis. SWest. I. Anthrop..

20, 32-42.MA1R, L. 1969 African Marriage and Social Change. London, Cass.MOSER, C. 1958 Survey Methods in Social Investigation. London, Heinemann.MURPHREE, M. W. 1969 Christianity and the Shona. London, Athlone Press.POWDERMAKER. H. 1956 Social Change Through Imagery and Values of Teen-Age Africans in Northern

Rhodesia. Am. Anthrop., 58, 783-813.REDFIELD, R., LINTON, R. and HERSKOVITS, M. J. 1936 Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation.

Am. Anthrop., 38, 149-52.SPICER, E. H. 1958 Social Structure and the Acculturation Process. Am. Anthrop., 60, 433-41.SPINDLER, G. and SPINDLER, L. 1965 The Instrumental Activities Inventory. A Technique for the Study

of the Psychology of Acculturation. SWest. J. Anthrop., 1% 1-23.THURNWALD, R. 1932 The Psychology of Acculturation. Am. Anthrop., 34, 557-69.

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