Morality and Community Behaviour in Africa

A Case Study of Bukusu Circumcision

Abstract

Societies that thrive are those that have mechanisms for enhancing moral values amongst their growing generations in a sustainable way. This study singled out traditional initiation rites as a mechanism used by the Bukusu people of Kenya to cultivate morality among the youth, with an intention of raising men that are morally upright, and who are able to provide leadership in a similar way. It was envisaged that observance of the lessons and principles given through the initiation process would be effective in sustaining morality and virtuousness in the community. This was an ethnographic study, where 20 participants were interviewed. They were accessed using snowball technique. This study operated with four objectives: (i) to find out how the process of initiation of boys into adulthood was fashioned to inculcate moral lessons; (ii) to explore how the nurture given during initiation process had been helpful in enhancing moral values among the ‘graduates’ of traditional initiation; (iii) to probe areas, if any, where traditional initiation rites resulted in immoral behaviour and why; and (iv) to explore whether the rites had been revised in light of available information in medicine, education, and religion. The study found that while traditional Bukusu initiation rites were designed to raise men that were morally upright and virtuous,and while the traditional process of initiation has been widely successful in the past, unfortunately, this study found that due to lapses in control mechanism of the process, traditional Bukusu rites have sometimes failed to produce ‘graduates’ that were morally upright and virtuous. This study concludes that, while the initiation process remains an important stage for inculcating good morals among the youth, checks and controls should be applied on the system, the process and the mentors, to make sure the purpose of the rites of initiation into adulthood are achieved. The study recommends that the checks and controls should be guided by available information in medicine, education and religion.