SOCIAL CHANGE AND TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS WORLDVIEWS: A CASE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF PUBERTY RITES FOR DEVELOPMENT AMONG THE LOGBLOGBA

ABSTRACT

Puberty rites were an essential part of the betrothal type of marriage practiced by the ethnic group of Logba of the Volta Region in the olden days. Ultimately, a girl who experienced her menses for the first time is confined to begin a week-long ritual involving instructions and tests of varied kinds. The climax is usually on a Thursday, when she is adorned and paraded through the village to announce her maturity. With many gifts from parents and well-wishers, she was sent to the husbands‟ house. Qualitative methods were to examine the reasons for the survival of puberty rites among the Logba and their developmental in the community.

The rites were seen originally to be in conformity to the principles of liminality within which candidates were separated, left in a limbo to learn and then re-intergrated into the society as adults. The new rites as the study has shown, retains the former ideals but social change has shifted the focus on adult women‟s hard work and prosperity. Survival of the rites in the society mainly surrounds a felt need of the people to maintain their identity and to harness traditional values to unite and develop the tribe. Though visible, the developmental impacts are greatly affected by the economic hardships and corruption affecting the whole nation. The institution of puberty rites indicates that great potentials exist in our cultural values in which women can assist in rapidly developing the nation as has been done in South East Asian countries like Japan. It means government must involve women in the, Scientific, Technological and Innovation (STI) policies which have been put in place for development. Women must also be assisted in giving sound moral training of children at home to reduce escalating indiscipline and corruption in society.