Modern marriage in Sierra Leone: a study of the professional group

The present book is concerned with marital relationships and their effect on family organization among both creole and provincial professional people in Sierra Leone – provincial referring to descendants from indigenous inhabitants and professionals referring to those who have earned a university degree or comparatively qualified. The author had to deal with the interplay of three fairly distinctive traditions. Using her fieldwork material to illustrate the causes of marital disharmony, she explores the traditional male prestige of a large number of wives and children, conflicting with the modern view opting for monogamy. She analyses this marital conflict in terms of the difference between traditional and Western values.