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Moving the Goalpost: “Come-We-Stay” Practice in Menchum Division (MD), Cameroon
John Mih Uka
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5526/2015.08.002
University of Lincoln, UK
This paper seeks to understand people’s perception of “come-we-stay” (CWS) cohabitation in Menchum Division (MD), Cameroon. As in most of Africa, marriage is a valued institution that ensures the continuation of the family tree. The emergence of CWS is gathering momentum fast in many communities in the country much to the dislike of the church and custodians of tradition who perceive CWS to be a cheap union form that breaches marriage norms. This paper seeks to address whether the emergence of CWS has affected marriage perceptions in MD. Initially, quantitative data were collected via online survey disseminated via Facebook. The time-efficiency, economic viability, convenience and anonymity of this method made it a viable method for this study. Later, however, due to a low response to the Facebook link, the online survey was constructed into a questionnaire and administered to the same target population. Questionnaires were relevant to this study because they could be self-administered. However, the questionnaires were limited as they did not allow for attention to details. The data were analysed using content analysis.
Come-we-stay (CWS),
cohabitation, union, marriage, Menchum, Cameroon
Sociology Study, August 2015, Vol. 5, No. 8, 616-627
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