Research report: The development of a schedule for measuring social background in African cultures

Abstract

AN IMPORTANT area in the development of medical sociology in Africa, according to Frankenberg [l] is that of “category sociology” or demography. In African societies categorization of the population into stratified groups (which in Britain is made possible by the use of the Registrar General’s occupational categories) is problematic. Factors such as area of birth, the rural-urban division, and role and power in rural social organization are important factors determining stratification. [l] The classification of African populations by some standard schema is, as Frankenberg suggests, an important precursor of epidemiological research. We wish to report here the development of a standardized schedule for the measurement of social status and social background which will meet this need. The schedule has been developed in the context of the setting up of mental health services in Mid-West Nigeria [2]. In taking psychiatric case histories of newly ascertained cases, details of family background, sexual life, early development, schooling, occupation, social background, and marital history are often elicited in order to understand fully the events leading up to the illness which the patient presents. It was decided to see if a standardized schedule systematically seeking information in these areas would be (a) mqre comprehensive and reliable than a conventional clinical interview, and (b) could be administered by non-clinical interviewers, such as social workers, research assistants, school principals, etc.