Doctoral Dissertation Research: Post-marital residence among the Thwa of northwestern Namibia

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University of Utah doctoral student, Layne J. Vashro, supervised by Dr. Elizabeth A. Cashdan, will investigate how women's desire to live near childcare providers affects post-marital residence and child health in traditional societies. Social scientists typically have analyzed the significant worldwide variability in human post-marital residence patterns through cross-cultural comparisons, an approach that does not take into account within group variability. In contrast, this project seeks to identify the degree and sources of within-group variation, focusing on allocare in particular. Recent research suggests that the childcare assistance women receive from their family is an incentive for them to remain close to home after marriage. The research will be conducted among the Thwa of northwestern Namibia. The Thwa practice variable post-marital residence and are subject to high rates of child and infant mortality. Vashro will collect data from Thwa camps in the Zebra Mountain valley. Data sources will include interviews, censuses, observations of childcare behavior, and anthropometric measurements. These data will be used test several hypotheses including whether the availability of care providers predicts post-marital residence and whether it affects child health.This project will act as an initial step towards understanding how individual variation affects post-marital residence, which will illuminate the patterning of residence in societies that lack clearly defined post-marital residence rules. Understanding the forces that shape residence variability within groups will also speak to broader cross-cultural patterns in post-marital residence. The project also will document a previously under-studied group and contribute to understanding the multiple factors that affect child health. Funding this research also supports the education of a social scientist.