Selected Cultural Practices and Their Impacts on Social Development Among the Maasai

Abstract

Cultural practices in any community normally have negative effects on social development on community. This study sought to expose the various cultural practices among the Maasai people in Narok County, their effects on social development and various ways which can be utilized to curb these practices. Culture is a very important element of any nation as it determines, to a large extent, the way people behave and go about their day-to-day lives. It is also one of the major factors influencing the pace of development and the direction that the process of development takes. Without a systematic analysis of culture, However, culture can be harmful to people and society at large if it‘s retrogressive. Some of the cultural practices include: female genital mutilation, early marriages, forced marriages, polygamy, just to mention but a few. It is however important to clarify that not all cultures practiced by the Maasai community are beneficial. For instance Female genital mutilation and early marriages to girls have been found to have a negative impact on their education. This study will seek to uncover how cultural practices by the Maasai community impact on social development. Education is believed to be a means and product of development a society deprived of education attains the lowest level of development, which eventually leads to poverty, immorality and other anti-social behavior. The main objective of this study is to find out the various cultural practices among the Maasai Community in Narok County and their impact on social development. Social Development Theory, a theory formulated by Lev Vygotsky, is a theory which emphasizes on the effect of culture and social factors in contributing to cognitive development. According to Vygotsky, his theory places more emphasis on culture affecting / shaping cognitive development and he sets more weight on the role of language in cognitive development. Vygotsky believes that community plays a central role in the process of learning. Thus, an event management project has been designed to suit the students' needs in absorbing language while interacting with the community. In order to achieve this objective and to enhance the usefulness of the findings. Both quantitative and qualitative research design were employed. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample population of the study where 81 respondents were sampled from a target of 140. Questionnaires with both open and closed questions were used to collect information from the respondents. Female genital mutilation, polygamy, early and forced marriages were the cultural practices that were identified by the respondents to exist and were more pronounced among the Maasai people in Narok county. Effects of these practices included increase in poverty levels, low education levels, abuse of female gender and other effects. Promoting economic conditions of women and young girls, awareness creation and promoting education for girls were among the recommended solutions on the cultural practices among the Maasai people. In conclusion, this study conceded that culture was quite complex and that whatever others might say, the various cultural beliefs and practices played functions which were generally valued by those who believed or practiced them. The study further revealed that the selected cultural practices impacted on education and social development in the community. The study also found that the female gender (women and girls), were the majorly affected by the cultural practices among the Maasai people.