Role of traditional and modern counselling strategies in reducing incidences of divorce among married couples in Kabwe urban, Zambia./|cFaith Namonje

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the role traditional and modern counselling strategies in reducing the incidences of divorce among married couples in Kabwe District in Zambia. The study discovered that traditional and modem counselling played a preventative role in reducing divorce incidences, additionally, meditative and acceptance roles on divorce cases. Literature reviewed information on a global, national and local scale on divorce rates. Rates were higher in European countries as compared to African rates. In Zambia, rates were lower but increasing in the town Kabwe. Trends of divorce in Africa were taken from the study conducted by the McGill University in 2015, which showed that African countries like Namibia Senegal, Togo and Zambia have relatively stable trend in divorce rates; this was attributed to the gap in statistics as most African marriages are contracted under customary arrangements which are difficult to track especially in the trends of divorce. The Study was therefore carried out to investigate the role traditional and modern counselling strategies were playing in reducing the incidences of divorce among married couples in Kabwe District in Zambia. A total of ninety nine (N= 99) respondents participated in the survey. 36 respondents completed the individual questionnaires. 58 participated in Focus Group Discussions whilst 5 participated in interviews. Specifically, the study investigated the participants awareness on the existence of traditional and modern counselling services for married couples in Kabwe Urban; the factors that contributed to the rising incidences of divorce; the views which couples and service providers held on traditional and modern counselling services