Die invloed van verarming op bepaalde struktuur-funksionele komponente van die Wes-Transvaalse plattelandse gesin

Abstract

The increase in poverty in the RSA stresses the topicality of the issue of impoverishment which has affected Western Transvaal crop farmers as a result of the gripping drought in the period 1982-1988. Sociological research about the family life of the impoverished farmer is essential because the family is the primary institution in society and because the structure and functions of the family are always affected by impoverishment. Against the background of the identified problem statement four objectives were set for the study. In the first place it had to be determined to what extent the family structure, specifically the status and position role of the farmers, had been affected by the impoverishment. In the second place it was attempted to determine the influence of impoverishment on the procreative and socializing functions of the family. Subsequently an attempt was made to determine whether the above family structure and functions of those who had become totally impoverished (seen as farmers who cannot any longer meet basic financial commitments) and those who had become subjectively impoverished (farmers who could still meet basic financial commitments) had been influenced similarly or differently by the drought. In the final instance a comparison was made between the South African poor white impoverishment issue and the USA agricultural issue with a view to a possible solution of the problem. .....