| Abstract: | Family planning in the Western sense -- where the motivation may be social, humanitarian, medical or economic and demographic -- does not exist among non-European populations. The various kinds of motivations for the limiting of the number of children among different and non-Western peoples are surveyed for 1 European group (the Saracatsans in Greece), Africa, Australia and the South Pacific, Asia, and South America. Children are regarded as a form of wealth and a retirement insurance for non-Western people, and contraceptive methods are sparingly used. In instances where contraceptives are used, there are different reasons for them; these are frequently related to a magico-religious belief and are of such means as decoctions of plant medicines. To a certain extent, these methods can have been effective at least psychologically. The practice of killing the newborn is often a product of the fear of misfortune striking the family should the child be permitted to live. The use of abortion has been a reasonably effective method, based on the dread of social pressure and eventually of punishment. Withdrawal is a generally widespread method. The introduction of tampons or other object into the vagina is found in several places. |
