"When men speak women listen": gender socialisation and young adolescents' attitudes to sexual and reproductive issues.

This paper discusses findings from separate focus group discussions among boys, girls, and parents in two communities in Ghana on the kinds of attitudes expressed with regard to specific gender roles and sexual and reproductive behaviour. The FGDs also point to some of the ways adolescents recognise sex role disparities in their own socialisation and that of other young people. The two communities reflect two lineage types, one matrilineal and the other patrilineal. The data show that with few exceptions patriarchal attitudes essentially prevail across age, sex and lineage type. The paper concludes by suggesting programmatic implications for strengthening the abilities of young males to be responsible in their sexual relations.