ABSTRACT
All communities have social practices into which its members are inducted from an early age onwards; this is referred to as the process of primary socialisation, with gender-sensitive and age-defi ned roles and rituals. In the past, local communities used to be relatively stable and individual roles and functions were acquired through the imitation of the existing norms and practices. The individual was expected to act socially. The participation of the child meant that it adhered to the tradition and to the changes therein. Submission to hierarchy was paramount.
