ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the selected differences between urban and rural Africa and illustrates the potential impact of migration and town life upon many individual Africans. These differences are in social control, family composition, status, and personal aspiration. The chapter suggests the potential impact of these differences. There are several reasons why it is relatively difficult for African town residents to anticipate and meet the expectations of a wide variety of other urbanites. Besides urban-rural differences in the content of norms, these include the rapidity of change, the disruption of families, contemporaneous urban and rural ties, urban heterogeneity, and norm conflicts. The common practices in many parts of Africa of sending children to the family’s rural home for upbringing. The early upbringing of some town-dwelling children does not provide a satisfactory preparation for town life because it is largely conducted by relatively traditional rural-oriented women whose urban experiences are sharply restricted.
