My research seeks to answer two key questions: 1) how are people connected? and 2) which relationships matter for children and young adults and why? Through systematic examination of the household, extended family systems and kinship in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa more generally, I have been working towards the development of an innovative model of “social connectivity” that extends beyond co-residence to incorporate biological and non-biological connections across time and space. Specific outcomes of interest include children’s nutritional status, school progress, adolescent childbearing and young people’s parenting roles. My research has been influenced by anthropology which has made a valuable contribution to understanding how demographic processes are, in large part, a function of cultural and sociopolitical norms. It has also inspired me to challenge assumptions often made about certain categories or contexts based on aggregate level demographic data. I view family structure and family functioning as dynamic, conditioned by cultural norms and socioeconomic circumstances and marked by cooperation and conflict. Social inequality underpins most of my research given that much of it has been conducted in South Africa which ranks as the most unequal society in the world. Therefore, any research conducted in urban or rural contexts must address inequalities on a number of interrelated dimensions including race, class, gender and location.

Principal Investigator (NICHD R01): https://www.jamokenya.org/