Another Way of Dealing With Disputes: A Mossi Case

Abstract

All societies have formal means of settling disputes. An individual may, however, astutely manipulate conflicting institutional rules, especially in the context of rapid culture change and successfully circumvent all jural procedures. In this article a traditional Mossi woman formally changes her social status to that of “Christian” and in so doing enlists the norms of the church to assist her in disposing of an unwanted common-law husband of 5 years in a socially acceptable manner. The rules of the church defined her sexual union as illicit and required that it be terminated if she were to receive baptism. This was precisely the end she had in view, though Mossi custom would have made such a move more difficult and embarrassing.