Traditional Widowhood Rites and Attitudes Towards these Rites Among the Bulu People of Cameroon

Widowhood is a funeral rite of purification that allows marital ties to be broken or even rearranged following the death of a spouse. In the event of death, society often organises widowhood rites with a view to accepting the loss. The relationship that once existed between the two spouses sometimes causes psychological distress or turmoil for the survivor, particularly due to denial of the death. This article is a work of social psychology that focuses on cultural data from the Cameroonian environment. It is based on observations of the behaviour of community members who have suffered the death of a spouse. The data collected from participants using a questionnaire were subjected to chi-square analyses. These corroborate our predictions, namely that the practices of the widowhood rite are closely linked to the attitude developed towards said rite.