Multifaceted Crises and Family Disintegration in the Far North of Cameroon

This study analyzes displaced families’ disintegration amidst multifaceted crises in the Far North Region of Cameroon. The focus is on displaced families in four divisions where host communities along the border of Nigeria have fled Boko Haram, due to sociopolitical instability and environmental degradation. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses show how insecurity and precarity have resulted in disintegrating, dispersing and sometimes recomposing the traditional structure of the family institution by disrupting marriage traditions, gender roles and intergenerational relations. Such shifts in the family occurred as a result of the challenging contexts in their hometowns, during flight and after settling in the host towns. The findings demonstrate the effects of the multifaceted crises, which created intergenerational, but also inter- and intra-community rifts that are challenging to repair amidst mass distrust and continued insecurity. This study contributes especially to understanding how these crises affect family cohesion and intergenerational relations as part of dynamics of great social change.