The Perception of Abnormality in Kasena and Nankani Infants

Clarifying Infanticide in Northern Ghana

Bibliographic Data

ID12766421
AuthorsAlbert K Awedoba (University of Ghana, corresponding author), Aaron Denham (0000-0002-2876-6222, Macquarie University)
Year2014
Volume15-16
Issue1
Pages41-67
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGhana Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1536-5514 • E-ISSN: 2333-7168
PublisherUniversity of Wisconsin Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3368/gs.15-16.1.41
OpenAlexW4387480030
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited16

While the scholarship of health researchers working in the Upper East Region of Ghana concentrates on the epidemiological and demographic factors affecting child health and child rights advocates focus on child labour, sexual abuse, neglect, and forms of abuse, few scholars have explored infanticide practices, such as the spirit child phenomenon, that are reported to occur in the region. This article, based on ethnographic research, addresses this gap by offering a description of the spirit child phenomenon. By presenting the spirit child as a form of discourse and as an infanticide practice, the article demonstrates how the spirit child is ultimately connected to local moral worlds, personhood, and concerns about the family and its perpetual continuity

Criminology · Epistemology · Ethnography · Neglect · Perception · Personhood · Phenomenon · Poison control · Political science · Psychiatry · Scholarship · Sexual abuse · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Anthropology · Child Abuse and Trauma · Gender Studies · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology