Avoiding Shame

The Ethical Context of Abortion in Ghana

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2582021
AutoresWolf Bleek (autor de correspondencia)
Año1981
Volumen54
Número4
Páginas203
Fecha de publicación1981-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthropological Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0003-5491 • E-ISSN: 1534-1518
EditorialJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3317235
PMID11655697
OpenAlexW1970887322
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas37
Referencias citadas2

Induced abortion is considered reprehensible by Akan people in Ghana when it causes medical accidents or becomes publicly known. A secret and successful abortion, on the other hand, is approved of. This paradoxical view proves logical if we see how it is related to shame. Both childbirth and abortion are potentially shameful, but the shame of the latter can be hidden and thus avoided. The shame of an unwanted childbirth, however, will always be visible. A smooth abortion, therefore, takes away the shame of both

Abortion · Archaeology · Biology · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Environmental ethics · Geography · Pregnancy · Shame · Sociology · Global Maternal and Child Health · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Identity, and Health · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology