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Spirit Children: Illness, Poverty, and Infanticide in Northern Ghana: Africa and the Diaspora: History, Politics, Culture

Autor Aaron R. Denham
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 22 mai 2017
In parts of West Africa, some babies and toddlers are considered spirit children—nonhumans sent from the forest to cause misfortune and destroy the family. These are usually deformed or ailing infants, the very young whose births coincide with tragic events, or children who display unusual abilities. In some of these cases, families seek a solution in infanticide. Many others do not.

Refusing to generalize or oversimplify, Aaron R. Denham offers an ethnographic study of the spirit child phenomenon in Northern Ghana that considers medical, economic, religious, and political realities. He examines both the motivations of the families and the structural factors that lead to infanticide, framing these within the context of global public health. At the same time, he turns the lens on Western societies and the misunderstandings that prevail in discourse about this controversial practice. Engaging the complexity of the context, local meanings, and moral worlds of those confronting a spirit child, Denham offers visceral accounts of families' life and death decisions.
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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780299311209
ISBN-10: 0299311201
Pagini: 240
Ilustrații: 14 b-w photos
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 x 18 mm
Greutate: 0.49 kg
Editura: University of Wisconsin Press
Colecția University of Wisconsin Press
Seria Africa and the Diaspora: History, Politics, Culture


Recenzii

"A brilliant, sensitive, and moving book about the heartbreaking phenomenon of infanticide. This is a book to be taken seriously by hospital personnel, public health policymakers, NGO workers, and anyone interested in the fate of the world's most vulnerable young children." —Alma Gottlieb, coauthor of A World of Babies

"A skillful ethnography of the spirit child phenomenon in northern Ghana—children who fail to thrive, are feared to harm their families, and therefore should be 'sent back.' This insightful, theoretically rich analysis offers a nuanced ecological, economic, and cultural explanation of maternal attachment." —John M. Janzen, author of The Quest for Therapy in Lower Zaire

Notă biografică

Aaron R. Denham is the director of the Master of Development Studies and Global Health program and a senior lecturer in anthropology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He formerly was a mental health provider for children and families, a fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and a volunteer with Engineers Without Borders.

Cuprins

List of Illustrations                   Acknowledgments                     Introduction                 1 Contextualizing Infanticide and Northern Ghana                  2 For the House                       3 For the Bush             4 Spirit Child Behavior and Causation             5 Detection and Decision-Making                    6 Concoctions and Concoction Men: Treating Spirit Children             7 Causing Death and Prolonging Lives            8 Why Infanticide? Sentiments and the Dynamics of Choice              Conclusion                    Notes               References                   Index

Descriere

An ethnography of the "spirit children" phenomenon in northern Ghana, placing infanticide in both a deeply nuanced local context and a global public health framework.