Spirit children

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A spirit child is a Ghanaian term for a disabled child who is believed to possess magical powers that cause misfortune. [1] Disability in Ghana is greatly stigmatized and very often the only way considered socially acceptable to treat disabled children is to kill or exorcize them with the assistance of a witchdoctor. [2] [3] Spirit children are referred to as chichuru or kinkiriko in the former Kassena-Nankana district of Northern Ghana. [4] These children primarily come from poor, rural areas. [5] However, if a spirit child is found to be "good" there are no punishments for the child or their family. [4]

Contents

Similar concepts and rituals include the "witch babies" of Benin, the "snake children" of Mali and the Ivory Coast, and the "mingi children" of Tanzania". [6]

Causes

Physical characteristics

Birth abnormalities that spirit children exhibit are large or small heads, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, premature teeth and broken or deformed limbs. [7] A spirit child may also be blamed on a crop failure or the death of village livestock. [8] Intentional killing of a totem animal is thought to cause the spirit of said animal to jump into a human host. [9]

Disabilities and illnesses

Spirit children often have disabilities or other chronic illnesses. [8] If the mother is sick during pregnancy, the child may also perceived to be a spirit child. If a child refuses to eat, they may also be a spirit child. [7] This "refusal to thrive" indicates that the child may be a harmful spirit. [7] Families fear their child as there is little information about modern childcare accessible to them [6] and believe that the child will eventually destroy the family's home. [8]

Attracting spirits

It is believed that women can attract a harmful spirit if they walk while they eat. [9] Supposedly, these harmful spirits are attracted to human food and will enter and impregnate the woman's womb. [9] Actions that attract harmful spirits include "using unapproved entrances and exits to a house", washing another woman's calabashes at the riverside, and bathing at night. [9] Many regard series of stillbirths to be the same spirit child returning. [4] When this occurs, the most recent stillborn is mutilated by the villagers so that the same child cannot return. [4]

Community Aspects

Members of the community describe spirit children as "impulsive, wise, crafty, and mischievous." [8] Community members also note that the spirit children often have malnutrition syndromes. [8] Among all the ethnic groups found in Ghana, women are more likely than men to have witchcraft beliefs. [5]

Indeed, strong animistic religious beliefs combined with food insecurity encourage these practices. [10] [11] It is commonly believed that spirit children do not deserve a place among humans. [12] This strong religious belief of infant alterity explains the cultural psychodynamics of parents killing their children. [13] [11]

Explanation of the ritual

Preparing the concoction

Spirit children are treated by "concoction men". [8] The family seeks out a "concoction man" to treat the spirit child using a "dongo" (a sacred cup made from animal horn). [8] The men will also prepare a tea (the "concoction") with a root known as "bunbunlia". [8] Inside of the dongo, there is a "black medicine" that the men add to the tea. [8] The black medicine is composed of various burned plant parts that are mixed with shea butter. [8]

Administering the concoction

An elder woman in the child's family administers the "concoction" (which may or may not contain toxic substances) to the alleged spirit child. [6] Following the death of the child, the "concoction man" wraps it in an old sleeping mat, disposes of the body in the forest/bush, and conducts a ceremony to ensure that the harmful spirits do not return. [6] The "dongo" and "concoction" are said to send the spirit back to the bush [7] as spirit children are believed to be harmful nature spirits that impersonate humans. [7] [14] Other sources say that the dead child returns to the world of their ancestors. [12]

Government response

The tradition was criminalized in Ghana in 2013, yet is still widely practiced due to the lack of birth registration. [15] [4] One study suggested that between 22 and 27% of infant mortalities are attributable to the spirit children tradition. [5] A study conducted by the University of Alberta Ethics Review Board and the NHRC Institutional Review Board, found that 36% of spirit children deaths are due to natural causes, rather than by intentional means. [8] Rights of the child are not guaranteed without a birth certificate since they are not legally registered. [15]

Advancements

Ghana passed the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1965 requiring all births and deaths to be registered. [15] Its goal is to "provide accurate and reliable information on all births and deaths occurring within Ghana for socio-economic development of the country through their registration and certification". [15] Birth registration still remains a problem since rural areas since there are less resources and labor force availability in rural areas. [16] According to information from 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, the births of 28.89% children in Ghana have never been registered. [17] This rate is the lowest among children born to young mothers, those without formal education and mothers living in rural areas. [17]

Advocacy

In 1991, Ben Okri published the novel The Famished Road. [4] This book brought attention to the practice of killing spirit children. [4] In 2013, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an undercover reporter set out to find the people responsible for the practices. [18] Christianization also has helped limit the occurrence of spirit children practices. [19]

AfriKids is a child rights Non-governmental organization that has created education programs about the practice of spirit children. [20] Since 2002, AfriKids has ended the practices in 58 communities and preventing about 243 deaths. [21] Joe Asakibeem works with AfriKids. [22] Concoction men, mothers and elderly women in the child's family are given payments from AfriKids for them to stop the practice. [6]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Anas, Anas Aremeyaw (10 January 2013). "Spirit Child". Aljazeera.com . Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ↑ Anas Aremeyaw Anas (2018-06-03). "Spirit Child: Ritual Killings in Ghana". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  3. ↑ Issues in Sociology and Social Work: Aging, Medical, and Missionary Research and Application: 2011 Edition. ScholarlyEditions. 9 January 2012. ISBN   9781464966767 . Retrieved 30 May 2017– via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Allotey, Pascale; Reidpath, Daniel (2001-04-01). "Establishing the causes of childhood mortality in Ghana: the 'spirit child'". Social Science & Medicine. 52 (7): 1007–1012. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00207-0. ISSN   0277-9536. PMID   11266045.
  5. 1 2 3 Bayat, Mojdeh (2014-01-27). "The stories of 'snake children': killing and abuse of children with developmental disabilities in West Africa". Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 59 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1111/jir.12118. ISSN   0964-2633. PMID   24467696.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "FAQs". AfriKids. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Anas Aremeyaw Anas (2018-06-03). "Spirit Child: Ritual Killings in Ghana". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Denham, Aaron R.; Adongo, Philip B.; Freydberg, Nicole; Hodgson, Abraham (2010-08-01). "Chasing spirits: Clarifying the spirit child phenomenon and infanticide in Northern Ghana". Social Science & Medicine. 71 (3): 608–615. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.022. ISSN   0277-9536. PMID   20605304.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Fordyce, Lauren; Maraesa, Amínata, eds. (2012-04-15). Risk, Reproduction, and Narratives of Experience. Vanderbilt University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv167594d. ISBN   978-0-8265-1821-7.
  10. ↑ Denham, Aaron R.; Adongo, Philip B.; Freydberg, Nicole; Hodgson, Abraham (2010-08-01). "Chasing spirits: Clarifying the spirit child phenomenon and infanticide in Northern Ghana". Social Science & Medicine. 71 (3): 608–615. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.022. ISSN   0277-9536. PMID   20605304.
  11. 1 2 Gyimah, Stephen Obeng (November 2007). "What has faith got to do with it? Religion and child survival in Ghana". Journal of Biosocial Science . 39 (6): 923–937. doi:10.1017/s0021932007001927. ISSN   0021-9320. PMID   17359561. S2CID   9378727.
  12. 1 2 Kassah, Alexander Kwesi; Kassah, Bente Lilljan Lind; Agbota, Tete Kobla (August 2012). "Abuse of disabled children in Ghana". Disability & Society . 27 (5): 689–701. doi:10.1080/09687599.2012.673079. ISSN   0968-7599. S2CID   143902289.
  13. ↑ Denham, Aaron R. (29 January 2020). "Of House or Bush: The Cultural Psychodynamics of Infanticide in Northern Ghana". Current Anthropology . 61 (1): 77–99. doi: 10.1086/706989 . ISSN   0011-3204.
  14. ↑ Denham, Aaron R. (2012-04-15), "Shifting Maternal Responsibilities and the Trajectory of Blame in Northern Ghana", Risk, Reproduction, and Narratives of Experience, Vanderbilt University Press, pp. 173–190, doi:10.2307/j.ctv167594d.14, ISBN   978-0-8265-1821-7 , retrieved 2020-11-16
  15. 1 2 3 4 Dake, Fidelia A. A.; Fuseini, Kamil (2018-06-13). "Registered or unregistered? Levels and differentials in registration and certification of births in Ghana". BMC International Health and Human Rights. 18 (1): 25. doi: 10.1186/s12914-018-0163-5 . ISSN   1472-698X. PMC   5998598 . PMID   29895288.
  16. ↑ Fagernäs, Sonja; Odame, Joyce (2013-04-25). "Birth registration and access to health care: an assessment of Ghana's campaign success". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 91 (6): 459–464. doi:10.2471/blt.12.111351. ISSN   0042-9686. PMC   3777139 . PMID   24052683.
  17. 1 2 Dake, Fidelia A. A.; Fuseini, Kamil (2018-06-13). "Registered or unregistered? Levels and differentials in registration and certification of births in Ghana". BMC International Health and Human Rights. 18 (1): 25. doi: 10.1186/s12914-018-0163-5 . ISSN   1472-698X. PMC   5998598 . PMID   29895288.
  18. ↑ "Witch Killings", Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana, Berghahn Books, pp. 208–234, doi:10.2307/j.ctt9qcswd.12, ISBN   978-1-78238-561-5 , retrieved 2020-11-16
  19. ↑ Coe, Cati (2017-07-18). "Spirit Children: Illness, Poverty, and Infanticide in Northern Ghana, written by Aaron R. Denham". Journal of Religion in Africa. 47 (3–4): 439–441. doi:10.1163/15700666-12340116. ISSN   0022-4200.
  20. ↑ "The Spirit Child Phenomenon: How Ghanaian communities are ending the fear". AfriKids. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  21. ↑ "The Spirit Child Phenomenon: How Ghanaian communities are ending the fear". AfriKids. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  22. ↑ Guardian Staff (2007-12-18). "'Spirit' children of Ghana". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-11-16.
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