Protective indigenous collective value of Ubuntu and child neglect: Implications for rural child protection practice
Abdullah, Alhassan, Bentum, Hajara, Frederico, Margarita, Mensah, Felix, Jordan, Lucy P., and Emery, Clifton R. (2023) Protective indigenous collective value of Ubuntu and child neglect: Implications for rural child protection practice. Child and Family Social Work, 28 (4). pp. 1035-1045.
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Abstract
Theories on collective efficacy and social support suggest that indigenous values that support collective practices and sanction community obligations to childcare would be protective against child neglect. Likewise, new qualitative findings show that collective values are stronger in rural areas than in urban. This study tested the claims that the value of Ubuntu, which is a symbolic cultural value of ‘being for others’, will be protective against the likelihood of neglect; this relationship will be stronger in rural compared with urban communities in Ghana. Using data obtained from a nationally representative sample of 1100 mothers (from 22 communities) in Ghana, we tested the claims using fixed effects logistic regression. The Ubuntu norms were significantly endorsed in rural communities compared with the urban. The overall model showed that higher levels of Ubuntu are associated with lower odds of child neglect (OR.47, [.29,.76] p < 0.05), and the relationship remained significant only in the rural sample (OR.13, [.06,.31] p < 0.001). Similar evidence was recorded for the Ubuntu norms of community care and compassion. The results suggest that child protection in rural Ghana can be fruitful when interventions are developed to boost the value of Ubuntu and the norms of collective childcare.
| Item ID: | 81907 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1365-2206 |
| Keywords: | child neglect, child protection, collective values, indigenous values, rural, Ubuntu |
| Copyright Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Child & Family Social Work published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2024 01:19 |
| FoR Codes: | 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4409 Social work > 440999 Social work not elsewhere classified @ 25% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4404 Development studies > 440499 Development studies not elsewhere classified @ 25% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420601 Community child health @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1399 Other culture and society > 139999 Other culture and society not elsewhere classified @ 70% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200506 Neonatal and child health @ 30% |
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