Protective Community Norms and Mental Health Risks for Severe Physical Abuse: Lessons From a Nationally Representative Study of Ghana

Emery, Clifton R., Abdullah, Alhassan, and Jordan, Lucy P. (2023) Protective Community Norms and Mental Health Risks for Severe Physical Abuse: Lessons From a Nationally Representative Study of Ghana. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38 (13-14). pp. 8593-8618.

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Abstract

Although it has become axiomatic to quote an African proverb in discussions of child well-being, attempts to draw concrete and positive lessons from how African communities respond to and mitigate child maltreatment are comparatively few. This study tested the hypothesis that the collective value of Abiriwatia in Ghana, which supports legitimate norms of community obligations to care for children, could be protective against physical abuse. It also examined the claim that knowledge of the familial situation of community members, generated through Abiriwatia, may help them to act to mitigate the risk of caregiver’s borderline personality disorder (BPD) features. We obtained a nationally representative sample of 1,100 female caregivers from 22 Ghanaian settlements and tested the hypotheses using multilevel models. Controlling for community-level physical abuse, living in a community with high levels of Abiriwatia childcare and community authority values is associated with lower levels of very severe physical abuse, and Abiriwatia childcare may mitigate risk from the caregiver’s BPD features. Within Ghana, encouraging positive and protective aspects of traditional Ghanaian values and working to reinstate respect for these values may have positive outcomes for children. Interventions to reduce child maltreatment should be developed with reference to Abiriwatia childcare values.

Item ID: 81909
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1552-6518
Keywords: Abiriwatia, borderline personality disorder, collective childcare, community norms, Ghana, physical abuse, social norms
Copyright Information: © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0.
Date Deposited: 13 Mar 2024 01:13
FoR Codes: 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 50%
44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4409 Social work > 440902 Counselling, wellbeing and community services @ 50%
SEO Codes: 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280123 Expanding knowledge in human society @ 100%
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