The protective effects of the collective cultural value of abiriwatia against child neglect: Results from a nationally representative survey
Abdullah, Alhassan, Jordan, Lucy P., and Emery, Clifton R. (2023) The protective effects of the collective cultural value of abiriwatia against child neglect: Results from a nationally representative survey. Child Abuse and Neglect, 138. 106068.
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Abstract
Background: Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing commitment to strengthen community norms—to foster informal support for families and enhance community commitment to protect children from child abuse and neglect. The current study examined the relationship between child neglect and normative interpretations of the dominant cultural value of abiriwatia in Ghana. It was hypothesized that the norms of abiriwatia were associated with lower incidence of child neglect.
Methods: We used a random, stratified four-stage cluster design to select a nationally representative sample of 1100 female caregivers in Ghana. Norms of the cultural value of abiriwatia were measured using a new 11-item Likert scale questionnaire developed by the authors, and child neglect was measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale.
Results: Factor analysis of the abiriwatia scale retained three factors, community authority, collective childcare, and lineage, as the core norms of abiriwatia. We found that the abiriwatia norm of community authority was associated with fewer instances of child neglect. Norms of community responsibility for childcare were negatively associated with child neglect frequency (B = −0.31, p < .05). However, the relationship between the abiriwatia norm of lineage and child neglect was positive (B = 0.24, p < .05).
Conclusion: The protective associations among the norms of community authority and collective childcare and child neglect suggest that traditional practices that strengthen and enforce the collective norms of abiriwatia, including storytelling, family byelaws, community durbars (community meetings), taboos, and reciprocal farming activities (nnoboa) could be protective against neglect.
| Item ID: | 81910 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1873-7757 |
| Keywords: | Abiriwatia, Child maltreatment, Child neglect, Collectivist cultural value, Community authority, Community childcare norm, Community neglect prevention |
| Copyright Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2024 01:19 |
| FoR Codes: | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520501 Community psychology @ 50% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4410 Sociology > 441008 Sociology of culture @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 100% |
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