Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35911014›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2022

Addressing Filicide in Ghana: Linking Cultural Understanding With the Law Against Filicide. Does the Law Work?

Alhassan Abdullah, Margarita Frederico, Felix Mensah, Hajara Bentum, Yihang Wang, Jennifer Litela Asare

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Alhassan AbdullahDepartment of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Margarita FredericoDepartment of Occupational Therapy and Social Work and Social Policy, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
Felix MensahDepartment of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Hajara BentumThe School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
Yihang WangDepartment of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Jennifer Litela AsareDepartment of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Consistent with international promulgation on the criminalization of filicide, Ghana's Children's Act 1998 (560) and the Criminal Justice Act criminalizes any form of torture against children. Yet, perpetrators of filicide in Ghana may go unpunished due to the beliefs in cultural norms that justify filicide acts. The cultural narratives of filicide can impede on the application and effectiveness of the laws of filicide. Method: The study employed a vignette approach to explore the views of 19 adults, who were parents between 69 years of age and 30 years of age, in rural and urban Ghana on the laws of filicide in Ghana and filicide intervention measures. The interviewees were provided with narratives on two different vignettes (developed based on real life cases), followed by semi-structured questions to probe the narratives. The interviews were analyzed following Fraser's narrative thematic analysis procedure. Results: The study identifies the association between cultural beliefs and the communities' understanding of the concept of filicide. Though community members are aware of the criminalization of filicide acts, the majority of them were not informed about the laws against filicide in Ghana. Addressing filicide cases within the community was the most preferred option for the participants, as they believe that some children, termed "spirit children" (SC), deserve to be killed. Resorting to spiritual intervention from concoction men emerged as the normative pathway to obtain community approval for filicide. Police interventions were considered necessary in non-spiritual related filicides. Community members were only prepared to cooperate with the law in filicide cases if the filicide act has no connection with spirituality. Conclusion: The study adds to understanding of the concept of filicide outside western societies. The importance of intensive community campaigns against filicide acts, and norms that support filicide acts, has relevance for all counties.

Indexed as

community interventioncultural filicidecultural normsfilicideGhanalegislationspirit children

Identifiers

PMID35911014
PMCPMC9336680

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.