Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by Author "Attah, Dzifa Abra"

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    Culture and child sexual abuse : a case study of the Krobo Municipality, Eastern region of Ghana
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Attah, Dzifa Abra; Swartz, Leslie; Ofori-Atta, Angela L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To address problems of child sexual abuse (CSA), it is important to study the cultural norms of the people it affects. To date, sub-Saharan Africa is marked as one of the worst affected regions. Yet, outside South Africa, few sub-Saharan African countries have prioritised research in this area. Knowledge of these cultural contexts may potentially provide a framework within which it may be more possible to help predict, describe and control CSA, and related consequences, effectively. The present study explored the lived experiences of the Krobo people of Ghana, specifically the meanings they ascribed to their sexuality as children and their experiences of CSA. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, these phenomena were explored from three major sources: participant observation of everyday practices in Kroboland, Ghana; interviews with Krobo people, comprising community members and community leaders; and interviews with key informants who had a history of working with children from this context. Five focus group discussions were conducted with the former, and 12 semi-structured interviews each with the latter groups. The findings shed light on cultural expectations of child care in Kroboland, which mandate collective efforts to foster and promote healthy child development. Yet, conflicting evidence from the narratives of the Krobo people showed that limited or impaired child-guardian interactions were common. Disturbed child-guardian interactions negatively affected subsequent behaviour patterns. This was evident in the ways some participants described their interactions with others. Some means by people in Kroboland sought to satisfy personal needs, desires and wishes, at times jeopardised their personal safety and sometimes involving crime. Key informants talked about the extent of child neglect, parentified children and associated CSA problems they have witnessed. Five male and four female participants shared personal accounts of CSA. For both genders, the occurrence of CSA was underscored by issues of age privilege and reciprocity. For male participants in particular, the desire to accomplish gender norms, assert masculinity and command control positioned them as willing participants. On the other hand, female participants laid emphasis on the influence of gender, emotional and financial neediness in the creation of a context of sexual risk. For male CSA survivors, sex with an older female was a welcomed passage of rite in the early stages of development. Later in life, however, sex offending, intimacy deficits and other sexually related problems became major concerns for some participants. CSA stirred up strong feelings of mistrust, hurt, pain, anger and a sense of disappointment among female CSA survivors. Some also developed a strong dislike towards the opposite sex and an aversion towards sex. Key informants indicated that CSA survivors required specialised services and support to deal with emerging problems, following CSA, as existing structures were inadequate. Nonetheless, in the aftermath of CSA, a few survivors shared aspects of personal development and growth they had achieved. An understanding of these CSA experiences is deepened by a presentation of the researcher’s own experiences of sexual harassment, during and after data collection. Study implications and recommendations for the community, and further research, are discussed.