Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana / / Mensah Adinkrah.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Adinkrah, Mensah,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (338 p.)
• Other title: Frontmatter --; CONTENTS --; ILLUSTRATIONS --; PREFACE --; INTRODUCTION Witchcraft Violence in Comparative Perspective --; Chapter 1 GHANA The Research Setting --; Chapter 2 WITCHCRAFT BELIEFS IN GHANA --; Chapter 3 SOCIALIZATION INTO WITCHCRAFT BELIEFS --; Chapter 4 WITCHCRAFT THEMES IN POPULAR GHANAIAN MUSIC --; Chapter 5 WITCHCRAFT IMAGERY IN AKAN PROVERBS --; Chapter 6 WITCHCRAFT TRIALS IN GHANAIAN COURTS --; Chapter 7 WITCH KILLINGS --; Chapter 8 NONLETHAL TREATMENT OF ALLEGED WITCHES --; Chapter 9 GENDERED VICTIMIZATION Patriarchy, Misogyny, and Gynophobia --; Conclusion CURBING WITCHCRAFT-RELATED VIOLENCE IN GHANA --; GLOSSARY --; BIBLIOGRAPHY --; Index
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9781782385615; 9783110998238
• DOI: 10.1515/9781782385615?locatt=mode:legacy
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Mensah Adinkrah.

Witchcraft violence is a feature of many contemporary African societies. In Ghana, belief in witchcraft and the malignant activities of putative witches is prevalent. Purported witches are blamed for all manner of adversities including inexplicable illnesses and untimely deaths. As in other historical periods and other societies, in contemporary Ghana, alleged witches are typically female, elderly, poor, and marginalized. Childhood socialization in homes and schools, exposure to mass media, and other institutional mechanisms ensure that witchcraft beliefs are transmitted across generations and entrenched over time. This book provides a detailed account of Ghanaian witchcraft beliefs and practices and their role in fueling violent attacks on alleged witches by aggrieved individuals and vigilante groups.