Bride Price, Cultural and Gender Identity, and Husband-to-Wife Abuse in Ghana
Bride Price, Cultural and Gender Identity, and Husband-to-Wife Abuse in Ghana
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Date
2018
Authors
Adjei, S Baffour
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Publisher
Talor&Francis
Abstract
Although much anecdotal evidence about the legendary practice of
bride price exists in Ghana, there is a paucity of empirical studies that
explore the psychological impact of the practice on the people who
pay and those for whom bride price is paid. This paper draws insights
from discursive psychology to explore the subjective interpretations
of and contextualized discourses around the time-honored custom of
bride price, and how it shapes cultural and gender identity and
husband-to-wife abuse in Ghana. Semistructured focus group discus sions and in-depth individual interviews were conducted with 32
participants, comprising 16 perpetrators (men) and 16 victims
(women) from rural and urban Ghana. The age of participants ranged
from 24 to 60 years old. Discursive accounts of participants suggest
that payment of bride price serves as a material condition necessary
for accomplishing desired masculinity and femininity, legitimizing
husbands’ exercise of matrimonial authority over their wives, and
apparently objectifying and commoditizing women in marriage. The
paper concludes that the marked and continued saliency of the
practice of bride price results from its significant role in conferring
cultural identity status on both men and women in Ghana.
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Citation
Adjei, S. B., & Mpiani, A. (2018). Bride price, cultural and gender identity, and husband-to-wife abuse in Ghana. Victims & Offenders, 13(7), 921-937.