I Have Since Repented”: Discursive Analysis of the Role of Religion in Husband-to-Wife Abuse in Ghana
I Have Since Repented”: Discursive Analysis of the Role of Religion in Husband-to-Wife Abuse in Ghana
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Date
2022
Authors
Adjei, S Baffour
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Publisher
SAGE
Abstract
Religion has long been recognized as a powerful tool capable of shaping
the lives of people in many societies. In this study, we draw insights from
discursive psychology to explore the influence of religious beliefs and
practices on the perpetration of husband-to-wife abuse and the entrapment
of victims in Ghana. Semi-structured focus group discussions and in-depth
individual interviews were conducted with 40 participants, comprising 16
(60%) perpetrators (men), 16 (60%) victims (women), and eight (20%) key
informants from rural and urban Ghana. Participants’ discursive accounts
suggest that both perpetrators and victims invoke religious instructions on
gender norms to legitimize male authority over women in marriage. While
perpetrators construct husbands’ conjugal authority over their wives in
terms of prescriptive religious norms, victims construct their entrapment
in abusive relationships in terms of proscriptive theology of divorce in the
bible. The double-edged role of religion in providing both motivational and
inhibitory support for wife abusers is also discussed.
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Citation
Adjei, S. B., & Mpiani, A. (2022). “I have since repented”: Discursive analysis of the role of religion in husband-to-wife abuse in Ghana. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(5-6), NP3528-NP3551.