Life, Death, Reincarnation, and Traditional Healing in Africa

Okwu, Austine S. O.

doi:10.2307/1166258

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…In contrast, the ritualized behavior model focuses on the contestation between systems, emphasizing the fundamental incongruities in the assumptions underlying Western medicine and African traditional medicine (Westerlund 2006; Some 1998; Okwu 1979). Given its privileged status in colonial regimes, the introduction of Western medicine dominated and altered schemas of health and healing in African societies (Probst 1999; Baylies 1986), and healing became a central arena of public contestation over meaning.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Third Therapeutic System

Manglos

Trinitapoli

2011

J Health Soc Behav

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Faith healing in sub-Saharan Africa has primarily been studied qualitatively among Pentecostal-Charismatic groups, and considered as its own phenomenon with little attention to its relationship to other modes of healing. Using data from Malawi, a religiously diverse African country with high HIV prevalence, we find that faith healing is pervasive across multiple religious traditions. For individuals, attending a faith healing congregation is associated with lower levels of generalized worry about AIDS, and this association is driven by those who switched churches before AIDS became widespread in rural areas. Use of condoms and traditional medicine are, on the other hand, positively associated with worry about AIDS. We argue that faith healing can be understood as a third therapeutic system that coexists with the well-documented biomedical and traditional systems. The success of faith healing approaches lies in their unique ability to combine individual-pragmatic and communal-ritualized aspects of healing to inform interpretations of the AIDS epidemic and its consequences.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Third Therapeutic System

Manglos

Trinitapoli

2011

J Health Soc Behav

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“…Within several African cultures, the belief is held that the discarnate soul is born again in another body a number of times. The re-embodiment is dependent on the type of funeral rites that are performed, particularly to protect against the reincarnation of social outcasts, public miscreants, lepers, and witches (36). These beliefs are powerfully illustrated in rituals following the death of children in the KND believed to be ‘spirit children’ or chuchuru .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural imperatives and the ethics of verbal autopsies in rural Ghana

Aborigo

Allotey

Tindana

et al. 2013

Global Health Action

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BackgroundDue to a paucity of statistics from vital registration systems in developing countries, the verbal autopsy (VA) approach has been used to obtain cause-specific mortality data by interviewing lay respondents on the signs and symptoms experienced by the deceased prior to death. In societies where the culture of mourning is adhered to, the use of VA could clash with traditional norms, thus warranting ethical consideration by researchers.ObjectiveThe study was designed to explore the ethics and cultural context of collecting VA information through a demographic and health surveillance system in the Kassena-Nankana District (KND) of Ghana.Study DesignData were collected through qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs) with four field staff involved in the routine conduct of VAs, four physicians who code VAs, 20 selected respondents to the VA tool, and eight opinion leaders in the KND. The interviews were supplemented with observation by the researchers and with the field notes of field workers. Interviews were audio-recorded, and local language versions transcribed into English. Thematic analysis was performed using QSR NVivo 8 software.ResultsThe data indicate that cultural sensitivities in VA procedures at both the individual and family levels need greater consideration not only for ethical reasons but also to ensure the quality of the data. Discussions of some deaths are culturally prohibited and therefore lead to refusal of interviews. Families were also concerned about the confidentiality of information because of the potential of blame for the death. VA teams do not necessarily engage in culturally appropriate bereavement practices such as the presentation of tokens. The desire by families for feedback on the cause of death, which is currently not provided by researchers, was frequently expressed. Finally, no standard exists on the culturally acceptable time interval between death and VA interviews.ConclusionEthical issues need to be given greater consideration in the collection of cause of death data, and this can be achieved through the establishment of processes that allow active engagement with communities, authorities of civil registrations, and Institutional Review Boards to take greater account of local contexts.

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“…In this liminal state the soul of the deceased is still at times residing within the grave, venturing out for short periods of time as it acclimates to the afterlife, and awaits rebirth in the next generation (Okwu 1979;MacDonald 1891;Leonard 1968, p. 154). Within those African cultures practicing these beliefs, the form of the grave is often inherent with not allowing the body or face to come in direct contact with soil, with the grave further taking on some aspects of a domestic space or symbolic house (e.g., Junod 1962, pp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“They Laid Planks ‘Crost the Coffins”: The African Origin of Grave Vaulting in the United States

Davidson

2012

Int J Histor Archaeol

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Grave vaulting, a vernacular burial form common in nineteenth and early twentieth century America, consists of a simple primary grave shaft at the bottom of which is dug a smaller secondary shaft or niche within which the body or coffin is placed. Typically loose boards are then placed over the secondary shaft to offer protection from the soil coming into direct contact with the body or burial container. This tradition is documented through historical accounts and hundreds of excavated graves through a survey of 86 historic cemetery investigations. Although its cultural origins have been previously unknown, this study argues that the vaulted burial form in the United States is likely of African origin. An extensive ethnological survey of historical and modern cultures throughout the continent of Africa, from 1602 to the mid twentieth century, documents both the vaulted grave form and its variations. Correlating this African cultural practice to its use in the United States demonstrates a hitherto unrecognized creolization of Euroamerican mortuary tradition with African roots, and its corollary, the retention of an African mortuary tradition by those of African descent.

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Life, Death, Reincarnation, and Traditional Healing in Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

The Third Therapeutic System

The Third Therapeutic System

Cultural imperatives and the ethics of verbal autopsies in rural Ghana

“They Laid Planks ‘Crost the Coffins”: The African Origin of Grave Vaulting in the United States

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