Cultural Underpinnings on the Use of Left-Hand in Gbanjong Community of the Tolon District of Ghana

Abstract

It is a common belief in Ghana’s Tolon District’s Gbanjong community in the Northern region that left-handed people are less effective in society. The research looked into the cultural influences or underpinnings on the use of the left-hand in the Gbanjong community. The study employs a qualitative research methodology. Data was gathered through interviews, observation, and focus groups. There was a review of both primary and secondary literature. For people who use left-hand in the community, a purposive sampling strategy was applied. The study also used a random sample of chiefs, sub-chiefs, and opinion leaders. In all, 47 community members were sampled and interviewed. The study revealed some cultural underpinnings on the use of left-hand in the community, such as bad luck, can only marry chiefs and princes, cannot make quality traditional cultural local meals, myths, Evil and devilish occurrences. There were also some psychosocial and theological biases discovered during the research. The research revealed that left-hand users want changes that take into account their functionally diverse attributes and demonstrate a greater level of cultural tolerance towards them. Individual differences must be recognized and accounted for in all cultural customs and traditional issues, in accordance with Article 3 (1 p.2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The study concludes that the people of the Gbanjong community in Ghana’s Tolon District should not have their choice of hand as a cultural grounding. The study has established that there are somecultural underpinnings or obstacles that exist in the world for left-hand use and contributes to the existing data on social acceptance of persons who are created differently. Keywords: Left-handed, Taboos, Right-hand, Culture, Physical Activity, Customs, Underpinnings

Becoming a social worker

“…On her part, Janet illustrated her personal transformation with a story about one of her siblings who was forced to write with their right hand in school, although they were naturally left-handed. It has been established that the condition of lefthandedness is generally stigmatized in Africa because of the negative connotations of the 'left' in comparison to the 'right' in many places (Shanunu et al, 2022;Alhassan, 2018). Because of this, parents and even teachers sometimes try to correct this perceived wrong by encouraging children to use the right hand more.…”