The Psychosocial Contours of Infanticide in Black Africa: The Case of Senegal

Objective: Following the example of Senegal, this study had two main objectives: to sound the alarm about the large number of infanticides in a country where people usually consider a child as a treasure; & highlight the deep motivations that may induce an African woman to kill her child. Method...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChild abuse & neglect Vol. 24; no. 12; pp. 1557 - 1565
Main Author Menick, Daniel Mbassa
Format Journal Article
LanguageFrench
Published 01.12.2000
Subjects
Infanticide
Senegal
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Summary:Objective: Following the example of Senegal, this study had two main objectives: to sound the alarm about the large number of infanticides in a country where people usually consider a child as a treasure; & highlight the deep motivations that may induce an African woman to kill her child. Method: The author examined psychiatric experts reports about crimes & varied offenses acquired from Fann U Hospital in Dakar during a 27-year period, from Jan 1968 to Dec 1994. Results: For a total number of 164 reports, 33 or 20% concerned infanticides. This underlines the importance of the phenomenon. Mental pathology appeared in two cases (3%) but 97% were supposed to be mentally healthy. Conclusion: These results suggest that social & cultural reasons more than medical ones explain the occurrence of infanticides. 3 Tables, 22 References. Adapted from the source document.
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ISSN:0145-2134