Traditional kinship foster care in northern Ghana: the experiences and views of children, carers and adults in Tamale

Surveys were employed to explore the experiences of children in care and their carers about traditional fostering. They also examined the perspectives of randomly selected adults in the community about the practice of traditional foster care in the Tamale area of northern Ghana. The 74 participants responded to closed- and open-ended interview questions about traditional foster care. Frequencies and thematic grouping of qualitative responses showed that the need to keep family ties alive was the key reason for placement of children with family and kin. Majority of the children expressed satisfaction with living in foster care, even though they had experienced physical and emotional abuse and intimidation. Although most carers were not formally employed and had little personal income, they were positive about having the care role, but faced challenges in providing for many children in a difficult economic situation. The report highlights the role of reciprocity, altruistic and socio-cultural factors in quality of care, and the potential for the traditional kinship foster care to provide suitable avenues of placement for children as recommended by the Ghana child rights law. It also identifies the need for education for carers around children's needs and Ghana's child rights law.     

Academic Coping, Friendship Quality, and Student Engagement Associated with Student Quality of School Life: A Partial Least Square Analysis

This study aims to examine an untested research model that explains the direct- and indirect influences of Academic Coping, Friendship Quality, and Student Engagement on Student Quality of School Life. This study employed the quantitative-based cross-sectional survey method. The sample consisted of 2400 Malaysian secondary Form Four students chosen equally from 50 schools using Multistage Stratified Cluster Sampling procedure. Self-reported questionnaire was administered. The data was analyzed with Partial Least Square approach using SmartPLS 2.0. Findings showed that Academic Coping, Student Engagement, and Friendship Quality significantly explained about 46 % of variance in Student Quality of School Life. Student Engagement also contributed approximately 44 % of variance in mediating the relationship between Academic Coping and Student Quality of School Life; and approximately 67 % of variance between Friendship Quality and Student Quality of School Life. Findings indicated the predictability of the model in terms of predictive relevance and global goodness of fit. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

Beyond poverty reduction: Conditional cash transfers and citizenship in Ghana

Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme provides conditional cash transfers to poor households in deprived communities. Beyond the potentiality of the LEAP programme to reduce poverty, its implications for shaping state–citizen relations and inclusive citizenship have been largely ignored. This study explored the implications of the programme on notions of citizenship among cash recipients. The findings indicate that the programme generates interfaces that strengthen state–citizen interaction and serves as a promising avenue for reintegration. However, it is also characterised by undue delay in cash payment and weak institutional capacity to mediate interactive processes and grievances, which suggests that the contractual relationship and the state's accountability are weak. Furthermore, the programme has negatively influenced community social relations, limiting the forms of agency beneficiaries exercised. The study concludes that although LEAP represents a landmark in Ghana's quest for inclusive citizenship, it undermines social relations and citizens’ rights to hold the state accountable, which unavoidably limits effective state building.     

‘New Wine in Old Wine Skin’: Public Perceptions of NHIS Per-Capita Payment System and Implications for Health-Seeking Behavior in Ghana

Abstract

The article examines public perceptions of capitation payment system and the implications for health-seeking behavior in rural and urban Ghana. Drawing on qualitative approach, the study employed focus groups (n?=?20), in-depth (n?=?20), and key informant (n?=?14) interviews with community-based adult men and women, aged 18–65?years in Ashanti Region. Tape recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Results indicated that majority of respondents have heard about the capitation but only a small proportion of them understood what the whole policy entails and the rationale for its introduction. While general dissatisfaction with and negative perceptions of the capitation still persisted among majority of the study population, this did not translate into nonuse of health services. For subscribers to derive optimal benefits from the capitation, political commitment in continuing public education using the most accessible media modulation is key. More importantly, public and private healthcare providers should increase investments in improving healthcare delivery system. Future studies should employ quantitative approaches with region-wide sample in order to confirm the relationships between capitation enrollment and health-seeking behavior.     

Property rights and the gender distribution of wealth in Ecuador, Ghana and India

Women’s ability to accumulate wealth is often attributed to whether they have property rights; i.e., a legal personality to own and manage property. In this paper we argue that basic property rights are insufficient; whether women are able to accumulate wealth also depends upon the marital and inheritance regimes in particular contexts. Drawing upon surveys which collected individual level ownership data in Ecuador, Ghana and the state of Karnataka in India, we estimate married women’s share of couple wealth and relate it to how assets are owned within marriage as well as to different inheritance regimes and practices. In Ecuador, married women own 44 %, in Ghana, 19 %, and in Karnataka, 9 % of couple wealth. Ecuador is characterized by the partial community property regime in marriage while inheritance laws provide for all children, irrespective of sex, to be treated equally, norms that are largely followed in practice. In contrast, Ghana and India are characterized by the separation of property regime which does not recognize wives’ contribution to the formation of marital property, and by inheritance practices that are strongly male biased. Reforming marital and inheritance regimes must remain a top priority if gender economic equality is to be attained.     

Child Marriage or Forced Marriage? South Asian Communities in North East England

This article addresses the links between child marriage and forced marriage in the UK, drawing from a research study on South Asian communities in North East England. It looks at definitional issues through an analysis of UK and South Asian policies. It also analyses how these concepts are understood by service providers, survivors of child marriage and young people from South Asian communities. Finally, concepts such as gender, age, familial and community control reflected in normative marriage practices are addressed.