Time: Saturday, August 24th, 13:00-14:30
Place: Gullteigur A
Chair: Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir
Paper Session 19: Disability in Africa & Asia II
Disabled People and Mental Barrier in Central Asia
Name: Hisayo Katsui
Title: Ms
Organisation: Helsinki University
Postal Address: Tehtaankatu 8 A 10 00140
City: Helsinki
Country: Finland
E-mail: hisayo.katsui@helsinki.fi
Tel: +358-40-7236680
| This paper is one part of PhD research, which has been conducted with ethnographical methodology. Series of interviews have revealed that disabled people in Central Asia faces three major challenges: bureaucracy, economical difficulties and mental constrains. This paper tries to look into the mechanism of the discrimination in Central Asia by deepening the understanding on the third element, mental and attitudinal factors of people. Each interview clarified the fact that non-disabled people have prejudice against disabled people in Central Asia. This paper firstly tries to describe the reality of disabled people in terms of attitudinal barrier. Secondly, this paper focuses on the historical explanations to understand the reality, one of which is the influence of the governmental policy during Soviet Union period. Thirdly, this paper tries to follow the contemporary change in the mentality of both non-disabled people and disabled people. The goal of this paper is to understand the mental constrains of the society in order to achieve the equality of disabled people in Central Asia. |
Infanticide and Disabled Children
Name: Jónína Einarsdóttir
Title: PhD anthropology
Organisation: Centre for Child Health Services
Postal Address: 101 Reykjavík
City: Reykjavík
Country: Iceland
E-mail: joninae@li.is
Tel: +354-5520360
| The paper describes and analyses reactions to abnormal births and disabled children in Biombo, Guinea-Bissau. It is based on an anthropological fieldwork conducted from 1993 to 1998 among the matrilineal Papel. Ideas about deviant children who may become suspected of being non-human spirits will be outlined. Ceremonies may be performed to identify their true identity and death during such a ceremony is interpreted as a confirmation of non-human nature. While the Papel religion provides a model for explanation, prediction and control of events, it is not a coherent, static system with undisputed solutions. When a deviant child is born, alternative suggestions for its condition are launched and the child is taken to various healers, diviners and health personnel. Elderly maternal relatives are likely to argue that the child must be tested and eliminated if verified to be non-human not to bring misfortune to its maternal lineage while parents argue for another explanation. Infanticide is likely to be described as routine events, free from conflicts and ambiguity. Practical and emotional involvement is ignored, as well as alternative interpretations of the child´s disability and consequent actions considered. Ideas about personhood, human nature and social membership are crucial for the child's right to live. |
Religion and Disability from an African Perspective
Name: Abraham Adu Berinyuu
Title: Rev. Dr.
Organisation: University for Development Studies
Postal Address: Box 1350
City: Tamale
Country: Ghana
E-mail: menvolima@yahoo.com
Tel: 416-946-7039(Canada) 233-71-23567(Ghana)
| Many attempts have been made to do research on the nature and meaning of disability in Africa, usually with a western social theory as the basis of investigation. Religion is often seen in these researches from possivist social anthropological perspective only. This research projects seeks to investigate the meaning of disability from the perspective an indigenous mythic world of which religion is a key partner is both symbol formation and interpretation. This approach is used because of the hunch that until and unless disability is understood from the indigenous mythic world perspective, many of the well intended programmes rehabilitation and advocacy may not incorporate the essence and challenges of disability from an African perspective. The study was conducted among the Frafra located in the North East of the Upper East Region of Ghana. |
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