Author Identifier
Hajara Bentum: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1682-9740
Date of Award
2026
Keywords
Grandparents, kinship care, grandchildren, witchcraft, violence, abuse
Document Type
Thesis - ECU Access Only
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
School
School of Arts and Humanities
First Supervisor
Vicki Banham
Second Supervisor
Kwadwo Adusei-Asante
Abstract
The practice of grandparents raising their own grandchildren as primary caregivers, termed grandparent kinship care, is common in Ghana and many parts of Africa due to cultural norms on lineage and kinship values. However, globally, research has shown that grandparents experience negative treatment and outcomes. The abuse of grandparent kinship caregivers by children in their care is becoming a trend that requires significant attention. It is theorised, following the stress process model, that violence by children against their grandparent kinship caregivers could be unique stressors or exacerbate existing age-related challenges affecting the grandparents. However, there is limited research on violence and abuse by children in kinship care in Ghana.
I argue, in this thesis, that grandparent kinship caregivers in Ghana are more likely to experience abuse from the children in their care due to the legitimacy of witchcraft beliefs and accusations of grandparents and older people in the Ghanaian community, as well as the informal nature of the kinship care practice. The one-sided discourse that frames children as the vulnerable ones within the grandparent-grandchild relationship may limit grandparents’ ability to address and prevent abuse perpetrated by the children in their care. This thesis aims to address these theoretical postulations and gaps in knowledge by exploring the nature and types of violence experienced by the grandparent kinship caregivers, the meanings they attribute to the violence, as well as the impact and strategies they use to address and control the abuse.
I utilized a horizontal network sampling approach to recruit grandparent kinship caregivers from four rural and urban communities in Ghana. I used the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS) to screen the grandparents’ experiences of abuse by the children in their care. The grandparents’ abuse experiences were explored qualitatively following the narrative storytelling methodology. A narrative thematic analysis strategy was used to analyse the responses and generate themes.
The results have been presented in five manuscripts following the thesis by publication format and organised into three related parts. Collectively, the study revealed that the grandparents experienced verbal abuse, insults, financial exploitation, and physical threats from the children in their care. Witchcraft accusations towards the grandparent kinship carers held tripartite and interrelated functions, including 1) a form of verbal abuse, 2) a precursor to other forms of abuse, and 3) a cultural justification of abuse. The study also revealed layers of complexity within the grandparenting context, including violence as a strategy to prevent violence (violence begets violence), a single act of violence by a child degenerating into community acts of violence, and grandparents’ rationalisations of the violence behaviours due to their cultural role and reputation within the community. I showed in this thesis that grandparent kinship caregivers in Ghana are experiencing more difficulties caused by the informal systems/actors that are meant to safeguard them. The empirical evidence generated from this thesis advances our understanding of the complexity and uniqueness of violence and abuse that are perpetrated by children who are being cared for by their grandparents as kinship caregivers. It also offers ideas for normative change and interventions to boost the well-being of the grandparent carers.
Access Note
Access to this thesis is embargoed until 30th May 2027
Recommended Citation
Bentum, H. (2026). Grandparent kinship care in Ghana: Family violence and cultural myths on witchcraft accusations. Edith Cowan University. https://doi.org/10.25958/5k1j-g626