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Child abuse and neglect—rare, but perhaps increasing, phenomena among the samia of Kenya
Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol. 4, pp. 227-232, 1980 Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved
0145-2134/80/040227--0652.00/0 Copyright © 1981 Pergamon Press Ltd.
CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT RARE, BUT PERHAPS INCREASING, PHENOMENA AMONG THE SAMIA OF KENYA GERTRUDE FRASER, A.B. a n d PHILIP L. KILBRIDE, PH.D. Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010
A b s t r a c t - - T h i s study shows that child abuse and neglect as understood in the West are comparatively rare phenomena among the Samia of western Kenya. The existence of an extended family situation and a strong clan structure are importantly related to positive care accorded to children. However, due to increased migration to towns, socioeconomic change, and interethnic marriages, the clan unit has been eroded thus resulting in cases of child abuse and neglect. Several such cases are reported in this study. The Samia traditionally practice the "evil eye" which is here considered to be a form of child abuse. Our findings, therefore, also have implications for previous efforts to define child abuse cross-culturally.
Key Words--Africa; Kenya; Samia; Child abuse; Modernization. R6sum6---ENFANTS MALTRAIT[~S ET NI~GLIGI~S : UN PHI~NOMI~NE RARE, MAIS EN AUGMENTATION, PARMI LES SAMIA DU KENYA---La pr6sente 6tude d6montre que les mauvais traitements et la n6gligence ~ l'6gard d'enfants, tels qu'on les connait dans le Monde occidental, sont rares chez les Samia du Kenya occidental. Ceci est en rapport avec I'existence, tr~s importante, d'une structure de clan tr/:s forte, qui protege les enfants. Cependant, d~s que cette structure est 6rod6e par la migration vers les villes, avec ses cons6quences socio-~conomiques et ses mariages entre ethnies diff6rentes, les mauvais traitements et la n~gligence font leur apparition. Plusieurs exemples sont rapport6s l'appui de cette observation. Par ailleurs, chez les Samia, on croit ~ l'existence du "mauvais oeil", ou mauvais sort jet6 ~ l'enfant d'une autre personne par quelqu'un qui est jaloux ou malfaisant. Pour prot6ger l'enfant qui est cens6 6tre la victime du "mauvais oeil" on pratique traditionnellement des incisions sur son corps qui sont une autre forme de mauvais traitement. II est bien sOr facile d'accuser le mauvais oeil, e t c . . . La d6finition des s6vices h enfants est donc, une lois de plus, d6pendante du milieu culturel.
INTRODUCTION The subject of child abuse and neglect is now receiving increased attention from social scientists and others. Specifically, researchers are now turning to the cross-cultural record to ascertain if child abuse and neglect exist in other societies [ 1]. On the one hand, this comparative focus has raised phenomenological problems of definition by posing such basic questions as "Is there a universal mode of behavior which may be considered abusive in all societies?" or "Are there styles of behavior which would be considered abusive in some cultures but not in others?" Should painful initiation ceremonies, for example, practiced in many preliterate societies be considered abusive even when such customs are positively sanctioned, socially functional and often eagerly sought by members of the group [1-3]? On the theoretical side, various causative models have been advanced to account for the manifestation of the phenomena of child abuse and neglect in western societies, ranging from intrapsychic causative models to ones emphasizing more global, social The authors wish to express their gratitude to Bryn Mawr College which made this study possible. We also extend our appreciation to members of the staff at Nangina hospital, Samia Location, Kenya, and to the Samia people. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, February 1980, Philadelphia. 227
228
Gertrude Fraser and Philip L. Kilbride
and economic factors [4---6]. A cross-cultural approach gives us the opportunity to investigate the occurrence of child abuse in other cultural contexts and to begin to identify individual level and environmental factors with which it is found in close association. Korbin [ 1-3] argues for a crosscultural perspective that will contribute to a broader based etiology of child abuse. She [1-3] and Rohner [7] suggest that child rearing and child treatment practices are dependent on such factors as family structure (i.e., extended vs. nuclear households), and economic activities (i.e., hunting and gathering vs. agricultural societies). Turning to the African context, LeVine and LeVine [8] have made a preliminary literature survey of the incidence of child abuse and neglect. They report that child abuse as we know it in the United States is very low but that its incidence appears to be increasing with the social disorganization associated with the process of modernization. The latter includes such factors as urbanization, changing economic roles, industrialization and increased emphasis on nuclear family structure with a concomitant decrease in extended families and cohesive clan units. The Levine's [8:34] write that: As a result.., of increasing social disorganization parents tend to be less protected than in the past from emotional and physical stress, and instances of mistreatment, particularly of neglect seem to be rising. They conclude, however, that the specific variables "which have bearing upon the mistreatment of children in Africa remain largely unexplored" [8:34]. The purpose of this paper is a modest attempt to contribute some empirical material from one African society, that of the Samia of western Kenya. Our preliminary evidence is not inconsistent with the view that child abuse and neglect as known in Euro-American culture is best understood in Africa as an outcome of a variety of social structural changes associated with modernization. We also feel that a "functionally equivalent" but phenomenologically specific form of abuse may be evident in the evil eye as practiced by the Samia, METHODS The data for our discussion are based in part on fieldwork on child development and motor skills carried out among the Samia, in 1976--77, by Kilbride [9]. In the summer of 1979, we visited Samia Location to specifically explore the problem of child abuse and neglect: This work included interviews with social workers and staff at Nangina Mission hospital and an opportunity to investigate specific cases of child abuse referred to us by them. Overall our information represents what we consider to be a first step, one that is directed at considering what some of our Samia informants had to say about the subject of child abuse. Further research should be directed at establishing the frequencies of neglect and abuse and their possible social and psychological correlates. THE SAMIA The Kenyan Samia, who number about 32,000, are primarily agriculturalists, but fishing is also an important economic activity. Cash crops of cotton are grown for market, and small numbers of goats and cows are tended. Traditionally clans owned all Samia land and regulated its use. Another traditional function of the clan, which has remained relatively intact, is the regulation of marriage and the negotiation of bridewealth. Compounds are dispersed, although homesteads are often large (sometimes numbering more than fifty people). Polygyny is preferred, with some older men observed to have more than five wives. Women, importantly for our purposes, report that large families are preferable because the care of children is less burdensome. Children are highly valued among the Samia for they provide care in old age and increase one's clan. The Samia believe that a man is perpetuated in the life and memory of his offspring. Children grow up within the network of the extended family and are trained to assume economic
Increasing phenomenaof child abuse and neglect in Kenya
229
responsibilities. Small boys herd livestock and help with the farming and may even become child caretakers if an older sister is not available. Young girls are more involved in the daily workings of the compound and the farm. They help by fetching water, cooking, collecting firewood, digging in the garden and caring for younger siblings. When asked at what age children should have responsibility for these tasks, respondents to a questionnaire (15 men, 14 women) thought that children of eight or nine should be fully able to perform their duties adequately. When asked by the researchers how children were punished for failing to perform these tasks or for other ethical breaches, informants answered that the child would be refused food or caned by either parent. Caning is with a small stick on or about the legs of the child. From eight to seventeen years of age both sexes may receive periodic canings; however, after a girl turns fourteen or has seen her first menses, a father is not allowed to discipline her physically. It should be emphasized that corporal punishment does not in any way approximate the degree of child battering reported in Western society. When too severe caning of children occurred, ideally, the clan elders were expected to intervene. Although children have a "functional role" in the sense described above, it should not be concluded that parents are devoid of positive affect in their feelings about their children. This was revealed, for example, in a "drastic situation projective procedure" where adults were asked who should leave a sinking boat among father, mother and children (a boy and a girl), Parents overwhelming chose to leave and sacrifice themselves so the children could have a chance to "live and enjoy life." The basic configuration of Samia culture described above has remained largely intact perhaps due to relative isolation from Nairobi; nevertheless, in the modern era there is considerable migration to East African towns by both men and women in search of both schooling and employment. Nowadays one observes in Samia Location groups of unemployed educated youths, rich people and poor people (in monetary terms), and the emergence of social classes. These social and economic changes have contributed to a weakening of clan ties. Moody [10] reports, for example, that conflicts arise between younger men who want to sell the land in the "European" way and the elders who maintain that clan land does not belong to the individual and cannot be sold.
Child Abuse Among the Samia Samia believe that some jealous individuals, primarily women, are capable of aggression with intent to kill or harm a child. It is believed that a barren woman, non-sororal co-wives, stepmothers, or a woman whose own child is sickly may set the evil eye (sikhokho) on other women's children. One does not, however, set the evil eye on one's own children. The evil eye is perceived as a major cause of childhood death and illness (including diseases such as marasmus). Inasmuch as the evil eye is perceived as an effective and conscious form of aggression against children, it can be viewed phenomenologically as child abuse in the context of Samia culture. At present we lack sufficient data on the frequency of the evil eye or on specific techniques associated with its performance; however, it is clear that the Samia perceive this behavior as abusive and dangerous to the child. Traditional doctors are consulted and are thought to be able to cure the effects of the "eye" by making incisions on the afflicted child's stomach and chest. Additionally, beads are often worn by children to protect them from the evil eye. Harm to non-related children can also be deliberate and overt. In 1977 a home was burned and two young infants who had been sleeping within died later as a result of the fire. The fire was arson, set by a man who knew that the children were inside. There was a discussion of envy; the father of the burn victims said that the house was burned because people were jealous of his new wealth. He had become quite wealthy because of karafu, a local term referring to coffee smuggling. There is evidence that physical child abuse, although rare, is nevertheless present in Samia and seems to be particularly found in towns compared to the rural milieu where clans are still
230
Gertrude Fraser and Philip L. Kilbride
effective. When specifically asked if she had ever observed child battering, a Samia nurse with corroboration from a social worker reported that: Babies are taken to the hospital with bruises, fractures, and the like. Causes are, I think, (a) ayahs (child caretakers) who were themselves beaten, (b) stepmothers who beat the children of their predecessors who have died, (c) stepfathers who have inherited their dead brother's wives sometimes abuse their children. Battering is more commonin towns, but if it occurs in villages, the clan elders will intervene. We turn now to three cases which came to our attention in 1979. These will be discussed as evidence of neglect or extreme indifference on the part of parents or related kin toward their children. We follow Rohner [7:45] who makes a distinction between "open aggression toward the child" and " . . . indifference, which is often expressed as neglect."
Case 1. A Luo woman had run away from her Samia husband leaving behind two small girls. The older child was five years old and the younger about three. The parents of both the wife and the husband were dead. The husband had not at anytime involved himself in any communal clan activities (farming, housebuilding). He was involved on a small scale in karafu. Neither had he sought any neighborly advice or aid when his wife had left. The neighbors, therefore, had not helped him in convincing his wife to return home. A social worker reported that the area in which this particular case had occurred was known for its lack of the Harambee spirit, a Swahili term referring to community cohesiveness and unity. In addition the woman's uncle (a non-Samia Luo) said that the husband had not provided sufficient brideprice to "bind" the wife to him; and the man's clansmen agreed. The father of the children drank heavily and had not farmed his land though he had been offered seeds by the social workers. The children were often left alone in the hut all day without food. The five year old had been taken to the nutrition clinic suffering from kwashiorkor but had returned home. The three year old, who looked about one year old, was suffering from a severe case of malnutrition. Her legs were atrophied, and chiggers had attached themselves to the soles of her feet. The subsequent sores prevented her from walking. Her immobility! placed her at great disadvantage. The older child when she had not eaten would walk to the neighbors who would offer her something to eat. The younger child, however, could not walk and was often left under the bed for most of the day without food. At first the neighbors had taken both children and fed them, but since the father showed no interest and did not inquire about them when he found them missing, they had stopped taking the children. Informants felt that if either the maternal or paternal grandparents were alive the children would not have suffered, as one or the other would have cared for them. In addition they thought that the mother and father would have been ashamed to have such a household if their parents were alive. The children did not belong to any clan because of intermarriage and were therefore not protected by traditional clan mechanisms. The man's sister as well as the State refused to take responsibility for the children for they were not legally orphans (that is, both parents were alive). Case 2. A secondary school girl became pregnant while still attending school. She returned home and had the baby--a boy. Her parents sent her back to school refusing to acknowledge the father of the child. They kept the baby at home with a minimum of care, refusing to feed the child or otherwise provide for the infant. The paternal grandparents hearing of the plight of the baby sent a cow to the maternal grandparents thus acknowledging that their son was the father of the child and requesting that the baby and the mother be sent to live with them. The cow was to be a part of the brideprice. The maternal grandparents killed the cow and returned the meat along with the severely malnourished infant to the paternal grandparents. In doing so, they declared that they had returned all the paternal grandparents' property and that now they had no more claim over them or their daughter. The paternal grandmother brought the infant of about 2 months to the hospital clinic for treatment of malnutrition.
Increasing phenomenaof child abuse and neglect in Kenya
231
Case 3. A Luo man of about 60 married a younger Samia woman. She was his third wife and was blind. The woman was unable to take care of her infants, and her first two had died. The child in question was a boy of about two years old and the third child. He was extremely quiet and did not interact with the other children. He sat in the clinic compound by himself, ignoring a rubber toy nearby and looked extremely forlorn. He had been admitted into the nutrition clinic with his mother as he was suffering from kwashiorkor. The child had healing burn marks on his arms and cheeks. The nurse-in-charge said that he had been burnt at home when his mother had tried to feed him with food that was too hot. She had burnt him on the cheeks in an attempt to place the food in his mouth by trial and error. The nurse said that when the child first came to the clinic he also had some difficulty feeding himself. He would first explore around his face with the hand holding the food until he found his mouth. The man's co-wives said that their husband was too cheap and should hire a young girl to help take care of the child. They refused to help the third wife with the care and raising of the child. She was no help around the compound or on the farm with the work that was to be done. They thought the husband had acquired a blind wife because her brideprice was low. The nurse, after much haranguing, finally convinced the father to attend the clinic where the child was undergoing treatment. The nutrition clinic offered an intensive three week nutrition program for children suffering from kwashiorkor and marasmus. Mothers lived with their children and learned to use protein rich foods such as beans in the feeding of children and also raised chickens and rabbits. The father was understandably uncomfortable and awkward around the other women and their babies since fathers normally do not engage in childrearing activities of this sort.
These three cases suggest that the Samia child becomes a victim of neglect when there are no "back-up" support systems and caretaking personnel available. The child, because of the circumstances, is left outside normal child rearing standards. In Case 2, the paternal grandparents interceded to care for the child. Similarly in the case of the blind mother, the child's father was finally convinced to care for the child. Unfortunately for the children in Case 1, there was no one willing or able to care for them. It is our impression that there will be more children left on the "outside" with such phenomena as the migration of parents into town, disenfranchisement from the clan and its institutions, and unemployment. Marriages, as in Case 1 and 2, that involve interethnic unions are often conducted outside of the clan's jurisdiction. The children from these marriages are not recognized by any clan and consequently do not receive any protection from the clan unit.
DISCUSSION It seems clear that child abuse and neglect as understood in the Western context are comparatively rare phenomena among the Samia. There is a very strong positive cultural value attached to children for reasons which we have explored in this paper. Childcare and maintenance are not only the concern of individuals and nuclear families but are more broadly based in a clan structure and polygynous family arrangement. Furthermore, Samia adults explicitly recognize that infants and children pass through particular developmental stages such that they are expected to perform certain motor skills in infancy and particular economic duties in childhood at culturally defined "proper" ages [9]. Importantly, Korbin [1-3] notes that abusive parents in the West often are unable to recognize "normal" developmental stages in their own children. Our data indicate that child abuse and neglect are associated with a disintegration of clan authority occasioned by such factors as interethnic marriage, migration into towns and other modern social and economic forces. This finding is in general agreement with the assertion by LeVine and LeVine [8] that child abuse and neglect are rare in the African context but seem to be increasing concomitant with the modernization process. Moreover, our data show that the evil
232
Gertrude Fraser and Philip L. Kilbride
e y e as p r a c t i c e d b y the S a m i a m a y b e c o n s i d e r e d as a f o r m o f c h i l d a b u s e i n a s m u c h as t h i s s u p e r n a t u r a l m o d e o f a g g r e s s i o n is t h o u g h t to c a u s e illness a n d d e a t h to c h i l d r e n .
References 1. KORBIN, J., Anthropological contributions to the study of child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse Neglect 1:7-24 (1977). 2. KORBIN, J., Changing family roles and structure: Impact on child abuse and neglect--A cross-cultural perspective. Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect I: 98-107 (1978). 3. KORBIN, J., A cross-cultural l~rspective on the role of the community in child abuse and neglect. Child Abase Neglect 3(1): 9-18 (1979). 4. GELLES, R., Child abuse as psychopathology: A sociological critique and reformulation. Am. J. of Orthopsyrhiatry 43(4): 611-621 (1973). 5. GIL, D., Unraveling child abuse. In: Bourne and Newberger (Eds.) Critical Perspective on Child Abuse. Lexington Books, Mass. (1979). 6. HELFER, R. and KEMPE, C. H. (Eds.), The Battered Child. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1968). 7. ROHNER, R., They Love Me, They Love Me Not. A Worldwide Study of the Effect of Parental Acceptance and Rejection. HRAF Press, New Haven (1975). 8. LeVINE, S. and LeVINE, R., Child abuse and neglect in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: J. Korbin (Ed.) ChildAbase and Neglect: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, In press. 9. KILBRIDE, P., Sensorimotor behavior of Baganda and Samia infants: A controlled comparison. J. Cross-Cultural Psychol. In press. 10. MOODY, R. W., Preliminary Notes on the Clan Structure of Samia. Presented at the East African Institute for Social Research Meetings, 1961.
0145-2134/80/040227--0652.00/0 Copyright © 1981 Pergamon Press Ltd.
CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT RARE, BUT PERHAPS INCREASING, PHENOMENA AMONG THE SAMIA OF KENYA GERTRUDE FRASER, A.B. a n d PHILIP L. KILBRIDE, PH.D. Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010
A b s t r a c t - - T h i s study shows that child abuse and neglect as understood in the West are comparatively rare phenomena among the Samia of western Kenya. The existence of an extended family situation and a strong clan structure are importantly related to positive care accorded to children. However, due to increased migration to towns, socioeconomic change, and interethnic marriages, the clan unit has been eroded thus resulting in cases of child abuse and neglect. Several such cases are reported in this study. The Samia traditionally practice the "evil eye" which is here considered to be a form of child abuse. Our findings, therefore, also have implications for previous efforts to define child abuse cross-culturally.
Key Words--Africa; Kenya; Samia; Child abuse; Modernization. R6sum6---ENFANTS MALTRAIT[~S ET NI~GLIGI~S : UN PHI~NOMI~NE RARE, MAIS EN AUGMENTATION, PARMI LES SAMIA DU KENYA---La pr6sente 6tude d6montre que les mauvais traitements et la n6gligence ~ l'6gard d'enfants, tels qu'on les connait dans le Monde occidental, sont rares chez les Samia du Kenya occidental. Ceci est en rapport avec I'existence, tr~s importante, d'une structure de clan tr/:s forte, qui protege les enfants. Cependant, d~s que cette structure est 6rod6e par la migration vers les villes, avec ses cons6quences socio-~conomiques et ses mariages entre ethnies diff6rentes, les mauvais traitements et la n~gligence font leur apparition. Plusieurs exemples sont rapport6s l'appui de cette observation. Par ailleurs, chez les Samia, on croit ~ l'existence du "mauvais oeil", ou mauvais sort jet6 ~ l'enfant d'une autre personne par quelqu'un qui est jaloux ou malfaisant. Pour prot6ger l'enfant qui est cens6 6tre la victime du "mauvais oeil" on pratique traditionnellement des incisions sur son corps qui sont une autre forme de mauvais traitement. II est bien sOr facile d'accuser le mauvais oeil, e t c . . . La d6finition des s6vices h enfants est donc, une lois de plus, d6pendante du milieu culturel.
INTRODUCTION The subject of child abuse and neglect is now receiving increased attention from social scientists and others. Specifically, researchers are now turning to the cross-cultural record to ascertain if child abuse and neglect exist in other societies [ 1]. On the one hand, this comparative focus has raised phenomenological problems of definition by posing such basic questions as "Is there a universal mode of behavior which may be considered abusive in all societies?" or "Are there styles of behavior which would be considered abusive in some cultures but not in others?" Should painful initiation ceremonies, for example, practiced in many preliterate societies be considered abusive even when such customs are positively sanctioned, socially functional and often eagerly sought by members of the group [1-3]? On the theoretical side, various causative models have been advanced to account for the manifestation of the phenomena of child abuse and neglect in western societies, ranging from intrapsychic causative models to ones emphasizing more global, social The authors wish to express their gratitude to Bryn Mawr College which made this study possible. We also extend our appreciation to members of the staff at Nangina hospital, Samia Location, Kenya, and to the Samia people. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, February 1980, Philadelphia. 227
228
Gertrude Fraser and Philip L. Kilbride
and economic factors [4---6]. A cross-cultural approach gives us the opportunity to investigate the occurrence of child abuse in other cultural contexts and to begin to identify individual level and environmental factors with which it is found in close association. Korbin [ 1-3] argues for a crosscultural perspective that will contribute to a broader based etiology of child abuse. She [1-3] and Rohner [7] suggest that child rearing and child treatment practices are dependent on such factors as family structure (i.e., extended vs. nuclear households), and economic activities (i.e., hunting and gathering vs. agricultural societies). Turning to the African context, LeVine and LeVine [8] have made a preliminary literature survey of the incidence of child abuse and neglect. They report that child abuse as we know it in the United States is very low but that its incidence appears to be increasing with the social disorganization associated with the process of modernization. The latter includes such factors as urbanization, changing economic roles, industrialization and increased emphasis on nuclear family structure with a concomitant decrease in extended families and cohesive clan units. The Levine's [8:34] write that: As a result.., of increasing social disorganization parents tend to be less protected than in the past from emotional and physical stress, and instances of mistreatment, particularly of neglect seem to be rising. They conclude, however, that the specific variables "which have bearing upon the mistreatment of children in Africa remain largely unexplored" [8:34]. The purpose of this paper is a modest attempt to contribute some empirical material from one African society, that of the Samia of western Kenya. Our preliminary evidence is not inconsistent with the view that child abuse and neglect as known in Euro-American culture is best understood in Africa as an outcome of a variety of social structural changes associated with modernization. We also feel that a "functionally equivalent" but phenomenologically specific form of abuse may be evident in the evil eye as practiced by the Samia, METHODS The data for our discussion are based in part on fieldwork on child development and motor skills carried out among the Samia, in 1976--77, by Kilbride [9]. In the summer of 1979, we visited Samia Location to specifically explore the problem of child abuse and neglect: This work included interviews with social workers and staff at Nangina Mission hospital and an opportunity to investigate specific cases of child abuse referred to us by them. Overall our information represents what we consider to be a first step, one that is directed at considering what some of our Samia informants had to say about the subject of child abuse. Further research should be directed at establishing the frequencies of neglect and abuse and their possible social and psychological correlates. THE SAMIA The Kenyan Samia, who number about 32,000, are primarily agriculturalists, but fishing is also an important economic activity. Cash crops of cotton are grown for market, and small numbers of goats and cows are tended. Traditionally clans owned all Samia land and regulated its use. Another traditional function of the clan, which has remained relatively intact, is the regulation of marriage and the negotiation of bridewealth. Compounds are dispersed, although homesteads are often large (sometimes numbering more than fifty people). Polygyny is preferred, with some older men observed to have more than five wives. Women, importantly for our purposes, report that large families are preferable because the care of children is less burdensome. Children are highly valued among the Samia for they provide care in old age and increase one's clan. The Samia believe that a man is perpetuated in the life and memory of his offspring. Children grow up within the network of the extended family and are trained to assume economic
Increasing phenomenaof child abuse and neglect in Kenya
229
responsibilities. Small boys herd livestock and help with the farming and may even become child caretakers if an older sister is not available. Young girls are more involved in the daily workings of the compound and the farm. They help by fetching water, cooking, collecting firewood, digging in the garden and caring for younger siblings. When asked at what age children should have responsibility for these tasks, respondents to a questionnaire (15 men, 14 women) thought that children of eight or nine should be fully able to perform their duties adequately. When asked by the researchers how children were punished for failing to perform these tasks or for other ethical breaches, informants answered that the child would be refused food or caned by either parent. Caning is with a small stick on or about the legs of the child. From eight to seventeen years of age both sexes may receive periodic canings; however, after a girl turns fourteen or has seen her first menses, a father is not allowed to discipline her physically. It should be emphasized that corporal punishment does not in any way approximate the degree of child battering reported in Western society. When too severe caning of children occurred, ideally, the clan elders were expected to intervene. Although children have a "functional role" in the sense described above, it should not be concluded that parents are devoid of positive affect in their feelings about their children. This was revealed, for example, in a "drastic situation projective procedure" where adults were asked who should leave a sinking boat among father, mother and children (a boy and a girl), Parents overwhelming chose to leave and sacrifice themselves so the children could have a chance to "live and enjoy life." The basic configuration of Samia culture described above has remained largely intact perhaps due to relative isolation from Nairobi; nevertheless, in the modern era there is considerable migration to East African towns by both men and women in search of both schooling and employment. Nowadays one observes in Samia Location groups of unemployed educated youths, rich people and poor people (in monetary terms), and the emergence of social classes. These social and economic changes have contributed to a weakening of clan ties. Moody [10] reports, for example, that conflicts arise between younger men who want to sell the land in the "European" way and the elders who maintain that clan land does not belong to the individual and cannot be sold.
Child Abuse Among the Samia Samia believe that some jealous individuals, primarily women, are capable of aggression with intent to kill or harm a child. It is believed that a barren woman, non-sororal co-wives, stepmothers, or a woman whose own child is sickly may set the evil eye (sikhokho) on other women's children. One does not, however, set the evil eye on one's own children. The evil eye is perceived as a major cause of childhood death and illness (including diseases such as marasmus). Inasmuch as the evil eye is perceived as an effective and conscious form of aggression against children, it can be viewed phenomenologically as child abuse in the context of Samia culture. At present we lack sufficient data on the frequency of the evil eye or on specific techniques associated with its performance; however, it is clear that the Samia perceive this behavior as abusive and dangerous to the child. Traditional doctors are consulted and are thought to be able to cure the effects of the "eye" by making incisions on the afflicted child's stomach and chest. Additionally, beads are often worn by children to protect them from the evil eye. Harm to non-related children can also be deliberate and overt. In 1977 a home was burned and two young infants who had been sleeping within died later as a result of the fire. The fire was arson, set by a man who knew that the children were inside. There was a discussion of envy; the father of the burn victims said that the house was burned because people were jealous of his new wealth. He had become quite wealthy because of karafu, a local term referring to coffee smuggling. There is evidence that physical child abuse, although rare, is nevertheless present in Samia and seems to be particularly found in towns compared to the rural milieu where clans are still
230
Gertrude Fraser and Philip L. Kilbride
effective. When specifically asked if she had ever observed child battering, a Samia nurse with corroboration from a social worker reported that: Babies are taken to the hospital with bruises, fractures, and the like. Causes are, I think, (a) ayahs (child caretakers) who were themselves beaten, (b) stepmothers who beat the children of their predecessors who have died, (c) stepfathers who have inherited their dead brother's wives sometimes abuse their children. Battering is more commonin towns, but if it occurs in villages, the clan elders will intervene. We turn now to three cases which came to our attention in 1979. These will be discussed as evidence of neglect or extreme indifference on the part of parents or related kin toward their children. We follow Rohner [7:45] who makes a distinction between "open aggression toward the child" and " . . . indifference, which is often expressed as neglect."
Case 1. A Luo woman had run away from her Samia husband leaving behind two small girls. The older child was five years old and the younger about three. The parents of both the wife and the husband were dead. The husband had not at anytime involved himself in any communal clan activities (farming, housebuilding). He was involved on a small scale in karafu. Neither had he sought any neighborly advice or aid when his wife had left. The neighbors, therefore, had not helped him in convincing his wife to return home. A social worker reported that the area in which this particular case had occurred was known for its lack of the Harambee spirit, a Swahili term referring to community cohesiveness and unity. In addition the woman's uncle (a non-Samia Luo) said that the husband had not provided sufficient brideprice to "bind" the wife to him; and the man's clansmen agreed. The father of the children drank heavily and had not farmed his land though he had been offered seeds by the social workers. The children were often left alone in the hut all day without food. The five year old had been taken to the nutrition clinic suffering from kwashiorkor but had returned home. The three year old, who looked about one year old, was suffering from a severe case of malnutrition. Her legs were atrophied, and chiggers had attached themselves to the soles of her feet. The subsequent sores prevented her from walking. Her immobility! placed her at great disadvantage. The older child when she had not eaten would walk to the neighbors who would offer her something to eat. The younger child, however, could not walk and was often left under the bed for most of the day without food. At first the neighbors had taken both children and fed them, but since the father showed no interest and did not inquire about them when he found them missing, they had stopped taking the children. Informants felt that if either the maternal or paternal grandparents were alive the children would not have suffered, as one or the other would have cared for them. In addition they thought that the mother and father would have been ashamed to have such a household if their parents were alive. The children did not belong to any clan because of intermarriage and were therefore not protected by traditional clan mechanisms. The man's sister as well as the State refused to take responsibility for the children for they were not legally orphans (that is, both parents were alive). Case 2. A secondary school girl became pregnant while still attending school. She returned home and had the baby--a boy. Her parents sent her back to school refusing to acknowledge the father of the child. They kept the baby at home with a minimum of care, refusing to feed the child or otherwise provide for the infant. The paternal grandparents hearing of the plight of the baby sent a cow to the maternal grandparents thus acknowledging that their son was the father of the child and requesting that the baby and the mother be sent to live with them. The cow was to be a part of the brideprice. The maternal grandparents killed the cow and returned the meat along with the severely malnourished infant to the paternal grandparents. In doing so, they declared that they had returned all the paternal grandparents' property and that now they had no more claim over them or their daughter. The paternal grandmother brought the infant of about 2 months to the hospital clinic for treatment of malnutrition.
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Case 3. A Luo man of about 60 married a younger Samia woman. She was his third wife and was blind. The woman was unable to take care of her infants, and her first two had died. The child in question was a boy of about two years old and the third child. He was extremely quiet and did not interact with the other children. He sat in the clinic compound by himself, ignoring a rubber toy nearby and looked extremely forlorn. He had been admitted into the nutrition clinic with his mother as he was suffering from kwashiorkor. The child had healing burn marks on his arms and cheeks. The nurse-in-charge said that he had been burnt at home when his mother had tried to feed him with food that was too hot. She had burnt him on the cheeks in an attempt to place the food in his mouth by trial and error. The nurse said that when the child first came to the clinic he also had some difficulty feeding himself. He would first explore around his face with the hand holding the food until he found his mouth. The man's co-wives said that their husband was too cheap and should hire a young girl to help take care of the child. They refused to help the third wife with the care and raising of the child. She was no help around the compound or on the farm with the work that was to be done. They thought the husband had acquired a blind wife because her brideprice was low. The nurse, after much haranguing, finally convinced the father to attend the clinic where the child was undergoing treatment. The nutrition clinic offered an intensive three week nutrition program for children suffering from kwashiorkor and marasmus. Mothers lived with their children and learned to use protein rich foods such as beans in the feeding of children and also raised chickens and rabbits. The father was understandably uncomfortable and awkward around the other women and their babies since fathers normally do not engage in childrearing activities of this sort.
These three cases suggest that the Samia child becomes a victim of neglect when there are no "back-up" support systems and caretaking personnel available. The child, because of the circumstances, is left outside normal child rearing standards. In Case 2, the paternal grandparents interceded to care for the child. Similarly in the case of the blind mother, the child's father was finally convinced to care for the child. Unfortunately for the children in Case 1, there was no one willing or able to care for them. It is our impression that there will be more children left on the "outside" with such phenomena as the migration of parents into town, disenfranchisement from the clan and its institutions, and unemployment. Marriages, as in Case 1 and 2, that involve interethnic unions are often conducted outside of the clan's jurisdiction. The children from these marriages are not recognized by any clan and consequently do not receive any protection from the clan unit.
DISCUSSION It seems clear that child abuse and neglect as understood in the Western context are comparatively rare phenomena among the Samia. There is a very strong positive cultural value attached to children for reasons which we have explored in this paper. Childcare and maintenance are not only the concern of individuals and nuclear families but are more broadly based in a clan structure and polygynous family arrangement. Furthermore, Samia adults explicitly recognize that infants and children pass through particular developmental stages such that they are expected to perform certain motor skills in infancy and particular economic duties in childhood at culturally defined "proper" ages [9]. Importantly, Korbin [1-3] notes that abusive parents in the West often are unable to recognize "normal" developmental stages in their own children. Our data indicate that child abuse and neglect are associated with a disintegration of clan authority occasioned by such factors as interethnic marriage, migration into towns and other modern social and economic forces. This finding is in general agreement with the assertion by LeVine and LeVine [8] that child abuse and neglect are rare in the African context but seem to be increasing concomitant with the modernization process. Moreover, our data show that the evil
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e y e as p r a c t i c e d b y the S a m i a m a y b e c o n s i d e r e d as a f o r m o f c h i l d a b u s e i n a s m u c h as t h i s s u p e r n a t u r a l m o d e o f a g g r e s s i o n is t h o u g h t to c a u s e illness a n d d e a t h to c h i l d r e n .
References 1. KORBIN, J., Anthropological contributions to the study of child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse Neglect 1:7-24 (1977). 2. KORBIN, J., Changing family roles and structure: Impact on child abuse and neglect--A cross-cultural perspective. Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect I: 98-107 (1978). 3. KORBIN, J., A cross-cultural l~rspective on the role of the community in child abuse and neglect. Child Abase Neglect 3(1): 9-18 (1979). 4. GELLES, R., Child abuse as psychopathology: A sociological critique and reformulation. Am. J. of Orthopsyrhiatry 43(4): 611-621 (1973). 5. GIL, D., Unraveling child abuse. In: Bourne and Newberger (Eds.) Critical Perspective on Child Abuse. Lexington Books, Mass. (1979). 6. HELFER, R. and KEMPE, C. H. (Eds.), The Battered Child. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1968). 7. ROHNER, R., They Love Me, They Love Me Not. A Worldwide Study of the Effect of Parental Acceptance and Rejection. HRAF Press, New Haven (1975). 8. LeVINE, S. and LeVINE, R., Child abuse and neglect in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: J. Korbin (Ed.) ChildAbase and Neglect: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, In press. 9. KILBRIDE, P., Sensorimotor behavior of Baganda and Samia infants: A controlled comparison. J. Cross-Cultural Psychol. In press. 10. MOODY, R. W., Preliminary Notes on the Clan Structure of Samia. Presented at the East African Institute for Social Research Meetings, 1961.