Childrens Agency And Development In African Societies

Author : Ofosu-Kus, Yaw
Publisher : CODESRIA
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2017-07-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9782869787186

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Children's Agency and Development in African Societies by Ofosu-Kus, Yaw Pdf

This book focuses on African childhood and youth within the context of development and socialization where children are expected to be moulded in the image of adults. In many African societies children are generally held as passive bearers of the demands of adults, regardless of the fact that they are often exposed to a multitude of challenges that originate from the capriciousness of those adults. However, buoyed by international conventions and national legislations that offer them greater protection, and the ubiquitous internet that exposes them to childhood and youth experiences elsewhere, many of them are increasingly becoming assertive in homes, schools, and communities as well as re-invigorating their survival and self-preservation instincts. It is in this regard that this book, through the various chapters, engages with their competencies, skills and creativity to respond to experiential challenges as independent migrants or ones under coercion working in city streets and markets or cocoa farms or juggling work and schooling in pursuit of some education. Confronted with their parents' and siblings' health predicaments and the inadequacies of state and familial care, or urgent negotiation of their sexualities, they demonstrate incredible resilience. Similarly, their perceptiveness is demonstrated in a unique appreciation of politics and its actors and a capacity to assume responsibilities beyond their chronological age. Thus while highlighting some of the challenges confronting African children, the book provides gripping evidence of how they resiliently negotiate those challenges.

Author : Robert Serpell,Kofi Marfo
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781119039921

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Child Development in Africa by Robert Serpell,Kofi Marfo Pdf

In this volume, African scholars engaged in research on the continent reflect on their recent and ongoing empirical studies. They discuss the strengths and limitations of research methods, theories, and interventions designed outside Africa to spur innovative research on the continent. And they explore how insights from African philosophical, theoretical, and empirical work can be combined with exogenous forms of knowledge to generate understanding of the processes of African children's development in ways that are responsive to local contexts and meaningful for indigenous stakeholders. A new field of African child development research is emerging in African societies, focusing on children as valued and vulnerable members of society and potential civic leaders of the future. Systematic inquiries are now designed to enhance our understanding of how African children think, to discover effective ways of communicating with them, and to inform successful strategies of promoting their health, education, and preparation for adult responsibilities in society. This is the 146th volume in this Jossey-Bass series New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. Its mission is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in this subject area. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic and is edited by experts from that field.

Author : Robert A. Levine,Sarah Levine,Suzanne Dixon,Amy Richman,P. Herbert Leiderman,Constance H. Keefer,T. Berry Brazelton
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 1994-08-26
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 0521331714

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Child Care and Culture by Robert A. Levine,Sarah Levine,Suzanne Dixon,Amy Richman,P. Herbert Leiderman,Constance H. Keefer,T. Berry Brazelton Pdf

Child Care and Culture examines parenthood, infancy, and early childhood in an African community, revealing patterns unanticipated by current theories of child development and raising provocative questions about the concept of "normal" child care. Comparing the Gusii people of Kenya with the American white middle class, the authors show how divergent cultural priorities create differing conditions for early childhood development. Combining the perspectives of social anthropology, pediatrics, and developmental psychology, the authors demonstrate how child care customs can be responsive to varied socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural conditions without inflicting harm on children. This text will be of interest to researchers in child development and anthropology.

Author : Michael Bourdillon,M. Mutambwa
Publisher : African Books Collective
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2015-10-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9782869786523

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The Place of Work in African Childhoods by Michael Bourdillon,M. Mutambwa Pdf

This book is about how work enters and affects the lives of children in Africa, taking for granted neither the traditional values surrounding childrens work, nor the international standards against it. Many African societies nurture their children on the ingrained notion that children must work as part of their process of growing up. Children participate in their families and communities through the work they do in the house and in whatever else their families do. Such views are, however, antithetical to the dominant views in Europe and North America which see childhood as a time of freedom from responsibility and economic activity. These views have become so popular with the elites in other countries to the extent that they now drive international campaigns against child labour, and have been incorporated into what are now considered universal international standards and conventions. This book was conceived within the framework of the CODESRIA tradition of taking African perspectives seriously and not allowing social research in Africa to become subservient to values from outside. African scholars remain keenly aware of the need not to isolate themselves from developments in the wider world, which could lead to stagnation. This book, through empirical observation of the lives of African children, the work they do, its place in their lives, and what the children say about it, proposes new perspectives towards a new understanding of this complex stage of human development. Work is not simply about the right to income: work provides identity and status in society, and participation in the community. People relate to one another through work. Those who do not work are often without status and are at the periphery of society. One of the major ways in which this book differs from most of the available literature is in the understanding it brings to the problem of child labour. There are economic reasons why children may need an income of their own. There is the demographic fact that the proportion of children to adults in low-income countries is nearly double that in high-income societies. This book attempts to demonstrate that work is both necessary and beneficial in terms of a childs development to become a full, responsible, and respectable member of society.

Author : De-Valera NYM Botchway,Awo Sarpong,Charles Quist-Adade
Publisher : Vernon Press
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2019-09-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781622735877

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New Perspectives on African Childhood by De-Valera NYM Botchway,Awo Sarpong,Charles Quist-Adade Pdf

What does it mean to be a child in Africa? In the detached Western media, narratives of penury, wickedness and death have dominated portrayals of African childhood. The hegemonic lens of the West has failed to take into account the intricacies of not only what it means to be an African child in local and culturally specific contexts, but also African childhood in general. Challenging colonial discourses, this edited volume guides the reader through different comprehensions and perspectives of childhood in Africa. Using a blend of theory, empiricism and history, the contributors to this volume offer studies from a range of fields including African literature, Afro-centric psychology and sociology. Importantly, in its eclectic geographical coverage of Africa, this book unashamedly presents the good, the bad and the ugly of African childhood. The resilience, creativity, pains and triumphs of African childhood are skilfully woven together to present the myriad of lived experiences and aspirations of children from across Africa. As an important contribution to African childhood studies, this book has the potential to be used by policymakers to shape, sustain or change socio-cultural, economic and education systems that accommodate African childhood dynamics and experiences at different levels.

Author : Bengt Sandin,Jonathan Josefsson,Karl Hanson,Sarada Balagopalan
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 343 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2023-03-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9783031044809

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The Politics of Children’s Rights and Representation by Bengt Sandin,Jonathan Josefsson,Karl Hanson,Sarada Balagopalan Pdf

This open access edited volume investigates children and youth's deep entanglement in today's major global, national, and local transformations and processes: wherein they are not mere spectators and objects of transformations but instead actively shape them through various social, economic, and political representations. International contributions illuminate the problems that arise when children's rights and participation become a site of contestation and power over who represents whom, what, when, and where. The authors do not provide simple solutions, instead offering an understanding of the fundamental nature of these problems as founded in the application of rights and the nature of representation in modern society. Together, the authors emphasize that child representation must take into account the local and spatial context of how representations of children are discussed, as well as possible discrepancies between local, regional, national, and global processes.

Author : B Ohta
Publisher : African Books Collective
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2022-03-23
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9789956552542

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African Potentials by B Ohta Pdf

This book challenges colonial and age-old Western academic views that have dominated and marginalised African indigenous knowledge system. It spreads further the wings of knowledge and endeavour about an African way of thinking on conflict resolution and co-existence, and analytically connects this to the pursuit of Africa's sustainable development frameworks. Ohta, Nyamnjoh and Matsuda are teachers you always wished for but never had. Together, they have made this book a path-breaking one, and essential reading for a broad based understanding of the African mindset.

Author : Sudhanshu Handa,Stephen Devereux,Douglas Webb
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 402 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2010-10-04
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781136908385

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Social Protection for Africa’s Children by Sudhanshu Handa,Stephen Devereux,Douglas Webb Pdf

Social protection is an increasingly important part of the social policy dialogue in Africa, and yet because of its relatively new place in a rapidly evolving agenda, evidence on critical design choices such as targeting, and on impacts of social protection interventions, is mostly limited to case studies or small, unrepresentative surveys. This impressive collection makes a major contribution to building the evidence base, drawing on rigorous analysis of social protection programmes in several African countries, as well as original research and thinking on key topical issues in the social protection discourse. Social Protection for Africa’s Children is divided into four parts. The first presents economic and human-rights based right arguments for social protection as an integral part of the social policy menu in Africa. This is followed by a part on targeting, which highlights some of the key policy trade-offs faced when deciding between alternative target groups. The third part presents rigorous quantitative evidence on the impact of social cash transfers on children from programmes in South Africa, Malawi and Ethiopia and the final part addresses a set of issues related to social justice and human rights. This book significantly advances existing knowledge about social protection for children in Africa, both conceptually and empirically. It makes a strong case for social protection interventions that address the short term (amelioration) and long term (structural) needs of children, and shows that programming in this sector for children is both feasible and achievable. Policy makers and practitioners in this sector will have, in this book, the theoretical and empirical evidence necessary to advance social protection for Africa’s children in the decades to come. Furthermore, this book should be an essential resource to postgraduates and students focussing on development economics in Africa.

Author : Alan R. Pence,A. Bame Nsamenang
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 55 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Child development
ISBN : 9061951097

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A Case for Early Childhood Development in Sub-Saharan Africa by Alan R. Pence,A. Bame Nsamenang Pdf

Author : Afua Twum-Danso Imoh,R. Ame
Publisher : Springer
Page : 207 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2012-10-23
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781137283344

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Childhoods at the Intersection of the Local and the Global by Afua Twum-Danso Imoh,R. Ame Pdf

Childhoods at the Intersection of the Local and the Global examines the imposition of the modern Western notion of childhood, which is now deemed as universal, on other cultures and explores how local communities react to these impositions in various ways such as manipulation, outright rejection and acceptance. The book discusses childhoods in different regions of the world and boasts a range of contributors from several academic disciplines such as Sociology, Social Work, Education, Anthropology, Criminology and Human Rights, who are experts on the regions they discuss. The book argues against the notion of a universal childhood and illustrates that different societies around the world have different notions of childhood. This book is recommended reading for students, scholars and practitioners working with children in the Global South as well as internationally.

Author : Osita Agbu
Publisher : African Books Collective
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2009-10-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9782869783904

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Children and Youth in the Labour Process in Africa by Osita Agbu Pdf

It is increasingly clear that children and the youth today play a significant role in the labour process in Africa. But, to what extent is this role benign? And when and why does this role become exploitative rather than beneficial? This book on children and the youth in Africa sets out to address these questions. The book observes that in Africa today, children are under pressure to work, often engaged in the worst forms of child labour and therefore not living out their role as children. It argues that the social and economic environment of the African child is markedly different from what occurs elsewhere, and goes further to challenge all factors that have combined in stripping children of their childhood and turning them into instruments and commodities in the labour process. It also explains the sources, dynamics, magnitude and likely consequences of the exploitation of children and the youth in contemporary Africa. The book is an invaluable contribution to the discourse on children, while the case studies are aimed at creating more awareness about the development problems of children and the youth in Africa, with a view to evolving more effective national and global responses.

Author : De-Valera N.Y.M. Botchway,Awo Sarpong,Charles Quist-Adade
Publisher : Vernon Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2019-03-05
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781622735341

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New Perspectives on African Childhood by De-Valera N.Y.M. Botchway,Awo Sarpong,Charles Quist-Adade Pdf

What does it mean to be a child in Africa? In the detached Western media, narratives of penury, wickedness and death have dominated portrayals of African childhood. The hegemonic lens of the West has failed to take into account the intricacies of not only what it means to be an African child in local and culturally specific contexts, but also African childhood in general. Challenging colonial discourses, this edited volume guides the reader through different comprehensions and perspectives of childhood in Africa. Using a blend of theory, empiricism and history, the contributors to this volume offer studies from a range of fields including African literature, Afro-centric psychology and sociology. Importantly, in its eclectic geographical coverage of Africa, this book unashamedly presents the good, the bad and the ugly of African childhood. The resilience, creativity, pains and triumphs of African childhood are skilfully woven together to present the myriad of lived experiences and aspirations of children from across Africa. As an important contribution to African childhood studies, this book has the potential to be used by policymakers to shape, sustain or change socio-cultural, economic and education systems that accommodate African childhood dynamics and experiences at different levels.

Author : W. Stephen Howard
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 22 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Child welfare
ISBN : STANFORD:36105121975812

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Making Childhood Possible by W. Stephen Howard Pdf

Author : Nicolette Roman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2021-05-25
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1536193348

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Children in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges by Nicolette Roman Pdf

When we focus on children younger than 18 years, when we focus to improve the life chances of children, we have the opportunity to shift a generation and transform a society. Children living on the African continent tend to live within challenging environments, in often challenging communities and challenging families but it is often within these contexts and environments that opportunities exist to develop and grow. This book, Child in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, presents studies of children living on the African continent, children in the early years, children in the middle years and children in the teen years - all living in different environments on the African continent. The focus is on child and adolescent mental health, parenting, children and disability, parents living and parenting in adversity, how dental caries have a vast impact on early childhood development, adolescent identity in post-apartheid South Africa, hookah pipe use and relational aspects to families, young fathers, and intervening in adolescent health risk behaviour.

Author : A. Bame Nsamenang
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Education
ISBN : UOM:39015060602243

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Cultures of Human Development and Education by A. Bame Nsamenang Pdf

The core objective of this book is to explore, with the aim of stimulating awareness and illuminating the extent to which Africa is equipping her next generations with responsible values and the right techno-cognitive orientation to cope with and make progress in a competitive, knowledge-driven world in continuous transition. The focal issue revolves on the strategy Africa can adopt to raise children to be African in the light of global trends and requirements. Of course, African children cannot be anything else, but African. Given today's masked hegemonies, can Africa 'be allowed' to develop in its own terms? Can Africans even notice covert hegemonies and pretensions of mutual collaboration? Thus, the book is prepared from awareness that understanding African life journeys and developmental pathways and educational praxis and needs constitute essential foreknowledge for future prospects and progress. The book attempts to enrich the fields of psychology, education, development work and cultural studies with alternative lines and models of theorisation and reinterpretation of existing evidence.