Spirit children : illness, poverty, and infanticide in northern Ghana /

This beautifully written ethnography unfolds the social, cultural, and economic logics behind practices of killing "spirit children" in the Nankani culture of northeastern Ghana. Where earlier analyses of "infanticide" have brushed the practice off as a means of relieving the burden of supporting sick or disabled children in contexts of extreme resource scarcity, anthropologist Denham (Macquarie Univ., Australia) expands on this argument. While he does not deny that poverty and marginality contribute to spirit child discourses, he demonstrates that deeply held beliefs about the nature of personhood underlie conceptions of what "spirit children" are and why they are a threat. Dealing with "spirit children" is complicated, and outcomes are diverse. Some families refuse the diagnosis; others seek Western medical advice before accepting a spirit child diagnosis. The process of eliminating a spirit child can range from administration of a "concoction" with little to no toxic properties, to deliberate poisoning, to neglect that culminates in death. Sometimes spirit children recover and shed their diagnosis. Others are never found out. Although his book is based on a small community, the nuance with which Denham treats "infanticide" contributes broadly to medical anthropology, childhood studies, and religious studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Matthew M. Heaton, Virginia Tech