Abstract:
The present study was conducted to find out the effect of widowhood rites on the psychosocial
well
-
being of widows in Nadowli District of the Upper West Region (Ghana). T
he study generally examined
three aspects of the well
-
being of the widows viz psychological, economic and social of widows mainly as a
result of the ordeal they go through during widowhood rites. The psychosocial Well
-
being Scale (PSWS)
was used to collect
data on eighty widows from Nadowli District. The statistical analysis was done mostly by
the t tests. Findings indicated that the younger widows experience higher levels of psychological effects of
widowhood than the older widows. In addition, results sho
wed that younger widows tend to experience
higher economic setbacks. However, results indicated that there was no difference in social effect
widowhood between younger and older widows. Based on this it is recommended that the District
Assemblies, Traditio
nal Authorities, NGOs and Gender Based Organizations should come together and
abolished some of the widowhood rites that tend to have negative psychosocial well
-
being on the widows in
the Nadowli District.
