Raising Children In Urban Slums Of Ghana: Exploring The Experiences Of Young Mothers In Selected Slums Of Accra
Date
2021-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Ghana
Abstract
Slums serve as home to a billion people, and this figure is expected to rise exponentially as most third-world countries continue to urbanise. In Ghana, about 4.8 million people live in slums and lack basic amenities. Given the unavailability of basic amenities in slum areas, raising children by young mothers in such environments becomes even more challenging as they are mostly considered not to have mastered that task of parenting. This study sought to: (a) explore the childcare practices of young mothers in raising their children in the slums of Ghana’s capital, Accra; (b) find out the challenges young mothers encounter in raising their children in the slums of Ghana’s capital, Accra; and (c) ascertain the coping mechanisms young mothers utilize in raising their children in the slums of Ghana’s capital, Accra. Using a sample size of twenty (20), the participants were purposively selected from two study sites: Old Fadama and African Eleven. A qualitative research design was used for this study, with in-depth interviews being the main data collection method. The data was categorised with the help of NVivo 12 Pro software, while Smith and Osborn’s Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study revealed that most of the participants resort to the pharmacy rather than the hospital when their children fall ill because there are no clinics or hospitals within the slums. Furthermore, young mothers exercised control over their children through corporal punishments such as beatings, deprivation of privileges, and confining them indoors whenever they displayed unruly behaviour. Additionally, young mothers in their bid to raise their children encountered some feeding challenges due to financial constraints. Notwithstanding the challenges young mothers encountered, they were able to cope through the support of their peers, friends, and co-workers within the slum. Young mothers adopted some strategies such as endurance, tolerance and denial, savings and credit facilities, and group feeding strategies such as food rationing. With this, young mothers had to skip meals, fast, and reduce the quantity of food eaten in order to provide for their children. The study concludes that the lack of basic amenities within the two slums further worsens the plight of young mothers, as such, putting them in despair. To exploit or scale up the hope of young mothers in slums, the efforts of the government, stakeholders, and local and civil society groups (including community-based and faith-based organizations) should aim at improving the socio-economic conditions (especially education, health, and infrastructure) of both slums on a sustainable basis. In the long run, social workers should help link young mothers and families to resources, interventions, or organizations that could help them improve their well-being.
Description
MPhil. Social Work
Keywords
Urban Slums, Young Mothers, Accra, Children