309 Community Parenting and the Concept of Child Abuse in Yoruba Culture

Abstract

The study investigated whether or not child abuse existed in the traditional Yoruba culture. The population consisted
of all the secondary students and their parents in Ile-Ife metropolis. Purposive random techniques was employed in selecting 241
male and 259 female that made up of three sets of people (non-literate parents, literate parents and students) which comprises
of 66 males and 84 females non-literate parents and 75 males and 75 females literate parents as well as 100 males and 100
females students that were selected from 10 secondary schools in Ile-Ife .using purposive sampling technique. A questionnaire
titled “Parenting and Child Abuse Questionnaire” (PCAQ) was developed by the investigator to elicit information from both
students and parents on the issue related to child abuse. The non-literate parents that could not read the questionnaire were
made to respond as the investigator read in native language. The questionnaire was validated before use and the reliability
coefficient yielded 0.85 which is significant at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analysed statistically using percentages.
Findings showed students do not see the type of training giving to them in the traditional setting as child abuse. Non-literate
parents do not see fostering children as child abuse. Also the literate parents see child abuse as a fruit of western civilization.
The paper concluded that child abuse should be examined within the context of culture. Practices with cultural undertones
should not be condemned.