The purpose of the study was to obtain information on the circumstances
surrounding the lives of young mothers who resort to killing their babies, and
what could be done to address the problem of infanticide.
An exploratory multiple-case study design was implemented using the
qualitative approach. These types of approach were to explore the same
phenomenon of infanticide in a diversity of situations and with a number of
subjects.
The focus was on determining the dynamics of why the subjects of the
investigation think or behave in a particular manner; on getting an insight in
the circumstances, structures and institutions in society that contribute to
infanticide. A systematic inquiry was implemented so as to get an
understanding of human beings and the nature of their interactions with
themselves and their surroundings.
The subjects were drawn from the police cases since the independence of the
Republic of Namibia. A non-probability sampling was done on a spur-of-the
moment basis to take advantage of available respondents. Data was derived
from questionnaires, interviews and observations of 7 girl-children. Three
were from the Windhoek prison and four were from the community.
The following were identified:
Ignorance about their sexuality let to unwanted and/or unplanned
pregnancy.
Economic dependence put the girls at the receiving end. This led to a
situation in which they have to pay in kind leading to unwanted and/or
unplanned pregnancies.
It was also observed that support systems to help the girl-children to
overcome these obstacles of knowing their reproductive system and to
empower them financially to exist in the community are lacking. Much still needs to be done to make the girl-child a valued member of society. Such factors as education, access to productive health services and law-making need to be modified to advantage the girl-child. / (M.Soc.Sc.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11470 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Tibinyane, M.B. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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