My historical selection was actually a sociology book (for those of you that don't know, that was my major in undergrad!) Sociology is basically the study of social structures, communities and people; so social work was an obvious transition for me. The book I chose is titled, "Tradition and Change in Ghana: An Introduction to Sociology" (2nd Edition) written by G.K. Nukunya. Nukunya is a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, a retired professor of Sociology and a former Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon.
I am not going to bore you too much with a complete summary of the book, but I will hit the highlights and give you my honest opinion about the book.
In the preface they describe their thesis...
...despite the many changes experienced by the country since the turn of the century, only a thorough knowledge of the traditional set up and institutions would enable one to fully understand contemporary Ghanaian society and appreciate its problems...
This is a great way to describe sociology...but better yet, we use these same theories in social work. That is what separates social workers from other therapists or counselors, we look at the person from a very global and systemic perspective. What are the systems in play in this persons life that we can identify, work on, and overcome in order to move toward positive change and progress.
The flow of the books is as follows..
...we start with a thorough discussion of the main aspects of tradtional life, follow it up with the factors and processes of change and conclude by looking at some major issues of contemporary interest and concern.There are 14 chapters total, including the Intro and Conclusion, the others cover topics such as:
- Kinship
- Marriage and the Family
- Religious Beliefs and Practices
- Political Institutions
- Law and Social Control
- Economic Organization
- Social Change and Urbanization
- Main Facotrs of Change
- Urbanization, Social Change and the Family
- Contemporary Issues of Public Interest and Concern
- Social Stratification
- Population Growth and its Problems
- Tribalism, Bribery and Corruption
- Trokosi System
The literal meaning of the word stems from a combiation of two Ewe words meaning "diety" and "slave." Essentiall Trokosi refers to the idea of being a "slave to a deity." Here is how Professor Nukunya describes the process..
In its commonest and most humiliating form, a virgin who is yet to experience menarche is given to a diety to atone for the sin or offense committed by a relative. (p.241).So essentially it is giving a young girl to be enslaved for the sins committed by a family member. There are interesting discussions about the use of the word "Slave," "Enslavement" and "Slavery" when talking about this issue...check this for more.
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On a brighter note...
I have the 2007 version, and it looks like it is from the 80's. There is something about the way it was made and finished that seems outdated, which may be a reflection of the publishing company used. It gave the entire book a certain vibe, if that makes sense. For example some of the text on the page was faded or it looked like a page was an actual photocopy. He did so much work for this book and its a shame that the publishing of it had to fall short.
One interesting thing to add was Nukunya's discussion of how difficult it was to find the proper data and factual information needed to write the book. The reminds me of the blog I wrote regarding the lack of record keeping of mental health stastics, espeically suicide. We take for granted the incredible statistic industry we have and how easy it is to look up information about where we are from, who we are, anything really!
This book is not necessarily a "must-read" but it is very helpful in understanding Ghana's past and future.
Yay for books! Here are some pictures from the Morning Star School's library...Do any of these look familiar??
And yours truly (with the librarian!)...donating books...
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