Sororicides in Ghana: A Study of Homicidal Aggression Against Sisters
| Author | Ebony Jenkins,Mensah Adinkrah |
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306624X18814169 |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2018
Article
International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Sororicides in Ghana: A Study
Comparative Criminology
2019, Vol. 63(8) 1265 –1288
of Homicidal Aggression
© The Author(s) 2018
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Against Sisters
https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X18814169
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X18814169
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo
Mensah Adinkrah1 and Ebony Jenkins1
Abstract
Sororicide has received scarce attention in the homicide literature. This is particularly
the case for sororicide incidents occurring in the nonindustrialized, non-Western
world. To help address this gap in the literature and extend the study of sororicides,
the current exploratory, descriptive study examined the major characteristics of 18
media-reported sororicides that occurred in Ghana from 1990 to 2017, including
the sociodemographic characteristics of victims and offenders, victim–offender
relationship, incident location, modus operandi, motive, and criminal justice outcomes.
The results show that sororicide represents a minuscule proportion of all homicides
that occur in the country annually. Brothers were overwhelmingly the perpetrators of
sororicide, accounting for 17 of the 18 killings. The findings indicate that a substantial
proportion of the sororicides occurred in the context of disputes over money, land,
property, or inheritance. Two brothers killed sisters they suspected of maleficent
witchcraft.
Keywords
sororicide, siblicide, fratricide, homicide, Ghana, Africa
Introduction
Sororicide, defined as the killing of one’s own sister, has attracted scanty attention in
the professional homicide literature (Adam & Livingston, 1993; Daly, Wilson, Salmon,
Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, & Hasegawa, 2001; Ewing, 1997; Gebo, 2002; Mukaddes &
Topcu, 2006; Peck & Heide, 2012; Walsh & Krienert, 2014). Concurrently, there is a
dearth of nonscholarly information about the phenomenon. As a result, very little is
1Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA
Corresponding Author:
Mensah Adinkrah, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work, Central Michigan University,
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA.
Email: adink1m@cmich.edu
1266
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 63(8)
currently known about the magnitude, trends, nature, and patterns of this form of
homicide. In addition, criminological understanding of the phenomenon is limited
(Gebo, 2002; Underwood & Patch, 1999; Walsh & Krienert, 2014). Another major
shortcoming of the sororicide literature is that nearly all existing research on the phe-
nomenon has been conducted in the Western or industrialized societies of Australia
(Cussen & Bryant, 2015; Mouzos & Rushforth, 2003), Canada (Daly et al., 2001),
England (Daly et al., 2001), Japan (Daly et al., 2001), and the United States (Adam &
Livingston, 1993; Daly et al., 2001; Ewing, 1997; Gebo, 2002; Mukaddes & Topcu,
2006; Peck & Heide, 2012). Although research from these studies has yielded substan-
tial insights, the limited geographical and cultural scope of these extant studies makes
knowledge about the phenomenon incomplete. For example, there is currently a vir-
tual absence of research on sororicide in an African setting, notwithstanding the fact
that several sororicidal incidents have been documented in the popular media (e.g.,
“Man Kills Sister,” 2014; “Man Kills Sister Over Boyfriend,” 2017; “Man Sentenced
to Death by Hanging for Killing His Sister,” 2013; “Man Strangles Sister,” 2015). In
Ghana, for example, despite sporadic media reports concerning sister-homicides (e.g.,
“Farmer Shoots Sister,” 1998; “Man Beats Sister to Death,” 2002; “Two in Custody
Over Sister’s Death,” 1997), no systematic study of the phenomenon currently exists.
One probable reason for the paucity of information on sororicide in non-Western,
nonindustrialized societies is the low prevalence of the offense (Daly & Wilson, 1988).
In many contemporary African societies, for example, sororicide is an extremely rare
crime because of robust cultural prohibitions associated with shedding a kinfolk’s
blood (Wilks, 1989). Another probable reason is the dearth of comprehensive data on
the subject. In many non-Western, nonindustrialized nations, law enforcement data on
criminal activities are only sporadically collected, collated, or disseminated, with the
result that available data are often incomplete and unreliable. In addition, there are
often serious challenges that criminologists and other social scientists must overcome
to access the available data. It needs to be noted that “difficulty associated with obtain-
ing comprehensive and manageable datasets” has also been blamed for the paucity of
scholarly investigations into siblicides in the United States (Gebo, 2002; Walsh &
Krienert, 2014, p. 529; Underwood & Patch, 1999). Here too, the limited empirical
inquiry into siblicides has been attributed to the low prevalence of siblicides (Diem &
Pizarro, 2010). According to some analysts, “siblicides are the rarest type of family
homicide when compared to intimate partner homicide, filicide, and parricide” (Diem
& Pizarro, 2010, p. 526).
The exclusive focus of extant sororicide research on industrialized Western societ-
ies creates an incomplete picture concerning the nature and patterns of sororicide in
particular, and lethal violence, in general. Indeed, for several years, homicide scholars
have bemoaned the limited amount of lethal violence research coming from non-West-
ern, nonindustrialized societies. In an article aimed at assessing the state of scholarship
on homicide in the year 2000, as well as defining an agenda for future scholarship,
Homicide Studies editor, M. Dwayne Smith (2000) requested leading homicide
researchers to reply to the question, “What don’t we know about homicide that, if we
did, would significantly enhance our understanding of lethal violence?” In their
Adinkrah and Jenkins
1267
responses, several scholars lamented the scarceness of studies focusing on homicide
events in non-Western, nonindustrialized societies and called for research focusing on
them. For example, Derral Cheatwood described the field of homicide as “weak in
studies of international homicide, whether in stand-alone studies of specific countries
or in comparative studies” (Smith, 2000, p. 9). Similarly, Simha Landau called for “a
stronger emphasis in future research on cross-cultural and cross-national research”
noting that “in addition to increasing our knowledge of homicide studies in different
countries, research such as this would also allow American/Western-based theories
and methodologies to be tested in other countries and other cultural contexts” (p. 10).
In sum, research on sororicide in non-Western, nonindustrialized societies will offer a
comparative perspective that is vitally important if homicide scholars are to achieve
their quest to comprehend homicide more fully and formulate conceptually broad and
cross culturally valid theories of lethal violence (Smith, 2000). According to research
methodologist Lawrence Neuman (1997), “Historical-comparative research can
strengthen conceptualization and theory building. By looking at historical events or
diverse cultural contexts, a researcher can generate new concepts and broaden his or
her perspectives” (p. 384).
To help rectify the paucity of sororicide scholarship originating from non-Western,
nonindustrialized societies and contribute to information on the subject, the current
descriptive and exploratory study focused on 18 media-reported sororicide incidents
that occurred in Ghana, West Africa, during 1990-2017. Specifically, the aim of the
study was to expand current knowledge about sororicide and advance current under-
standing of lethal violence as a form of human behavior. Given that this was the first
ever study conducted on sororicides in Ghana, the study undertook to explore as many
features of the crime as the data would permit. Issues examined include the sociode-
mographic characteristics of victims and assailants, relationship of the victim to the
offender, temporal and spatial aspects of the crime, method of offense perpetration, as
well as the motives and circumstances surrounding the offense. The study also exam-
ined community responses to each crime, criminal justice actions taken against the
perpetrators, as well as dispositional outcomes. It is envisaged that understanding the
characteristics and situations of sororicides will assist stakeholders in the design and
implementation of policies to reduce this tragic form of violence.
Review of the Literature
The professional literature on sororicide is minuscule (Adam & Livingston, 1993;
Gebo, 2002; Peck & Heide, 2012; Underwood & Patch, 1999). Also, to date, only a
small body of nonacademic writings have broached the topic of sororicide (e.g., Guy,
2017). The dearth of extant research on sororicide stands in stark contradistinction to
the voluminous literature that has amassed on intimate partner homicides. In the aca-
demic literature, information about sororicide is often embedded in research focusing
on family homicides in general (e.g., Cussen & Bryant, 2015; Diem & Pizarro, 2010;
Liem, Levin, Holland, & Fox, 2013; Liem & Reichelmann, 2014), or siblicide, in par-
ticular (Daly et al., 2001; Gebo, 2002; Mouzos & Rushforth, 2003; Peck &...
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