Traditional and western methods of punishment : The case of children in the Nso community of North-West region-Cameroon. A contribution to anthropology of punishment.

Abstract

Our present work is titled “Traditional and Western methods of punishment: the case of children in the Nso community of the North West Region - Camerooon. A contribution to Anthropology of Punishmentt”. It is believed in Nso that children need to be raised following culturally prescribed beliefs, attitudes in their enculturation process. In order for parents to make their children morally responsible for the society, they opt to punish. But the growing concern here regards the various forms or methods of punishment administered on children. However, critics regarding punishment methods emanate mostly from the European culture and perception and this has left parents in a confused and worried state. Parents wonder on whether to punish their children or not, and if that should be the case, the methods to put in place given the fact that African children including those in Cameroon are considered to be stubborn and recalcitrant. So they doubt the possibility of bringing up a successful child without the use of corporal punishment. We had as central question: “How do parents punish children who engage in unacceptable behaviours, among the Nso community?” Our main hypothesis stated that Parents use traditional and western methods to punish children who engage in unacceptable behaviours in the Nso community”. We could not successfully go through this section without recalling to mind our main objective.That is to“Examined the methods used to punish children who engage in unacceptable behaviors and practices in the Nso community”. We used the theories of punishment being that it’s relevant to our work, the theory of deviance which helped us understand how and why certain societal norms are not respected. The cultural interpretative theory which offered explanations on the cultural foundations of various traditional punishments methods used on children and cultural meanings that underpin concepts like child, acceptable or unacceptable behaviours on children and lastly, the theory of Reparative principles referring to the process of making things right for oneself and those affected by the offender's behavior. Methodologically, the study was a qualitative one because the objective was to get in-depth information on traditional and western punishment methods used on children in the rural community of Nso. Focus group discussions (FGD), informal conversations, direct observations, life histories as well as in-depth interviews were direct sources of data. Our data analysis techniques following our established questions helped us obtain major results. We realized that, in Nso community, societal norms are effective guides for social behavior. When individuals are in a state of the process of individualization, they see themselves only in terms of group identity, and their behavior is likely to be guided only by this group’s norms. The norm of social reciprocity which directs the Nso people to return to others, the favours, goods, and services they offer us. We also noticed the norm of social commitment, that is keeping their promises and finally norm of obedience that directs people toward submission to authority. Many customary sanctions or traditional punishment methods to appease victims and to safeguard against vengeance are still in use, manual labour, deprivation of food, public disgrace, public shaming, whippings, burning the child with pressing iron, amongst others. The impacts of these punishment methods are far reaching. As for parents, traditional punishment methods have not only produced responsible citizens in the community but have also enhanced community education. It identifies children with their community. The good moral behavior that the children receive from home had made them behave well in school. However, corporal punishment has increased violence in the Banso community and schools. We found out that when some children are beaten, they turn to be aggressive. The western punishment methods have brought a laissez-faire attitude as concerns crimes to the Banso community. Children are no longer afraid to commit crimes because they know they would not be punished accordingly. With the indigenous Legal Systems in the Nso Community; the situation of tribes as sovereign nations are both pre-constitutional and extra-constitutional. Tribes continue to possess four key characteristics of their sovereign status: a distinctive permanent population, a defined territory with identifiable borders, a State exercising authority over territory and population, and the capacity to enter into government-to-government relationships with other nation-states. In fact, the administration of justice, law, and order is a function of government retained by the tribes as sovereign nations. It is within this realm that indigenous justice systems exist. Sometimes, they still temporarily or permanently banish individuals who commit serious or violent crimes.