ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3549-0316
Date of Award
Winter 2025
Language
English
Embargo Period
12-26-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School/Department
School of Social Welfare
Program
Social Welfare
First Advisor
Sarah Mountz
Second Advisor
Mary McCarthy
Third Advisor
Peter Dwumah
Committee Members
Sarah Mountz, Mary McCarthy, Peter Dwumah
Keywords
Child trafficking, sharing circles (SCs), injunctive norms, interventions, Ghana
Subject Categories
Development Studies | Social Work
Abstract
Background: This dissertation addresses the urgent issue of child trafficking in high-incidence areas of Ghana, where sociocultural, economic, and structural factors sustain and exacerbate this complex social challenge. The rationale for the study is grounded in the need for a holistic understanding of child trafficking beyond traditional justice-based approaches. The research emphasizes the necessity of community-led interventions informed by local cultural norms and protective values that have been largely unexplored in the Ghanaian context. Specifically, this dissertation applies an integrative approach, rooted in the Ubuntu philosophy, to explore community interdependence as a central component of sustainable anti-trafficking interventions.
Methods: Using a three-paper dissertation format, this dissertation employs a multi-method research design, combining a scoping review and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore community-based interventions for child trafficking in Ghana. The data collection involved both individual interviews and Sharing Circles (SCs), a culturally resonant approach that fosters open, inclusive dialogue among participants. A total of 40 participants were recruited from five high-trafficking communities in Ghana, comprising village chiefs, parents, religious leaders, and child protection committee members. Data was collected through six individual interviews and five SCs, each with four to nine participants. This dual approach provided a comprehensive understanding of the lived experiences and cultural insights of stakeholders, essential for examining the normative and structural drivers of child trafficking. Data were analyzed through IPA, allowing for in-depth interpretation of participants' perspectives and thematic insights into community-led anti-trafficking interventions.
Findings: The first paper, a scoping review, synthesizes existing literature on child trafficking interventions in West Africa, focusing on practice-based approaches. The scoping review analyzes intervention types and coverage across the region. Findings reveal that although community-based prevention efforts exist in the landscape, issues such as limited funding, local resistance, and inadequate outcome-based evaluations undermine their impact. This analysis emphasizes the urgent need for more comprehensive, regionally tailored studies to inform effective intervention strategies. The second paper investigates the impact of injunctive norms – social expectations about behaviors and roles—in high-trafficking Ghanaian communities. The findings reveal how normative pressures, such as the emphasis on early marriage and male child preference lead to having more children than can be cared for which drives families toward child exploitation practices masked as child apprenticeship. This paper highlights that community awareness and transformation of these social norms are critical to disrupting child trafficking cycles and recommends culturally aligned interventions to counter the implicit drivers of trafficking. Building on the previous findings, the third paper applies the Ubuntu model to explore community-led interventions that emphasize interconnectedness and mutual responsibility. This study examines how communities can leverage local support systems to dismantle trafficking vulnerabilities. The findings illustrate that empowering communities through locally resonant values not only increases engagement but also strengthens the resilience of community structures in protecting children. Ubuntu-based frameworks are presented as effective in aligning external interventions with internal community dynamics, promoting sustainable and culturally grounded anti-trafficking strategies.
Conclusions and Recommendations: This dissertation highlights the central role of community involvement in combating child trafficking. The findings call for a paradigm shift from purely legalistic approaches to culturally embedded, community-driven solutions. The study concludes that interventions must be multifaceted, integrating community insights with external resources to address underlying social and economic conditions that perpetuate trafficking. Key recommendations include expanding outcome-focused research on intervention effectiveness, fostering inclusive community dialogues to shift harmful norms, and supporting economic initiatives that reduce vulnerability. This work advocates for a holistic, community-centered framework that recognizes the significance of local cultural contexts and promotes sustainable, collaborative approaches to end child trafficking.
License
This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.
Recommended Citation
Mbamba, Crispin, "WEAVING A TAPESTRY OF COMMUNITY BASED CHILD TRAFFICKING INTERVENTIONS IN HIGH-TRAFFICKING INCIDENCE AREAS IN GHANA" (2025). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 111.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/111
