Academic Papers: All

Hunting Witches – World Policy Journal Article by WHRIN

Article by Gary Foxcroft, Executive Director, WHRIN. Read full article here 

WHRIN 2014 Country Report: Witchcraft Accusations and Persecution in Nepal

Joint report with Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and Forum for Protection of People’s Rights (PPR Nepal). Launched at National Women’s Commission in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 2014. See full report here

Here Be Witches! – World Policy Journal

While witchcraft may seem like a curious relic of a less scientific era, for millions across the globe, the spirit realm continues to play a significant role in day-to-day life—and sometimes with fatal consequences.  See full report here 

Spirituality Within Assessments: Leethen Bartholomew

Assessments are carried out to aid in understanding the clients’ situation and may be used to identify resources, weaknesses and strengths. When working with families this is important to gain an understanding of the role spirituality plays in their decision making process and how their spirituality may act as either a source of stress or support in times of need.

This paper outlines how gaining an understanding of the client’s level of spirituality will help you understand what the individual’s beliefs are and what their past and current practices are. It also helps gives practitioners some of the tools that they may need to do so. To read the full paper please click here

Ghana: Witchcraft Accusations and Freethought in Ghana

Witchcraft came about in the course of attempts by human beings to make sense of the world, to give meaning to their lives, and provide explanations of events and happenings in the world. Witchcraft is our creation and invention. Witchcraft is our idea. Witchcraft is actually our –human-craft, not the witch’s craft. But human creations can be misinformed and mistaken, human inventions can be misused and turned into weapons to tyrannize over the lives of people, or be used as tools of oppression, abuse and exploitation of vulnerable members of the population. So it iswith witchcraft. Read more here.

21st century witch hunts: Is blaming James Inhofe for causing bad weather really more sane than blaming witches in Salem or Tanzania for the same thing?

Historical records indicate that, worldwide, witch hunts occur more often during cold periods, possibly because people look for scapegoats to blame for crop failures and general economic hardship. Fitting the pattern, scholars argue that cold weather may have spurred the infamous Salem witch trials in 1692. Read more here.

‘‘Satan Has Afflicted Me!’’ Jinn-Possession and Mental illness in the Qur’an

Mental health stigma in Muslim communities may be partly due to a commonly held belief among some Muslims about the supernatural causes of mental illness(i.e. jinn-possession brought on by one’s sinful life). A thematic analysis was carried out on four English translations and the Arabic text of the Qur’an to explore whether the connection between jinn-possession and insanity exists within the Muslim holy book. No connection between spirit-possession and madness or mental illness was found. Pagans taunted and labelled people as jinn-possessed only to ostracize and scapegoat. Linking the labeling of people as jinn-possession to a pagan practice may be used to educate Muslims,so they can reassess their community’s stigma towards the mentally ill. Read more here

DRC: Exorcising Spirits Instead of Exercising Rights? The Recent Phenomenon of Child Witch Accusation in the DRC

Undergraduate dissertation by Sancha Cadogan-Poole of the University of East London. Read full paper here

African witchcraft in theological perspective

This article is a theological contribution aimed at creating an understanding of the phenomenon of witchcraft in South Africa. Witchcraft still causes major social problems in this country. Thearticle argues that the development of a culture of human rights and the improvement of the judicial process alone will not solve this problem. Witchcraft is a too deeply rooted religious phenomenon. The phenomenon is described in its religious complexity and diversity. Witchcraft is discussed within the framework of the African theodicy. Full article here.

The dangers of anonymity: Witchcraft, rumor, and modernity in Africa

This article deals with a series of rumors that spread across West and Central Africa during the last two decades. These rumors of penis snatchers, of killer mobile phone numbers,and of deadly alms constitute a transnational genre that is characteristic of Africa’s occult modernity. The article casts new light on witchcraft and the occult in contemporary Africa, and suggests new ways of tying together micro and macro levels of analysis, by grounding the wide-ranging dynamics of modernity in the minutiae of human interaction. See here