No abstract

We made an inventory of the reasons for inhabitants of Benin are reluctant to undergo the amputation of a limb. A robust six-factor structure of motives was found: Change in Appearance, Lack of Information, Fear of Hospitals and Medical Staff, Loss of Others' Consideration and Affection, Denial of Necessity, and Spiritual and Religious Concerns. The first three motives were the most strongly endorsed. To improve people's timely acceptance, it is important to attack the main emotional-motivational barriers by using artificial limbs imitating real ones, by providing complete information on post-operative care and rehabilitation, and by strengthening family support.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disease resulting from the inheritance from both parents of a mutant hemoglobin gene. Its occurrence can, at best, be prevented, and its daily life consequences can, at least, be limited. As the mutant gene is recessive, it should be useful for people living in countries where SCD is endemic to know their own genetic status and that of their actual or potential partner in order to assess the risk of having a baby with SCD. The present study aimed at examining how a convenience sample of 128 lay people and nine physicians in Benin judge the likelihood that a newborn will suffer from SCD as a function of the genetic status of the baby's mother and father. As expected, several qualitatively different clusters of participants were found. A minority (29 %) made judgments that were largely consistent with the correct rule for determining the likelihood of disease. A larger group (37 %) expressed, however, the view that (a) to know a child's likelihood of suffering from SCD, information is needed about the genetic statuses of both parents and (b) this likelihood depends additively on these genetic statuses. Finally, another group (34 %) thought that, if one parent is suffering from SCD or is a carrier of a sickle gene, the likelihood that the child will have SCD is high, irrespective of the other parent's status. Thus, even among a relatively well-educated group of people in Benin, only a minority used the correct judgment rule when assessing the risk of SCD. Work needs to be done to educate the population regarding the proper way to combine information.

The present study explored and mapped young Beninese people’s views regarding colonization. A sample of 63 students aged 18-20 and living in Cotonou, Benin were presented with 24 cards showing a story that depicted a colonization process and asked to assess each process using a response scale that ranged from “very negatively” to “rather positively”. Each story had four critical items of information: (a) the political/economic situation before colonization (e.g., the area was virtually stateless), (b) the colonial policy of the metropolis (e.g., pure exploitation of the colony’s riches and the building of a minimal infrastructure needed for easing exploitation), (c) the extent to which the average people’s standard of living and life expectancy increased during the colonial period, and (d) the level of brutality with which the colonizer’s rule was applied. Three qualitatively different positions were found: Always very negatively (4%), Undecidable (20%), and Depends on circumstances (74%). This majority position was that, even if colonization deprived African people of their right to self-determination, the colonizer’s action must be assessed taking into account the pros and the cons in each concrete situation. In other words, colonization was, in the case of Africa, not good or bad in itself. This view is in some way not that dissimilar from the one western Europeans may have today regarding past colonization by the Romans.

La musique urbaine des grandes métropoles de l’Afrique de l’Ouest est de plus en plus marquée par des propos transgressifs. Cette rupture de ton est constatée depuis les années 2010 dans des contextes où les interactions sont marquées par la pudeur. Comment peut-on expliquer le développement de telles productions ? En questionnant le processus d’éclosion ainsi que les divers usages de ce phénomène social, l’enquête révèle que les médias sociaux ont joué un rôle majeur dans l’essor et la diffusion de cette musique en rendant toute censure quasi impossible. Qui plus est, on assiste à la naissance d’une subculture liée à cette nouvelle expression artistique, qui atteste de sa portée sociale, culturelle, économique, politique.