Although it has become axiomatic to quote an African proverb in discussions of
child well-being, attempts to draw concrete and positive lessons from how
African communities respond to and mitigate child maltreatment are comparatively
few. This study tested the hypothesis that the collective value of Abiriwatia in
Ghana, which supports legitimate norms of community obligations to care for
children, could be protective against physical abuse. It also examined the claim
that knowledge of the familial situation of community members, generated through
Abiriwatia, may help them to act to mitigate the risk of caregiver’s borderline
personality disorder (BPD) features. We obtained a nationally representative
sample of 1,100 female caregivers from 22 Ghanaian settlements and tested the
hypotheses using multilevel models. Controlling for community-level physical
abuse, living in a community with high levels of Abiriwatia childcare and
community authority values is associated with lower levels of very severe
physical abuse, and Abiriwatia childcare may mitigate risk from the caregiver’s
BPD features. Within Ghana, encouraging positive and protective aspects of
traditional Ghanaian values and working to reinstate respect for these values
may have positive outcomes for children. Interventions to reduce child
maltreatment should be developed with reference to Abiriwatia childcare
values.