Exploring Witchcraft, Sorcery and Bewitchment Beliefs, and Social Work Responses Among Street Children in Zimbabwe

Abstract Street children increasingly shaping the urban landscape in many African countries. Their experiences of street childhood expose street children to many vulnerabilities including children’s rights violations, and social exclusion from schooling. Witchcraft, sorcery, and bewitchment beliefs appear to be both a cause and an outcome of street childhood in Africa. Despite this, there is a notable lack of research on the development of supernatural reasoning, which is central to the African world view. To further understand the role of bewitchment, sorcery, and witchcraft beliefs in the aetiology of street childhood, the current study explored the nature and perceived effects of witchcraft beliefs among street children in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 14 street children and eight key informants. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling, and the data were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). A number of themes emerged from the data that link witchcraft and sorcery beliefs to street childhood, often arising in the context of strained family relationships (especially step-parenting) and prophetic revelations of bewitchment by prophets and pastors. From a developmental perspective, it also appears that African children may be socialised into making personal attributions in conflictual relational contexts. The findings also highlight the violation of children's rights in the context of witchcraft and sorcery abuse. Additionally, they reveal the social work responses, which include family reunification, access to schooling, and the reintegration of some children with other members of their extended family networks. Future research should be transdisciplinary and should seek to determine the causal reasoning development for African children, particularly within the supernatural African worldview, and conduct research on the nature and impact of harmful cultural practices on children’s rights. The authors recommend social work responses that must include helping professions such as education, psychology and psychiatry, and should design transdisciplinary strategies that encompass media awareness campaigns, parenting, schooling, and religious interventions addressing street childhood. These strategies should also address bewitchment beliefs.