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Rethinking Demonological Theory: “Afise” as a Neglected Cause of Crime among the Yoruba People of Nigeria

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Abstract

Numerous crimes having causes yet unknown to Western theorists exist in Africa. On this, most offenders anchor their claims of the-devil-pushed-me-to-offend justification to reduce their punishment. The present study uses a combination of demonology and disease model to explain tradition-based causes of crime among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It collected qualitative data from purposively selected six focus group discussions and 48 in-depth interview participants from six Yoruba states. The data were content-analyzed. The findings indicated that “afise” accounts for some offenses which offenders unwittingly committed. The study concludes that situations beyond some offenders’ control sometimes explain their criminal acts. It suggests a replacement of punishment and cruelty for the sick role behaviors of afise-induced offenders with normative cure and compassion, not scientific analyses.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria

    Johnson Oluwole Ayodele

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  1. Johnson Oluwole Ayodele
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Ayodele, J.O. Rethinking Demonological Theory: “Afise” as a Neglected Cause of Crime among the Yoruba People of Nigeria. J Afr Am St 20, 229–247 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-016-9329-1

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