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

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.