Browsing by Author "Parimah, F."
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Item Correlates of Drug Use among Offenders in Some Prisons in Ghana(SAGE, 2021) Parimah, F.; Owusu, J.O.; Solomon, A.T.; Appiah-Honny, S.A.Among others, the study sought to find out whether being convicted of the possession of marijuana for personal use for the first time or multiple times, would predict marijuana, and other drug use within the past 30 days. Using a cross-sectional survey, two hundred and fifty three (253) male offenders were conveniently sampled from three prisons in Ghana. The average age of participants was 31.26 (SD = 10.19). It was established that those who had been convicted of the possession of marijuana for personal use for the first time were likely to have used marijuana within the past 30 days (OR = 4.15, 95% CI = 2.00, 8.58), and other drugs within the past 30 days (OR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.09, 5.47). Also, those who were recidivist robbers were likely to have used other drugs within the past 30 days (OR = 6.63, 95% CI = 2.55, 17.25). These, and other findings are discussed.Item Media Reportage Of Suicide Among Police Officers In Ghana: A Mixed Method Analysis(Cogent Social Sciences, 2022) Agyemang, C.B.; Parimah, F.Rates of suicide have been recorded among the police in some parts of the world. Despite the attention that this topic has received, it appears that not much is being researched in Africa. Besides, research on suicide in Ghana has been skewed towards the public, to the neglect of the police. The sparse literature on suicide among the police, both in Africa and in Ghana, inspired this study. Our objectives were to examine the state of suicide among the police in Ghana as reported in the media, the differences between private and public news outlets with respect to their reportage of police suicide, and reasons that account for suicide among the police in Ghana. Using a mixed-methods approach and the purposive sampling technique, contents of news items from seven popular news portals on suicide among police officers in Ghana between the years 2015 and 2021 were reviewed. Sixty-nine (69) news items were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. It was observed that there were more reports of suicide on male officers compared with their female counterparts, with the rifle, pistol, and hanging being the modes for carrying out the act of suicide. Almost an equal number of superior and subordinate officers were reported to have committed suicide. To ensure that they completed their act, officers resorted to the use of lethal means, such as shooting themselves through the eye, head, throat, chin, and jaw. The reasons for committing suicide clustered around the themes of psychosocial precipitants, too high expectations, expected to man up, failed marriage, education of children, institutional lapses, failed paternity test, proposals, lack of public support, fed up with this life, can’t take the disgrace, and access to deadly weapon. Generally, media outlets failed to comply with the acceptable guidelines for reporting suicide. The use of a mixed method afforded us the opportunity to glean some reasons that account for suicide among the police in Ghana, showing how the psychological state of the officer, society, and faulty institutional structures within the service could lead to officer suicide. Also, there is a need for media outlets to be educated on the need to adhere to the standard guidelines for reporting suicideItem Restorative justice ideology among High School teachers in Ghana: investigating the role of collectivism and personality(Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice, 2018-10) Parimah, F.; Davour, M.J.; Kofi, C.C.; Winder, B.Studies on Restorative Justice (RJ) ideology in school settings have largely focused on Western societies, to the neglect of African societies. This means that variables relevant to the Ghanaian setting that might be associated with RJ ideology have not been examined. The current study investigates the association between High School teachers’ Collectivism, Openness to Experience (OE), and their idea of Restoration. Analysis of data from 191 (Male = 128, Female = 63) teachers in Accra indicated that Collectivism and OE both predicted the idea of Restoration. This suggests that both Collectivism and OE are important resources that may help teachers embrace the idea of restoring a student offender to morally acceptable behaviour. This and other findings are discussed.Item Risky Driving Attitudes in Ghana: Is the Use of Fear-Based Messages Operational?(European Researcher (Academic Publishing House Researcher), 2015) Nkansah, A.; Akotia, C.S.; Osafo, J.; Parimah, F.; Sarfo, J.A.Scare tactics are often used in road safety campaigns even though years of research into fear appeals have yielded inconsistent results. In Ghana, where all efforts are being made to reduce traffic accidents, the use of fear appeals and threat of enforcement has not been spared. In an experimental study, the researchers investigated the effectiveness of this message on risky driving attitude and also explored the effect of an alternative strategy, fear of prosecution. Findings from this study suggest that fear appeals, fear of prosecution and combination of these two strategies do not have an effect on risky driving attitudes. These findings are used to make conclusions about the design of road safety campaigns incorporating such scare tactics.Item A snapshot of emotional harms caused by the litigation process – Qualitative data from Ghana(Forensic Science International: Mind and Law, 2021) Parimah, F.; Davour, M.J.; Kwakye-Nuako, C.O.; Kenneth, O.A.; Adade, A.; Adih, P.Background: Very few studies have investigated the effect of the process of litigation on the mental health of litigants. In Ghana, not much is known about the stress that litigants encounter and how they cope during the process of litigation. Methods: This study used a mixed-method sequential explanatory design to explore the stressors people litigating as individuals encounter in Ghana and how they cope in the process of litigation. As the second phase following the quantitative stage, interviews were conducted with seventeen (male ¼ 13, female ¼ 4) litigants (de fendants ¼ 4, plaintiffs ¼ 13) who were selected (using criterion sampling) from the Law Court Complex in Accra, Ghana. Their average age and the average duration of the case was 50.13 (SD ¼ 12.55), and 26.7 months respectively. Results and discussion: To explain the results found in the quantitative phase, three themes with subthemes were extracted from the data set: challenges in the court process, emotional consequences of the litigation process, and coping mechanisms. The frequent adjournments of cases, delays on court days, deliberate dragging of cases, financial strain, and opportunity cost, were the challenges encountered by litigants in the court process. These led to emotional outcomes such as stress, overstraining, sleepless nights, numbness, and the acceptance of court pro ceedings as part of life. To help them cope with these emotional outcomes, litigants looked for a light at the end of the tunnel and reliance on their faith. The stressful nature of the court process and how litigants cope with the process of litigation is discussed. Consequently, we recommend that people be educated about Bar etiquette and court procedures. Additionally, we suggest that lawyers should provide some form of scientifically-derived esti mation of how long a case might last. It is also recommended that law firms consider providing counselling sessions for their clients.Item Stress and coping among litigants in the civil litigation process in Ghana(Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 2020-02-27) Parimah, F.; Davour, M.J.; Kwakye-Nuako, C.O.; Adih, P.Few studies have examined the challenges litigants face in the civil litigation process in Africa and Ghana. The study sought to investigate the effect of type of litigant on stress, and coping. Using both purposive and convenience sampling techniques, 262 litigants using the High Courts at the court complex in Accra, Ghana, were sampled for the study. Most respondents were male (88.9%), with a mean age of 48.1 (SD = 13.25). A significant effect of type of litigant on stress, and coping was observed. Those litigating as individuals experienced more stress: intrusion, and avoidance compared with those litigating on behalf of their companies. Consequently, those litigating as individuals used more coping strategies compared with those litigating on behalf of their companies. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant literature