Department of Sociology
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Item Youth and Social Navigation in the Alavanyo and Nkonya Land Conflict in Ghana(Nordic Journal of African Studies, 2023) Gariba, J.A.This article examines the agency of youth in Alavanyo and Nkonya and how they navigate the social, economic, and political difficulties of life in the context of an ongoing land conflict dating back to the early 1900s. In Ghana, because land is the basis of economic potential and spirituality, identity, history, rootedness, and belonging for groups and individuals, it has become a major contested entity, producing many intractable conflicts. In Alavanyo and Nkonya, the youth who are at the centre of the conflict and have had their futures made opaque and truncated by many challenging situations. Over the years, traditional dispute resolution approaches were led by chiefs. court rulings, and mediation committees set up by the state of Ghana, as well as by the UNDP, aimed at resolving the land conflict, have all been unsuccessful. This context has pushed the youth to develop a process of social navigation through farming, illegal marijuana cultivation, illicit timber logging, and the okada transport business to cope with the challenges of everyday life. The article contends that, while the area has lands that are fertile for agrarian activities, the youth are unable to harness the potential of the land because of the ongoing conflict.Item Exploring Indigenous And Experiential Knowledge Of Peasant Farmers In Climate Change Mitigating On Agricultural Soils And Livelihoods(Journal of Sustainability Science and Management, 2023) Sedegah, D.D.; Akagbor, M.A.; Kwarteng-Donkor, P.B.; et al.The global concern that Africa’s strong economic dependency on climate-related activities makes it vulnerable is troubling, as the continent is lagging in embracing scientific techniques for adapting to the changing global environment. However, challenges exist where the application of ‘modern scientific’ knowledge to addressing climate change appears to disregard resilient ‘indigenous knowledge systems.’ This study situates the practices and experiences of peasant farmers in Ghana to explore the indigenous knowledge systems they use to navigate climate change’s impact on their livelihoods. The study adopts the theoretical framework of Bruchac’s ‘indigenous knowledge theory’ in unpacking the socio-cultural ways peasant farmers in Ghana create unique ways of ‘knowing’ and understanding climate change. Utilising Focus Group Discussion and interviews, the views of peasant farmers on climate change and its impact on their livelihood were explored. The study found that the transferability of indigenous knowledge passed down to participants by their ancestors has shaped their ontological reality of changing climate patterns and its impact on their livelihoods. However, challenges exist in contemporary times in applying this knowledge to their farming practices. The study pushes for synthesising indigenous knowledge systems with modern scientific knowledge systems for institutional and behavioural change regarding climate change in GhanaItem ‘I Am on a Family Planning Program, but I Have Not Told My Husband’: Contraceptive Decision-Making of Child Brides in Ghana(Journal of Family Issues, 2022) Gyan, S.E.; Domfe, G.; Tsiboe-Darko, A.This study explores the factors that influence child bride’s decision-making. either independently or jointly on modern contraceptive use in Ghana. The findings of this study are based on qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with 15 child brides aged 15–24 years from four administrative regions in Ghana. It was observed that knowing about contraceptives, quality of the knowledge, attitude and sociocultural influences that affected child brides’ decision to use contraception. Thus, autonomy in decision-making requires first, making the decision to access contraceptives and secondly, whether the decision can be implemented alone, with permission or in consultation with their spouses. It can be concluded from this study that child brides are not always as vulnerable and unable to exercise agency as it sometimes suggested because they sometimes used contraceptives without informing their partners, although there is the possibility of a negative backlash from their partners when it is known.Item A Study of Alternative Measures in Resolving Cases of Child Sexual Abuse among the Ga Community in Accra, Ghana(Child Abuse Review, 2021) Markwei, U.; Tetteh, P.M.Many children continue to be sexually abused worldwide. In Ghana, relatively high Figures of child sexual abuse (CSA) are reported by the police daily. Although there There are laws that seek to protect children from sexual abuse, in reality, there is a wide gulf between legislation and practice. This paper explores why this is so by examining the measures adopted in sanctioning perpetrators of CSA in the Ga community in Ghana. The study uses a qualitative approach to collect data from parents and guardians through in-depth interviews. The study revealed that, generally, traditional rather than legal sanctions are adopted in handling CSA cases. This paper thus interrogates the consequences of the obvious contraventions of the law as traditional interventions are resorted to. We posit that CSA can be minimised only when child protection laws are enforced by the police and victims are reoriented to appreciate the benefits of seeking legal redress. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Item Corruption Intentions Among Prospective Elites in Ghana: An Economy of Esteem(International Criminal Justice Review, 2019) Tankebe, J.; Karstedt, S.; Adu-Poku, S.Besides its multiple harms, corruption undermines the rule of law and impedes the effective func tioning of criminal justice institutions. It involves both elites in bending rules and laws as well as police at the bottom of the hierarchy asking for bribes. We analyze corruption intentions within the framework of Brennan and Pettit’s “economy of esteem,” using three main conceptual frameworks: attachment to kinship groups, materialistic orientations, and deterrence. We draw on data from a survey of 530 university students in Ghana to examine predictors of corruption intentions of prospective elites. Our prospective elites were more inclined to resort to influence peddling rather than to pay bribes directly. We find that attitudinal patterns indicative of esteem predict intentions to engage in corrupt exchanges across different agencies and contexts—police, procurement for government, and abuse of power—as well as different types of action, whether bribe payment or nepotism. In contrast, citizenly pride (and self-esteem) motivates integrity across all types of corrupt exchange. Deterrence, in terms of certainty, had a more consistently negative impact on intentions to engage in nepotism than in bribe paying and acceptance, with public procurement being the exception; no effect was found for stigma, and only police nepotism was an exception to the oth erwise non-significant effects of severity.Item Violence predicts physical health consequences of human trafficking: Findings from a longitudinal study of labor trafficking in Ghana(Social Science & Medicine, 2021) Clay-Warner, J.; Edgemon, T.G.; Okech, D.; Anarf, J.K.Research consistently finds high rates of both poor physical health and violent victimization among survivors of human trafficking. While this literature documents the immediate effects of human trafficking on health, no published literature has compared short- and longer-term physical health consequences of trafficking or exam ined the role of violence in shaping physical health outcomes across the period of reintegration. Here, we utilize longitudinal data to document the prevalence of various forms of violence experienced by women and girls trafficked for labor in Ghana, as well as examine the effects of violence on self-reported physical health condi tions at two time points following exit from trafficking. Consistent with the stress process model, we find a higher prevalence of physical health complaints during the second wave of data collection, suggesting a delayed so matization effect. We also find that while psychological violence has a strong effect on the number of physical health complaints in the period immediately after exit from trafficking, sexual violence experienced while being trafficked is most predictive of physical health complaints later in the reintegration period. These findings have implications for understanding the role of violence, more generally, in shaping physical health. Our research also suggests the importance of monitoring the physical health of trafficking survivors beyond the immediate post trafficking period and of providing on-going access to healthcare.Item ‘To speak or not to speak’: Exploring the reasons and channels of (non) disclosure of child sexual abuse in the Ga community in Ghana(Children and Youth Services Review, 2021) Markwei, U.; Tetteh, P.M.Child sexual abuse is a relatively common phenomenon across nations. Studies show that disclosing child sexual abuse is a critical aspect in resolving the problem. Yet, many children do not disclose their experiences of sexual abuse due to socio-cultural factors. The purpose of this study is to identify how incidences of child sexual abuse came to be known. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling from selected com munities in the Ga community in Ghana. The findings of the study revealed that almost all the cases of child sexual abuse were discovered accidentally; that victims rarely made the deliberate effort to report these abuses. The few participants who disclosed their sexual abuse did so to their friends. The findings underscore the need for creating a culturally enabling environment that targets empowering victims to disclose their experiences of sexual abuse in order to obtain support and redress.Item Microenterprise performance amidst environmental turbulence and resource scarcity: an integrated capital approach(Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2024) Darkwah, A. K.; Ofori-Dankwa, J.; DelVecchio, M.Purpose – Microenterprises in emerging economies are known to operate in turbulent and resource-scarce environments.We test our hypothesis that a more comprehensive “Integrated Capital-Based Model” (ICBM) is needed when explaining the performance of microenterprises in such an environment. The model combines traditionally researched financial, human and social capital with more recently emphasized psychological and cognitive capital, providing greater explanatory power than models using only the traditional types of capital. Design/methodology/approach – We use a pooled linear regression to analyze an existing survey of more than 900 independent business owners who were interviewed seven times between 2008 and 2012 in the Accra and Tema marketplaces in Ghana. We measure the performance of microenterprises using three dependent variables (revenue, profits, and productivity).We contrast the explanatory power of ICBM models against the more traditional models. Findings – The ICBM has significantly higher levels of explanatory power over the traditional models in examining the performance of these microenterprises. These results highlight the importance of psychological and cognitive capital in emerging economies. Research limitations/implications – We advocate for a more comprehensive view of capital as shown in our ICBM. However, the data were gathered only in an urban setting, which limits the generalizability to rural parts of emerging economies. Practical implications – These findings suggest the utility of government and appropriate agencies finding ways to enhance the level of psychological and cognitive capital of microenterprise owners. Originality/value – This paper’s originality stems from hypothesizing and empirically confirming the higher predictive efficacy of ICBM against more traditionally researched capital sources.Item “When you use tramadol, the sperms will not come out. . .”: Unconventional strategies for avoiding unintended pregnancy among adolescents in Ghana(SAGE Open Medicine, 2024) Gyan, S.E.; Boafo, I.M.Background: In spite of adolescents’ high knowledge about modern contraceptives, usage is low especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Little is known about what adolescents use in place of modern contraceptive methods. Objective: This paper discusses lay strategies that adolescents use in their quest to prevent unintended pregnancy. Methods: A qualitative approach was used in the study reported in this paper. The paper draws on focus group data from a larger study looking at adolescent contraceptive needs in Ghana. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 79 adolescents who participated in a focus group discussion. Eight focus group discussions were held with both male and female adolescents aged 15–19. The data were analysed using the inductive thematic analysis method after transcribing the data. Results: We found that after having sex without using condom, adolescent girls ejected sperms by using water, salt solution or ice cubes, while others engaged in pushing with pelvic floor muscles. In their bid to prevent pregnancy, for boys, engaging in masturbation and the intake of Tramadol before sex was observed. When these lay strategies fail, adolescents resorted to unsafe and illegal abortion. Conclusions: Though adolescents girls engaged in unprotected sex, they still tried to avoid pregnancy, and consequently adopted lay strategies of pregnancy prevention that do not expose them to stigma. It is therefore recommended that the Ministry of Health through the Ghana Health Service consider establishing more adolescent-friendly health centres and expanding existing ones where adolescents could easily visit to have their sexual and reproductive health needs addressed in a very confidential and non-judgemental mannerItem Supply-chain Disruptions under COVID: A Window of Opportunity for Local Producers?(Forum for Development Studies, 2024) Haugen, H.O.; Obeng, M.K.M.Chinese imports replace locally manufactured products in developing countries. The import of consumer goods from China to West Africa is closely linked to commercial travel, and China’s border restrictions during the COVID outbreak put a near-halt to such travel. Furthermore, the pandemic caused a global logistics crisis that disrupted supply chains with production in China. This paper asks whether Ghanaian manufacturers and artisanal producers could take advantage of these disruptions to enhance their competitive position. Did China’s Does the border closure provide space for local Ghanaian producers to thrive? We address this question by drawing on data collected among Ghanaian plastic manufacturers and furniture makers, who have faced tough competition from Chinese imports. Our analysis shows that supply chain disruptions from China led to the substitution of certain products previously imported from China, and these effects were partially sustained after the Covid-induced barriers to imports from China were removed. However, the disruptions were also costly for many Ghanaian producers, as they depended on Chinese intermediary products, tools, and other inputs. This illustrates how economic lives in Ghana and China have become so profoundly intertwined that indiscriminate decoupling is neither possible nor desirable.