University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA THE TRANSITION FROM JUVENILE DELINQUENCY TO ADULTHOOD CRIMINALITY IN GHANA; THE PREDISPOSING FACTORS BY PRINCE ABRAH BOAMAH (I0174476) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF PHD SOCIOLOGY DEGREE. DECEMBER 2014 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I hereby declare that except for references to the work of other people, which have been duly acknowledged, this thesis is the result of my own research work carried out in the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon under the supervision of Professor Chris Abotchie, Dr. Akosua Darkwah and Dr. Dan -Brights Dzorgbo. …………………………… ……………………. Prince Abrah Boamah Date (Student) SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE …………………………… ………………….... Professor Chris Abotchie Date (Principal Supervisor) …………………………… ………………….... Dr. Akosua Darkwah Date (Supervisor) …………………………… ………………….... Dr. Dan – Brights Dzorgbo Date (Supervisor) i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the Almighty God for lifting my head above the storms and directing my path to accomplish this great task. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to seize this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions and support made by the following people without whose effort, motivation and encouragement I would not have come this far in my academic trajectory. I am grateful to the most High God who granted me the strength to complete this work. I am forever grateful to Professor Chris Abotchie, my lead supervisor for the patience, constant supervision, constructive criticism and the useful contributions and suggestions which made it possible for me to situate this work in its right context and perspective. I am very appreciative of the knowledge inculcation. I recognize also and appreciate the immense contributions and diverse support made by Dr. Akosua Darkwah with regards to the constructive criticism and suggestions which shaped and guided my thought throughout the process of this work. Thanks so much for the useful materials and information that helped me to articulate my views to position this work in its right theoretical context. I am forever grateful for the kind assistance and the positive impact you have on my life. My appreciation also goes to Dr. Dan - Brights Dzorgbo, the Head of Department, for all the useful contributions and suggestions he made from the beginning to the end. I am forever grateful for the support, advice and encouragement. I wish to express my warm appreciation to my dear wife Mrs. Sandra Abrah Boamah, also for the diverse support she made, you were a source of inspiration and encouragement. I also wish to express my profound gratitude to my dear mother Mrs. Lydia Abrah and Rev. & Mrs. Twumasi, -Ankra Bonsu (my in-laws) for all the prayer support, my siblings, Mr. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Isaac Kwadwo Asare my good friend for the initial contribution, Richard Ansong, Naa Adjorko Mark Sowah, Mr. Samuel Bortey, Mr. Stephen Boakye and all those whose support and encouragements enabled me to complete this task. Finally, I wish to thank all my colleagues, especially Ummu Ibrahim (Mrs. Marquay), for the encouragement that kept me through my course of study and my friends Rabieu Asante, Mark Obeng, Alex Antwi, Rosemond Hiazi, Thomas Antwi- Boasiako, Nana Ama Boafo – Atta and the entire management and staff of the Ghana Prison Service, in particular those at the Prison Head Office, the officer in charge of the Nsawam Male and Female prison respectively, Mr. William Odei Gymefi and Mr. D.Y Mensah at the Nsawam Prison Welfare Office, the entire officers at the Senior Boys Correctional Centre, the Principal of the Osu Junior Girl‘s Correctional Centre, Mr. D.Y.Nonah, Principal of School of Social Work, Osu,Mr. T.V.O Lamptey of the Legon Interdenominational Church [LIC], Mr. Bernard Kingsley Annor of Berlin Investments, and all the lecturers and staff of the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana for their kind assistance. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT This study, the Transition from juvenile delinquency to adulthood criminality; The Predisposing factors sought to understand the transitions embedded in the offending trajectories of Ghanaian juvenile delinquents who were in their adulthood. Specifically, the study addresses four key research questions, namely how does the interplay of structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms predispose individuals to crime in childhood? how does an individual experience of the criminal justice system reinforces and changes a criminal trajectory? How does labelling explain persistence and desistence from crime over the life course? how does an experience in multiple life domains modify the tendency to persist or desist from crime through adulthood? Using a qualitative research design, I explored the life history of 23 juvenile delinquents who have persisted and desisted from crime through adulthood and four stake holders. The overall findings suggest that the interplay of structural background factors and informal social control mechanisms may not necessarily predict the early onset of crime and delinquency in the Ghanaian social context due to socio-cultural and economic reasons. Also, the criminal justice had a differential impact on the juvenile delinquents; While for some it helped change their criminal careers, for others, it failed to help them desist. In adulthood, the finding suggests that friendship, quality employment, residential change, labelling and social support are critical elements which explain persistence or desistance from crime confirming the observations made by Sampson & Laub (1993) in relation to stable marriage and employment. The study further contradicts the orthodoxy of the perspective that suggests that deviant values are learnt in intimate groups Sutherland 1947) and also the theoretical underpinning of traditional labelling theories, in particular those of Becker (1963), Lemert (1951) and Tannenbaum (1938) that labeling per se does not explain persistence of crime as some of participants maneurered their delinquent status and desisted from crime. v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. i DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................... 6 1.3 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................ 11 1.4 Anticipated Outcomes .............................................................................................. 12 1.5 Organization of the Study ........................................................................................ 15 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................... 16 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................. 16 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2 Overview of Life Course Theoretical Perspectives of Criminality .......................... 17 2.3 The Age-Graded Life-Course Theory of informal Social Control........................... 18 2.4 Social factors modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime .................... 22 2.4.1 Labelling and persistence of crime ....................................................................... 23 2.4.2 How employment affects crime over the life course ............................................ 26 2.4.3 How marriage affects crime over the life course .................................................. 31 2.5 Gender and Crime .................................................................................................... 34 2.6 The role of friendship in the etiology of crime; the differential association theory 38 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 43 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE STUDY AREAS AND RESEARCH METHOD .. 43 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 43 3.2 History of the Nsawam Male Medium Security Prison ........................................... 43 3.2.1 Classification of Prisoners: ................................................................................... 45 3.2.3 Remands ................................................................................................................ 46 3.3 History of the Nsawam Female Medium Security Prison ........................................ 46 3.4 Background information of the Senior Boys Correctional Centre ........................... 48 3.5 Background information on the Junior Girls Correctional Centre ........................... 51 3.5.1 Mode of Admission ............................................................................................... 51 3.6 Research Method ...................................................................................................... 53 3.6.1 Methodological consideration in life course study ............................................... 54 3.6.2 Philosophical assumptions underlying the research design .................................. 56 3.6.3 Study Sample and Justification ............................................................................. 59 3.6.4 Sampling Strategies and Representatives.............................................................. 61 3.6.5 In- depth interviews............................................................................................... 63 3.6.6 Data collection in the prisons- interviewing procedures ....................................... 64 3.6.7 Data collection procedures for participants who desisted from crime .................. 67 3.7 Socio - demographic Characteristics of the Sample ................................................ 68 3.7.1 Socio- demographic characteristics of the persistent offenders ............................ 69 3.7.2 Socio- demographic backgrounds of participants who were in the desistance process ............................................................................................................................ 70 3.7. 4 Procedures of interpretation and presentation of data ................................. 72 3.7.5 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 74 3.7.6 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................ 76 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR .......................................................................................................... 79 EXPLAINING THE EARLY ONSET OF CRIME ....................................................... 79 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 79 4.1.1 Childhood and Early Onset of Crime .................................................................... 79 4.1.2 How structural background factors predicts early onset of crime......................... 82 4.1.3 Low Income Families ............................................................................................ 83 4.1.4 Middle Income Families ....................................................................................... 89 4.1.5 Family Structure of Respondents .......................................................................... 91 4.1.6 Family Size of Respondents ....................................................................... 96 4.2. Informal Social Control Mechanisms and Early Onset of Crime ........................... 98 4.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 98 4.2.2 How Poor Attachment to School Predict Early Onset of Crime ........................... 99 4.2.3 How peer delinquent attachment predicts early onset of crime ................ 103 4.2.4 How Relational Bonding to Parents Predicts Early Onset of Crime ................... 105 4.2.5 Parents‘ Disciplinary Practices .................................................................. 109 4.2.6 Sibling Influence and Early Onset of Crime ....................................................... 113 4.2.7 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 116 CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................... 118 TRANSITIONS IN OFFENDING TRAJECTORY; THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE FACTORS ........................................................................................................ 118 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 118 5.1.1 Early Involvement in the Criminal Justice System and Persistence of Crime .... 121 5.1.2 The impact of Vocational Training and Education on Persistent of Crime ........ 123 5.1.3 Sentencing Procedures and Persistence of Crime ............................................... 125 5.1.4 Delinquent Peer Attachment and Persistence of Crime ...................................... 128 viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2 Early involvement in the criminal justice system and desistance from crime ....... 132 5.2. 1 The Impact of Vocation Training and Education ............................................. 134 5.2.2 Cognitive Transformations Shift ......................................................................... 136 5.2.3 The Role of Conventional Friendship in the Desistance Process ....................... 139 5.2.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 143 CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................ 145 EXPERIENCING MULTIPLE LIFE DOMAINS IN ADULTHOOD ..................... 145 6.1.1 Persistence of Crime; the Labelling Factor ......................................................... 146 6.1.2 Societal Acceptance and Persistent of Crime...................................................... 147 6.1.3 Negative Reactions of Family Members and Persistence of Crime .................... 149 6.1.4 Negative reactions of society and persistence of crime .................................... 152 6.1.5 How the lack of social support explains persistence of crime ............................ 154 6.1.6 How employment explains persistence of Crime................................................ 156 6.1.7 Adulthood deviant peer attachment and persistence of crime ............................ 161 6.1.8 How marriage explains persistence of crime in adulthood ..................................... 163 6.1.9 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 168 6.2 Turning Points in Adulthood: Experiencing Multiple Life Domains .................... 169 6.2.1 Residential Change and Maneuvering the Labelling Status ............................... 171 6.2.2 The impact of religious bodies and Ngo‘s in desistence from crime .................. 175 6.2.3 How employment and education explains desistance from crime ...................... 178 6.2.4 How conventional friends changes offending paths ........................................... 181 6.2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 183 6.3 Discussions of key findings ................................................................................... 183 6.4 Summary of key variables explaining early onset of crime ................................... 195 ix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SEVEN ...................................................................................................... 197 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................... 197 7.1 Summary of major findings ................................................................................... 197 7.1.1 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 199 7.1.2 Policy Implications of the Study ......................................................................... 201 7.1.3 Theoretical Contributions of the Study ............................................................... 203 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 213 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................. 230 x University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Statistics on Juvenile Delinquents Committed to the SBCC from 2009 – 2014 .. 50 Table 2: Statistics on Female Juvenile Delinquents at JGCC from 2008 – 2013 ............... 52 Table 3: Socio- demographic characteristics of the persistent offenders ............................ 69 Table 4: Socio-demographic characteristics of the desisters .............................................. 70 Table 5: Age - graded Transitions of Respondents ............................................................. 71 Table 6: Summary of key variables explaining early onset of crime ................................ 195 Table 7: Summary of Key variables modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime .................................................................................................................................. 196 xi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Sampson and Laub‘s Age Graded Theory of Informal Social Control ............... 21 Figure 2: The Transitional Theory of Formal and Informal Social Control Mechanism.. 208 xii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1.1 Introduction This chapter begins with the life story of Johnson, a 58 year old remand prisoner, whose life story as narrated to the researcher raises several questions worth considering in a criminologist‘s attempts to understand the social forces that explain the persistent and desistance factors as juvenile delinquents navigate the transition to adulthood. I met Johnson during one of my official visits to the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons as a st Prison Aftercare Agent on 1 June 2006. Johnson became my very good friend and with time he began to share his life story as to how his criminal career developed. As Johnson narrated his life story, what really struck me during our conversation was the dynamics embedded in his offending trajectory as he experienced the social world within the domains of the family, his friends, work, school, marriage and the criminal justice system. Johnson‘s interaction within these structural contexts appears to have largely shaped his offending behaviour over his life course. This is how Johnson narrated his life story; Childhood Social Context ―I lived with my father and mother at Adabraka when I was a child. My father was a medical doctor at the Mental Hospital and my mother was a trader who sold kenkey, fish, cake and bread, so when we closed from school my siblings and I went to assist her. We were living in a government bungalow. I used to spend most of my time with my friends, and we moved from place to place having fun. During school hours we went to the Opera cinema to watch movies, we hung out on the street. Indeed my friends really had a great influenced on my life. Sometimes, one of them would tell us to go and steal so that we could get money to buy what we want… I ended up becoming a truant and that is how we started stealing people‘s items which usually landed us in trouble … Eventually I dropped out of school as results of the kinds of friends I had …‖ 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Experiences in the Criminal Justice System ―At age 15 I had become a very stubborn boy, and had been arrested and sent to the police station on several occasions. I remember stealing my big sister‘s locket but when she asked, I lied so I was sent to the police station, upon interrogation and threats I confessed and I was released. My family then relocated to Russia in Accra... At Russia too I couldn‘t stop my offending behaviour, I stole money from someone and I was sent to the ―Kaneshi‖ police station and my father came to bail me. A few months later, I went with my friends to ―Mokola‖ market in Accra.While the woman was attending to her customers, we picked some of the cloths that she was selling, unfortunately, we were arrested, sent to the police station, to court and later committed to the Senior Boys Correctional Centre (SBCC). I spent three years there. At the Centre, I learnt to be an auto mechanic and to drive. The correctional centre was a nice place; most of my friends were like me. We smoked ―wee‖ and sometimes stole some items belonging to our colleagues. When I was released from the Correctional Centre, my brothers bought me a vehicle, so I used it as a ―trotro‖ and earned money to buy everything that I wanted…‖ Experiences in multiple life domains through adulthood ―I have been married on two occasions; I married my first wife at the age of 20, stayed with her for 10 years and had two children with her, but the marriage dissolved as a result of persistent misunderstandings. I was about 30 years when I married my second wife, the marriage lasted for 8 years and I had three children with her, the same problem and drinking led to a break up. As at now I am not married, I was living with a lady footballer, I impregnated her before I came to the prison but I learnt that she has given the pregnancy to another man...I have been to prison on three occasions; the first offense was robbery, second fighting and defilement. I have also been arrested by the police on several occasions...but now I know if I am able to stop drinking and control my temper, I will not come to the prison again... My family is fed up with me now; all of them are well to do and I am the only person like this…. Sometimes when people in my community see me, they point their fingers at me it makes me feel bad…‖ As mentioned earlier, the transitions embedded in Jonson‘s offending trajectory raises critical questions worth considering, namely, the question of what social conditions led to Johnson‘s continual involvement in criminal activity after going through a reformation programme at the Senior Boys Correctional Centre (SBCC). Was his continual involvement in criminality a result of his association with bad/ deviant friends, early contact with the criminal justice system, lack of parental supervision, inadequacy of 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh training received at the correctional centre, lack of jobs after his term of sentence, societal reactions towards his status as a criminal, the neighborhood in which he grew up, or his lack of commitment in his marital relationships? Placing this discussion within the broader social context, Johnson‘s life story perhaps represents the experiences of thousands of juvenile delinquents who have transitioned to adulthood criminality and whose lives continue to pose a threat and a danger to society. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these questions, it is important to situate Johnson‘s story in a theoretical perspective that offers a more viable explanation of the social forces impacting the transformation of juvenile delinquents as they navigate the transition to adulthood. Exploring the broader life domains will help us understand the long term effects of juvenile delinquency. Put in the words of Cohen etal. (1986), research on social transitions is limited because of the inability of most state agencies to track the progression of young offenders who transitioned to adulthood. Notwithstanding these assertions, it has been observed in the literature that traditional criminology discourses provide some but not all the answers to the concerns Johnson‘s life story raise. They do not offer explanations on the implications of life course dynamics as juvenile delinquents navigate the transition to adulthood. In Ghana, while studies by Antwi-Boasiko and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Abotchie and Senah (1987) and Norety (1969) among others have stressed that socio- economic factors such as poverty, single parenting, large family and delinquents‘ peer associations predispose juvenile delinquents to crime, the evidence suggests that these studies offer only a partial explanation for delinquency. In the sense, that there may be several 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh possibilities where some juveniles may come from these backgrounds as the studies have suggested and yet may not become delinquents. The life story of Johnson, for example, shows that he was not from a relatively poor parental background, as asserted by Merton (1968), nor was he from a single parent home, yet his onset of offending behaviour began right from childhood. Taking another stand, Becker (1963), Tannenbaum (1938) and Bernburg et. al. (2006) contend that it is the labelling process which more likely influences the development of criminal careers, and not socio- economic factors. To reinforce the claims made by the labelling theories, a study by Cernkovich and Giordano (2007) revealed that an official delinquent status and a high involvement in delinquency during adolescence have their own consequences for males and females. They further argued that having been in a juvenile institution has an even greater consequence for juvenile delinquents in adulthood especially for females who more likely face greater challenges than their male counterparts. However, Bernburg et. al. (2006) maintains that research on the mediating roles of social ties to deviant as claimed by others have been rare. By failing to consider the requisite intervening effects, the bulk of labelling studies do not constitute a valid test of the labelling (Paternoster & Iovanni 1989:384). Further, how exactly those who acquire the labelling manage or maneuver to desist from crime has not been given much attention in the criminological literature. Regardless of the useful contributions of these traditional scholars, the knowledge gaps that life course researchers such as Gottfedson and Hirschi (1990), Sampson and Laub (1993), Farrington (2003), Piquero (2003),Moult (2008), Cusick et al., (2010),as well as 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Cernkovich and Giordano (2007) have identified, is the neglect or ignorance of the theoretical significance of childhood characteristics, and consequently not coming to grips with the link between childhood behaviour and later adult outcomes (Caspi, Bem, & Elder 1989; Gottfredson & Hirschi 1990 cited in Sampson & Laub 1990: 609:). These writers further argued that by concentrating on the teen-age years, traditional scholars failed to address the life span implication of childhood behaviour. They point out that little is precisely known about how structural variables and processes of informal social control mechanisms, for example, are related.With these indications, the life course researchers explained, that a better way to gain a deeper understanding of the cause of crime and deviance is to study the social dynamics embedded in the criminal trajectories of deviants over their life course. As a framework for thinking about the influence of time in human behaviour, the life course perspectives have several advantages over traditional theories of human development in the sense that it encourages greater attention to the impact of historical and social change on human behaviour, which seems particularly important in rapidly changing global societies. With its attention to human agency, the life course perspective is not as deterministic as some earlier theories, but encourages stability and change in people‘s behaviour. According to Sampson and Laub (1993), the two central concepts underlying the analysis of life course dynamics are trajectories and transitions. A trajectory can be conceptualized as a; …pathway or line of development over life spans such as work, marriage, self- esteem or criminal behaviour. Trajectories refer to long-term patterns of behaviour and are marked by a sequence of transition. Whereas transitions are marked by life events such as first job or first marriage that are embedded in trajectories and 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh evolve over shorter life spans-‗changes in state that are more or less abrupt.‘(Elder, 1985:31-32. As cited in Sampson and Laub 1993:8). According to Maow (2005), Osgood et al. (2005) and Shanahan (2000)successfully navigating the transition to adulthood is for most youth largely a function of the support, guidance and resources offered by families, friends and the entire society. However, these kinds of supports rarely exist for young offenders, in particular, and for foster and institutional youth, for whom deprivation propels them into developing criminal careers. Cusick (2010), for example, found that foster youth face considerable challenges making the transition to adulthood, because their labour markets are very poor which reinforces offending behaviour overtime. In the light of these contentions, the currents study investigates the transitions in offending trajectories by tracking juvenile delinquents in their adulthood. The rationale is to understand and draw from their shared experiences how, why and what determinate factors explain the persistence and the desistance from crime over an individual‘s life course. The study contributes to the existing literature on crime and deviance by developing a theoretical model based on the narratives of the participants to portray the transitions embedded in the criminal trajectories of Ghanaian juvenile delinquents in adulthood. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Historically, theoretical discourses in criminology have generated several ideas and concepts that explain the root cause of deviance and crime. Within sociology, traditional criminologists such as Sutherland (1947),Cohen (1955),Becker (1963),Merton (1968), and Hirschi (1969), just to mention a few, have argued that factors such as friendship, poverty, labelling as well as weak attachment to conventional social institutions such as 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh family, schools and peers explain why some group of offenders persist in crime. Regardless of these expositions, most of these studies have concentrated so much on the adolescent stage of development and have not addressed the life span implication of these offenders in relations to what social forces within the broader life domains shape and change offending trajectories. In recent times, new paradigm shifts exist to expand our knowledge and understanding of crime by studying the offender‘s full life course. In contrast to the traditional criminological scholars, the life course researchers such as Cusick et al. (2010), Moult (2008), Farrington (2003), Piquero et al (2003), Giordano (2002), Gottfedson and Hirschi (1990) and Sampson and Laub (1993), among others, maintain that the early traditional scholars failed to address the life course implications of criminal offenders as well as ignoring the relevance of social transitions as people glide in and out of crime. We still do not know of how and why structural background factors and processes of informal social control processes are related to the explanation of how individuals develop criminal careers. Attempting to fill these theoretical gaps, Sampson and Laub (1993) developed the age graded theory of informal social control to explain persistence and desistance from crime using Gluecks (1968) longitudinal data to support their findings. Their basic argument rests on the premise that criminologists have ignored the relevance of social transition as well as the connection between childhood characteristics and behavioural outcome in late adulthood and how structural variables and processes of informal social control variables are related over an individual life course. An attempt to understand the life course implication of criminal offenders from Sampson and Laub‘s (1993:7) point of view is to 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh bring back ‗both childhood and adulthood into the criminological picture of age and crime‘. In their final analysis, Sampson and Laub (1993) concluded that strong ties to age-linked institutions of social control: family, school, and peers in childhood and adolescence; higher education, marriage/parenthood, work and community in adulthood inhibit deviant behaviour. Changing ties to these institutions over the life course produce distinctly different criminal trajectories marked by turning points (a change in the life course) from conventional to criminal behaviour or vice versa (Warr, 1998:1830). In their attempt to apply the Sampson and Laub (1993) age graded theory of informal social control, Warr (1998) and Giordano. (2002), for example, found similarities as well as differences with regards to how experiences of criminals within multiple life domains influence and change offending trajectories. Giordano (2002) concluded that neither marital attachment nor job stability, factors frequently associated with male desistance from crime, were strongly related to female or male desistance, therefore developing a symbolic‐interactionist perspective as a counterpoint to Sampson and Laub‘s theory of informal social control using life history narratives to illustrate their perspective. They concluded that their cognitive theory is generally compatible with a control approach but (a) adds specificity regarding underlying change mechanisms, (b) explains some negative cases, and (c) fits well with life course challenges facing contemporary serious female (and more provisionally male) offenders. Further studies by Besani et al (2009), Blokland and Nieubeeta (2005),Forrest (2007), Laub et al.(1998), Laub and Sampson (2003) and McMillin (2007), among others, found 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh that married and employed individuals are less likely to commit crime compared to those who are single. Others such as Hirschi and Gottfredson (1993) argued that it still remains unclear to what degree work and a stable marriage explain persistence and desistance from crime. With respect to employment, Hirschi and Gottfredson (1993) maintain that employment does not explain or help to explain the reduction in crime; from their view point, the association between work and crime is spurious. Life course studies that report the correlation between work and crime (Sampson & Laub 1993) generally have strings attached – the association between work and crime is conditional on the characteristics of the job or the workers (Uggen, 2000:531). The contentions that social factors actually explain persistence and desistence within the literature of crime and deviance warrant further researcher and scrutiny to inform researchers to what degrees experiences within life domains shape and change offending trajectories. We need to understand how an experience within other life domains in an entire different social context other than the west explains persistence and desistence from crime over an individual life course. Recognizing the importance of these causal analyses of crime that explain the dynamics embedded in offending pathways through adulthood in the western literature, most of the researches on life course dynamics are foreign to the Ghanaian social context which more or less does not give a true reflection of the Ghanaian situation. Put in other words, this theoretical perspective of crime as evident in investigating the transitions embedded in criminal trajectories in the western literature does not apply in the Ghanaian social context. 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh We still do not have much information on how experiences within broader life domains such as childhood social experiences in the family, school and friends predict early onset of crime or how early involvement of the criminal justice system modifies offending trajectories or how labelling and experiences within multiple life domains shape and change criminal behaviour as juvenile delinquents progress to adulthood in Ghana. Although previous works (Yawson 2013, Antwi – Boasiako & Andoh 2010; Abrah 2006; Abotchie & Senah 1987; and Nortey, 1969) in Ghana demonstrate how factors such as social support, bad friendship associations, poverty, lack of parents‘ support and supervision predispose juvenile delinquents to crime, in a real sense, little is known about the long term effects of juvenile offending across one‘s life course. In his study, ‗Social Correlates of Juvenile delinquency‘, Abrah (2006), for example, found no significance difference between the lack of parental support and onset of criminality in adolescence. However, the study did not indicate whether the provisions of institutional support in adolescences or later adulthood would modify the tendency to persist or desist in crime or whether family structures and sibling influence could explain early onset of crime. In their application of Sutherland‘s differential association theory to juvenile delinquents in Ghana, Antwi- Boasiako and Andoh (2010) concluded that delinquents who associate extensively with delinquent friends will show higher levels of delinquency, than those with minimal association, thus supporting Sutherland‘s hypothesis that association with delinquent peers varies with reference to frequency, duration and intensity of crime. We have little understanding, however, of delinquents who have had extensive association with delinquents‘ peers at the correctional centre and yet changed their criminal trajectory as they navigate to adulthood. 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Notwithstanding the scholarly contributions in the field of crime and deviance, little is known about the determinant factors shaping and changing offending behaviour in adulthood in the Ghanaian social context nor do we know how labelling explains persistence, and lastly, whether experiences in broader life domains modify the tendencies to persist or desist from crime. In addition to this, this study contributes to the literature on gender and crime by studying the life course dynamics of female offenders alongside their male counterparts. 1.3 Objectives of the Study The main objective of this study is to investigate the social dynamics embedded in the offending trajectories of juvenile delinquents who have persisted and desisted from crime through adulthood in Ghana. Specifically, the study seeks to: 1. Explain whether or not the interplay of structural background factors and informal social control mechanisms predispose individuals to crime in childhood. 2. Explain how early involvement in the criminal justice system reinforces and changes a criminal trajectory. 3. Identify the extent to which labelling explains persistence and desistance from crime over the life course. 4. Find out how juvenile delinquent‘s experiences within multiple life domains modify their tendency to persist or desist from crime through adulthood. 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The current study fills our knowledge gaps by addressing the following research questions; • How does the interplay of structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms predispose individuals to crime in childhood?  How does an individual experience of the criminal justice system and his acquisition of a labelling status shape and change offending trajectories?  How does an experience in multiple life domains modify the tendency to persist or desist from crime through adulthood? It is anticipated that the life history of the respondents will generate ideas and concepts that will expand our knowledge and understanding of the transitions in offending trajectories in the Ghanaian social context and also contribute to the life course perspective of criminality. 1.4 Anticipated Outcomes This study contributes to the literature on crime and deviance in several ways. One of the major contributions of this work which is different from what the prior criminological researchers observed in Ghana is its inclusion of female offenders to understand from their experiences the gender differentiations in crime .According to Giordano et al. (2002) one of the key potential limitation of Sampson and Laub (1993) is that the sample on which the analyses were based was composed entirely of white male offenders who matured into adulthood during the 1950s. They further indicated that, it is not clear whether the findings described (or the theory that derives from them) effectively capture the experiences of female offenders coming of age within the context of a more contemporary social and economic landscape. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Theoretically, this study contributes to literature by filling our knowledge gaps on the social forces explaining the persistence and desistance factors over an individual‘s life course. Although relevant works by Abrah (2006), Abotchie and Senah (1987), Antwi - Boasiako and Andoh (2010), Nortey (1969) examined socio-economic, poverty, friendship and family backgrounds in relation to juvenile delinquency, their focus were mainly on male offenders. As highlighted by Cernkovich and Giordano (2007), very little research has indeed attempted to analyse the relationship between gender, juvenile delinquency and global adult functioning. They further argue that research in this area is limited because a high proportion of the literature on crime concentrated more on males than females, notwithstanding these limitations, studies examining gender differences in delinquency involvement focus mainly on externalized and internalized problems and ignore other life domains. They concluded that more of a systematic assessment of the consequence of juvenile delinquency is needed to better capture the nature and extent of gender difference in coping strategies associated with the transitions to adulthood. The current study contributes to the literature on gender and crime over the life course by including male and females with prior involvement in juvenile delinquency who have transitioned to adulthood. Within the Ghanaian social context, the 2005 survey on the state of the juvenile justice by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), for example, concerned itself solely with identifying the number of young offenders held in adult prisons and police cells across the 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh country. The major findings of the survey were the challenges faced by the DSW in the implementation of the smooth running of the juvenile justice system. One limitation of the 2005 survey is its failure to examine the social forces explaining the persistence of the delinquents in crime. Not much research appears to have been done, for example, on how the justice system processes in Ghana operate, to strengthen subsequent offending. The findings of this study will throw more light on how the criminal justice system works to change and shape an offender‘s trajectory which has implications for theory and policy. At the macro level, understanding the causal factors of crime usually provide information that can be used to model the future flow of offenders through the criminal justice system. They can also act as a crude performance measure over time, as well as identify whether the criminal justice system is still dealing with similarly constituted populations. On a smaller scale, reoffending measures can be employed to evaluate specific interventions, or to better understand a particular offender group and its likelihood of reoffending. Both levels of analyses have an important place in the future of crime and criminal justice policy development. The findings of this study will enlighten stake holders, in particular those in the prisons service, the social welfare department and the police about the need to develop and maintain accurate data on offenders who are aging in and out of crime. The availability of information on these offenders makes research easier to track and assess the effects of correctional treatment in reducing reoffending among the youth. The findings of this research also serve as a guide to future researchers investigating the life course perspective of criminality. It will also lead to the generation of new ideas which may serve as the basis for the development of theoretical models that will provide a deeper understanding of the 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh cause of crime. Finally, the findings shall indicate a framework that will provide a sociological explanation of the social dynamics underlying an offending trajectory. 1.5 Organization of the Study The entire thesis is organized into seven chapters. Chapter One presents an introduction to the study and the problems in perspective, the research objectives as well the anticipated outcomes of the study. Chapter Two covers the literature review and the theoretical orientation of the study. The chapter is divided in to two sections; the first section gives the historical reviews of the study areas as well as the research methods and the procedures used in gathering the primary data .Chapter Four, Five and Six discuss the major research findings. Chapter Four describes how structural background factors and informal social control processes predispose juveniles to crime. Chapter Five looks at how an individual experience in the criminal justice system reinforces and changes offending trajectory while Chapter Six explains how experiences in multiple life domains have shaped and changed offending paths. The final chapter, Chapter Seven, presents a summary of the key findings; the conclusions and the policy implications of the study. 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Introduction This chapter presents the literature review as well as the theoretical orientations of the study. The chapter details and discusses recent developmental theories (Life Course Theoretical framework), in particular those in relation to crime and delinquency. It further provides a chronological accounting of a body of work on the life course theoretical perspective by examining the research methods that they used as well as their major findings and contributions to criminological literature. The literature review is structured based on the research objectives, and it provides a contextual framework for the research questions and establishes relationships between the theories and the practices in the research field understudy. In a real sense, analyzing the crime problem with the lens of the life course theories is a recent phenomenon, and as such very limited or perhaps none of these in relations to crime exists within the Ghanaian literature. In view of this, most of the literature being reviewed will come from western sources. However, an attempt would be made to review the scanty literature that exits in Ghana and in other parts of Africa. The reviewed literature is grouped under the following sub headings namely; a) an overview of the life course theoretical perspective of crime b) an analysis of the life course theoretical perspective of criminality, c) the Age Graded Theory of informal social control by Sampson and Laub (1993) which constitute the main theoretical framework of the study. Elaborating further, the literature review will also cover empirical studies that address the question of how offending patterns for men and female differ in a life time. 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The relevance of drawing on this extensive scholarly work is to point to the directions of this work and to situate it within the right theoretical context. At the end, the literature review shall demonstrate a deeper knowledge about the history and breath of the phenomenon under investigation as well as how the intellectual fields around it have developed, it also highlight the rational and variables impinging on the research questions. 2.2 Overview of Life Course Theoretical Perspectives of Criminality According to Mayer (2002), the sociological perspective of a life course denotes a sequence of activities in various life domains which span from birth to death. One major importance of the life course theoretical perspective is its aspect on the internal temporal order, put in other words, the relative times in given states as well as age distributions at various events or transitions. The life course is viewed as a developmental theory that focuses on changes in behaviour as people travel along the path of life. The life course has been defined as ‘pathways through the age differentiated life span,‘ where age differentiation ‘is manifested in expectations and options that impinge on decision process and the cause of events that give shape to life stages, transitions and turning points‘. (Elder 1985, p.17as in Sampson and Laub 1993). Two central concepts underlie the analysis of the life course dynamics, namely, trajectories and transitions. A trajectory can be conceptualized as a ‗pathway or line of development over life spans such as work, marriage, self-esteem or criminal behaviour. Trajectories refer to long-term patterns of behaviour and are marked by a sequence of transitions. Whereas transitions are marked by life events such as first job or first marriage that are embedded in trajectories and evolve over shorter life spans-‗changes in state that are more or less abrupt‘ (Elder, 1985:31-32. As in Sampson and Laub 1993:8), 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh trajectories usually involve a longer view of long –term patterns in a person‘s life involving multiple transitions. From the view point of life course researchers, the roots of serious crime and delinquency can be traced in childhood and are the culmination of a long history of improper moral development (Siegel & Welsh 2005). According to Devers (2011:3), life course frameworks are built from the foundations of theories that examine why people commit crime and then seek to answer why people stop. In recent times, criminological researchers have concentrated most of their interest on how criminal behaviour develops overtime, and they try to understand how social forces shape and change offending trajectories. According to Farrington (2003), life course researchers address three major issues. Firstly, they look at the development of offending and antisocial behaviour, secondly, divergent risks factors at various ages, and finally, the effects of life events. Unlike other psychological theories, Hutchison (2010) posited that the life course theoretical perspectives call attention to how historical time, social location and culture affect the individual experience of each stage of life. The next section discusses the theoretical frame work of the study; the Age Graded Theory of Informal Social Control by Sampson and Laub (1993). The next issue to be considered is the age graded theory of informal social control which is constituted as the framework of the study. 2.3 The Age-Graded Life-Course Theory of informal Social Control The age graded theory of informal social control was developed by Sampson and Laub (1993). The theory provides a sociological explanation of the determinate factors of stability and change in offending trajectories. According toSiegel and Welsh (2005), the 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh chief cornerstones of recent life course theories in criminology was the effort made by the Gluecks (1968) who popularised a research on the life cycle of delinquent‘s careers. In their series of longitudinal research studies, the Gluecks followed the careers of known delinquents to determine the factors that explain persistence in crime. To achieve their aim, the Gluecks made extensive use of interviews and records in their elaborate comparisons of delinquents and non-delinquents. In their final analysis, the Gluecks concluded that the deeper the roots of childhood maladjustment, the smaller the chances of adult adjustments. They also observed that delinquents who persisted in crime through adulthood were those whose onset of criminality begun in childhood. Revisiting the Gluecks data, Sampson and Laub (1993) developed one of the most dominant and useful theoretical framework of our time. Their theory establishes that while continuity in deviant behaviour exists, social ties in adulthood such as work, family and community may change an individual‘s path over his life span. Within the age graded theory of informal social control framework, the organizing principle was derived from the social control theory of Durkheim (1950); Hirschi 1969;Kornhauster (1978) that crime and deviance result when an individual‘s bond to society is weak or broken. On the contrary, unlike most life course research, the main emphasis of Sampson and Laub‘s (1993) theory was on the quality or strength of social ties more than the occurrence or timing of specific time event. For example, Sampson and Laub (1993) agree with Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990, pp, 140-1), that marriage in itself does not necessarily increase social control, rather it is a strong attachment to one‘s 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh spouse, close emotional ties and the social bond between individuals which reduce an individual‘s level of involvement in crime. The findings of Sampson and Laub (1993) also suggest that employment per se does not increase social control, it is rather employment coupled with job stability, job commitment and ties to work that should increase social control and reduce high levels of involvement in criminal activity. The theory of Sampson and Laub (1993) is based on the assumption that the causal relationship between early offending and later adult deviance is not solely a product of an individual‘s characteristics, but rather social events such as work and marriage which may change individual‘s criminal path, while others continue to offend. The processes through which individuals maintain and change their offending trajectories is illustrated in figure 1 which elaborate how structural background factors and processes of informal social control increases or decreases the propensity of committing crime. Figure 1 gives a brief analysis of the various stages of the developmental life course. 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 1: Sampson and Laub’s Age Graded Theory of Informal Social Control As illustrated in figure 1, every individual goes through three phases of developments, namely ‗childhood, adolescence and adulthood‘. These stages also represent the life course of criminal offenders as they experience the social world. According to Sampson and Laub (1993) in childhood, both structural factors such as the low socio- economic status of the family, family disruption, residential mobility, household crowding, parent divorce and individual differences such as persistent tantrums, difficult temperaments predict early onset of crime in childhood. These identifying factors, according Sampson and Laub (1993), can also affect how a person develops social ties in adulthood. As an adolescence, having a poor relationship with the family, lack of supervision, threatening, erratic or harsh discipline; parental rejection or school (weak attachment, poor performance) and having a delinquent influence (siblings or delinquents attachments) are causal influences of juvenile delinquency. 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh At age 17-25 which they describe as cumulative continuity, negative delinquent activities can, at this stage, disrupt informal social bonds to school, friends, and family and can jeopardizes the development of adult social bond. Sampson and Laub (1993) explain that delinquency and deviance will continue into adulthood when social bonds are weakened. Cumulative continuity can also be conditioned by incarceration, whereby offenders internalized the label of offender as asserted by Becker (1963) and Lemert (1951). This stigma diminishes self –worth making offenders less likely to be productive citizens, because of the difficulty in re-establishing positive bonds with prosocial institutions. According to Sampson and Laub (1993) criminal careers developed at ages 25-45 because of the offenders‘ inability to re-established bonds to society. Adult crime at this stage is therefore a direct result of weak attachments to the labour force and to spouses. The same factors can influence persistence or desistance from crime, thus those who develop bonds before adolescence or at adolescence or in adulthood will no longer commit crime because of informal social controls. According to Sampson and Laub (1993:129), arrests during age 17 -25 and age 25-32 periods were three to four times greater for those who were delinquents in childhood compared to those who were non-delinquents. To sum it all, their major finding was that the number of offences committed eventually decreased for all ages of offenders, implying that as people age, offending patterns decreases. 2.4 Social factors modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime This section of the literature broadly discusses extensive research and studies that explain the persistence and desistance factors as embedded within offending trajectories. The section is divided into four main sections; The first sections reviews literature on how labelling explains persistence of crime through adulthood. The second and third sections 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh look at how employment and marriage explain persistence of crime. While the fourth and fifth sections review on how similar or different gender patterns of offending are for men and women over the life course. While the final section looks at the role of friendship in crime the differential association theory. 2.4.1 Labelling and persistence of crime Traditional Labelling theories believed that formal sanctions can be detrimental to offenders who pass through the criminal justice system in the sense that it affects their dignity and strain their relationships with conventional people. Scholars using the labelling paradigm believe that formal interventions such as involvement with the criminal justice system affect the individual‘s social networks and the stigma of criminal status more likely increases the probability of the individual‘s association in deviant social groups. According to Becker (1963), Lemert (1951) and Tannenbaum (1938), formal social reaction to crime can be a stepping stone in the development of criminal behaviour. According to Becker (1963) the deviant groups represent a source of social support in which deviant activities are accepted. Becker further explained that the deviant groups often provide social shelter from those who react negatively toward the deviant status and encourage collective rationalizations, definitions, and opportunities that encourage and facilitate deviant behaviour. The labelled person thus, becomes increasingly involved in social groups that consist of social deviants and unconventional others. Although several labelling theorists have mentioned this point, Tannenbaum (1938) further highlight the role of deviant networks in explaining how public labelling increases the likelihood of subsequent deviance. 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh According to Tannenbaum (1938), when an act of deviance is publicly announced and defined as immoral, as it occurs during formal sanctions, the immoral character of the actor is highlighted. Thus, in as much as the information about the formal sanction spreads throughout the community others will tend to define the juvenile as a criminal deviant. Hence, stereotypical images of criminals in the mainstream culture are driven to the forefront of the person‘s life. Becker (1963) Goffman (1963) Lemert (1951).Simmons (1965) observed that stereotyping of social deviants is usually negative, in the sense that deviants are often thought of as irresponsible individuals lacking self-control. Labelled teenagers may become aware of stereotypical beliefs in their communities, or they may think that these beliefs exist based on their learned perception of what people think about criminals. In view of this, they may withdraw from interaction with conventional peers. Goffman (1963) also explained that social interaction between ‘normal‘ people and the stigmatized is often characterized by uneasiness, embarrassment, ambiguity, and intense efforts at impression management, and that these experiences are felt by those who bear the stigma as well as those who do not. Goffman (1963) further asserts that the very anticipation of such contacts can lead the normal and the stigmatized persons to arrange life so as to avoid them. Put in other words, the non- labeled adolescents and labeled adolescents may tend to avoid one another in order to avoid uncomfortable interaction dynamics. Recent studies have also documented the negative effects of official labelling on structured opportunities and parental bonding. The work of Bernburg et al. (2006),Davies and Tanner (2003) and Sampson and Laub (1993) explain that the consequences of these elements may result in the individual seeking deviant groups in order to be with those who 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh are in a similarly disadvantaged social position, who share their deviant self-concept and attitudes, and perhaps provide opportunities that the conventional world no longer does. A study by Adams (1996) supports the idea that perceived deviant labelling by significant others (subjective labelling) leads to subsequent association with deviant peers. Subjective labelling was measured by asking the respondents if they thought that significant others (parents, friends, and teaches) perceived them as a ‗bad kid‘ and as someone who ‘breaks rules‘ and ‗gets into trouble.‘ As predicted, subjective labelling had positive effects on ties to delinquent peers and involvement in delinquency in successive periods. Similarly, Heimer and Matsueda (1994) and Matsueda (1992) have shown that parental appraisals of adolescents as rule-violators have positive effects on subsequent delinquency and that these effects are partly mediated by peer delinquency. However, these studies have not examined the potential factors determining subjective labelling, including the possible role of official labelling. Several studies, Fisher and Erickson (1973), Hagan and Palloni (1990), Horowitz and Wasserman (1979), Klein (1974), McEachern, (1968) Palarma et al. (1986), Ray and Downs (1986), Smith and Paternoster (1990), Thomas and Bishop (1984) have established the relationship between official labelling and subsequent crime and delinquency. However, Bernburg et al. (2006) maintain that research on the mediating role of social ties to deviant others has been rare, by failing to consider the requisite intervening effects, the bulk of labelling studies do not constitute a valid test of labelling theory (Paternoster & Iovanni 1989:384). 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Sampson and Laub (1993) also noted that the notion of cumulative continuity is consistent with the original contentions of labelling theory, that reactions to primary deviance may create problems of adjustments that foster additional crime in the form of secondary deviance (Lemert 1951, Becker, 1963). A good example is the negative effects incarcerations have on future employment. However, not much research has been done on those groups of individuals who acquire labelling status yet desist from crime. This study uses a qualitative case study approach to explore the effect of formal criminal labelling through adulthood. 2.4.2 How employment affects crime over the life course Most criminologists believed that employment is central to the theory of crime, because having a job may be seen as reinforcing social conformity. According to Warr (1998), work is important for the theories of crime because workers are likely to experience close and frequent contacts with conventional others, and because the informal social control of the work place encourages conformity (Sampson & Laub, 1993). Furthermore, Sampson and Laub (1993:141) assert that both marriage and employment transitions are ‗characterized by an extensive set of obligations, expectations and interdependent social network‘. Like marriage, employment can create new situations with supervision and monitoring as well as new opportunities of social support and change in routine activities. According to Uggen (2000), sociologists have increasingly employed turning points in explaining behavioural change over the life course. However one of the several questions which keeps emerging is, is work a turning point in the life course of criminal offenders? If criminals are provided with jobs are they likely to stop committing crimes? Uggen (2000) further suggests that prior research is inconclusive, because work effects have been 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh biased by selectivity and obscured by the interaction of age and employment. In his final analysis, Uggen (2000) concluded that work appears to be more of a turning point for older than for younger offenders. In this line of reasoning, the literature thus explores the extent to which other researchers have addressed the questions of how employment affects crime. Empirical studies suggest that although involvement in work during adolescence in the earlier stages of the life course is beneficial in many, over-involvement in work at a young age appears to be detrimental. According to Bachman and Schulenberg, (1993) overinvestment of the adolescent in this adult-like role is more likely to expose them to crime and delinquency, although several debates continue as to whether or not intensive work plays a causal role or is simply a risk factor. Lageson and Uggen (2013) indicate that further research has supported this notion by identifying other negative effects of work experience, particularly for adolescents who work more than 20 h per week (Staff &Uggen, 2003). They further contend, that as the adolescents value these intensive work roles, other age- appropriate roles appear to become less salient or important to them, to the extent that young people invest less time and attention in their school roles and responsibilities, for example, they are likely to experience decreased educational performance and lower aspirations for further schooling. On the other end of the spectrum, a lack of employment opportunities may also be linked to increased delinquency in the adolescent stage of the life course (Allen & Steffensmeier, 1989). 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh On the whole, most empirical studies on how employment affects crime over the life course suggest that work is more effective in reducing criminal behaviour for adults over the age of 25 than for adolescents, or even emerging adults ages 18–25 (Sampson & Laub, 1993 andUggen, 2000) . For example, in a study of people leaving prison and drug treatment, Uggen (2000) finds significant effects of work only for former prisoners age 27 or over. According to Lageson and Uggen (2013) moving to the post-emerging adult stage of the life course, research has linked crime and work for adults in three major areas, showing: first, how job quality matters in desistance from crime; second, how prosocial bonds created through legal employment act as a deterrent to crime; and third, how aggregate unemployment levels relate to crime rates. The quality of a job appears to matter more than the mere presence of legal employment in its effect on reducing crime (Allan & Steffensmeier 1989; Sampson & Laub, 1993; Uggen, 1999). A long line of studies shows a relationship between high-quality work opportunities and diminished criminal behaviour. Allan and Steffensmeier (1989), for example, found that inadequate employment and unemployment increased arrest rates among adults. Shover (1996) identifies jobs with‘ decent income‘ and the opportunity to exercise creativity and intelligence as facilitating desistance from crime. Uggen (1999) finds that former prisoners, who obtain high-quality jobs, are less likely to reoffend than those who obtain lower-rated jobs, even when controlling for self-selection into employment. Consequently, labor markets characterized by high unemployment rates and low-quality jobs are associated with increased crime, even after statistically controlling for various sources of selection. 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The outcome of Sampson and Laub‘s (1993) studies also revealed that delinquent boys were at least three times more likely than non-delinquents to generate a history of unstable employment at age 25- 32 (young adulthood); for those delinquents in childhood, about half at each wave experienced job instability as an adult. They further assert that, delinquency in childhood is related to economic dependence, for example receiving welfare in young adulthood (ages 17-25) and later adulthood (ages 25-32). According to Lageson and Uggen (2013), longitudinal studies have been key in following work and crime across the life course, while also controlling for self-selection into employment, as well as prior deviance. A classic cohort study by Glueck and Glueck (1937, and 1943) followed 500 delinquent boys, matched to a control group, and studied the impact of family, work, and attachment on delinquency. Laub and Sampson (1993, 2003) reanalyzed these data, focusing heavily on the effects of job stability and commitment to work. Farrington and West‘s Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (Farrington et al, 1986; West & Farrington, 1973, 1977) followed 411 boys from London from the age of 8, similarly finding increased criminal involvement among young adults during times of unemployment (Farrington, et al. 1986). According to Lageson and Uggen (2013),even though the works of these scholars yield great insight into trajectories of work and crime over the life course, the limitation of these studies are that they often relied upon a single birth cohort—a design that has been criticized for its inability to distinguish between cohort, period, and age effects. For example, a low rate of employment among young workers in 2009 may be a function of their youth (an age effect), or it may reflect the significant recession occurring at that time (as in Lageson &Uggen, 2013:205). 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The finding of Crutchfield and Pitchford (1997) also show that youth employed in the secondary labour market are more likely to commit crime relative to those in more high quality, stable jobs. They further contend that crime among secondary labour market workers was especially high in areas of high secondary labor market concentration. Using these same data, Ploeger (1997) shows that work was associated with a number of delinquent or problem behaviours for adolescents (substance use, alcohol use, and aggression), even after controlling for prior levels of delinquency. According to Devers (2011), a small number of studies (Benda et al., 2005; Sampson and Laub, 2003) have found that those who are employed are more likely to desist from crime. While others have found that employment has no effect on desistance (McMillin, 2007; Neilsen, 1999; Tripodi et al 2010). Sampson and Laub's age-graded life-course theory appears to be a good and viable explanation model for how change as well as continuity occurs in the lives of some men, while Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) perspective also has some support. For those who argue from this perspective, Lageson and Uggen (2013) indicated that the association between work and crime is spurious due to a common cause such as impulsiveness or opportunities. To conclude, the literature review on employment and work suggests, that for youth, both a complete lack of work and total commitment to work are linked to criminal activity (Bachman et al., 2011). For adults, the quality of work and the bonds created through legal employment (Uggen, 1999, 2000, Sampson & Laub, 1993) facilitate desistance from crime as individual‘s transition into adult roles. 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.4.3 How marriage affects crime over the life course According to Sampson and Laub (1993), there is also little relative agreement about how exactly marriage and stable employment affect desistance from crime. Studies by Besani, et al., (2009), Blokland and Nieuwbeeta (2005),Forrest, (2007) Laub et al., (1998) Laub & Sampson (2003) McMillin (2007), among others who examined the relationship between marriage and desistance generally find that married individuals are less likely to commit crime compared to those who are single . Support has also been found in samples of high – risk offenders Farrington and West (1995) Honey and Marshall (1995) Laub and Sampson (2003).Sampson et al., (2006) tested the causal effect of marriage on offending and found that being married led to a 35 percent decrease in crime. In terms of family life as an adult, delinquents were roughly three to five times more likely to get divorced or separated from their spouses than were non delinquents. Almost half or more of those with delinquency in childhood (official or unofficial) had weak attachment to their spouses compared to less than 25% of the control group and even the occurrences of early tantrums in childhood is related to weak attachment to the spouse as adult. In another study, Laub et al. (1998) again, demonstrated that the good marriage effect tends to be gradual and cumulative rather than abrupt, and they further articulated a control theory explanation of these findings. Shover and Thompson (1992, p. 670), for example, argue that living with a wife may significantly influence the nature of daily activities, suggesting that these lifestyle changes may also work to limit involvement in illegal behaviour. Warr (1998), in his analysis of National Youth Survey data in the U.S.A, found support for this hypothesis by demonstrating that at least some of the marriage effect was indirect, via the spouse‘s role in reducing involvement with delinquent peers. 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Considering the impact of marriage on desistance from crime, Sampson and Laub (1993:140) write that ‗the structural institution of marriage per se does not increase social control. However, strong attachment to a spouse (or cohabitant) combined with close emotional ties creates a social bond or interdependence between two individuals that, all else being equal, should lead to a reduction in deviant behaviour.‘ They further elaborate that adults, regardless of delinquent background, will be inhibited from committing crime to the extent that they have social capital invested in their work and family lives . . . . By contrast, those subject to weak systems of interdependence and informal social control as an adult . . . are freer to engage in deviant behaviour even if non delinquent as a youth‘ ( Sampson & Laub 1993, p. 141). One of the primary findings of Farrington and West‘s (1995) investigation was that marriage discouraged offending only among men who actually resided with their spouse; married men who were separated from their wives had markedly higher rates of offending than those who lived with their spouse. This finding closely matches the results of a recent analysis of short-term (month-to-month) changes in criminal careers. Homey and Marshall (1995:665) report that married male offenders reduced their offending when they were actually living with their spouse and resumed it when they were not: ‗Moving in with one‘s wife doubles the odds of stopping offending (compared to moving away), and moving away from one‘s wife doubles the odds of starting to offend (compared to moving in).‘ According to Warr (1998), although, Sampson and Laub‘s reanalysis of the Gluecks‘ data led them to claim substantial support for their position, that marital attachment and job stability had significant effects in reducing deviant behaviour during adulthood, even 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh among those with a history of delinquency in childhood or adolescence. Their analysis suffers from a serious flaw. The problem lies in their arguments surrounding desistance from crime in early adulthood. Warr (1998) critique that in advancing their control explanation of desistance, Sampson and Laub failed to acknowledge or test a rival explanation of desistance, one that is not only possible but highly plausible. To conclude, although some scholars, for example Warr (1998), do not wholly agree with Sampson and Laub (1993) on the grounds that marriage does not lead to desistance but rather marriage, friends and crime could be linked through a process of social selection. Departing from Sampson and Laub (1993) on marriage and desistance, Giordano et al (2002) speculate that neither marital attachment nor job stability factors frequently associated with male and female desistance, rather they developed a symbolic interactions perspective to counter point Sampson and Laub (1993) theory of informal social control. Giordano et al. (2002) further explained that a potential limitation of the body of work by Sampson and Laub (1993) is that the sample on which the analyses were based was composed entirely of white male offenders who matured into adulthood during the 1950s. Thus, it is not clear whether the findings described (or the theory that derives from them) effectively capture the experiences of female or minority delinquents or, more generally, offenders coming of age within the context of a more contemporary social and economic landscape. Regardless of these criticisms, their theoretical framework provides a more specified and grounded framework that identified the ability of individuals to change their criminal trajectories passing through life‘s transitions such as the effect of marriage and employment. 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.5 Gender and Crime According to Belknap (2001), Belknap and Holsinger (2006), the life course perspective of criminality became influential in the field of criminology during the 1990. Regardless of its relevance to our understanding of crime, the life course research has contributed relatively very little to the literature on women and girls and has focused instead overwhelmingly on men and boys. According to Giordano et al. (2002), one reason why little is known about female-offender behaviour over time is that traditional longitudinal studies, including unselected cohort designs or even a national probability sample (Elliott, Huizinga, & Menard 1989; Osgood et al. 1988), do not include sufficiently large numbers of seriously delinquent girls to provide for a comprehensive analysis. For example, Stattin, Magnusson, and Reichel (1989) found in a follow-up of 1,393 pupils in Sweden that only 15 females had an official crime record as juveniles, while 165 males were convicted of at least one offense prior to age 18. Such findings according to Giordano et al. (2002) underscore that gender socialization is, in the typical case, very powerful indeed. Feminist‘s criminologists have also criticised life course theorists for failing to describe how the finding of their studies can be applicable to women and for failing to cite the absence of women and girls as a limitation of their research. Over the years, Steffensmeier and Allan (2000) maintained that men were the primary perpetrators of most criminal activities, however; the changing gender roles and women movements have had a significant impact on female crime. 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The main argument is that as women having gained self –esteem, confidence and self- sufficiency in recent time have led to an increase in female crime rates. Studies by Baskin and Sommers, (1998), Bersani et al., (2009)Giordano et al., (2002), Petras et al., (2010), who analyzed the differences between gender and desistance find similarities as well as differences with regards to their offending patterns in crime. Petras et al., (2010), for example, observed that significant sex differences exist with respect to participation in crime and frequency at which those crimes are committed. Their study suggests that women participate in and commit crimes less frequency than men throughout their lives. In another study, Reisig et al. (2006) observed that women engage in criminal activity to meet the financial needs of their partners, while men do so to maintain their status. Steffenmeier and Allan (1996) reported that onset and desistance from criminal behaviour occur earlier in women than they do in men. Moult (2008) asserts that feminist scholars have identified a link between negative childhood experience and female criminality. Moult (2008) maintained that studies in this regard highlight coerced sex, lack of parental guidance, a lack of a positive male relationship, poverty and marginality, as factors that uniquely are experienced by women as factors predisposing them to crime. According to Giordano et al. (2002), female adolescents, on the average, are just not likely to be very delinquent, particularly in comparison to their male counterparts. However, a small number of girls in every jurisdiction do engage in delinquent, aggressive, or antisocial behaviour, and thereby become engaged in the juvenile and adult correctional systems. Yet little is remarkably known about the long-term prospects of such young women. Warren and Rosenbaum‘s (1986) longitudinal follow up study of 159 females adults, though, limited to an examination of official records, found evidence of criminal 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh continuity. Their study revealed that, a high percentage of the adolescents in their study later went on to be arrested as adults. Similarly, Robbins‘s (1966) follow-up study of girls and boys seen at a psychiatric clinic for antisocial behaviour in childhood or adolescence also recorded that many of the women included in their study exhibited behavioural and mental health difficulties in adulthood. However, Giordano et al. (2002) point out that neither of these two follow-up studies explored factors associated with variability in the success of the women‘s adult transitions. According to Giordano et al. (2002), some researchers emphasize that even when females engage in delinquent behaviours, their involvement is likely to be of a less serious nature and that women commit relatively petty crimes such as shoplifting or running away; or, when caught up in more serious crimes, their level of participation is assumed to be minor and their motivations are believed to be different (Leonard 1982). Studies by Daly (1994), Maher (1997), Maher and Daly (1996), Ogle, Maier-Katkin and Bernard (1995) and Tripplett and Myers (1995), have also focused more attention on context such as women‘s role in crime, circumstances and motives that unearth the gender difference. Although this literature does not address desistance processes specifically, the notion that there may be gendered pathways into crime leads us to assume that there could be gendered pathways out of crime. According to Giordano et al. (2002), marital attachment may be even more critical as an influence on desistance for women. And secondly, childbearing may represent a more life-changing transition for female than for 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh male offenders, and thirdly, employment experiences will tend to be less important for women than for men. Another school of thought or tradition within criminology also asserts that some social processes linked with male delinquency are helpful in understanding young women‘s involvement. Factors such as economic disadvantage as demonstrated by Giordano, Kerbel, and Dudley (1981), family factors including lack of supervision found in the works of Canter (1982), Cernkovich and Giordano (1987), school failure factors illustrated by the works Smith and Paternoster (1987) and association with delinquent peers Cairns and Cairns (1994), Giordano, Cernkovich, and Pugh (1986), have all been significantly related to female as well as male delinquency. Another study by Giordano and Cernkovich (1979), have also demonstrated significant gender differences in the relative salience of certain predictors, as well as in mechanisms of influence. Their work, for example, indicated that while peer involvement is an important element for both female and male delinquency, female adolescents are more likely to commit delinquent acts with a mixed-gender group, while males are typically accompanied by same-gender companions. Heimer and DeCoster (1999) also found in their study that low supervision by family is significantly related to male self-reports of involvement in violent behaviour while more subtle indirect familial controls influenced levels of female involvement. Graham and Bowling (1996) have also found that desistance occurred more abruptly for women than for men and was often linked to the birth of a child. In addition, while a factor such as marriage may be implicated in both female and male desistance, the ways in which 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh partners influence each other may be quite distinct. It is also possible that processes not identified in previous male-centered studies are systematically related to variations in women‘s adult levels of involvement in criminal behaviour. Giordano et al‘s. (2002) analysis also points to potential areas of gender difference that warrant additional research, For example, they found women were more likely than men to describe religious transformations and to focus heavily on their children as catalysts for the changes they had made. Men more often assigned prominence to prison or treatment, or focused on family more generally (the wife and kids). Another important element for consideration when exploring gender issues is the issue of childbearing and maturing out of crime. Also many of the women who were more successful as desisters crafted highly traditional replacement selves (e.g., child of God, the good wife, involved mother) that they associated with their successful exits from criminal activities. Giordano et al. (2002) concluded by saying that more basic research on the life course experiences of highly disadvantaged women will undoubtedly add to the growing theoretical interest in the intersections of various types of disadvantage and increased recognition within feminism that women‘s standpoints and challenges vary considerably. In conclusion, therefore, the trend of analysis suggests that research on the life course and criminal careers of female offenders is limited, and that the theoretical underpinnings of the female crime literature are contradictory in several key respects. 2.6 The role of friendship in the etiology of crime; the differential association theory Within the context of criminology, several theories have been formulated to explain why certain individuals engage in crime in their life time. One of such theories is the 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Differential Association theory formulated by Sutherland in 1939 and revised in 1947. Since its inception, this theory has received widespread popularity and acceptance in criminological circles. According to Matsueda (1988), the differential association theory marked a watershed in criminology, being a unique contribution in bringing the perspective of sociology into the forefront of criminology. Within his theory, Sutherland attempt to identify the universal mechanism that explains the genesis of crime regardless of concrete, structural, social and individual concrete involvement. Sutherland‘s argument rests on the premise that crime is learnt in intimate groups through a process of interacting with significant others individuals who learn the techniques, rationalization, motives, attitudes and values for committing crime. Sutherland therefore outlines nine processes which people pass through to become criminal, the nine prepositions are as follows; 1. Criminal behaviour is learned; it is not inherited 2. Criminal behaviour is learned in interaction with others through a process of communication, meaning a person does not become criminal simply in a criminal environment. Crime is learned by participation with others in verbal and nonverbal communication. 3. Leaning occurs in intimate groups. This means that the principal part of the learning of criminal behaviour occurs in intimate groups. Families and friends have most influence on the learning of deviant behaviour. 4. In intimate groups people learn the techniques for committing crime, as well as the appropriate motives, attitudes and rationalizations. 5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal code as being favourable or unfavourable. This means that in some societies, an 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh individual may be surrounded by persons who invariably define the legal code as rules to be observed, while in others, he or she is surrendered by persons whose definitions are favourable to the violations of the legal codes. Not everybody in society agrees that laws should be obeyed; some people define it as unimportant. 6. A person becomes delinquent because of excess of definitions favourable to violation of law over definitions unfavourable to the law. According to Adler (2001) this is the key principle of differential association. In order words, learning criminal behaviour is not simply a matter of associating with bad companions rather, learning criminal behaviour depends on how many definitions we learn that are favourable to law violations as opposed to those that are unfavourable to law violation. 7. Differential association may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. Thus, the extent to which associations and definitions will result in criminality is related to the frequency of contacts, their duration and their meaning to the individual. Put in another way, the longer, earlier, more intensely, and more frequently people are exposed to a set of attitudes about criminality, the more likely it is that they will be influenced. 8. Learning criminal behaviour, involves the same mechanism involved in any other learning. In other words, learning criminal behaviour patterns is very much like learning conventional behaviour patterns and is not simply a matter of observation and imitation. 9. Criminal behaviour and non- criminal behaviour is the expression of the same needs and values, criminals steal to get what they want, others work to get money to buy what they want. 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Through the years, the differential association theory has stimulated theoretical refinement and revisions, empirical research and application to policing and programmes. A number of criminologists have also attempted to revisit the theory so that it will be more amendable to empirical texts (see, for example, Short, 1957; Glaser, 1960; Voss, 1964; and Hirschi, 1969). Most of these early empirical studies of juvenile delinquency operationalized the differential association theory using the concept of association with delinquents‘ peers and the frequency, duration, priority and intensity of such associations and found support for the theory. These studies suggest that juvenile behaviours are learnt from peers. According to Matsueda (1988) the major limitation of these early studies is that they failed to measure directly the crucial variable, learned definition of law violation. Regardless of their line of potential contribution to theory, additional development of the theory is needed to expand our knowledge and understanding of the determinate factors leading to persistence and desistance in crime over the life course. According to Warr (1998) evidence for a peer explanation of desistance comes from several sources. Knight and West (1975) divided a small group of British delinquents into two: those who had no further criminal convictions or self-reported offenses after age 16 (temporary delinquents) and those who continued to commit offenses after that age (continuing delinquents). Among those who had desisted from crime (temporary delinquents), more than half reported that ‗they had abandoned the male peer groups of their adolescent.‘ As one offender put it, ‗To keep out of trouble, that‘s why I don‘t go round them no more . . . I don‘t hang around with a lot of mates or anything like that. By contrast, those who had not desisted (continuing delinquents) showed no decline in their 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh level of peer involvement as they grew older. Suggesting, that the more likely criminal discard their old peers the more likely they will reoffend. To conclude, the literature review has touched on the theoretical perspectives that explain the persistence and desistance factors of crime over the life course by demonstrating the extent to which structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms predict early onset of crime. It further explored the extent to which labelling explain persistence of crime and well as how critical factors such as marriage, employment and friendship affect individuals in relation to crime. Studies on gender and crime were also reviewed. The next chapter describes the research methods which includes the historical background of the study sites and the methods used in collecting the research data. 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE STUDY AREAS AND RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Introduction Chapter Three is divided into two sections. The first section discusses the historical background of the study sites, namely the Nsawam Male and Female Security Prisons as well as the Senior Boy and Junior Girls correctional centres in Accra. The second section looks at the research approach which includes a justification for the choice of methodological paradigm to situate the study as well as the methods and procedures used in collecting the data. The data collection exercise took place at two study site namely; Nsawam Male and Female Medium Security Prisons where delinquents who were in their adulthood were tracked. The desisted category was selected within the environs of Accra, in particular their work places, school and residence. The justification for choosing the Nsawam Medium Security Prison was that until the establishment of the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison in the year 2011, the Nsawam prison used to be the largest prison institution in Ghana and probably the whole of West Africa. In terms of its population, the prison is heterogeneous in the sense that it houses different kinds of high risk offenders such as armed robbers, murderers and drug addicts. A synopsis of the background information as well as the structure and activities of the prisons are discussed in the details. 3.2 History of the Nsawam Male Medium Security Prison The entire background information on the male prisons was obtained from an excerpt from the Nsawam male prisons annual report 2013 given to the researcher by the welfare officer 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of the male unit. According to the report, The Nsawam Medium Security Prison was established on a square mile plot of land located at the outskirts of the Nsawam Township. Oral tradition has it that the prison was a sacred place where chiefs and important personalities have been buried many years ago. As a medium security prisons, it is reasonably fortified to the extent that an internally planned escape would be impossible. Though the prison‘s ideal average capacity is 717, it now holds almost 3,000 inmates or more at a given point in time. The establishment of the Nsawam Male Security Prisons was necessitated by the overcrowding experienced by the main central prison in Accra. By 1949 the, overcrowding had already reached a crisis stage and showed no sign of decreasing. The McCarthy Committee on Prisons was set up to investigate the causes leading to the overcrowding in the Prisons. The Committee presented its report to parliament in 1951 and recommended that a new Prison be built at Nsawam near Accra and that it should be built on a highland. It also recommended the dormitory accommodation instead of cellular construction. The prison was fully completed in 1961 with rated capacity of 851 prisoners and an average of 20 prisoners per cell. It was recorded that already by 1962 the prison was filled beyond the capacity. In terms of internal security, the extent of the perimeter of the prison is one mile with a high degree of internal security. The outer perimeter wall of the prison is 9 inches thick and about 20 feet high. The compound has 5 separate cell units which are termed blocks, thus block 1,2,3,4 and 5. Other blocks are Annex, Segregation and Special block (condemn block) all of which house inmates. Beside the cell block, there are other 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh buildings such as the Prison School, Library, Infirmary, Chapel, Administrative block and Workshops. The administrative block is a two – storey building which ensures that there can be constant observation of the inmates at work from above. There is also a visiting block with provision for not more than 6 visitors at a time. Each block has 12 cells providing accommodation for not less than 250 inmates. The annex block contains 48 cells and 13 separate cells for punishment purposes. With respect to inmates‘ recreation, there is a foot ball field where the inmates hold sporting activities. 3.2.1 Classification of Prisoners: There are several types of prisoners currently in custody at the Nsawam Male Security Prisons. They include convicts, condemned prisoners, remands, debtors, and deportees. In addition there are first offenders as well as recidivists both young and in middle adulthood. Given the large number of inmates and the nature of the prison‘s structure, it could be realized that the prison officers are unable to undertake a proper classification so as to avoid contamination. However, prison officers try to limit contamination as much as they can by using indices like type of offence, length of sentence, and age etc as criteria for allocating them to the dormitories. 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.2.3 Remands According to the information received from the Nsawam Male Prisons, The overwhelming and continuously increasing number of remand prisoners, in particular those whose cases are either under investigation or are waiting trial is of grave concern. It was recorded in the annual report in December 2000 that the remand population stood at 202 while in December 2002 the remand lock up was 324 and as at 2009 the remand population had risen to 1633 turning the Nsawam Male Prison into a remand home. Some of these remand prisoners have expired warrant and have been in lock up for nearly 14 years without a trial, which is very degrading and humanizing. The prevailing conditions suggest that the Nsawam Male Security Prison is highly congested. The prisons has training programmes for the inmates, currently the prison administration is building an education block to help prisoners who want to continue their education Most of the inmates have graduated with certificates such as Basic Education Certificate Examination and West African Examination Council Certificates. 3.3 History of the Nsawam Female Medium Security Prison The entire background information on the female prisons was obtained from the Nsawam female prisons annual report 2013 given to the researcher by the officer in charge of the female unit. According to the report, the Medium Security Prison, (Female Wing) is the biggest Female Prison in the country. The Medium Security Prison, Nsawam, is located about two kilometers off the southern outskirts of Nsawam township and along the Eastern th side of the Nsawam – Accra road. The female prison was opened on 10 December, 1973, to perform the main traditional functions as enshrined in its mandate namely, to keep the 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh safe custody of inmates and to ensure the welfare, reformation and the rehabilitation of female prisoners. Since its establishment, there has not been any serious overcrowding or crisis, except in 1988 when it was recorded that 17 Ghanaian Prisoners serving various terms in Nigerian Prisons were transferred to the Nsawam prison. Further explanations suggest that this was an exchange programme between the Ghanaian and Nigerian Governments. Five th Nigerians were exchanged for 17 Ghanaians on 17 December, 1988. In terms of it structure for housing inmates, the prison contains four cells with an official accommodation capacity of 200 prisoners, thus; 50 prisoners to a cell. The prisons narrative reports suggest that the average lock-up for the female inmates is 110 in a one year period. The administrative block is a one storey building block which allows for constant observation of inmates activities in the yard. This administrative block also comprises offices for admission of prisoners and visits to inmates by their families and friends. The prison has two blocks for housing the inmates, one is made up of four cells and the other is made up of three cells. There is also an infirmary for the healthcare needs of prisoners and officers. The categories of offenders include convicts (condemned prisons, lifers, long and short sentence prisoners) and remand prisoners. There are various vocational training and rehabilitation programmes for the prisoners which include religious/moral training, counselling of inmates, ICT Centre, Education Unit, Tailoring shop, batik/tie and dye shop, soap making shop, crocheting, door mat making, bread 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh baking and a hair dressing salon. All these activities are geared towards the training of the inmates to reduce the reoffending rates. In conclusion, the descriptions regarding the structures, activities, security and the caliber of staff suggest that the Nsawam Medium Security Prison is one of the best security prisons in Africa and has since its inception become useful in housing hardened criminals who pose a threat and a danger to the society. Considering its heterogeneity, the only way to track and explore the life course experiences of juvenile delinquents in and out of crime is the Nsawam Male and Females prisons in Ghana. These also justify the choice of the areas for study. 3.4 Background information of the Senior Boys Correctional Centre According to the Ghana Prisons records, the Senior Boys Correctional Centre (SBCC) th formerly known as the Ghana Borstal Institute was established on 19 May 1947 by the colonial administration when the need was felt to establish a separate institution for young offenders who before this establishment were sent to the adult prison. Originally, the place in which the SBCC was situated was a camp for the West African Frontiers Force of the then British colonial administration. It served as a base for the British West African soldiers during the Second World War. When the war ended, the place was converted into the SBCC. The SBCC Institute is located at Mamobi, a suburb of Accra, and it is being managed by the Ghana Prison Services, thus the custodian staffs are prison personnel and are in uniform when on duty. The SBCC is the only institution in Ghana currently mandated to house young offenders between the ages of 14-19 years who are in conflict with the law 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (Juvenile delinquent). It has been established to prevent the sending of young person‘s to prison. It is meant to give skills training and education to juvenile delinquents so that on discharge the skills and training they have acquired will be beneficial in their transition to adulthood, thus reducing reoffending rate. The SBCC is structured in a way as not to create an impression for the inmates to feel that they are living in prison. Unlike the adult prisons, where security is the main concern, at the SBCC security is not the major concern, hence the institution is not walled. When inmates arrive from their various destinations, they are housed in a room under constant supervision for a period of time. When the officers realize after a series of counselling sessions and observation that the juvenile will not escape, the juvenile is given his liberty without any strict supervision. A juvenile is committed to the institution by the juvenile court only after the court has received and is satisfied with reports by the police and the probation officer who in most cases is an officer from the Social Welfare Department, concerning the offenders conduct, previous crime record and circumstances leading to his offence (Abochie & Senah, 1987). The juvenile is then interviewed on his interest in vocation before being committed. The length of treatment at the institution depends on the staff assessment of the inmate‘s response to training. The Vocational skills being offered to the delinquents at the institution include auto – mechanics and electronics, general electrical, ceramics, welding and blacksmithing, shoe making, tailoring, carpentry, draughtmanship and block- laying and educational training among others. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A juvenile delinquent who is discharged from the institution goes out with a National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) proficiency grade two certificate. Furthermore, inmates who are found to be academically good are given formal education as far as to the senior education level. The participants who are used in this study were juvenile delinquents committed to the SBCC on various offences and their narratives shared experiences portray how their interactions within this structural context shaped and changed their offending trajectory. Some of the major problems faced by the institution includes inadequate and obsolete workshops and equipment, lack of training materials, lack of clothing and beds for the inmates, an ill- equipped infirmary, the need to wall the institution which poses a risk factor for contamination of the offenders and the lack of cooperation between the prisons officers and the parents and guardians of the offenders in the sense that most parents do not visit their wards until their discharge. And finally, the absence of social workers during the discharge board meeting was also seen as a challenge because it becomes very difficult to identify family members for successful reintegration. The table below illustrates the total number of inmates admitted to the institution from 2009 – 2014. Table 1: Statistics on Juvenile Delinquents Committed to the SBCC from 2009 – 2014 Year Frequency Percentage 2009 49 19 2010 70 27 2011 63 25 2013 45 18 2014 29 11 Total 256 100 Source: Senior Boys Correctional Centre, May, 2014 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.5 Background information on the Junior Girls Correctional Centre As at the time of this study, there were no official written documents on the history of the Junior Girls Vocational Correctional (JGVC) managed by the Social Welfare Department in Ghana. As such the entire section on the history of the institution described in this context is based on oral tradition given by the principal of the correctional centre. According to the Principal of the institution, the year in which the institution was established is not known. However, it is believed to have been established in the pre independent era by the colonial masters. JGVC unlike the SBCC is managed by the Department of Social Welfare. The rationale for the establishment of the centre was to offer character reformation and vocational training skills to young offenders at the age of 12 to 17 years of age. Female offenders admitted to the institution are in conflict with the law. Some of the offences committed by the young girls include murder, narcotics and stealing among others. 3.5.1 Mode of Admission According to the principal of the institution, the procedure for admission to the JGVC is based on the same principles as the boys at the SBCC. A young offender is usually committed to a JGVC by the juvenile court only after the court is satisfied with reports by the police and the probation officer concerning the offender‘s conduct, previous crime record and the circumstances leading to her offence. Within the context of the law, as spelt out in the juvenile justice act, institutionalization is the last resort to reformation after all other avenues have been explored. 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The juvenile upon reaching the institution is interviewed on her vocational interest. The length of stay at the institution usually depends on the staff‘s assessment of the inmate‘s response to training. The inmates are generally between the ages of twelve to twenty. They stay at the institution a minimum of three months and a maximum period of three years. The vocational training skills available for inmates to learn includes dress making, hair dressing, bead arrangement, batik, tie and dye, manicure and pedicure, When the inmates are due for discharge, the probation officer will draw a discharge plan and will arrange with the family to reintegrate the offender with the family and the community. All the staff at the institution are Social Workers and trade instructors. According to the principal of the institution, the major challenges faced by the institution includes inadequate both human and material resources, lack of cooperation, apathy of parents and guardians, who never show up or even visit their wards at the institution. Notwithstanding these challenges, the institution exists to reform and control serious offenders who may pose a danger and threat to society. The table below illustrate the total number of female juvenile delinquents admitted to the institution from 2008 – 2013. Table 2: Statistics on Female Juvenile Delinquents at JGCC from 2008 – 2013 Year Frequency Percentage 2008 7 37 2009 3 16 2010 2 11 2011 3 16 2012 2 11 2013 2 11 Total 19 100 Source: Girls Correctional Center Osu, December, 2013. 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6 Research Method Generally, research methods, as evident in any scientific inquiry, involve the process and procedures of collecting, analyzing and interpreting the data in order to understand a problem or phenomenon under investigation. In this section, the researcher discusses the methodological choices, justifications of the strategies that were employed in this study as well as the challenges faced in the course of gathering the needed information to enable us understand the transitions embedded in the offending trajectories of Ghanaian delinquents in their adulthood. The first section presents an overview of the methodological considerations in life course research. The rationale behind this discussion is to situate the methodology within the context of life course research and to have a deeper understanding of how life course research is undertaken in criminology. This enables us to address the question of how experiences in multiple life domains within the Ghanaian social context modify the tendency to persist or desist in crime over an individual‘s life course. The second section summarises the philosophical and theoretical assumptions underlying the research design used in this study and it justifies how these methodological assumption will shape and translate the experiences of the participants into a meaningful discussion which will enable us make sense of their life histories. The final section presents and discusses the socio – demographic characteristics of the participants, the processes and procedures used in gathering the data as well as the analytical framework that was employed to analyze and interpreted the data. 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6.1 Methodological consideration in life course study This section looks at the origins and development of life course research and the various methodological choices that have been employed to study the life course of criminal offenders. The life course approach also known as the life course perspective or life course theory is a methodological approach developed in the 1960s for analyzing people‘s lives within structural, social and cultural contexts. It also refers to a multidisciplinary paradigm for the study of people‘s lives. According to Hutchison (2010), the lifecourse as a theoretical model has emerged over the last 45 years across several disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, social history, demography and psychology all working independently to give it a shape. Commenting on the development of the life course theory Hutchison wrote: ‗…Glen Elder Jr., a sociologist, was one of the early authors to write about a life course perspective, and continues to be one of the driving forces behind its development. In the early 1960s, Elder began to analyze data from three pioneering longitudinal studies on children that had been undertaken by the University of California Berkeley. As he examine the several decades of data, he was struck with the enormous impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s on individual family paths ways (Elder, 1974). He begun to call for developmental theory and research that looked at the influence of historical forces on family, education, and work roles…‘ (Cited in Hutchison, 2010:10). Even though this perspective is relatively young, its popularity has been growing in recent years. It has been used to understand the path ways of families, organizations and social movements. Within the context of criminological studies, the life course has been used as a theoretical frame work to understand patterns of stability and change in offending trajectories (Giordano 2002; Uggen, 200; Warr, 1998; Sampon & Laub 1993; Glueck 1950, 1960). Since the life course theory focuses on how time and events shape the lives of individuals within space and time. 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Most of the methodological approach these researchers relied upon to make sense and construct meaning into people‘s experiences is the life history narratives. Qualitative methods, such as the life history narrative approach, have typically been employed to investigate self-perceived turning points. In this approach, the individual‘s own words, and the meanings and significance of the events as well as the complicated process of change over time can be captured. Life history narratives are used by life course researchers in criminology in order for them to understand the onset, continuation and cessation of criminal activity in an individual‘s life time (Sampson & Laub, 1993). In addition to qualitative methods, advanced statistical methods involving examination of repeated measures associated with changes in developmental trajectories over time have also been used to examine drug use trajectories within which turning points are embedded. With the advent of recent advances in statistical analysis methods applied to longitudinal data (e.g., growth mixture modeling), researchers have been able to discern distinct long- term developmental patterns of substance use and also identified the trajectories of change in offending, for example, how a strong attachment to marriage and to employment reduces or leads to desistance from crime. In order to understand the transitions embedded within the offending trajectories of juvenile delinquents in their adulthood in the Ghanaian social context, qualitative methods such as life histories and interviews were employed to understand these dynamics. The justification for the use of this method is embedded in the theoretical underpinnings discussed in the subsequent section. 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6.2 Philosophical assumptions underlying the research design According to Guba and Lincoln (1994) philosophical assumptions or paradigm represents a worldview that defines, for its holder, the nature of the world, and the individual's place in it, and the range of possible relationships to that world and its parts. With this held world view, the researcher is able to position himself as an ―outsider‖ in order to construct and interpret the social realities of individuals as they experienced the social world. With respect to the philosophical assumptions or paradigms that underlie the choice of any research design, Leedy and Ormrod (2001), Guba and Lincoln (1994) explain that four paradigms have competed over the years to gain acceptance as the paradigm of choice in informing and guiding research, especially in a qualitative enquiry. They further argue that for every qualitative researcher, it is prudent to identify and situate the study within a particular paradigm since acknowledgement of these principles will enable the researcher to gain a deeper understanding and insight into the phenomenon being studied. Rephrased in the words of Creswell (2009), although philosophical ideas remain largely hidden in research, they in a real sense influence by the practice of research. These philosophical assumptions need to be identified as knowledge of them directs the choice of choosing one research method over the other whether it is qualitative, quantitative or a mixed methods approach. Similarly, Guba and Lincoln (1994) contend that adherences to philosophical paradigms will also help qualitative researchers answer the ontological, epistemological and the methodological questions which also serve as a focus around which a choice of paradigm is made. According to Guba and Lincoln (1994) paradigms, as belief systems, are based on epistemological, ontological and methodological assumptions. Epistemological 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh assumptions believe that the best way to understand any phenomenon is to view it in its context, thus, the best way to understand what is going on is to become immersed in it and move into the culture or organization being studied or to experience what it is like to be a part. Rather than approaching measurements with the idea of constructing a fix instrument or set of questions, qualitative researches choose to allow the questions to emerge and change as the researcher becomes familiar with the study content (Krauss 2005). Within the context of this study, the epistemological stance of the researcher rested on his ability to move into the social settings of the participants, observe, interact and held interviews with them in order to understand and make sense of their life experiences as to what social factors made them persist or desist from crime. Ontological assumptions suggest that every individual is unique and as such the subjective meanings individuals attach to their action should be well understood. The Verstehen concept (understanding) as postulated by Weber (1949) becomes crucial for qualitative researchers. Thus we need to view the phenomenon being investigated from the individual‘s own perspective. Ontological assumptions further stress that there is no single unitary reality apart from our perception, in the sense that each one of us experiences social life differently, as in such a phenomenon of a multiple reality exists. The goal of every qualitative researcher, therefore, is to rely, as much as possible, on the view of the participant being studied (Creswell 2009). In this line of reasoning, the ontological and the epistemological questions that the study sought to address are better understood in the philosophical assumptions of social constructivism which holds that individual seeks understanding of the world in which they 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh live and work by constructing and defining their own meanings of their actions within the social contexts in which they find themselves. The intent of using these assumptions is to make sense of the lived experiences of juvenile delinquents and to gain a deeper understanding of how and why they maintain or change their offending pathways. As a framework for understanding the stability and change in offending patterns of Ghanaian delinquents, methodologically, all the answers given by the subjects in each single case are considered as human constructions, an invention of the human mind and hence subject to human error. The ongoing contentions, therefore, justify the researcher‘s use of qualitative research methods over quantitative methods to track and explore the lived experiences of a few juvenile delinquents who have navigated the transition to adulthood. It must however be noted that the intention of the researcher was not to quantify and present the number of juvenile delinquents who persisted and desisted from crime over their life course in Ghana, nor was it to generalized the findings generated from this study, rather inspired by his personal interaction and conversation with juvenile delinquents over the years as a sociologists, the researcher sought to capture and understand their realities as his target group experience the social world and through this contribute and fill our knowledge gaps on the determinate factors that explain the stability and change in criminal trajectories of an entirely different social context, different form the West. The researcher‘s justification for using a qualitative method is better explained clearly in the assertions of Carlssons (2011), that transitions as manifested in individual lives are very often gradual processes, in the sense, that it is very difficult to capture these processes 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh with quantitative methods and while it is definitely not possible to capture the social processes in individual lives by using a quantitative approach, which is arguably less suited for the task than qualitative life stories interviews (Becker, 1966). Moreover, Tewksbury (2009) explains that the knowledge gained through qualitative investigations is more informative, richer and offers enhanced understandings compared to that which can be obtained from quantitative research. Similarly, Cusick (2010) also conclude that criminologists, using qualitative research, will benefit more if they hope to gain a deeper understanding of the life course experience of youth aging in and out of crime. Another justification for using a qualitative method is its reliance mainly on inductive approaches of investigating social phenomena. Inductive research is based on inductive reasoning or thought which turns a simple observation or thought into a general theory. Thus by studying the few delinquents who have navigated into their adulthood, the experiences they share will help generative concepts and ideas that can be used to study a larger population. The next section looks at the study samples as well as the procedures used in analyzing and interpretation the data. 3.6.3 Study Sample and Justification According to Neuman (2007) qualitative researchers focus less on a sample of representatives or detailed techniques for drawing a probability sample, instead, they focus on how the sample or small collection of cases or units, or activities illuminate key features of social life. In this regard, the approach to this study was qualitative and a total number of twenty seven respondents participated in the study, the participants included 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh thirteen persistent offenders including one female, ten juvenile delinquents who have desisted from crime including one female, as well as two senior prison officers, a social welfare officer who work in the juvenile justice system and the coordinator of a Non Governmental Organization. The justification for the selection of this number was based on the fact that there are no systematic records or statistics in Ghana on juvenile delinquents who are in their adulthood. This situation makes it very difficult to track a large number for any study. The few who were tracked were engaged in an in-depth interview to share their life histories. The use of a small sample size is regarded as credible because it represents social experiences, views and opinions of a heterogeneous population which can be classified as a relative maximum variation sample. The experiences of the respondents cover multiple social domains such as gender differentiations and characteristics, ethnicity, marriage, employments, criminal justice experiences as well as individuals with different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. However, it must be cautioned that the sample of the delinquents whose experiences are capture in this thesis are not necessarily representative of the entire Ghanaian juvenile delinquent in their adulthood phase of development. As a qualitative researcher, the intension is not to have a representative sample, rather the sampling enable us to understand the experiences of the juvenile delinquents from their own perspectives. The experiences of these few delinquents can stimulate ideas and concepts that could be used to study a larger number of delinquents. It could also serve as the foundation for the development of a theory on crime. 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6.4 Sampling Strategies and Representatives The sampling strategies and representations of this study include the recruitment procedures that were used to gather the information as well as the sampling techniques which were employed. The inclusion criterion was not based on gender discrimination; both men and women from 18 years and above were included in this study. At this age, the researcher believes that the respondents are mature enough to freely share their experiences which will help us understand how these experiences in multiple life domains shaped their lives. As discussed earlier, the lack of accurate data and statistics in Ghana on juvenile delinquents who have transition to adulthood made it very difficult to capture the categories of offenders required for this study. For the persistent offenders the researcher had made initial contacts with some of the participants during his official duties in the prisons. This made it easier to locate some of them when the need arose for a study of this nature. Also, since some of the prison officers had worked at the SBCC before, it was very easy to identify those offenders who had formerly been to the SBCC. Others were also contacted through the snowball sampling technique, where a friend introduces us to another friend who had ever been to the juvenile correctional facility. The cell leaders at the prisons also helped in identifying some of the participants. According to the cell leaders, whenever an inmate comes to the prisons (new comers) the tradition is that each person is asked to share his criminal history. Based on their shared experiences they were able to identify, the number of times a person had been to prison and as to whether or not the same person ever went to the SBCC. These social networks between the researcher, the officers and the cell leaders [inmates] led to the identification 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of several delinquents who made up the sample size after data, so that saturation was reached. In the case of those who desisted from crime, after a series of meeting with the officers at the SBCC, the researcher declared his intension as well as the nature and purpose of his study. In the initial stage, the officers were a bit reluctant to tell exactly where and how those delinquents could be tracked. However, after a series of conversation with some of the officers, they came up with contacts to juvenile delinquents who left the correctional facility. A few of the respondents were contacted on telephone and through the snowball sampling method some contacted their friends who were later recruited in the study. The same sampling procedures and techniques were also used to recruit the female offenders who participated in the study. As illustrated in table 3, it was the researcher‘s desire to recruit more females. His earlier intension was to make a comprehensive analysis of gender patterns in crime over the life course; however, the difficulty in tracking more female offenders made it very difficult to do so. Notwithstanding this limitation, the experiences of the two female adult offenders who participated made it more comparable to the males. One of the female offender used in this study was a recidivist who reported engaging in crime at the age of 14 but never passed through the JGCC. The circumstances surrounding her transitions as she experience the social world drew the attention of the researcher after a series of interactions and interviews with a few of the female recidivist as the prisons. The other female respondent who participated in the study went through the JGCC. As at the time of the interview, she had opened her own hairdressing shop and was engaged in her own business. The eligibility criteria for recruitments, included inform consent and a 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh commitment to participate in the study for at least two months or anytime further clarifications may be needed. The next section looks at the instrument and methods of collecting and analysing the data. 3.6.5 In- depth interviews Qualitative research, as a method of scientific inquiry, is characterized by its aims, which relate to understanding some aspect of social life, and its methods which (in general) generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis. Qualitative researchers examine a phenomenon within its real- life context and data are collected on or about a single individual or group. In order to make sense of the experiences of the juvenile delinquents who were now in their adulthood within the Ghanaian social context, in-depth semi structured interviews were used as the primary qualitative data collection technique for eliciting information on participants‘ personal life histories and a full range of information that was necessary to understand the determinate factors of stability and change in their offending trajectories. According to Boyce and Neale (2006), the primary advantage of in-depth interviews is its ability to provide much more detailed information than what is available through other data collection methods, such as surveys. In-depth interviews may also provide a more relaxed atmosphere in which to collect information. People feel more comfortable and relaxed so as to freely share their lived experiences without ‗keeping them in the boxes‘ as in the case of quantitative research. However, the few limitations and pitfalls of in- depth interview are that they are prone to be biased as well as time-intensive, as it takes time to conduct interviews, transcribe them, 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and analyze the result. Within the context of this thesis, the advantages of in-depth interviews prevails over their limitation in the sense that the researcher drew on 23 semi structured, in-depth interviews of juvenile delinquent in their adulthood phase of development to gain a deeper insight and understanding of how each individual‘s life experience within the broader life domain stabilizes and changes his/her offending paths. 3.6.6 Data collection in the prisons- interviewing procedures The data collection instrument which was used to collect the needed information from the participants is a semi- structured interview guide. Qualitative interviewing is usually based on a conversation between the researcher and the respondents with the emphasis on the researcher asking questions and listening, and the respondents answering those questions. The interview process took a period of one year: from December 2013- September 2014. In a real practical sense, undertaking a study in a prison is not an easy task considering the cumbersome procedures and processes one need to go through. In order to have access to the respective prisons and junior correctional facilities, permission was sought from the prison headquarters and the Department of Social Welfare in Accra, after the researcher had taken an introductory letter from the Department of Sociology University of Ghana. The researcher was however cautioned not to use any tape recorder to conduct the interviews as it was against the prison rules. All the 13 interviews with the persistent offenders were held at the welfare office at the prison. After the necessary arrangements had been done, the researcher scheduled a time with each of the participants for a face to face interview. The researcher‘s initial meeting with the participants was mainly to have a general conversation with them. After the 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh researcher had explained the nature and purpose of the study to the participants, he formally sought their consent by asking them to sign a consent form indicating their willingness to participate in the study without any compulsion. The respondents were also assured of anonymity and confidentiality. The researcher also promised protecting their identity by using pseudonyms instead of their original names. After the initial meeting with the participants, the researcher also held several meetings with them on different occasions. The intention behind these frequent meetings was to clarify issues which sounded confusing in the transcript and also to ensure coherency and consistency in the information as provided by the participants. Through the frequent interactions, the researcher also established trust and rapport with the participants. The creation of such an atmosphere will allow the researcher to minimize errors and obtain more reliable data necessary to understand how and why the respondents persisted in crime through adulthood. The discussions held with the respondents centered on their early family backgrounds and experiences as well as their experiences at the SBCC and the circumstances which led to their imprisonment. In our initial meetings, the researcher did not used any interview guide. The rationale for these interviews was to enable the researcher to pre -test and modify the questions to better address the transitions embedded in the offending trajectories of juvenile delinquents in their adulthood. During the interviews, two prisons officers were always present for security reasons and to ensure that the researcher was not going contrary to what he set out to do. However, their presence did not affect the outcome of the results in the sense that the respondent already 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh knew the researcher as the prison‘s aftercare agent who had been their friend and had rendered several kinds of professional services to them. When the researcher introduced the nature and purpose as well as the outcome of the study, all the participants were willing to provide information because they had got to the point that they felt that the young people out there could learn from their experiences and never commit crimes which will send them to prison considering the pains of imprisonment. All the thirteen interviews were conducted in Twi. This was the language that the participants could understand and speak fluently, so it made it very easy to communicate with them. Since the researcher was not allowed to use a tape recorder, he obtained permission from the participants to write down their responses in the form of field notes. The interview guide was structured under three broad categories with questions ranging from their socio- demographic characteristics and childhood social experiences to how their experiences at the correctional center and how the multiple life domains shaped and changed their offending trajectories. The conversations were done in a relaxed manner which allowed the participants to share their lived experiences freely. During the interview, the researcher commanded a greater degree of control over the respondents by keeping the interview on focus at points in the conversation when the respondents tended to be drifting from the initial questions. The openness and the trust that was established with the offenders during the interview processes generated useful and rich information from which the researcher was able to construct their realities from the participant‘s own perspectives to better understand the underlying social dynamics embedded in their offending trajectories. 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6.7 Data collection procedures for participants who desisted from crime The data collection procedure that was used to elicit information from the persistent offenders was not much different from that used for those who desisted from crime. The major difference lay on the social context in which the interviews took place. After the initial contacts with the participants on the telephone, the researcher scheduled a one on one meeting with each of the participants on different dates and locations depending on where and at what time it was convenient for the participants. The same semi-structured interview questions were used to elicit information from the respondents which included, seeking their consent formally, assuring them of anonymity and confidentiality as well as promising them that pseudonyms would be used to protect their identity instead of their original names. As mentioned earlier, the social context where the interviews were conducted differed from those who persisted in crime. For those who desisted from crime, some of the interviews took place at a restaurant where the researcher had lunch with the participant and during their meal and conversation had the interview. At this point, the researcher had mastered the questions so well that there was no need to refer to the interview guide unless the respondent made a point which stuck the researcher as important. In this sense, the researcher jotted down a few follow up questions. The researcher also arranged meetings at his office during weekends when the place was very quiet devoid of interruptions and distractions. It took a period of one year to collect the data since the researcher met the participants from time to time to clarify earlier responses. All the ten interviews were conducted in Twi, a language which most of the 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh respondents could easily understand and speak fluently. The rapport and the trust which was established between the respondents and the researcher generated an atmosphere which gave the researcher access and insight into the lived experiences of the participants to better address the life course implications within their offending trajectories. 3.7 Socio - demographic Characteristics of the Sample The study sample or population includes all adult offenders eighteen years and above with prior involvement in juvenile delinquency and in and out of crime to adulthood. The operational definition for a juvenile delinquent as used in this study refers to adults above eighteen years who were once in conflict with the law and had been committed to the SBCC. Such individuals were tracked to the Nsawam Security Prison and within the environs of Accra, thus those who have persisted and those who have desisted from crime respectively. Tables3 and 4 give the socio-demographic characteristics of the persistent offenders and those who desisted from crime. 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.7.1 Socio- demographic characteristics of the persistent offenders Table 3: Socio- demographic characteristics of the persistent offenders No Name * Sex ** * * *Marital Religion Ethnicity Religion Education Age status **** 1 Gyemfi M S Methodist Akan Eastern SHS 2 19 (Akim –oda) 2 Johnson M LWC Presbyterian Ewe Volta P 3 53 3 Kumson M S Pentecost Akan Central SHS 1 20 (Gomoa feteh) 4 Rockson M S Anglican Akan Central JHS 3 20 (Winneba) 5 Opoku M M Anglican Akan Central P 2 50 (Agona Swedru) 6 Adu M S Pentecost Akan Eastern P3 22 (Maamekrobo) 7 Agyeman M S Methodist Akan Eastern JHS 1 23 (Akim –Begro 8 Mensah M LWC Charismatic Akan Ashante JHS 3 26 (Gyaakye) 9 Mumuni M M Charismatic Akan Central SHS 2 35 (Agona swedro) 10 Adom M D Moslem Dagomba Northern JHS 2 38 11 Ofori M M Pentecost Akan Earstern P 6 28 (Akim- oda 12 Nortey M S Charismatic Akan Eastern( JHS 2 24 Kwahu Bebong) 13 Kyeiwaa F S Charismatic Akan Ashante JHS 1 31 (Obuase) *These are pseudonyms ** M = Male; F = Female *** S= Single; LWC=living with concubine; M= Married; D= divorced **** SHS= Senior High School; P= Primary; JHS= Junior High School Table 3 summarizes the socio-demographic characteristics of the persistent offenders who participated in the study. The table illustrates their names [pseudonyms], age, sex, marital status, ethnic origin, religion, educational level as well as the regions and towns the respondents were coming from before being convicted to the prisons. 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.7.2 Socio- demographic backgrounds of participants who were in the desistance process Table 4: Socio-demographic characteristics of the desisters No Name * Sex** Age Marital Ethnic Religion Educational Region ***status background level **** 1 Edem M 23 S Ewe Christian SHS1 Volta 2 Abieku M 24 S Akan Methodist NVT I Central 3 Hope M 22 S Ewe Presbyterian ATTC* Volta 4 Musa M 20 S Don‘t know Muslim JHS 2 North 5 Alhassan M 22 S Don‘t know Roman Catholic No Education Upper west 6 Owuraku M 20 S Akan Methodist ATTC* Central 7 Mawuli M 22 S Ewe Global ATTC* Volta Evangelist Church 8 Kwesi M 26 S Akan No religion JHS 3 Central 9 Kwame M 23 S Ewe Pentecost ATTC* Volta 10 Akwele F 22 S Ga Presbyterian JSH 3 Greater Accra *These are pseudonyms ** M = Male; F = Female *** S= Single **** SHS= Senior High School; NVTI= National Vocational Training; ATTC= Accra Technical Training Centre; JHS= Junior High School Table 4 summarizes the socio-demographic characteristics of the delinquents who desisted from crime and were in their adulthood phase of development. The table illustrates their names (pseudonyms), age, sex, marital status, ethnic origin, religion, educational level as well as the regions they were coming from before being convicted to the SBCC. As of the time of the interview, all the participants were living within the environs of Accra. 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.7.3 The age grade transitions of the respondents Table 5: Age - graded Transitions of Respondents Age graded transition Persistent offenders Desisted from crime Total Male Female Male Female No. No No. No. No. Transition to young adulthood 6 0 8 1 15 (18-25) Young adulthood 3 0 1 0 4 (26-32) Transition to middle adulthood 1 1 - 0 2 (33-45) Late adulthood 2 0 - 0 2 (46-50+) 12 1 9 1 23 Total In terms of age, the persistent offenders, six of them, ranged from 18- 25 (Transitioned to young phase), three were in the young adulthood (26-32) one was in his middle adulthood (33-45) and the remaining two were in their late adulthood. In contrast, to those who desisted from crime, the majority (9) were in their young adulthood development, except one who was in his young adulthood. Comparatively, a distinct homogeneity and heterogeneity were also observed within the age graded patterns for both groups. As indicated, while the age grouping of those who desisted from crime was more homogenous, the age structure of the persistent offenders was more heterogeneous. The reason for this distinction lies with the sampling technique [snowball] that was used to select those who desisted from crime. One of the limitations of the snowball sampling technique is that it allows for social networking among cohorts. Respondents are more likely to connect to the peers with whom they share similar experiences rather than with individuals older than them. 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh For the persistent offender, the heterogeneity within their age patterns is explained by the fact that the prison population is usually varied considering the kinds of offenders they house. As it stands, the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons houses different categories of offenders who range from minor to violent offences. The representativeness of the varied nature of the population is significant in the sense it allows articulation of diverse views and opinions of individuals from different socio- economic and cultural background. Furthermore, grouping the participants based on their age graded transitions enables us to understand the critical social factors modifying criminal trajectories at each phase of their life cycle. The implications of the findings in relation to the age crime debates suggest, that while we can on the one hand agree with Moffit (1993), that a group of life course persistent offenders continue to offend as they age we can at the same time agree with Sampson and Laub (2003) as well as Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) that crime declines with age as some groups of offenders will commit fewer criminal offences as they age. The finding also gives the indication, that there is stability as well as change in offending trajectories of Ghanaian delinquents as they mature through adulthood. 3.7. 4 Procedures of interpretation and presentation of data Data analysis involves the process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modelling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions, and contributing to knowledge and making recommendations which may have some policy implications. The processes of analyzing the primary data provided by the participant can be outlined into four stages. The first phase of the data analysis was the reflections stage 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh which was the initial data analysis, here the researcher carefully read through all the hand written field notes in order to familiarize himself with the raw data. The researcher then transcribed and typed all the interviews in a word document detailing information given by the respondents in each single case. Whenever the researcher realized anything that he did not understood or that contradicted any idea in the transcribed data, he followed up either on phone or meets the participant for clarification. This process of cross examination also generated more viewpoints which offered the platform to understand and articulate, capture and construct the realities of the respondents as they experience the social world. The researcher also reflected on the contexts within which the data were collected. This reflection helped in the organization of the raw data. After all the data had been edited and checked for accuracy and coherency, the researcher then created a case folder for each of the participants. The personal files contained the life histories of each respondent from childhood through adulthood. In order to make the analysis more systematic and to build on an interpretation, the next stage after the initial data analysis was to code and assign numbers to each of the respondents. According to Creswell (2002), coding is a process and as a process strict adherences to its basic principles could lead to the generation of a rich and credible data, to ensure credibility. After going through each single case file and defining what idea or issue each single segment signified, each segment was identified with a code by grouping all similar responses together based on the type of questions being asked. The idea was to tease out the similarities and the patterns emerging from the primary data to make sense of 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh their lived experiences. All similar responses were grouped together to develop major themes and sub themes (the thematic analysis) which made it easy to presents and discuss the concepts emerging from the data. The identification of prevalent themes also highlighted any absence or any exclusion. The final stage of the data analysis was the discussion and presentations of the major themes supported with narratives. Throughout the thesis, the researcher offered space for the voices of the respondent by using direct quotes and phrases from interview transcript. By using verbatim quotations the researcher‘s idea was to preserve the language of the respondents by letting the delinquents‘ own words speak for themselves. Even though the excerpts are in English, the language, grammar structure and the socio-cultural context of the participant‘s expression may be confusing and unfamiliar to the reader. In such instances, the researcher provided explanations or the rational for the question and the context before the excerpt. The overall idea for the analysis and interpretation of the data was to tease out the determinate factors leading to the stability and change in their offending trajectories among delinquents in Ghana. Knowledge gained through their shared experiences was linked to the broader literature on the life course perspective of criminality pointing out support and variations in the theoretical assumptions made by these criminological scholars. 3.7.5 Ethical Considerations Ethics, as defined in relation to human research, is a moral standard of conduct to ensure that the risks of harm are minimized to those who participate in the research. The numbers 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of ethical issues that must be addressed in most research projects involving human subjects include voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy of personal information and the potential harms and benefits of the research (Berg 2004). While criminological research is not the only research that touches on potentially sensitive topics, it is mostly found within such research. Issues regarding an individual‘s private life can be very sensitive in the sense that eliciting such information might disturb the participant. This sensitive condition raises ethical concerns that need to be addressed in every scientific enquiry. The researcher addresses these concerns by following ethical procedures and seeking clearance from the University of Ghana Ethical Committee for the Humanities before proceeding with the data collection. The consent of the participants was sought through the use of a written agreement which allowed them to fix their thumb print or signature. The consent details highlight the rationale for the study, the risk associated with the study, confidentiality, compensation as well as withdrawal of the study. All the respondents who participated in the study were not coerced under any circumstance to provide any information. Consent details were explained to them in their own dialect mainly in English and in Twi, the latter a language which all the participants could speck fluently. The rationale was to enable the subjects to understand the implications of the study as well as the scope and the type of questions to be asked. The participants were also assured of confidentiality and anonymity. They were made aware that pseudonyms and codes will be used instead of their original names. The researcher was also sensitive to the feelings of the participants by ensuring that participation is voluntary. Interviews were also done in a safe place where respondents 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh were able to freely share their life experiences without any interruptions. The researcher also ensured that all references and sources of information used within the context of this study were duly acknowledged to avoid plagiarism. 3.7.6 Limitations of the Study One of the major limitations of this work is perhaps the inability to generalize the findings to a larger population due to sample size and research methods. Notwithstanding this limitation, the goal of a qualitative inquiry, however, is to provide unique insights, understanding and explanations and not to generalize. As an explorative study, the knowledge gained from this study can be applied to a larger population. A further limitation, of this study was the lack of adequate and reliable data on juvenile delinquents who progressed through adulthood. Having such reliable data would have made tracking much easier, enabling the researcher to explore more heterogeneous populations which will point out clearly how different or similar the social forces in Ghana shaped and changed offending trajectories. Nevertheless, the experiences provided by the participants in this context are considered credible in the sense that they represent the ideas, opinions and views of individuals with different socio- cultural and economic backgrounds. The difficulty of getting more females to participate in the study was seen as a challenge in the initial stage. The inclusion of more females would have allowed for a comprehensive analysis of the gender differentiations and patterns of offending among males and females over the life course. There were no reliable information on female delinquents, in view of this, a follow up was challenging. Nevertheless, the lived 76 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh experiences provided by the few who were captured in the context of this study provided useful insights in our attempt to understand how different or similar the gender patterns of offending in men and women are over their life time. Regardless of the seeming limitations, the information provided by the respondents enlightened our perspectives on the contributing factors leading to persistence and desistence of crime over the life course. 3.7.7 Conclusions To conclude, Chapter three sought to discuss the historical reviews of the study areas as well the research methods that were employed in gathering information from respondents. The chapter was divided into two sections; the first section discussed the historical reviews of the study areas, namely the history and rationale for the establishment of the Nsawam Male and Female security prison as well as of the Senior Boys and Junior Girls Correctional Centres in Accra. The second section dealt with the methodological considerations in life course research in order to situate the research method in its right theoretical context. The chapter further discussed the methodological assumptions underlying the research design as well as justification for the choice of paradigm. Sampling strategies and representations were also discussed thoroughly. To conclude, the discussions on the experiences of the juvenile delinquents represented in this study by no means claim universality because of the implications on the theories of crime and deviance in a specific time – space context. The subsequent chapter discusses the analyses and presentation of the research findings of the multiple social experiences of 77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh juvenile delinquents in adulthood within the domains of the family, friends, school, employment and marriage among others. 78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR EXPLAINING THE EARLY ONSET OF CRIME 4.1 Introduction This chapter begins with a discussion of the childhood social experiences of the respondents who participated in the study. It presents narratives which portray how the childhood social experiences of the individuals who participated in the study looks like and the several conditions leading to their early involvement in crime. Since all the respondents were once delinquents and had ever been committed to the SBCC, the childhood backgrounds of both the persistent offenders and those who desisted from crime are discussed together without any comparative analyses. The analyses sought to understand how the interplay of structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms predicted their early onset of crime, in particular, within the domains of the family, friends and the school. The subsequent sections of the entire chapter address the question of how structural background factors and informal social control mechanisms predict early onset of crime in childhood. 4.1.1 Childhood and Early Onset of Crime According to Sampson and Laub (1993), the age crime curve has had a profound impact on the organization and content of sociological studies on crime by channeling research to focus on adolescents. As a result, sociological criminology has traditionally neglected the theoretical significance of childhood characteristics and the link between childhood and later adulthood outcomes (Robins, 1966;McCord, 1979;Caspi et al., 1989; Gottfredson& Hirschi, 1990; Leober & LeBlanc, 1990;Sampson & Laub, 1990 as in Sampson & Laub, 1993).Sampson and Laub (1993) further suggested that by concentrating on teenage years 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the sociological perspective on crime failed to address the life span implications of childhood behaviour. ‗… in all phases of the life course, criminologists have largely ignored the link between the social structural context and the mediating processes of informal social control. Most researches have examined either macro-level/ structural variables (for example, social class, ethnicity, mobility – child interactions, discipline) or micro-level processes (for example – parent to child interaction, discipline) in the study of crime.‘ (Sampson and Laub, 1993:7). Following this line of reasoning, one of the research question that this study sought to address was to understand from the narratives of the participants how the interplay of structural background factors in childhood and processes of informal social control predict early onset of crime and to ascertain whether the same factors that helps to explain the causes of crime in the west explains criminality in the Ghanaian social setting. Since the views captured in this study represent the minority, the findings are therefore limited to this context and cannot be generalized to a larger population. In order not to flood this section with a series of stories that portray the same themes, two selective cases that generally illustrate the voices of the majority are represented in the study and it demonstrates how the mediation of structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms predicted their early onset of crime. In general, all the respondents were asked to describe how their childhood was like, as far as they could remember their parents‘ occupations, family size, and kinds of punishment given when they went wrong, sibling influence, friendship patterns their routine activities and other questions which emerged as the conversation went on. Typical of how structural background factors and the process of informal social control mechanisms predicts early onset of crime is embedded in the life story Ofori quoted below: “…I was 7 years old when my father divorced my mother, my father left home and the burden of taking care of me and my (9) siblings rested on my mother who was 80 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh a peasant farmer. Two of my siblings died after my parents‘ separation. I dropped out of school because there was no support from anywhere. I ended up on the street with friends doing ―kayakaya‖ at the lorry station…Sometimes I had to wash dishes for food vendors before I could get money to buy food. I became the only stubborn child among my siblings because of my association with ―kobolo‖ boys...I started drinking alcohol and smoking. At age 15 I was sent to the SBCC for stealing money from a passenger‘s bag at a lorry station where I usually hang- out with friends….‘ [28 year old persistent offender]. Also Kyeiwaa shared her experience; ‘…My parents broke up when I was two years old so I was staying with my mother, my father was a clerical officer at the Obuase Gold mines and my mother was a trader. I was the only child of my parents but my father had five children in his previous marriage… due to the frequent quarrels between my parents as to who should take custody of me …I finally moved to stay with my father‘s sister where I attended school. I dropped out of school as I stole my class teacher‘s money and when she later found out, I was beaten… in fact, I stole the money because I was very hungry…my auntie would not give me money… I went back to my mother after the incident but they all rejected me because I stole any money I came across … I spent most of my time with friends and returned home at night … most times my mother would beat me…. use hot iron to burn me but none of these punishments changed my attitude…‘. [31 year old female offender]. The life stories of Ofori and Kyeiwaa depict how the majority of the participant‘s childhood experiences look like. The emerging themes that were found to predispose the offenders to early onset of crime were the interplay of structural background factors such as parents employment, large family size, family structure and individual difference constructs [difficult temperament] and the processes of informal social mechanics such as peer delinquent attachment, sibling influence, relational bonding, relative harsh punishment (beating) and weak attachment to school. With respects to the parents‘ background, the life stories of the respondents indicate that the majority of them were from a poor background. According to them their parents were not able to provide their material and educational needs which made most of them drop out of school. However, an in-depth analysis of their narratives as will be discussed in the 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh subsequent chapter reveals that their involvement in crime was not as a result of their poor background. The interlocking nature of these factors within the childhood phase of their developments led to an early onset of delinquency. The entire Chapter Four discusses in details, how the structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms predispose the juvenile delinquents to crime. 4.1.2 How structural background factors predicts early onset of crime The section on the socio- economic status of parents drawn from the narratives demonstrates how the respondents‘ family background influenced their offending behaviour. The two socio – economic variables which emerged from their shared experiences were categorized as low and middle socio – economic status. As pointed out by prior researchers such as Abrah (2006), Sampson and Laub (1993), Abotchie and Senah (1987) Gluecks (1968) a connection exists between the socio-economic status of parents and delinquent behaviour. In his well known piece ‗Social theory and social structure‘ Merton (1968) concluded that individuals found in the lower socio-economic ladder were more likely to resort to illegal action than those in the middle and upper classes, in terms of achieving their cultural goals. As observed from the pattern of responses which were generated by the respondents, the majority of them had their parents engaging in low income occupations such as farming, fishing, tailoring and petty trading and some had unemployed parents. In contrast, there were fourof them whose parents were from relatively middle income backgrounds engaging in occupations such as medical, teaching, military and clerical jobs, 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh among others. The next section describes how the socio- economic states of parents predispose early onset of crime in childhood. 4.1.3 Low Income Families One of the themes which emerged to explain why the juvenile engaged in crime in childhood was the reciprocal relationship between low income status of parents and the individual‘s levels of involvement in delinquency. In order to understand how the socio – economic state of parents influenced an offending behaviour, the respondents were asked to describe their family backgrounds, who their parents were and their occupations and its impact on their criminality. As they shared their lived experiences, it was evident that all, including those who persisted and desisted from crime, were from low income families except four of the participants who indicated that they were from relatively middle income families. The life story of Edem a 23 year old desister and his two colleagues: Hope and Alhassan, demonstrate how parents‘ occupational backgrounds affected early onset of crime. Edem indicated: ‗…My mother bakes bread and my father was a carpenter, I will say I was from a poor family because life was not easy at all… sometimes getting food to eat was a problem…it was my uncle who was sponsoring us… Sometimes I had to fall on my friends for food …When I am hungry and I see any money I picked it…‘ Hope also shared his experience as follows; ―I come from a poor home, my parents were farmers way back in the village… my parents were poor because when I compared myself with other families I realized that my parents don‘t have anything, sometimes what to eat was a problem… My parents were not able to provide my basic need. Most time when I am hungry and I don‘t get food to eat I steal….‖ [22 year old desister]. Examining the quotation of Edem and Hope we draw from their narrative that their parents‘ inability to provide for their basic needs was as a result of the kinds of occupations they were engaged in which influenced their offending behaviour. In the 83 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh words of Alhassan, the death of his father really displaced the family such that his mother was not able to provide for him and his siblings because of the nature of her employment. Due to this condition he had to join bad friends to survive. This is how he also narrated his story: ―…I learnt my father until his death was selling second hand clothing and my mother was a trader, I can say I was from a poor family because you suffer before you can get food to eat. My senior brother will go and wash dishes before he brings food for us to eat… being out there with friends made me to learn the things they do even if we have to steal …‖ [22 year old desister]. The majority of the respondents‘ life stories indicated that they were from poor families. The three cases illustrated here indicate the voices of the majority and represent the trends and patterns of the major themes generated from their narratives in relation to how their family backgrounds and parents‘ inability to offer support exposed them to crime. As observed from the pattern of responses, it was realized that most of the participants engaged in crime as a result of their parents‘ inability to provide for their basic needs. This structural situation puts strain on them to resort to inappropriate deviant lifestyles as a means to survive. The seeming explanation for this condition as reflective of the Ghanaian context is that, in Ghana as well as in most of sub- Sahara Africa, the majority of its inhabitants are said to be poor mainly because most of the working population are engaged in agriculture. In view of this, it was therefore not surprising when most of the respondents explained that their parents were in low income occupations. Being in low income families, the chances of parents not able to provide for their children may be high in the literal sense, however, is that always the case? Answer to this question is embedded in the concept of the extended family system typical of most African countries and Ghana of no exception. The extended family system plays a complimentary role to offer support for most children in relatively poor families. For instance, in most poor families, the person 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh who is in good standing in terms of economic resources usually take the responsibly of supporting the deprived and needy members of the family. Among the Akans, the ―wofa‖ meaning the uncle usually takes the responsibility by supporting the children of his sisters and brothers. In this sense, the pain, grief and the burden of poverty is usually reduced. The extended family system therefore provided both financial and material support to its members. With these indications, even though the finding offer some support for earlier researches by Abrah (2006), Abotchie and Senah (1987) among others who indicated that juvenile delinquency in Ghana, is perhaps as a result of parents‘ inability to provide for their children, and further buttress earlier suggestions made by the Gluecks (1968) and Sampson and Laub (1993) and other life course researchers who also established a link between low – socio economic status of parents and delinquent behavior , Rutter and Giller (1983:185) also indicated that socioeconomic disadvantage have potential adverse effects on parents such that parental difficulties are more likely to develop and good parenting is impeded. Rutter and Giller‘s observation was also evident in the narratives of most of the participants who shared their lived experiences. Generally, the narratives suggest that parents‘ inability to provide for the basic needs of their children initiated most of the juveniles into deviant groups and associations. However, regardless of the useful contributions pointed out by these prior researchers and from the data in relation to poverty and crime, what still remains unclear within the life course dynamics of criminal transitions in the Ghanaian social context is whether actually, poverty is the cause of crime and delinquency, since some of the respondent had support from families and parents and yet persisted in crime. 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In view of this, a follow up question was asked which triggered several responses as to whether or not the participants‘ act of delinquency could be solely attributed to their parent‘s poor backgrounds. Linking socio - economic status of parents to one‘s inability to pursue or achieve ones cultural goals/ aspirations [ambition] and early onset of crime, the researcher‘s intension was to understand whether or not engaging in crime in early childhood was indeed related to poverty. In view of this, the researcher asked the participants what they had wanted to become in future and why they could not achieve those goals, but rather resorted to deviant life styles. As the participants narrated their stories, three major themes emerged from their pattern of responses, namely, what they referred to as my ‗own stubbornness‘, parents‘ misdirection of a child‘s aspiration and association with deviant peers. Information gathered from the participants‘ shared experiences indicates that even though poverty to a larger extent was the cause of their offending behaviour, factors such as individual difference constructs and difficult temperament which they referred to as ‗my own stubbornness‘, partly explain the cause of delinquency in Ghana. The observation, thus, indicates that even though some families, although poor, were able to provide the basic needs of their children what actually made them delinquents was their own stubbornness and not as a result of poverty. With regards to the theme ‗my own stubbornness‘ this was what Opoku who lived with his parents during his childhood had to say about how his own stubbornness predisposed him to crime in childhood. ‘…I wanted to become a doctor but I dropped out of school at an early age due to my own stubbornness …. I couldn‘t achieve this dream…My parents were in the position to cater for me, but I will say it was because of my stubborn behaviour‘… [50 year old persistent offender]. 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Also Kyeiwaa who started stealing at the age of nine also indicated that her parents were in the position to support her, but due to her bad character, she dropped out of school which made her parents lose interest in her leading to her persistence in crime from childhood through adulthood. She narrated; ‗I wanted to do Akonta (meaning mathematics) so I wanted a job in which I can do a lot of calculations, but I dropped out of school because I was a very bad girl, I could break into neigbour‘s room and steal their items.‘ [31 year old female offender]. Agyeman was of the view that it was his father‘s misdirection of his ambition which led him into engaging in deviant activities. This is what he has to say about his childhood experience as to how and why in engage in crime; “...My childhood was fairly good because my father was quite strict. I had an interest in taking an ICT course but my father wanted me to be an electrician so he enrolled me as an apprentice with an electrician… I had no interest in the electrical training so I eventually stopped the training after the first year. I spent most of my time with friends who were all school drop outs…. I started engaging in deviant activities which was largely as a results of the influence my friends had on me. The frequent absence of my parents worsened the situation because no one was around to control me…‘ [23 year old persistent offender]. As indicated in the quotation, Agyeman indicated that his childhood was fairly good but what actually led to his involvement in crime was his father decision on his future career and the lack of parental supervision. Analyzing further, even though the majority of respondents were seen to commit crime in childhood as a result of their inability to pursue their culturally held goals which redirected their paths into deviant groups and associations, Mensah indicated that he was able to pursue his culturally held goals yet persisted in crime through adulthood. The relationship between in ability to pursue culturally held goals and persistence of crime is embedded in the quotation of Mensah; ‗…I wanted to become a business man and acquired more money to be able to take care of myself and family which I actually did… In fact when I came from the village to Accra, I was selling shoes and started getting money.. But was arrested 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh for smoking ―wee‖ with my friends at our usual ghetto ―and brought to the prisons … Being at the prisons has disrupted my dreams…‘ [26 year old persistent]. And finally, Akwele a 22 year old desister had parent support yet she committed crime; ―…I was staying with my grandmother and mother and they provided all my basis needs, I will say the support they gave me was adequate …‖ The shared experiences of the participants coming from low income families actually indicate that their early involvement in crime was largely due to their parents‘ inability to provide for their needs as most of the respondents‘ parents/ guardian were engaged in low income occupations such as farming and fishing, carpentry, and petty trading and some were unemployed. The narratives of the respondents indicate that a person may come from a relatively poor background with parental support as indicated in the quotation of Opoku and yet become criminal because of the person‘s own stubbornness and the frustration that comes when their parents choose for them as to what they have to become in the future. Their lack of interest in the choices that their parents give could, to a large extent, redirect some individuals to resort to deviant pathways. Contrary to this indication, some of the participants were also of the view that they were able to pursue their cultural goals, yet the reasons for their levels of involvement in crime was as a results of bad friendship associations. Placing these findings within the theoretical discourse with respect to poverty and crime (Merton, 1968; Abotchie & Senah, 1987), it could be said that poverty [socio – economic status of parents] per se does not necessarily explain why juvenile delinquents in Ghana commit crime. 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The focus of future research should look at the transitions in offending trajectories in Ghana, and should rather examine the mediation of structural factors such as parent‘s misdirection of a child‘s cultural aspiration and informal social control processes such as the individual difference constructs ‗ my own stubbornness‘ and deviant peer attachment, irrespective of poor family background. 4.1.4 Middle Income Families Accepted wisdom holds that middle income parents stand a better chance of taking good care of their children than low income parents. In attempting to explore the connections that exist between the socio- economic status of parent and the early onset of crime, another interesting observation which was made with regard to some of the subjects who participated in the study was that some of them were from relative middle income backgrounds. What appears to explain their acts of delinquency was the difference which existed in how they construct their world and their difficult temperaments. In an interview with Kwame who was in the process of desistance after his correction experiences, Kwame indicated that his act of delinquency could be largely attributed to being ‗a bad boy‘ even though his parents were in the position to provide his basic needs. In the words of Kwame, this is how his family background looks like and how he actually got into trouble: ‗…I lived with both parents in my childhood years. My mother was a nurse and my father was a teacher, my parents had money so they took me to the boarding school from nursery to JHS 3. But I became a very bad and a troublesome boy at school ...I eventually fought with a friend at the school which led to my outright dismissal… back at the house my parents were always busy at work so I had the opportunity to join bad friends which consequently led to my committal to the SBCC…‘ [23 year old desister]. 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Similarly, Kyeiwaa the only female offender also explained that her early involvement in crime was the result of her difficult temperament she had no control over. She also narrated: ‗…My father was a clerical officer at the Obuasi Gold mines and my mother was a business woman who had her own shop and imported goods from other parts of the region, but both parents were very busy with their work and had no time for me…Through the association of bad friends nobody could control me again. I couldn‘t stop stealing … I will take anything I see which does not belong to me … Sometimes when I steal I want to return it but I feel so ashamed… I don‘t know what makes me steal …‘ [31 year old female offender]. Compared to those participants who reported coming from low socio-economic families as indicated earlier, the excerpts of Kwame and Kyeiwaa indicate that in terms of occupational status, their parents were better placed to provide their basic needs than the parents of Edem, Hope and Alhassan, yet they engaged in crime through adulthood. If parents‘ occupational status was the measuring rod to explain why some groups of offenders commit crime, those in the middle and upper classes may not be affected, yet we found children from both lower and middle class families exposed to the same deviant values. Critically analyzing their statements, the key factors that explain their participation in criminal activities were lack of parental control and supervision, the individual difference constructs and deviant peer association. As observed from the primary data, even though their parents were in the positions to support them, their own ‗stubbornness‘ made them drop out from school and resort to deviant lifestyles. Placing these findings within a theoretical context, the narratives further question Merton‘s position, that crime is a lower class phenomenon in the sense that both lower and middle income children are exposed to criminal values, irrespective of socio- economic 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh status. With these indications, we cannot wholly agree with Merton (1968) that crime is a lower class phenomenon. Even though relatively middle class parents have the means to provide for their children, their lack of control as a result of their commitment to work and their children‘s personality constructs, as well as association with deviant friends, explain why some children from such backgrounds engage in crime. Furthermore, the findings support the ideas of social control theorists, in particular those of Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) Hirschi (1969), Konty (2005) and Peter, LaGrange, & Silverman (2003), who assume that differences in contexts are not primarily relevant in explaining deviant behaviour and that individual-level factors play a more prominent role in our attempt to explain the transitions in offending trajectories. With these indications, we conclude by stressing that reoffending among juvenile delinquents in the Ghanaian social context is not simply the result of their parent‘s socio-economic status. 4.1.5 Family Structure of Respondents Traditional family structure can be considered as a family support system involving two married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring. Some scholars such as Nukunya (2011) for example explained that the family structure has experienced dramatic alterations; as a result of social change, these alterations includes, changes in form; single parents, cohabiting families, Gay and lesbian families] and in roles; such as gender roles in terms of the labour force in recent times. With respect to the issue of family structure and crime, criminologists have long debated the link between family fragmentation/ disturbance or family disruption and the risk of crime and delinquency. While several researches such as Michael (2000), Cary and 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Anthony (2000) and Osgood et al. (2000) strongly suggest that young adults and teens raised in single parent homes and in communities with high rates of family fragmentations suffer high crime rate, after controlling for demographic variables (including parent‘s education, income, race, gender, grade, age, and economic hardship).Other researchers found little or no evidence to support this claim (Kirby, 2002). Explaining further, while Michael (2000) for example was of the view that adolescents in single parent and kinship families were significantly more likely than adolescents in intact families to report having been in a serious physical fight in the past year, to have seriously injured someone in the past year, and to have shot or stabbed someone in the past year. They were almost two and three times more likely to have pulled a knife or a gun on someone in the past year. McLanahan and Sandefur (2009) contend that ―Living with a single parent does not doom a child to failure; many children from one-parent homes grow up to become productive adults‖. These findings suggest that the extent to which family structure influences delinquency is very debatable. In order to understand the dynamics of the Ghanaian family structure and its impact on juvenile delinquency, the participants were asked to indicate whom they were staying with ,whether their parents, single parent, relative or guardian and how the their family structure [stable or fragmented] affected their behaviour. As the participants narrated their lived experiences, It was realized that most of them were raised in both stable [living with both parents] as well as fragmented families [single parents resulting from death of parents, parents‘ divorce or staying with close relatives]. In all, a total number of 13 respondents said they were from unstable or fragmented families 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh as applied in the Western sense, while 10 of the respondents said they were from stable families. In order to understand how family structure, whether stable or fragmented, predispose early onset of crime, the narratives of two participants are presented as a case analysis. Adom was living with both parents in his early formative years of development but moved to stay with his uncle at the age of eight. According to Adom: this is how the onset of his criminal career developed: ‗...I stayed with my parents up to the age of eight and then moved to stay with my uncle where I schooled... my uncle usually returned home late from work so in his absence I join my friends who were ‗kobolo‘ (bad friends)…. I became a stubborn boy and dropped out from school because we were suspended from school for destroying some school property …when I was with my parents, I was a good child but when I came to my uncle everything changed.. my uncle was not taking good care of me and the beatings was too much … he would not give me money so when I do not get his money, I steal… I learnt a lot of things from my friends, when I see others wearing things or have something I don‘t have …I would make sure I get it at all cost even if I have to steal to get it...‘ [38 year old persistent offender]. As realized from Adom‘s life story, his onset of criminality was as a result of the lack of his parents‘ supervision, given the nature of work his uncle did. This condition initiated him into deviant groups and associations. In contrast, Adu was living with both parents [intact family] yet he finally got himself into trouble as a result of his parents‘ inability to provide for his basic needs. He also shared his experience as follows: ‗I was staying with both parents in my childhood. My mother sells Belfort and my father was a craft man… Hmmmmm, I was from a very poor home… my background was not so good at all… It was not good in the sense that my parents did not have money and they were not able to provide all our basic needs … we were living in hardship…what to eat was a problem, so most time I was with my friends out there struggling to make ends meet…we sometimes sleep in other people‘s kiosks at night … When I go out with friends I get food to eat… My friends were pickpockets and they were giving me money, but it got a time when they could not give me money so I had to join them…I had no option but to join them…‘ [22 year old persistent offender]. 93 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As seen from the life story of Adu, even though he was staying with both parents, the parents were not able to provide for his needs and the hardship that he went through forced him to join deviant friends. As he indicated in his story, the friends gave him money to the extent that when they failed to give him money he had no option but to succumb to their deviant lifestyle and practices. In contrast Opoku, a 50 year old persistent offender was from a single parent and according to him this is how his early onset of crime begun indicating that staying with single parent perhaps increases an individual‘s chance of committing crime. This is what Opoku said with regards to the family structure; “My parents were divorce so I stay with my mother for over 35 years at Agona Swedru, we were living at a family house, I usually spend most of my time with my friends, we all do not go to school, in fact I dropped out of school at a very tender age, I was always with my friends out there , we went to the cinema, we go to the gettos , smoke wee, steal peoples items like sugar cane, I was around the age of 12 when I started stealing petty items from people, I usually got into trouble with my friends and it was my friends directions I follow regarding my deviant life style‖ Comparatively, critical analyses of the excerpts as represented in each single case clearly illustrate the dynamics of family structure in the etiology of crime in the Ghanaian social context. As observed, the respondents were from both stable and unstable homes and yet were predisposed to crime and delinquency in childhood. In this sense, even though we may agree with Michael (2000), Osgood, Wayne and Chamber (2000), who suggested that young adults and teens raised in single parents homes and communities with high rates of family fragmentations suffer high crime rate, at the same time we may doubt their assertions based on the experiences of the participants. Regardless of these indications, culturally, the family structure concept as it exists in the West does not apply in the Ghanaian social context for several reasons. Historically, it is believed that among Asian and Native American cultures, likewise in most African 94 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh countries of which Ghana is no exception, a family structure usually consist of a grandmother and her children, especially daughters, who raise their own children together and share child care responsibilities. Uncles, brothers, and other male relatives sometimes help out. Even when romantic relationships between men and women are formed and dissolved, it has little impact on the children, because they remain in the mother's extended family. In this sense, we cannot conclude that Ghanaian family structures produce crime and delinquency as has been reported in the West. Even though we may, to some extent, agree that unstable or fragmented families produce juvenile delinquents, the understanding of the term ‗family‘ may vary across socio-cultural settings and contexts depending on how the concept of family structure is viewed or defined. In practical terms, it can be said that concepts of family disruption or fragmentation, as used in the West to explain onset of crime, do not in the real or strict sense operate within the Ghanaian social context. For example, in the West the term family [nuclear] means both parents and children living together. A disrupted family in the Western context means the breakdown of family structure resulting from either death of parents, divorce or separation. In contrast, the term family, as used in Ghana and many parts of Africa, includes the nuclear and extended family members. In this sense, a child being raised in such families may not be regarded as coming from disrupted or fragmented families. It was realized that while thirteen of the respondents were from non nuclear families which includes living with either a father or a mother or with an extended family members, ten were from nuclear family which includes living with biological parents. Based on these 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh observations, it still remains unclear as to what degree of family structure predisposes crime in childhood in particular within the Ghanaian social context. 4.1.6 Family Size of Respondents Studies by Abrah (2006), Farrington (1992), Ellis (1988), and Fischer (1984) who examined the relationship between delinquency and a large number of children in a family concluded that a large family size predicts delinquency in childhood and adolescence. Farrington (1992), for example, observed that a large family size was the most important independent predictor of conviction up to age 32 years, in a logistic regression analysis which shows that 58% of boys from large families were convicted of crime up to this age. Farrington (1992) further observed that there are several reasons why the number of siblings might increase the risk of crime and delinquency, possibly because as the number of children in a family increases, the amount of attention that can be given to each child may decrease. Further, as the number of children increases, the household tends to become more overcrowded leading to irritation and sometimes lack of parental support. As observed from the narratives, the majority of the respondents (18) had family sizes that ranged between 6-14 and the remaining 5 had family sizes ranges between 3-5.When the respondents were further asked to indicate whether their early involvement in crime was as a result of a large number of children living in the household so that their parents had to take care of or it was other predictive factors beyond family size which explains their act of delinquency. The answers given by the respondents have more to do with economic issue than the large number of children in the family. All the participants who fell prey to delinquency explained that their act of delinquency was as a result of the lack of financial and material support and not larger family size. 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In the words of Ofori and Adom respectively which represent the views of the relative majority of the respondents, the size of their family affected them in the sense that their parents / guardian were not able to provide for their needs as indicated in the excerpt of Ofori: ―…In all we were 14 children living comfortable together but things were very difficult for us so my parents were not able to take good care of us, they couldn‘t afford to pay our school fees that was the more reason why I dropped out from school, my father was an officer in the military and my mother was farmer, but because we were many he could not take care of us…‘[28 year old persistent offender]. Adom also indicated; ―…When my parents died I moved to stay with my aunt, but she told me that because her children were eight she cannot provide for my basic needs as well as my educational needs. Because of that I dropped out of school and spent most of my time with my friends on the street, I started learning how to smoke, drink alcohol and eventually we started stealing...‘ [38 year old persistent offender]. The quotations of Ofori and Adom clearly indicate how the nature of the family size influenced early onset of crime in the Ghanaian social context. As illustrated in their narratives, the particular feature of family size, which appears to influence their offending, has more to do with the economic strain imposed on their parents and not necessarily as the results of the growing size of the family. This condition is also explained by the fact that the majority of the Ghanaians populations are in low income occupations as indicated by the GLSS (2008). The more the family sizes increase, the less likely the chances of parents are to provide for the basic needs of their children, hence predisposing these juveniles into deviant groups and networks. 97 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2. Informal Social Control Mechanisms and Early Onset of Crime 4.2.1 Introduction Within their theoretical framework of the age graded theory of informal social control, Sampson and Laub (1993) explained the organizing principles upon which their theory was derived. Their theory was based on the central ideas of social control theory notably the ideas of Durkheim (1897, 1951),Reiss (1951a), Hirschi (1969), Janowitz (1975), Kornhauser (1978) who contend that crime results when an individual‘s bond to society is weakened or broken. One of the underlying assumptions upon which their thesis was constructed rested on the fact that informal family and school explain delinquency in childhood and adolescents and argued further that virtually, all previous studies of social control in criminology have focused either on adolescence or on official (formal) social control mechanisms factors such as arrest and imprisonment. As a result, most criminological studies have failed to examine the processes of informal social control from childhood through adulthood. Within the context of this study, the experiences shared by the participants illustrate how informal social control processes, such as weak attachment to school, sibling influence, relational bonding to parent and relatives (extended family members) and peer delinquent attachment, predisposed the juveniles to crime in childhood. These major themes which emerged from their lived informal experiences are discussed with supportive narratives, as given by the participants. The following sections isolate each single theme and concepts and discuss it in details with the supportive narratives. 98 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2.2 How Poor Attachment to School Predict Early Onset of Crime Social control theoretical perspectives emphasize the role of the educational institution or school in preventing juvenile delinquency. The assumption is that the strong attachment of the juvenile to school is likely to reduce their level of involvement or engagement in crime in the sense that associating with conventional others will serve as informal controls on their behaviour. Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) have argued that in comparison to the family, the school should be equipped enough to provide social control to the youth. In his social bonding theory Hirschi (1969) outlines four critical elements (bonds) which act to prevent an individual‘s involvement in juvenile delinquency. It is these bonds, Hirschi held, that end up controlling our behaviour when we are attempted to engage in criminal or deviant activities. Accordingly, these bonds come in four interrelated forms, the first of which is attachment, secondly commitment, thirdly involvement and finally beliefs. Attachment in Hirschi point of view refers to a person‘s sensitivity to and interest in others or the level of psychological affection one has for prosocial order and institutions. For Hirschi, parents and school were of critical importance as far as attachment was concerned. Thus, the more juveniles form close attachment to their parents and school, the more likely they experience greater levels of social control. According to Hirschi, commitment involves the time, energy, and effort expended in conventional lines of action, such as getting an education and saving money for the future. With this bond Hirschi stresses the importance of social relationships that people value and which they will not like to jeopardize by committing criminal or deviant acts. For the juvenile, Hirschi highlighted, that this could mean not wanting to look bad in front of 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh parents or teachers by not committing crime, thus not doing something for which shame from those whose opinion they value could happen. Heavy involvement in conventional activities leaves little time for illegal behaviour and lastly, people who live in the same social settings often share common moral beliefs; they may adhere to such values as sharing, have sensitivity to the rights of others, and have admiration for the legal code. In this section the key elements stressed in regards to crime is commitment to and involvement in conventional activities, suggesting that commitment and involvement in school activities likely reduces an individual‘s level of involvement in crime in childhood. Several researchers have also found that poor educational achievement and school failure are strongly and consistently related to juvenile reoffending (Hirschi 1969; West and Farrington 1973; Jansen, 1976; Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990). The Gluecks (1964) assert that poor school attachment may be a consequence of misbehaviour more than a cause. In order to understand how an individual‘s attachment, commitment and involvement in school activities affect a person‘s offending behaviour, the respondents were asked to share their school experiences in childhood as to how, why and what made them drop out of school. The quotations presented below nicely summarize the ideas of Hirschi‘ concept of social bonding, in particular commitment and involvement to school activities as applied to the Ghanaian social context. According to Musa, whose life story reflects the theme on dropping out of school and early onset of criminality, the various reasons why most of 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh them had to drop out of school, was as a result of their deviant life style and their lack of interest in school such as one reflected in Musa and Johnson‘s narration: ―…I dropped out of school when I was as in Junior High School level because of my deviant lifestyles… What worsened the situation was when I stole a friend‘s money from his bag and I feared that when I go to school my teacher will punish me or they may even arrest me, eventually I lost interest in education entirely… ‗ [20 year old desister]. As illustrated in this quotation, the main reason why Musa dropped out of schools was as a result his lack of interest in education and his deviant life style. This clearly reaffirms Hirschi (1969) concept of poor attachment to school and juvenile delinquency, which states that dropping out of school leads to deviance. Another respondent, Johnson, also dropped out of school not as a result of wrong doing at school, but generally because of his deviant lifestyles which jeopardizes his relationships with conventional others. He rather loved to spend his time with his deviant friends and have fun other than spending it in school. He also narrated his story as follows: ‗…I dropped out of school because I had no interest in education even though my parents loved and provided all my basic needs…. during school hours, my friends and I will go to ―opera‖ to watch movies, hang on the streets, stealing and fighting… due to the several absenteeism, they cancelled my name from the school register… when my parents found out; they didn‘t say anything because it was too late…. They talked and talked and talked but I was not interested in schooling…‘ [53 year old persistent offenders]. Adom was also of the view that it was the lack of support from his parents that caused him to drop out of school and shared his life story as follows: ―When my father died, I had to dropped out of school because there was no one to support me … I ended up on the street because I needed money to survive…[ 38 year old persistent offender]. 101 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Examined critically, the statements illustrated in the quotations above, demonstrate how the respondents ended up with poor school attachment and started an early onset of crime. It can be realized that when the respondents dropped out of school they resorted to deviant lifestyles. Musa‘s act of delinquency for example, could be linked to his commitment of crime in school which put fear in him to go back to school which more or less affected his relationships with his teacher and school friends. In Johnson‘s case, it was his lack of interest that affected his involvement and commitment to school activities. He had no regard for his parents even though they showed much concern about his consistent absenteeism. The voices of the participants represented in this context indicate that when they lost touch with school activities, delinquency set in. It was also realized that their parents‘ inability to provide for their wards‘ basic needs was the determining factor leading to poor school attachment and not necessarily how strong and attached they had with their parents as narrated by the participants. From the narratives given by the respondents, we observe interplay of structural background factors (low socio- economic status of parent) and informal social control processes (poor attachment to school). Put in other words ‗the individual factor versus the family factor‘ predicting early onset of crime in childhood and this reaffirms Hirschi and Gottfredson (1990), Sampson and Laub‘s (1993), position that mediation of structural background factors and informal social control processes explain why some juveniles involve themselves in crime in childhood. Contextually, even though we may to some extent agree with Hirschi and Gottfredson (1990), Sampson and Laub (1993), that the weakening of informal social control predicts early onset of crime, within the context of 102 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh this study, what appears to predispose the juvenile to crime was not necessarily about how strong their commitment to schools as some of the participant have the passion and desired for school and yet committed crime as illustrated in the case of Kwame: ―...I spent most of my formative years at the boarding school as my parents occupations did not allowed them to combine child care responsibilities and work… I was in school up to the JHS level when one day one of my friends asked us to accompany him to the schools computer laboratory … we stole five laptops but unfortunately for us we were arrested ... This is how come I got myself into trouble...‖ [22 year old desister]. 4.2.3 How peer delinquent attachment predicts early onset of crime Empirical research on peer group and delinquency is extensive and consistent with the facts in Sampson and Laub, (1993). Several studies find a strong link between delinquencies of friends and a youth‘s own delinquent behaviour. (See for example studies by Antwi- Boasiako & Andoh, 2010; Abrah, 2006; Agnew, 1991; Matsueda 1988; Giordano et al., 1986; and Sutherland 1947). Despite this volume of research, the causal effect of peers on delinquency is the subject of much debate. Sampson and Laub (1993) maintain that there is no clear demonstration in the literature that association with delinquent friends precedes or facilitates offending. Nevertheless, the majority of the respondents indicated that their onset of criminality was as a result of the association with bad friends from whom they learnt deviant‘s activities. The negative effects of peer association and delinquency were expressed in the quotations of Adu, Abieku and Akwele respectively: Respondent 5. – ― I usually spent most of my time with my friends, we all do not go to school, in fact I dropped out of school at age 9, I was always with my friends out there, we went to the cinema, we went to the ghettos, smoked wee, stole the neighbour‘s food and stuff like sugar cane...‖‗[50 year old persistent offender]. Respondent 2. – ‗...I had good and bad friends while growing up as a child and they had positive and negative influence upon my life, sometimes when we went 103 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh out and we saw a small child whose mother has sent her, we would beat her and collect the money, sometimes when we were walking in groups and we were attacked, we all beat and hurt the attacker and run away …‘[24 year old desister]. Respondent 13. – All my childhood friends were my school friends and girls around my neighbourhood. I spent most of the time with them, most of the time we went out to swim and to walk around the streets, sometimes we can stay in town till 10 pm and my mother will come looking for us and will take us home‖…… I became a truant, for three days I would not be in the house …. When I go home my mother will beat me so I didn‘t stay home… Probe: Why were you not staying at home? Respondent:Hmmmmmm, it is because when I stay home and people put their things there I would stealthem so because of that I avoid staying home. Probe: What then makes you steal? Respondent: Sometimes I hear a voice telling me to go and take somebody‘s thing, sometimes I don‘t need it but will still take it... [ 31 year old female offender]. The excerpts illustrate how association with delinquent peers predispose individuals to crime in childhood. As observed from the narratives, even though some of the respondents explained having good friends, it was in their association with the bad friends that they learnt and had the opportunity to engage in deviant activities. This indication is consistent with the studies of Antwi- Boasiako and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Giordano (1986), and Sutherland (1947) who found a strong relationship between association with deviant friends and delinquent behaviour. Consistent with Sutherland (1947), the narratives support his prepositions that criminal behaviour is learnt in intimate groups and that through intimate groups individuals learnt the techniques, attitudes, values and motives as well as the rationalization for committing offences. The narratives also point out that a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of the law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law. 104 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh And it further highlights that the more intensely and more frequently people are exposed to a set of attitudes about criminality, the more likely it is that they will be caught up in the fray. Contextually, the responses provided by the participants reinforced the postulations made by Sutherland (1947) in his renowned differential association theory. 4.2.4 How Relational Bonding to Parents Predicts Early Onset of Crime As mentioned earlier on, Hirschi‘s (1969) Social Bonding Theory, explains the relevance of social bonds in the etiology of crime. According to Hirschi‘s (1969) classic work, ―Causes of Juvenile Delinquency‖, people are hedonistic and innately motivated to engage in delinquent behaviour. Under the social bonding theoretical framework, the dominant factor that constrains the intrinsic criminality of individuals is how ‗bonded‘ they feel to conventional society. Weak social bonds caused by inadequate socialization increase the propensity to offend, whereas the presence of strong and high quality social bonds inhibits this propensity. These elements are found in three major domains of the social institution: the family, the peers, and the school. In this section, the researcher explores the attachment bond as explained by Hirschi (1969) in the childhood life experiences of the participants. According to Hirschi (1969), bonding refers to the level of psychological affection a person has for prosocial others and institutions. For Hirschi, parents and the school were of critical importance in this regard, where youths who form close attachments to their parents and the school will, by extension, experience greater levels of social control. One of the emerging themes that seeks to explain why the respondents involved themselves in deviant activity in their childhood was the strained relationship they had 105 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh with their parents or the guidance they received from others. As the respondents narrated their childhood social experiences, one of the critical factors predisposing the subject to crime was the poor attachment to parents, leading us to explore how levels of attachment predict early onset of crime. In order to understand how parental bonding affects a child‘s offending behaviours the respondents were asked to describe their relationship [bond] with their parents or guardians, as to whether or not they receive much affection and if they did or did not, to what extent did it affect their behaviour. As the respondents narrated their stories, two categories of responses emerged from their narrative data, namely those who had strong attachment to their parents and those who did not have a string attachment to their parents. The concept of strong attachment to parents and early onset of delinquent behaviour is reflected in the life story of Musa a 20 year old desister who narrated his experience as follows: ‗…My parents loved me and they showed much affection for me. ―na omo pe masem‖ [ meaning they really loved me]. However, my relationship with my father became strained when I started stealing money … My father even did not come to the police station to see me when I was arrested, because I had really disappointed him …it was my mother who supported me… my father does not even want to see my face…‘ [20 year old desister]. According to Musa, he had a warm and intimate relationship with his parents which also suggest that the bond between him and his parents was very strong which also appears to be contrary to the underlying of Hirschi‘s theory. In the case of Adu he had a very bitter experience to share with regards to how it was his relationship with his mother which pushed him into deviant groups and associations. He indicated: ‗…Our [siblings] relationship with our mother was not good at all, my mother was very temperamental…. sometimes she would fight with us, she didn‘t show any affection, sometimes the way she treated me in particular was bad… every little thing she will be insulting me .., I will tell her if she knows that I am not her child 106 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh she should send me to my real mother… I was out of the home always because I wanted my peace…‘ [22 year old persistent offender]. In contrast to Adu‘s experience, Kwesiwho was in the desistance process as at the time of the interview, indicated he rather had a very good relationship with his parents, and which as expected by Hirschi‘s attachment concept, should not have been predisposed him to crime. Nevertheless, he did, which implied that a strong attachment to parent, per se, does not necessarily pre-empt an individual‘s involvement or engagement in crime. He narrated his story as follows: ‗…I had a good relationship with my parents, actually my father died when I was very young but I lived with mother throughout my childhood until I was committed to the SBCC for stabbing a friend with a knife. Indeed my mother really loved and cared for me and provided my needs as every mother will do regardless of her financial status. However, I couldn‘t stopped doing wrong things because I had already become a bad boy as a result of the kinds of friends I was moving with …‘ [26 year old desister ]. With respect to how relational bonding to parents and early onset of crime, while 15 of the participants indicated a strong attachment to parents and guardians, 9 were of the view that they had a strained relationship with their parents. Comparatively, the three cases recorded in this context which represents the divergent views of the entire sample which point out two important reasons why the respondents engaged in crime in childhood. They were respondents who reported having strong attachment to parents and yet engaged in crime and those whose weak attachment to parents influenced their offending behaviour. Relating these reasons to Hirschi‘s attachment element of the social bond, we may, to some extent, support his assertion that poor attachment to parents explains an individual‘s involvement in crime in the early stages of his social development while at the same time doubt his assertion. As indicated in their shared experiences, delinquency set in when parental controls were weakened as a result of strained relationships. Conversely, within 107 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the same delinquent groups, others reported warm and strong attachment to their parent and yet their act of stubbornness got them into trouble, regardless of their parent‘s level of bonding. With these seeming indications as reflected in the narratives of the respondents who were used in this study, we may on the one hand agree with the social control theorists, notably, Hirschi and Gottfredson (1990), Sampson and Laub (1990) and Hirschi (1969) and their colleagues who contend that poor attachment to parent and family rejection, as found in the narratives, produces juvenile delinquency. Thus, the more the social relationships between parents and their children are strained, the more likely they are to be exposed to the learning of criminal values which then led to their confinement and committal at the juvenile correctional centre. On the same premise, we may also question the underlying assumption of Hirschi‘s attachment concept that strong attachment to parents does not necessarily prevent juvenile delinquency, since the relative majority [15] as against [8] reported strong and weak attachment to parents respectively. As found in one of the statement of the respondents ‗I had a good relationship with my parents and they loved and cared for me and provided my needs‘ yet he finds himself engaging in crime in childhood. In a social context such as in Ghana where the extended family systems are practiced, which also warrants children to be raised by aunties, grandparents and sibling, the concept of social bonding may offer little explanation for crime in the sense that most children in Ghana appears to be raised by extended family members and not by their direct parents as most of the respondents had strong attachment to extended family member as evident in the narrative of Johnson the 53 year old persistent offender; 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ―..I had a good relationship with my external family members, on every Homowor [ A festival celebrated by the Ga‘s] we would go there and celebrate together, I stayed with my relatives and they liked me so much… they had no such bad influence on my life…‖ To conclude, it can be asserted that even though social control theories offer explanation as to how a strong attachment with parents reduces levels of involvement in crime, we still need to know about how and why a strong attachment to extended family members, other than parents, reduces an individual‘s propensity to commit a crime in childhood. Answers to these questions may lie in trying to find out the differences in individual temperament constructs as well as the dynamics in an extended family system, preferably using a larger sample of delinquent and non- delinquents. 4.2.5 Parents’ Disciplinary Practices The use of corporal punishment by parents have been found to be associated with an increasing probability of assaults and other crimes, less internalized control of behaviour, alienation and other problems. According to Straus (1991) almost all Americans believe that it is sometimes necessary to spank children or use some form of punishment. Criminological scholars, for example Patterson (1982), Hirschi (1991and 1969) and Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) have emphasized the role of direct and informal social controls in child rearing. According to Hirschi (1991), variations among families in adult supervision of youth have important ramifications for delinquency. Similarly, Sampson and Laub (1993) proposed that the families‘ role, such as erractic threatening and harsh / punitive discipline by mothers and fathers, low parental supervision, parents‘ rejection of the child and weak emotional attachment of the boy to his `parents will increase the likelihood of delinquency. 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Studies of juvenile delinquency, for example, Welsh (1976) found that almost all the subjects he studied have been subjected to extensive corporal punishment. Similarly, Eron (1983) and Straus (1983) found higher rates of aggression against other children by those whose parents used corporal punishment. Earlier study by Sears et al. (1957) also indicated that children of parents, who use corporal punishment frequently to correct misbehavior, had four times greater rate of being aggressive than did children of parents who rarely used corporal punishment, and at the same time found that children are more likely to develop an internalized conscious and control if parents monitor, inform, explain and if necessary use non-corporal punishment. In his research design, Patterson (1982) describes a set of parental skills conducive to successful child rearing: (a) Notice what the child is doing; (b) monitor it over a long period; (c) model social skills behavior; (d) clearly state house rules; (e) consistently provide sane punishment for transgression;(f) provide reinforcement for conformity; and (g) negotiate any agreement disagreement so that conflicts and crises do not escalate. He concluded that parents who do not apply family management skills may experience misbehaviour by children. By contrast Hirschi‘s (1969) traditional social control theory rather emphasized informal social control such as emotional bonds and attachment to parents. In order to understand parents‘ disciplinary practices and its impact in controlling non- conforming behaviour, the respondents were asked to describe the kinds of punishments given them for wrong doing in childhood. As they shared their stories, it was realized that almost all the 23 respondents indicated that punishments given to them by their parents could not change their offending behaviour but rather reinforced their offending 110 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh supporting the finding of Eron (1983), Straus (1983) and Sears et al. (1957). It was also realized that the most common form of punishment meted by parents to their children was beating which did not changed their offending paths. A few of the respondents reported carrying stones and having to walk a considerable distance, some also said they were asked by their parents to squat, hold their ears and jump from place to place. When asked further about the extent to which these disciplinary practices affected them, they indicated that they had no positive impact, implying that those practices adopted by their parents could not transform their deviant life style. The excerpts of the two respondents quoted below illustrate how parents‘ disciplinary practices affected offending behaviours. Mensah was a 26 year old offender serving his term of sentence as at the time of the interview. He explains the degree to which he was affected by the punishment given by his parents: ‗…I started stealing small small at the age of nine taking monies and items which did not belong to me… When I do that, my parents will ask me to carry stones and lift my hands up… Sometime too they will either beat me or asked me to hold my ears jump several meters… In fact, the punishment did not change my behaviour. My friends would come and call me... we would plan and go back to steal, when they beat me constantly I got used to it and so it didn‘t affect me in any way‘ [26 year old persistent offender]. As observed from the narrative of Mensah, no amount of harsh punishment given to him by his parents could reduce his level of involvement in crime. The same observation was made with respect to Kyeiwaa whose onset of crime began at the age of nine. She also narrated her experience as follows: ―…Any time I steal I will be beaten….. I remember an instance where my mother cut my hand with a knife…another time she hurt me with a very hot iron while I was sleeping … it really affected me , because the iron left a big scar which was not attended to … Respondent pause and she started crying; Probe: Why were you not transformed by these punishment? …Hmmm, I don‘t know what is wrong with me, even if I make up my mind to stop stealing, I don‘t know what will happen then I will go back and do the same thing again…‘ [31 year old female offender]. 111 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As we reflect on these two cases which also exemplify the stories of the relative majority of the respondents used in this study, it was gathered from their shared experiences that the use of harsh punishment as a form of parental disciplinary practice does not work to change an individual‘s involvement in crime but rather reinforced it. As observed from the quotations, it can be observed that the respondents did not experience any turning points considering the various punitive measures employed by their parents to control their non - conforming behaviour. Within the context of this study, the narratives have some support for Sampson and Laub (1993) who indicated in their findings on the link between childhood behaviours and later adult behaviour outcomes reveal that erratic threatening and harsh / punitive discipline by mothers and fathers, low parents supervision, parents‘ rejection of the child and weak emotional attachment of the boy to his `parents will likely increase the likelihood of delinquency. Relating these findings to the Ghanaian context the use of harsh punishment or beating is a normal practice for the control of non-conforming behaviour. It can be said that the majority of Ghanaian children have once in his life time been beaten or given a punishment that was seen as harsh. Until recently, beating as a form of punishment was used by most teachers in our primary schools as a way of correcting the child, as reflective of the cases projected by the participants, yet children still become delinquent. In this sense, what is considered in the Western sense as abnormal is considered a normal practice in Ghana and therefore we may not wholly agree that the use of punishment such as beating influence offending behaviour. 112 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2.6 Sibling Influence and Early Onset of Crime Fagan and Najman (2003) and Sampson and Laub (1993) have argued that while a variety of family characteristics are recognized as risk factors for delinquency, surprisingly, the role of siblings has not attracted much attention in criminological research. The generally held assumption is that the effects of sibling influence on delinquency should be stronger than peer influence in the sense that siblings, in most cases, may act as role models, given the long term and emotionally close relationships most share, and this probably might suggest a high influence. In this light, some researchers such as Sampson and Laub (1993), Robin (1966) have contended that a comparison between peer and delinquents influence will go a long way to distinguish between social selection and social causation. In trying to expand our knowledge and understanding of the effects of sibling influence on crime, studies by Brook, Whiteman, Gordon, and Brook, (1988),Rowe and Gulley (1992),Lauritsen (1993),Brownfield and Sorenson (1994),Conger and Rueter (1996), Farrington, Jolliffe, Loeber, Stouthamer-Loeber, and Kalb (2001) demonstrate strong sibling similarity in offending during adolescence among the subjects that they studied. However, contrary to the expectation of these researchers, the responses generated in this study, depart from the assertions made by the prior scholars. All the respondents except one male and one female testified to positive sibling influence. The narratives below highlight the concept of sibling influence as embedded in the narrative by Rockson, who explained that he was living with his mother and five siblings. According to him his father died at a very tender age. When asked about the extent to which his siblings influenced him, this is what he said: ‗…my siblings [ five of them] were not as bad as I am , they all didn‘t like me stealing and smoking so they advised me to stop, but I ignored their advice and followed my friends…‘ [ 20 year old persistent offender ]. 113 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As indicated by Rockson, all the five siblings did not like Rockson‘s deviant lifestyle and they even advised him to stop, but he rather followed the directions of his friends and not his siblings. This indication thus seems to suggest that his friends had a much greater influence on his offending behaviour than his siblings. Buttressing the same argument of friendship influence, Gyemfi also indicated: ―..I learnt from my friends and not my siblings, my siblings did not influence me negatively… my siblings were all good…. I was the only bad person among them.‖ [19 year old persistent offender] With respect to the two respondents who explained having had a negative sibling influence, the influence their sibling had on them was as a result of economic strain (hunger). In the words of Adu, this was the condition under which his siblings influenced him to commit the crime which led to his committal to the SBCC: ‗… We [Siblings] were living in the village and we came to town to find food to eat… when we saw some bags of rice belonging to a church elder …my senior brothers advised that we steal one … and this is how come we were arrested and sent to the SBCC.. In fact, this is the first time any of us had ever been arrested by the police.‘ [22 year old persistent offender]. Akwele also shared her experience as to how her uncle rather than her sibling influenced her to commit crime which led to her committal to the JGCC: ‗….my sibling influences me positively, but it was my uncle who influenced me to go and steal my grandmother‘s money….‘[22 year old female desister]. As indicated earlier, all the participants with the exception of two indicated having positive sibling influence that somehow led to their involvement in a criminal activity. In the first case of Adu, the nature of influence the sibling had on him was as a result of hunger which led him to commit crime demonstrating similarity in sibling offending. In 114 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the case of the Akwele, her uncle no ther sibling influenced her to commit a crime and so we cannot accept that her act of deviance was as a result of sibling influence. Explaining further, the majority of the respondents reported having no negative sibling influence rather they attributed their act of delinquency to their own individual temperament construct ‗my own stubbornness‘ which they developed as a result of the kinds of friends they associate themselves with. Analyzing this critically, the statement shared by the respondents that it was their own stubbornness which predisposed them to crime, to some extent supports the Freudian perspective which presumes that each of us carries within our id the prerequisite motivation for criminal behaviour. The inability to control these desires usually precedes a deviant behaviour. With these indications, the primary data do vary from the group of scholars who found strong sibling influence in offending. Narrowing it down to the context of Ghana, another reason which perhaps explains why most children in the Ghanaian society are influenced by the friends rather than their siblings could be linked to the importance attached to religion and strong adherence to traditional cultural values and norms. The social media, the school and the extended family system are also critical factors to consider in explaining why siblings do not have influence other siblings negatively. Furthermore, the reasons why sibling influence plays a less important role in offending, as observed in this context, also supports the postulation of Sampson and Laub (1993) that siblings and friends are quite different in social status and it is not at all clear that the influence of one can be inferred from the other. Siblings, after all, are not necessarily age mates, and the time spent with siblings is presumably more subject to parental supervision 115 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh than the time spent with friends. The findings of the study suggest that the influence of sibling on deviant behaviour is quite debatable, as the siblings who were expected to act as deviant role models because of stronger emotional ties, rather had a positive influence. In this sense, their delinquent causation was a process of social selection arising from simple selection effects where ‗bird of a feather flock together‘. Further studies may be required to ascertain why certain groups of individuals become criminals while their siblings lead conforming lifestyles. With these indications, we need to know more about how and why females tend to be influenced by other relatives more than by their siblings. 4.2.7 Conclusions The primary aim of this chapter was to understand and explain how social experiences in childhood and processes of informal social mechanisms predict early onset of crime in the Ghanaian social context, using the age graded theory of informal social control developed by Sampson and Laub (1993) and drawing from the respondents shared experiences to determine how different or similar these factors apply to the context of Ghana. The overall findings suggest, that even though we may agree to some extent that structural background factors such as the socio- economic status of parents, lack of parents support, lax family structure and large family size and the interplay of informal social mechanics such as weak attachment to schools, peer delinquent attachment, relational bond to parents‘, parents‘ discipline practices and sibling influence, all these may explain why juveniles will engaged in crime. The application of these concepts may vary when applied to different socio-cultural context such as Ghana. The critical factors found to predict the early onset of crime within the context of this study has more to do with parental roles (control processes) such as parental guidance, the child‘s deposition to parents direction, lack of supervision, influence of relatives 116 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ( extended family) and poverty rather than structural background factors such as family size and family structure among others. For example, even though we may agree that poverty leads to crime, as indicated in the narratives of some of the participants, an examination of the narratives indicate that both lower and relatively middle income children were exposed to the learning of deviant values. 117 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE TRANSITIONS IN OFFENDING TRAJECTORY; THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE FACTORS 5.1 Introduction This chapter presents and discusses the primary data on how an individual‘s experience of the criminal justice system in the adolescent phase of development and his acquisition of a labelling status shaped and changed his/ her offending trajectory. The chapter further discusses the life history of the once delinquent and tries to understand how and why their interaction within this structural institutional context negatively influenced the delinquents as they made the transition to adulthood, and why it triggered a turning point in others. To begin the discussion, an attempt is made to define what criminal systems are, how they operate globally as well as the rationale or the philosophies underlying the establishment of a criminal justice system. The criminal justice system refers to the aggregate of all operating and administrative or technical support agencies that perform a function in the social control system. (Schmalleger,2003). The basic divisions or components of the operational aspects of the criminal justice system are: the law enforcement (police), the courts and the correctional institutions. Taylor (2003) studied and compared a sample of juvenile justice policy across developed countries and found that in principle the approaches in dealing with juveniles in conflict with the law were quite similar. All with the exception of Sweden had a separate justice system for juveniles. The main emphasis was found to be on the offence rather than on the offender, the rights of the individual as well as the protection of the individual and the 118 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh members of the community. Globally, the administration of juvenile justice in all countries retained a rehabilitative element in dealing with juvenile offenders. In Ghana, the constitution mandates that a separate court of adjudicature for juvenile delinquent offenders be established as spelt out categorically in the Juvenile Justice Act 653. The philosophy underlying the juvenile court systems in Ghana is to ensure that juveniles in conflict with the law are better placed and reformed, yet by tracking and exploring the lived experiences of the participants who were used in the study, the data reveal that there are a section of the delinquents who pass through the juvenile justice system and never cease to offend throughout their adulthood while others make turning points. This conjecture forms the crux of this chapter; to understand how and why the juvenile correctional system prepares the delinquents as they navigate the transition to adulthood. In trying to understand how juvenile correctional systems modify offending trajectories, Cusick et al. (2010) maintain that even though criminological research has examined childhood experiences of maltreatment, which if not detected may lead to involvement with the child welfare system and later crime, few studies have actually looked at early involvement in the criminal system and how it stabilizes and changes the development of criminal careers. With this observation, Cusick et al. (2010) further challenge criminological researchers to get involved in extensive research that will determine the effects of correctional treatment as juvenile delinquents progress through adulthood. In order to understand the institutional dynamics of the criminal justice experience and its effects on later behavioural outcomes in adulthood, the participants were asked to narrate their stories as to what led them to the 119 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Senior Boys Correctional Centre, how the environment was, the various kinds of training they had and how useful the training was after they had left the institution, their daily routine activities, the kinds of friends they associated with and how these friends influenced them, the kinds of activities they usually engaged in as well as the pattern of their friendship interactions and the impact of the correctional life as they navigated the transition to adulthood and experienced multiple life domains. As the respondents narrated their life stories, several themes and concepts emerged which explain how the juvenile correctional systems in Ghana shaped and change their offending trajectories. In view of this, the chapter is divided into two, one which explains the persistence factors and the other which talk about the desistance factors. For the persistent offenders, the critical social factors which strengthened their criminal career, were the inadequacy of training which most of the subjects had, the duration of sentencing which denied them the acquisition of substantive skills, the deviant peers they attached themselves to and the never ceasing of engagement in deviant activities were the critical factors that affected them negatively in later adulthood. In contrast, participants who experienced turning points had a different encounter; the critical events which triggered their desistence process had to do with the serving of the official full term sentence which allowed most of them to acquire the needed competent skills and education towards a successful transition. Others also experience cognitive shift transformation, the idea that a person comes to his/her‘ normal ‗senses after weighing the benefits and consequences of his/her action. Those of the delinquents who experienced turning points realized that it was not worth leading a deviant lifestyle. Others also changed their friends and attached themselves to friends who pursued conventional values. 120 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh These factors were very critical in changing the deviant pathways of the delinquents who made the pathway to conformity. The following section discusses these major themes with supportive quotes. 5.1.1 Early Involvement in the Criminal Justice System and Persistence of Crime This section begins with the life story of two persistent offenders (male and female) as they experience the criminal justice system in particular the domains of the court adjudications and the SBCC in their adolescent phase of development. The narratives illustrate how their interaction within this institutional context causes some of the delinquents to developed criminal careers; Mensah was a 26 year old persistent offender who shared his experience about his early involvement in the criminal justice system. According to Mensah, three main factors impacted negatively on his offending trajectory as he experience the criminal justice system namely; the kind of training he had, the duration of his sentence and the kinds of friends he attached himself to; ‘…I went to the SBCC at the age of 17 years, we [friends] robbed a boutique and in the process of selling the stuff we were caught…. The SBCC is a nice place because you have the liberty to do everything you want…I spent only three months at the institution and so I didn‘t acquire any substantive training. I had a lot of friends there. Some were very stubborn so we fought most of the times... I learnt how to smoke there…when I got back home I had no job to do so my friends gave me some money to trade in mobile phones on the street… one day we [with friends] went to our usual place to smoke and unfortunately for us the place was under siege by the police …. We were arrested and sent to the prisons on charges of narcotics.…‘ In the case of Akwele a 31 year old female recidivist, she never went to the JGVC. However, the transition embedded in her offending trajectory as she narrated her life history to the researcher offer much insight in our attempt to understand how a female experience of multiple life domains reinforce criminal careers. This was how Akewele narrated her experience; 121 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ‗…I went to the Kumasi Prisons at the age of 14 for breaking into my father‘s friend room and doing away with a large sum of money ...The prison was a small place, when I got there, the officer told the police man that I was very young so he should send me back…. The police man took me back to the court and the magistrate told him to take me to the hospital to verify my age….. Instead of taking me to the hospital the police officer took me to a place which looks like a mid wife or pharmacy shop… when we got there, the attendant inserted his fingers in my private part and he asked me whether I have a boy friend and I said yes…. The police officer later took me back to the prison… when he got there he handed over a sheet of paper to the prisons officer before they accepted me.....There were a lot of vocational training at the prisons, sewing, door matmaking and catering services …. I learnt crocheting for six months, but because I was too young the officers made me assist them in the kitchen and they used me for their errands and thereafter they took me to the hairdressing department. At the prisons I had four friends who all had robbery cases, we all learnt crocheting, but some of my friends at the prisons say as for them they are not going to change, when we are at the prisons we plan that how we were going to met when we are released to continue our deviant activities so after we were released we all went to stay together at one of my friends mother house prison life did not change me.‘ As illustrated above, the life stories of Mensah‘s life and that of Akwele clearly illuminate the major themes that were found to strengthen the offending career of most of the offenders who persisted in crime through adulthood. It was realized from the pattern of responses in each single case that the lack of training as a result of their short stay at the institution and their association with deviant peers largely influenced their offending careers. In our attempt to understand how the incarceration of young offenders strengthen the development of criminal careers in adulthood, several studies, for example Nagin and Paternoster (2000) and Kraus (1974) have indicated that the incarceration of young offenders increases the chances of reoffending in later adulthood because such individuals become contaminated as they associate themselves with significant others and learn deviant values, rationalizations and techniques for committing crime (Sutherland 1947). Similarly, Bruce (1999) observed that most of the juvenile delinquents placed in the New York State Division for Youth were already proven recidivists. Nine out of ten in the case 122 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh file sample had prior arrests or Person in Need of Supervision (PINS) petitions, prior probation terms, or prior out of home placements. Bruce (1999) further observed that young persons faced an especially high risk of re-arrest during the first 6 to 9 months following the first release from residential confinement to community supervision. Twenty-six percent were arrested within the first three months following their release; 42 percent were arrested within six months, and more than half were arrested within nine months. Bruce (1999) concluded that even though the recidivism rates found in his study were high, they were fairly typical of recidivism rates reported for similar youth in other state systems. The indication offered by Bruce (1999) suggests that early incarceration in the adolescence stage may have detrimental effects on subsequent offending. The subsequent sections isolate and discuss each single theme and attempt to demonstrate how and to what extent these criminal justice factors explain persistence of crime in adulthood. 5.1.2 The impact of Vocational Training and Education on Persistent of Crime One of the major reasons why the juvenile facility centers are established is to instill in the offender a sense of discipline and responsibility, and to ensure that juvenile offenders acquire the needed skills and competence for a smooth transition as they progress through adulthood. When the participants were asked about the kinds of vocational training they had had and its impact as they matured through adulthood, while most of the participants [8 out of 13] compared to the desisters had shorter training periods, all 10 participants who desisted from crime had longer training period which facilitated their desistance from crime. As illustrated in the several narratives provided below, this is how respondents who had shorter training periods narrated their experiences as to how the vocational training 123 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh they acquired prepared them as they navigated to adulthood. The story of Gyemfi which typifies the impact of vocational training on reoffending is reflected in the response he gave: ―…I will say the SBCC was a good place for a stubborn boy like me, at least it took me off the street. I learnt to become an auto mechanic but since my period was too short I couldn‘t learn any substantive skills. I went to the shop for only one year and so I could not even obtain my certificate after I had left the facility…‖ Similarly Rockson also remarked; ―… When I went to the Borstal, there was a lot of training there with its beautiful environment. We had good food and there was less restriction of movement yet I couldn‘t learn any training because my time was too short….‖ The narratives of Gyemfi and Rockson which typifies the characteristics of the other persistent offenders who had shorter training periods represents the predispositions of persons who were more likely to persist in crime compared to the desisters who had longer training periods. Comparatively, it was realized from the pattern of responses given by the subjects that vocational training and education had a positive impact on those who desisted than on those who persisted in the sense that, all the desisters compared to the persisters had longer training periods Regardless of the seeming variations that exist between, short and long training periods as well as adequacy of training and persistent of crime as pointed out in the narratives of the participants.Comparatively, serving a longer sentence improves one‘s chances of desistance in the sense that longer sentences enabled those who stayed longer in the SBCC to acquire skills & education which improved their job prospects in adulthood. 124 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.1.3 Sentencing Procedures and Persistence of Crime Another contributory factor which explains persistence of crime among the subjects that were used in this study has more to with the short duration of sentence. While 8 out of the 13 persistent had shorter sentence, all those who desisted from crime[10 respondents] served the full term and they developed the necessary skills and potentials to meet the demanding challenges as they later experience multiple life domains in adulthood compared to those who persisted in crime. Becker (1963) has indicated earlier on, that a person commits an offence if the subjective expected utility (subjective expected benefit) to him exceeds the utility he could get by using his time and resources in legitimate activity (Becker 1963) therefore, imposing a prison sentence on persons caught engaging in criminal activity should reduce the frequency of such activity because it reduces its subjective expected utility. Contrary to the economic theory of crime, a number economists and criminologists such as Weatherburn et.al. (2009), have argued that imprisonment is, in fact, criminogenic (i.e. it increases the risk of involvement in crime). In line with the same arguments it was realized that some of the participants who had a short sentence had a higher risk of reoffending as they aged because they lacked the skills and competencies to meet the job market as compared with those who desisted from crime. The excerpts illustrated below indicate the responses of some of the respondents whose narration exemplify the connection between short duration of sentence and persistent of crime through adulthood; Respondent 8. – ‗…I spent only three months at the SBCC… I didn‘t receive any training so when I got back home I had no job to do… I was selling on the street… one day I went to our usual place to smoke and unfortunately for me the place was under siege by the police …I was arrested and sent to the prisons…‘ [Mensah, 26 year old persistent offender] 125 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Respondent 7. – ‗…..I spent a year at the SBCC and had basic training in sewing … I was not really interested in sewing …. When I left the institution I went back to my streets friends …. I wanted quick money so I was selling second hand phones brought to us by friends from unknown sources.‘[Agyeman, 22 year old persistent offender]. Respondent 12. – ‗…I spent 6 months at the SBCC and learnt to be an auto mechanics …. In fact when I went home I needed money so I joined my friends out there….. Until my incarceration I was selling Indian hemp…..‘ [Nortey, 24 year old persistent offender]. As indicated from their narratives, the maximum sentence they spent was one year and the minimum was three months. It can also be observed from their stories, that indeed the short duration of sentence affected the respondents in the sense that they were not able to acquire the requisite skills and competencies needed for successful transition in adulthood. Considering the legal implications associated with the sentencing of young offenders in Ghana, the researcher engaged some of the stake holders, in particular some senior officers at the SBCC and the municipal social welfare officer at Nsawam a town in the eastern region of Ghana in an in-depth interview in order to understand how the juvenile court systems operates to address the issue of juvenile delinquency in Ghana. In an interview with one of the prisons officer at the SBCC, it was realized that some of the offenders were sentence just for three months. The officer further added that such conditions do not augur well for such offenders as it increases the risk of reoffending. This is what she said about the sentencing of juvenile delinquents by most juvenile courts in Ghana; ―…The officially mandated term of sentence for juvenile delinquents is between two to three years maximum, depending on the nature of the offence which is normally determined after the social welfare officer has presented his/ her social enquiry reports and a final decision is taken by the court panel. However, we have had instances where juveniles are being sentence for six months and even three months… I even have had a case here that the juvenile was sentenced for three months… his time is due and we have realized he has not learnt any substantive 126 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh skill … more so we heard his mother who is the bread winner of the family is also dead, when he gets back the chances of this boy reoffending again is very high ….. So we have appealed to the magistrate court to review his term of sentence to three years … ‗ [A prisons officer at the SBCC]. Even though the three years suggested by the officer is not consistent with the crime of this juvenile, in the opinion of the officer, serving a longer period will enable the offender to acquire the needed skill and competencies as he navigates adulthood. In an interview with the Social Welfare Officer who sits with the panel of the juvenile justice court, he also remarked: ‗…The said juvenile was accused of unlawful entry and even though we have heard of his deviant lifestyle in the community, this is his first offense and the first time appearing before the court. The panel‘s decision was based on the nature of offence which the panel considered as trivial ….‘ [Municipal social welfare officer]. While the statement of the prison officer does not support the idea of short sentencing of juvenile delinquency, the social officer therefore thinks that if a child commits a trivial offense then there is no need keeping that child in custody for a long period of time. Both statements have implications which are not well expanded on in the context of this study. Nevertheless, it was realized that the short sentence in the actual sense did not allow the persistent offenders to acquire the needed skills and competencies to meet the job market. As they went back to their respective communities and families they had no better option than to resort to criminal activities because no efforts were made by the social workers to ensure their successful reintegration. According to Cusick et al. (2010), even though youth who are placed in out-of-home care are exposed to a system of services that impact behaviour, they further maintains that there are considerable variations across individuals in terms of duration, number, and type of 127 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh placements they experience. In this sense, we cannot wholly accept that a short duration of sentence increases the propensity to reoffend as both who had long sentence as well as short sentences reoffended as they navigated the transition to adulthood. 5.1.4 Delinquent Peer Attachment and Persistence of Crime According to Sampson and Laub (1993) empirical research on peer groups and delinquency is extensive and consistent on the basis of facts. Most of the studies on friendship and crimecontend that strong bonds to delinquent peers are the most important proximate cause of juvenile delinquency. Numerous studies by Abrah (2006), Agnew (1991), Matsueda (1988), Giordano et al. (1986) and Sutherland (1947) found a strong relationship between delinquent attachment and offending behaviour. However, regardless of the volume of research on friendships and crime, the causal effect of friendship and delinquency is still a subject of much debate. It still remains unclear to what degree friendship explains persistence of crime. In their concluding remarks which point out the direction for future research, Sampson and Laub (1993) indicated: ―…the transition from family to school along with changes in friendship networks as children move into adolescence seems to the a promising area of exploration for criminologists. It is especially important to learn how peer attachments are influenced by structural background factors and if peer relationships can neutralize informal social bonds formed in families and school‘ (Sampson & Laub, 1993: 250). This statement justifies the need for further research to explain to what degree friendship explains persistence of crime. In order to understand how social networks and patterns of interaction within an institutional context influence subsequent offending, the respondents were asked to describe the kinds of friends they had while at the correctional centre, their 128 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh patterns of interactions and the nature of their routine activities, social networks well as the extent of friendship sentence. As the respondents shared their experiences about their friends, two categories of responses emerged, namely, those who had positive influences and those who had negative influences. Comparatively, it was realized that, while 7 out of the 13 persistent offenders had good friends, 5 had bad friends, 1 had good and bad friend respectively. For those who desisted from crime, it was evident that while 6 out of the 10 participants indicated selecting good friends, 3 had good and bad friends while the remaining one indicated he had a bad friend. A few cases are selected to illuminate the concept of friendship in their etiology of crime. The effects of friendship influences are highlighted in the words of the following respondents; Negative friendship Respondent. 2. – ―… I had a nice time with my friends at the institution. my friends were thieves and smokers …we do the two together … I still smoke to date…‖ [, Johnson, 53 year old persistent]. Respondent 10. – ―….Most of my friends were alcoholics and smokers [Indian hemp]… , I even learnt how to break a pad lock, open a closed door and how to attack people and rob them… I didn‘t mind practicing it because I knew if you did it after all they would bring me to prison….‖ [Adom, 38 year old persistent offender]. Respondent. 12. – ‘…my friends smoked … whenever we met at night we had long chats and shared our past experiences ... now I can‘t stop smoking… am so much addicted that I have to smoke before I can do any hard work…. If I smoke four rolls a day … I feel just fine…‘[Nortey, 24 year old persistent offender]. Respondent. 11. – ‗… my friends were rappers [singers] and ―wee‖ smokers... I intensified my smoking habit at the SBCC because my friends brought it from town… we hid it in our rooms so the officers can‘t see…. For most times we had fun and I enjoyed their company…..‘ [Ofori, 28 year old persistent offender]. Respondent .5. – ‘…my friends really influenced me badly…. They showed me how to smoke ―wee‖..., even though I changed from stealing, my friends introduced me to smoking… I still smoke to date...‘[Adu, 50 year old persistent offender]. 129 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The statements given by the respondents about the extent to which they were influenced by their friends clearly support the underlying assumptions of the differential association theory of Sutherland (1947), that criminal behaviour is learnt in intimate groups and that the learning includes the techniques, motivation, values and the rationalization for committing crime. As evident from the narratives, it is clear that most of the delinquents strengthened their deviant lifestyle when they got to the correctional center after close association with their significant others. In contrast, other group of the persistent offenders also reported associating with conventional friends and yet persisted through adulthood as criminals. Adu explained having both good and bad friends and they never had any bad influence on him. He narrated: ‗…I had good friends as well as bad friends while I was committed to the SBCC ...I had a good relationship with everyone … Most of our friends smoked but our instructors told us that if we do those bad things they will not support us, so me and my friends we listened to their advice…. so I didn‘t resort to any deviant life style…‘ [22 year old persistent offender]. Another respondent Kumson also shared his experience as follows: ‗… I have good relationships with my friends at the SBCC … all of them were mechanics so we all worked together and I didn‘t have time to do the bad things I used to do. My new friends were not ―wee‖ smokers, we had a focus and that has become our direction…..‘ [20 year old persistent offender]. While Gyemfi also narrated: ‘…My friends were good, we played football together and none of them influenced me negatively… before I went to the SBCC, I thought they were bad people, but I could even put my things there and nobody would pick them…‘ [19 year old persistent offender]. As indicated in the shared narratives, it is very difficult to decipher the degree to which friendship can explain persistence of crime, in the sense that some of the persistent offenders had friends who influenced them positively and yet they persisted in crime in 130 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh late adulthood. This indication also buttresses Sampson and Laub‘s (1993) assertion that there is still no clear demonstration in the literature that association with a delinquent‘s peers preceded or facilities offending, for example in the same way as the learning of deviant values occurs in intimate group as well as the techniques and rationalization for committing crime, the same intimate groups of a differential association provide the opportunities for some group of individuals to desist from crime. From the narratives it can be deduced that friendship per se does not influence offending behaviour. In order to verify whether the information provided by the participants was reliable, the researcher further sought verification from the prison officers whether it was possible for imamates to have access to Indian hemp and alcohol as indicated by the respondents. In an interview with one of the prison officer this is what she said: ‗…We [all prisons officers] do our best to ensure that the young offenders who pass through this facility are better reformed. However, considering the freedom of movement [lack of a fence wall] it is possible that these boys could do anything… I mean just anything… if they were in their individual houses they could still go outside and do their own thing... I think it likely some could adopt and practice such deviant life styles while in this institution…‘ [A prisons officer at the SBCC]. Another Senior Prisons Officer also said; ‗…Hmmmm we had challenges with these boys oo, I even have some parcel of ―wee‖ with me right now which was found on one of the students who had just returned from school. He said it was one of his seniors [inmate] who asked him to buy it for him ... There are instances where some of the officers reported smelling fumes of Indian hemp on some of the boys who return from town, so it is likely some of them drank alcohol and smoked … sometimes when the officers want to search their rooms they will close the door not allowing the officers to enter…‘ [A prisons officer at the SBCC]. The responses of the officers give the state of the correctional facility under which juvenile delinquents are rehabilitated within the context of Ghana. The responses provided by the respondents as well as those of the prison officers indicate that the correctional 131 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh facility is criminogenic in the sense that it tends to encourage the learning of deviant values which pose as risk factors for juvenile delinquents who navigate to adulthood. The indications thus seem to suggest that the senior correctional facility works to perpetuate crime in Ghana due to the lack of security and the inability of the staff to take full oversight responsibilities of the inmates because of the lack of restriction on movement among offenders who are placed in their custody. To conclude, even though the observation made with respect to friendship corroborates the findings of Antwi-Boasiko and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Giordano et al. (1986) Sutherland (1947), that in warm and intimate relationships, the learning of criminal values occurs, the degree to which friendship influences reoffending warrants much research and scrutiny preferably using a much larger sample size and perhaps trying to understand why some group of offenders experience turning points within a context of a ‘differential association‘ and as to what critical factors facilitate the desistence process. We now turn to the next section that discusses and illustrates how the institutional context acts as a catalyst for change for those delinquents who made the pathway to conformity as they progress through adulthood. 5.2 Early involvement in the criminal justice system and desistance from crime This section addresses the question of how early involvement in the criminal justice system leads to turning points by presenting and analyzing the shared experiences as given by the participants. The idea of ‗turning points‘ is one way of thinking about change processes. Abbott contends that ‗turning points are narrative concepts, referring to two points in time at once‘ (1997, p. 85). Turning points are often retrospective constructions, but Abbott claims that they do not have to be. Abbott identifies several types of turning 132 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh points—focal, randomizing, and contingent (1997, p. 94)—but all turning points are ‗shifts that redirect a process‘ (1997, p. 101, as in Laub and Sampson 2001: 49). According to Sampson and Laub (1993: 240), the main idea of turning points is closely linked to role transitions and conceptualizations, turning points are helpful in understanding stability and change in human behaviour over the life course. To begin the analysis, the researcher starts with the story of two respondents [a male and female] whose life stories illuminate the major elements embedded in the concept of desistance and the major factors that seem to trigger desistance in the Ghanaian social context. Hope was a 22 year old student at the ATTC as at the time of interview. He was introduced to me by one of his friends. When I introduced myself to him, he was so delighted and was more than willing to share his life experience with me. This is how our conversation went: ...Interviewer: How did you get to the SBCC and how old were you then? …Participant:..‘I was 17 years old when I went to the SBCC for defiling a 7 year old girl who was the daughter of my landlord. ….. I spent three years at the institution …. Well, the Borstal is a very nice place ….your movement is not restricted so you can freely move around with your friends and have fun…..Interviewer: Tell me more about your friends at the centre, your relationship with them, the kinds of activities you usually engaged in?..Participant: In fact, there were different categories of individuals at the institution, some well drug addicts others abuse alcohol and steal both within and outside the premises of the Bosrtal. Instead of them showing signs of remorse for their deviant life styles they never stopped smoking, drinking and stealing. The good friends will always give you good advice … When I got to the Borstal I made up my mind not to do any bad thing which will send me to the prison so I joined the good friends who I think had future… we learnt and studied together so by the time of living the institution, I had both BECE and NVIT certificates…Interviewer: How were you influenced by these friends... Participant:..―Indeed my friends had a real positive impact on my academic life … They influenced me to develop an interest in education and their encouragement and support helped me passed all the exams I tooked... Interviewer: What are your future plans?...Participant: I want to become a building contractor and to do this I have to be very serious in life, my family are in the village so I hope that the church [Legon Interdenominational Church] supporting us will find us a place by the time I am done with my education . 133 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Also Akwele, the only female who had desisted from crime shared her life story as follows: ― …I went to the Girls Correctional Centre when I was about 16 years old for stealing some amount of dollars belonging to my grandmother, actually it was my uncle who influenced me to steal the money… when I came to the correctional facility they had a a lot of vocational training so I learnt to become a hair dresser … There were good as well as bad friends … in all, we were a total of 12 young girls … but those girls did not respect so I distanced myself from them so that they couldn‘t influence me because I was strong on them… I did that because I didn‘t want the instructors to have bad impression of me that I was always disrespectful… I was always with my instructors and I learnt a lot from them… [22 year old female desister]. The life story of Hope and Akwele represents the experiences of the subjects who desisted from crime and how the correctional experience impacted on their offending behaviour. As evident from their shared experience, the critical events that were seen to modify their offending trajectory were the education and the vocational training they received as well as their length of stay at the correctional center. Additionally, all the participants who desisted from crime experienced a cognitive transformation shift. Their association with the conventional others and their engagement in conventional activities were also seen as critical elements changing their offending behaviour. The entire section on desistance in the adolescent phase of development discusses these major themes. 5.2. 1 The Impact of Vocation Training and Education As the respondents shared their lived experiences, one of the critical factors that was seen to trigger their desistance was the impact of education and the vocational training they went through. It was realized from their shared experiences that before the respondents left the correctional facility, all the respondents who desisted from crime had both NVTI grade II and JHS certificates. Acquisition of these skills increased their chances of success as they navigated the transition to adulthood, compared to those who persisted in crime. The 134 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh narratives presented below nicely summarises the impact of education and vocational training on desistance. In their own words this is what most of them said: Respondent 1 –. ―…I went to the SBCC at the age16 for stealing six (6) bottles of whisky belonging to one of my friend‘s grandmother who had travelled to her home town…I spent three years there …, when I realized I could advance myself in terms of education and vocational skills, I decided to be focused in life and turn away from my deviant lifestyle. By the time I left the centre I had both the BECE (JHS) and an NVTI grade II certificate. I had the opportunity to further my education at the ATTC. I now work at a plastic manufacturing company as a casual worker, my salary in GH¢ 250 and am okay now. I live with my parents and they also support me, I go to work and close late, by the time I get home is about 8: 30 pm or so I go straight to bed…‘[Edem,23 year old desister]. Respondent 2. – ‗..I went to the SBCC at the age of 14 for defiling the 12 year old daughter of our landlady. I spent 3 years at the institution and I learnt carpentry…I was so serious with what I was doing because I wanted to make it in life. I eventually withdrew from all those bad friends because I felt it was not worth it to keep on with this deviant lifestyle. At the time of leaving the Borstal I had both the BECE (JHS) and an NVTI grade II certificate. Thereafter, I furthered my education at the ATTC. It was a Christian Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that supported me. When I got to the final year, some company came there and issued some forms, that if we are interested to work with them we should complete the form- I filled the form and a few months later, they called me for an interview, I passed and am currently with the company‘. I live with my parents now and they are very supportive…‖ [ Abeiku, 24 year old desister]. Respondent 10. – ‗...I went to the Girls Correctional Centre for stealing my grandmother‘s money, I spent three years and I learnt hair dressing …. Being at the institution really helped me a lot …in fact when I got to know I could advance myself , I felt I have to be serious in life…. I am now a beautician.. I have my own shop and am ok now.. I go to work and close late…. I have a few friends as well ….. [ Akwele, 22 year old female desister]. The narratives of these three respondents explain how acquiring vocational training and education impacted positively on transforming the lives of those delinquent who made the pathway to conformity as they navigated the transition to adulthood. This finding supports Maow et al. (2005), Osgood et al. (2005) and Shanahan (2000) and Sampson and Laub (1993) who contended that to successfully navigate the transition from delinquency to adulthood is largely a function of the support, guidance and resources offered by families, friends and the entire society for most youth. To the contrary, the finding also varies from 135 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Martinson (1974) who wrote: ―with few and isolated exceptions, the rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far have had no appreciable effect on recidivism‘ (1974: 25). The finding also supports the groups of scholars who believed in the ‗nothing works‖ approach who are of the view that only a few correctional treatment programmes work to reduce reoffending. The narratives frequently provide experiences of juvenile delinquents whose life stories illustrate that the correctional system is incapable of reforming criminals, even among those offenders who persisted in crime through adulthood. Comparatively, the evidence suggests that the correctional experience is a variable in the sense that while it fails to help some desist from crime, others experience a turning point later in the adolescent stage after their encounter with the criminal justice system. 5.2.2 Cognitive Transformations Shift It has been observed within the criminological literature that social competence (cognitive- behavioural) training can help change the way young people think and act, and this has been shown to impact positively on deviant activity. According to Loeber & Farrington (1998b), Lipsey and Wilson (1998) and Sherman et al. (1998), social competence training has had positive outcomes in all settings and many reviews suggest that this type of intervention should form an integral part of all programmes to reduce and prevent offending (Loeber & Farrington 1998b; Wilson & Lipsey 1998; Sherman et al. 1998). In conceptualizing desistance, Giordano et al. (2002) discuss the significance of openness to change, exposure to ‗hooks for change‘, availability of an appealing conventional self and a reassessment of attitudes to deviant behaviours as cognitive processes leading to desistance. Vaughan (2007), on the other hand, posits an initial stage of Discernment – 136 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh where one reviews possible lifestyle choices, Deliberation – where one reviews the pros and cons of various actions and Dedication - where one is committed to a new non- criminal identity. These scholars unlike other criminological researchers stress the individual‘s cognitive shift transformation as a critical element which triggers desistance. As these writers rightly pointed out, the desistance process starts with a personal cognitive shift. As the desisters shared their individual lived experiences, it was realized that their turning points began when they got to the correctional facility and after weighing the benefits and consequences of their offence [rational choice].The narratives below indicate the point at which the desisters experienced turning points. It was realized that their desistance processes started right from the onset of their committal. Other cognitive treatments which triggered their desistance also included the counseling and advice and the instructions given by the prisons officers and some religious leaders who frequently visit the institution. The stories given by some of the respondents nicely summarize the basic concept of cognitive transformation resulting from the individual shift in attitude and the effect of the correctional treatment. According to Musa, this is how he experienced cognitive shift: ‗…I had good as well as bad friends at the Borstal … In fact when you listened to their conversation, you realized that most of them do not really show signs of remorse…hmmmmm.. if your follow their advice you will even become worse off…. I parted company with such friends and concentrated on my vocational skills and education because I realized it was not worth it, leading a bad life...‘ [20 year old desister]. Abeiku also narrated: ‗…what actually transformed my life at the Borstal was the advice of the officers and the religious leaders who frequented the institution… I realized I had to change from my bad ways … I made up my mind not to do bad thing that would send me to the prison…..‘ [24 year old desister]. 137 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Kwame also indicated: ‗ …the correctional experience really affected me positively, because back at home when my mother asked me to go to church, I refused, but I couldn‘t do that at the institution... I recalled an instance when a pastor came to preach and the message sunk so deep into me that I gave my life to Christ.. . I realized that if I continued in such a deviant lifestyle it will not help me…‘ [23 year old desister]. The narratives give the accounts of the participants who experienced cognitive transformation as a result and turn away from their deviant lifestyle. As realized from their shared experiences, we see elements of an openness to change, implying that desistance begins when the individual sees the need to change. The second element of change is the hook for change which has to do with the services provided and the correctional service provided in the form of counselling and finally the availability of an appealing conventional self and a reassessment of attitudes to deviant behaviours [ rational choice] as posited by Giordano et al. (2002). Similarly, we also found elements of Discernment – where one reviews possible lifestyle choices, Deliberation – where one reviews the pros and cons of various actions and Dedication - where one is committed to a new non- criminal identity (Vaughan, 2007).Typical of the elements of discernment, deliberation and dedication are rooted in the narratives of Alhassan a 22 year old desister. He indicated: ―… while at the Borstal my main concern was the training I was receiving, some of the bad friends would tell you to accompany them to steal and smoke, I remembered a time when one of my friends asked me to go along with him one evening to steal , we went around the airport residential area in Accra. When we saw this generator, my friend wanted as to steal it but upon a second thought I said to myself , stealing money has brought me here what would happened to me when I steal this big thing , I told my friend I can‘t do it. He started insulting me that I was too dull and timid. I got furious and left him…. That ended our friendship‖. 138 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A critical analysis of Ahassan‘s narrative clearly indicated that after reviewing the possible lifestyle choices and weighing the pros and cons of the intended deviant action, he realized the importance of leading a conventional life. Compared to the persistent category, Rockson was the only one who experienced a cognitive shift among the 13 persistent offenders. In our conversation, this was how he related his correctional experience to a shift in cognitive: ―…I had a cordial relationship with my friend‘s way back at the SBCC. We were all learning to become automechanics …. In fact when I got there, I decided to change my bad attitude. My new friends were not wee smokers. I put away the old lifestyle because I had a focus in life and that became my direction...‖ As Alhassan navigated to adulthood his persistence in crime could also be attributed to the lack of hooks for change. With these revelations we agree with Giordano et al. (2002) that an initial openness to change appeared to be a minimal starting point in the move toward a more conforming way of life. 5.2.3 The Role of Conventional Friendship in the Desistance Process Akers argues, that ‗other than one‘s own prior deviant behaviour, the best single predictor of onset, continuation, or desistance of delinquency is differential association with law- violating or norm-violating peers‘ (1998, p. 164).One of the best theoretical models that explain friendship and criminality is the differential association theory postulated by Sutherland (1947). In conceptualizing his theoretical model, Sutherland attempted to identify universal mechanisms that explain the genesis of crime regardless of the specific concrete structural, social and individual conditions involved. However, the first decade saw several attempts to revise the theory in order to explain the origin and persistence of a delinquent subculture. 139 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh According to Matsueda (1988), the trend of theoretical innovations in the differential association theory has been superseded by two distinct trends, namely those that focus on testing the theory, devising methods for operationalizing the theory‘s concepts, deriving hypotheses from its prepositions and subjecting that hypothesis to empirical verification. In order to understand, how friendship networks and interactions in an institutional context of a supposedly ‗differential association‘ leads to desistance, the respondents were asked the same questions as the persistent offenders regarding the kinds of friends they interacted with , their routines activities and the level of influence their friends had on their lives. As realized from their life stories, all the respondents had the same story to tell with regards to how the kinds of friends they selected aided in their transformation. During a conversation with Owuraku, one of the participants, this is what he said regarding his friends at the SBCC: ‗…In fact, there are good people as well as bad people in the SBCC, some of the guys were thieves - they have not stopped their offending behaviour, instead of them learning lessons from the offences they committed…… they were still stealing, smoking and keeping up with their deviant lifestyles. Some went as far as to insult officers who intend punish them, but the good friends will always tell you this place is not good so don‘t strive to be here….. Most of the good friends were busily learning to write their exams in Basic Education Certificate of Examination [BECE] ….I joined them and sometimes helped them and we solved mathematics questions together…. My friends were astonished at my mathematics solving skills and they encouraged me to enroll in the mathematics classes ….. I wrote and passed my exams and thereafter furthered my education at the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) ……. Interviewer: How were you influenced by these friends?..... Participant:……. ‗I will say my interaction with my new found friends at the SBCC impacted positively on my academic life ….. They influenced me to develop an interest in education ….. by the time I was leaving the correctional facility I had a BECE certificate ….. In fact, my association with my new friends at the institution affected me positively in the sense that it helped me to pass my BECE …. [ 20 year old desister in his adulthood] Abeiku also shared his experience as follows: ‗…: Life at the centre was a great experience in the sense that l learnt lessons which changed my offending path for a bad boy like me … I had a lot of friends, 140 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh some were good and others were bad, some would teach you to do good things others would teach you to do worse things like smoking and learning new ways of stealing, but all my friends were good, we even formed a theater group and organized dramas during Christmas and also when visitors came around, we acted plays and they gave us money, in fact when I realized you are a bad friend I will not come close to you especially not if I realized that you have not regretted your offense‘ [ 23 year old desister in his adulthood]. The experiences of these participants illustrate how the effects of friendship can influence and help to change a person‘s offending trajectory. As realized from the narratives, most of the participants desisted from their deviant lifestyles by associating with conventional friends. The narratives indicated above clearly contradict the basic underlying assumptions of the differential association theory which explains that the learning of deviant values occurs in intimate groups, for example a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to the law. The life stories of these respondents show how their interactions with their delinquent counterparts in the institutional context triggered their turning points. Implying that, certain individuals are able to change from their deviants lifestyles in the midst of significant others. Revisiting the differential association theory, the narrative data varies from some of Sutherlands (1947) proposition that the learning of deviant values occurs in intimate groups. As observed from the pattern of the responses, in the same intimate groups of the same characteristics, some groups of individuals learn the techniques for committing crime as well as the appropriate motives, attitudes and rationalizations for desisting from crime. It was also observed that the more intensely and more frequently people are exposed to a set of values about criminality, the less likely they were to be influenced. And finally, his assertion, that the specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of 141 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the legal code as being favorable or unfavorable implying that in some societies, an individual may be surrounded by persons who invariably define the legal code as rules to be observed, while in others, he or she may be surrounded by persons whose definitions are favorable to the violations of the legal codes. Not everybody in society agrees that laws should be obeyed; some people define them as unimportant. The narratives point out delinquents who were found to be surrounded by definitions favourable to the violations of the laws and yet they never learnt deviant values. On the basis of these findings, the following conclusions can be drawn;  That even though the learning of criminal behaviour occurs in intimate groups within intimate groups individuals may learn conventional values leading to desistance.  That intimate groups may provide the opportunities for some group of individuals to learn the appropriate motives, attitudes and rationalizations for desisting from crime.  The longer, earlier, more intense and more frequently the interactions of delinquents with friends were, and where they were exposed to a set of values about criminality as illustrated in the narratives of the participants the more likely they were to change their deviant pathways or offending trajectory.  It is not always true that individuals exposed to situations favourable to the violation of laws usually commit crime. The findings presented in this context are limited to this study as more research will be needed to throw more light on the extent to which interactions within the institutional context leads to desistance. 142 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.4 Conclusion This chapter sought to understand how early involvement in the criminal justice system modifies the tendency to persist or desist from crime in an individual life course. Critically analyzing the statements of the participants indicates that the correctional experience facilitate desistance, first, if training is adequate and second if friendship found are conventional ones. The findings of this study have two theoretical implications. First the findings support most of the assumptions of criminological literature on friendship and crime, for example Hirschi (1968), Sutherland (1947), and Giordano etal. (1986) and others that delinquent peer attachment increases the propensity to persist in crime. It further questions the basic theoretical arguments that underlie these theories in the sense that the narratives provide frequent illustrations of actors who appeared quite capable of discarding bad companions and redirecting friendship networks so that they became more in line with the new lifestyle. In this regard, we may say that the question of how friendship explains persistence of crime is quite debatable and may warrant additional research scrutiny, ideally using larger and more heterogeneous samples. The findings also suggest that acquiring vocational training and education for juvenile delinquents who passed through their SBCC impacted positively in during the desistance process. One of the critical elements which was found to trigger desistance was a shift in cognitive transformation, the observations made and the concepts derived from the narratives were consistent with Giordano et al. (2002) that the desistance process starts with openness and a hook for change as well as a personal evaluation of oneself to desist from criminal acts. A critical analysis of the narratives of the participants also indicate that desistance is 143 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh actually a multifaceted process in the sense that, an interplay of several critical factors such as adequate and length of training, shifts in cognition, a support given by parents and Ngo and attachment to conventional friends were seen as building blocks in facilitating desistance among the subjects that were studied in this context. Chapter Six discusses the critical social events modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime as the respondents experience multiple life domains. 144 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SIX EXPERIENCING MULTIPLE LIFE DOMAINS IN ADULTHOOD 6.1 Introduction Furstenberg et al. (2005) have argued that while the transition to adulthood has arguably become a more ambiguous and complex period for all youths, it is likely to be more difficult for juvenile delinquents aging out of the criminal justice system. They further argued that institutionalized youth may enter adulthood with low educational status, little employment experience, mental health problems, high rates of homelessness, and limited social and financial resources, making this transition more abrupt as they lose the care and support of the justice system that has assumed the role of parent or guardian. Chapter Six addresses the question of how and why one experience in multiple life domains modifies the tendency to persist or desist from crime over the life course using the narratives provided by the respondents. As the participants shared their adulthood experiences, it was realized from their narrations, that the major contributory factors strengthening their criminal careers were the negative [ labelling / stigma] reactions they received from families and neighbours, the lack of social support [family, emotional and institutional], unstable employment, deviant peer attachments, unstable relationships and lack of spousal commitment. In contrast to those respondents who desisted from crime, critical life events such as residential change, provision of social support [institutional and family], education and stable employment changed their criminal paths. The emerging themes and concepts are analyzed within the lenses of the broader theoretical orientations of the life course perspective of criminality. 145 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.1.1 Persistence of Crime; the Labelling Factor This section addresses the question of how labelling explains persistence of crime through adulthood using the narratives of individuals who participated in the study. To begin with, the traditional labelling theories in particular those of Lemert (1951), Becker (1963) and Tannenbaum (1938) have argued that formal societal reaction to crime can be a stepping stone in the development of a criminal career. Becker (1963), for example, focuses on the general impact the deviant label has on the individual, embedding him/her into deviant social groups and associations. According to Becker (1963), deviant groups represent a source of social support in which deviant activities are accepted. The labelled person is thus increasingly likely to become involved in social groups that consist of social deviants and unconventional others. Although several labelling theorists have mentioned this point, Schur (1971), Tannenbaum (1938), for example, highlight the role of deviant networks in explaining how public labelling increases the likelihood of subsequent deviance. They further assert that deviant groups provide collective rationalizations, definitions, and opportunities that encourage and facilitate deviant behaviour. These assertions also suggest that involvement in deviant networks should mediate the influence of public deviant labelling on subsequent involvement in deviance. Although there have been numerous attempts to examine whether or not official labelling is associated with subsequent crime and delinquency, Fisher and Erickson (1973), Hagan and Palloni (1990), Horowitz and Wasserman (1979), Klein (1974), McEachern (1968), Palarma (1986),Ray and Downs (1986),Smith and Paternoster (1990) as well as Thomas 146 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and Bishop(1984) explain that research on the mediating role of social ties to deviant others has been rare. Similarly, Bernburg et al. (2006) further highlighted that research rarely studied the presence of intermediate processes that may translate deviant labelling into subsequent deviance. By failing to consider the requisite intervening effects, Bernburg et al. (2006) contends that the bulk of labelling studies do not constitute a valid test of the labelling theory. Filling our knowledge gaps on how labelling and the mediating roles of social ties to deviant others explain persistence of crime, the participants were asked to indicate the major challenges they faced after their exit into their respective communities, as well as the nature and extent of their relationships between immediate and extended family, friends and neighbors. As the respondents shared their lived experiences with respect to how family and society reacted towards their criminality, two major themes emerged namely those [four participants] who had positive reactions from family and community members and the remaining [nine participants] who faced stigma and rejections from family and members of society. Section6.1.1and 6.1.2 discusses how negative reactions towards the participants‘ acts of criminality strengthen their offending career. 6.1.2 Societal Acceptance and Persistent of Crime The concept social acceptance was derived as a recurring theme in the pattern of responses participants gave. According to these respondents, they were welcomed nicely by their neighbors without any sense of rejection or intimidation when they reintegrated with family members and neighbours. The respondents used words such as ‗love‘ and ‘affection‘ to demonstrate the warm relationships they had with their families and friends. A few quotations illustrating these major themes are indicated below: 147 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Respondent. 11. – ‗…I didn‘t have any problem at all meeting my family, friends and neighbours… They received me nicely and showed me much love and affection…. They didn‘t make me feel bad … I had a good relationship with everybody… [Ofori, 28 year old persistent offender]. Respondent. 3. – ‘…I didn‘t face any stigma or rejections …. my family accepted and treated me nicely…. They all knew what happened to me was just an accident… life was normal… I had no problem relating with everyone…‘[Kumson, 20 year old persistent offender] Respondent. 4. - ‗…Everybody had a good perception about me and they related with me passionately …In fact they realized that I was a changed person...‘ [Rockson, 20 year old persistent offender]. In our attempts to understand how labelling explains persistence of crime, the statement of this three out of the thirteen respondents who persisted in crime does not seem to offer an answer to this question in the sense that the persisters indicated that they faced no stigma or rejections. In the case of those who desisted from crime with the exception of two who were accepted by their family and community members, the remaining eight had to change their residential locations as a result of stigma and negative reactions. As expected by traditional labelling theories such warmth and acceptances that the four persistent offenders had should have acted as a catalyst of change, yet this affection and warmth rather strengthened their criminal careers, indicating that other factors beyond labelling explain persistence of crime over an individual life course. As observed from the narratives, acquiring a delinquent status per se may not always be problematic for some group of offenders who pass through the criminal justice system as argued by Becker (1966) Lamert (1951) and Tannenbaum (1938) given the eight out of the ten desisters who maneuver their delinquents‘ status in the phase of sigma and discriminations. 148 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To conclude, it can be said that even though labelling to some degree may explain persistence of crime, the narratives frequently provide examples of individuals who never experienced any stigma or any negative societal reaction, yet persisted in crime through adulthood. Acquiring a delinquent status may not always strain social interactions between the labelled and conventional others as pointed out by Goffman (1966). We still need to know more about how some groups of delinquents are able to manage their delinquent‘s status and desist from crime as they transition to adulthood, perhaps using a much larger sample size. The narrative of some of the participants gives the indications that labelling or stigma offers relatively little explanation as to why some group of offenders persists in crime in adulthood. 6.1.3 Negative Reactions of Family Members and Persistence of Crime Among the same persistent offender respondents, while others reported negative sentiments, discriminations and rejections from their immediate and extended family members, some had negatives reactions from community members and not within their immediate and extended families. According to them these negative experiences redirected their paths into deviant groups and associations. The story of Nortey and Kyeiwaa illustrates how the negative reactions of their own biological parents pushed them into deviant groups: ‗…When I returned from the SBCC, my family rejected me…they saw me as a bad boy… I didn‘t experience any negative reaction from neigbbours, because they didn‘t know I had been to the prison …. The only problem I had was my mother…I was her second born but any time she saw me she drove me away from the house , when other family members also saw me they pointed their fingers at me “ enti na me ni abusua biaa” .. Meaning – ―I had no family‖ … I didn‘t feel happy in the house… Nobody supported me …. In fact, life became very difficult for me so I went back to my old friends who welcome me nicely. I didn‘t want to do the things they were doing, but the circumstance forced me to … At night we went and stole 149 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and I started smoking…‘ ‗…Any time I return from prison, my parents don‘t want to see my face in the house… my father even told me if he allows me to stay in his house I will bring armed robbers to come and rob him ….because of that I don‘t go near my parents or family members for them to look down upon me‖ [Kyeiwaa 31 year old female offender]. In the case of Mumini, a 35 year persistent offender, he experienced only stigma and rejection after his return from prison, because the family thought he had brought disgrace to the them; ‗….When I return from the SBCC my family accepted me …. But when I later returned from prison, their attitude towards me changed, they thought I had brought disgrace to the family, so they isolated themselves from me. When they see me they do not want to come close, it affected me so much, I felt so rejected, but my friends accepted and encouraged me to keep up in the midst of all troubles..‘ Similarly Adu also shared a bitter experience about his brother: ‗…my brother told me that anybody who had ever been to a correctional institution is a dangerous person, so any time he sees me he would be insulting me…. Anytime I go to his house his wife would tell me that my brother says he is afraid of me, so I stopped going there, I didn‘t face any negative reaction from my neighbours , they rather advised me to be a good boy….‘ [22 year old persistent offender]. According to Opoku, the major challenge he had was from his extended family members: ‗… I had no problem with my immediate family, the only problem I had was with my extended family, when my uncle died, I was the next of kin, but they denied me that honour, because I had been to prison …‘[50 year old persistent offender]. Compared to those who desisted from crime while 6 out of the 13 persistent offenders indicated that they experienced negative reactions from their family members, 3 out of the 10 desisters responded in the affirmative suggesting that the persistent offenders were more likely than the desisters to experience labelling and rejection from family. 150 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In contrast to those respondents who never experience negative reactions from family and neighbours, others shared bitter experiences as to how their immediate and extended family members treated them. As evident from the narratives, the intimidations, the negative reactions as well as the stigma were unbearable for some to cope with which consequently redirected their paths towards deviance. As indicated in Mumuni‘s quotation, his correctional experience was seen as a total disgrace to his family, hence outright rejection. In the words of Adu, his social tie with his family was weakened as a result of his delinquent status, while Opoku could not succeed his uncle due to his contact with the prisons system. In each single case, the respondents reported feelings of rejection, stigma and intimidation. In view of these, they had no better option to manage their delinquent status, than to seek solace and comfort in deviant groups and associations where they were accepted without compromise. Contextually, being in prisons as an individual has negative connotations, most traditional norms and cultures in Ghana and most part of the world sees the ― the prisoner‖ as a social misfit. In most cases, a person who had ever been to prisons losses prestige and dignity in society. Apart from strict adherences to cultural norms and practices, Ghanaians are very sympathetic, however, the sense of apathy and empathy shown to the participants were abused by them. With these indications, the findings have some support for Sampson and Laub (1993), that the weakening of social bonds in adulthood explains persistence of crime. Furthermore, the findings also support the claim made by traditional labelling scholars, notably; 151 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Goffman (1963), Becker (1963) who contend that the labelling an individual acquired from the criminal justice system works to perpetuate subsequent offending by the labelled. 6.1.4 Negative reactions of society and persistence of crime Bernburg et al. (2006), have asserted official or formal, adjudication for an offense may create or enhance the reputation of a juvenile as a criminal in his or her community. Tannenbaum (1938) further highlighted that, formal criminal proceedings signifies the ―dramatization of evil‖ when the act of deviance is publicly announced and defined as immoral, as occurs during formal sanction, the immoral character of the actor is fore grounded and publicized .As the information about the formal sanction spreads throughout the community, others will tend to define the juvenile as a criminal deviant. Hence, stereotypical images of criminals in the mainstream culture are driven to the forefront of the person‘s life (Becker 1963; Goffman 1963; Lemert 1951). Simmons (1965) has also recorded that stereotyping of social deviants is usually negative, thus deviants are often thought of as irresponsible and lacking self-control. Official or formal adjudication for an offense may create or enhance the reputation of a juvenile as a criminal in his or her community, most notably among other teenagers in the school and among parents in the community. In the words of Bernburg et al. (2006), the labelled teenager may become aware of stereotypical beliefs in their communities, or they may think that these beliefs exist based on their learned perception of what people think about criminals, hence fearing rejection they may withdraw from interaction with conventional peers. Goffman (1963) further argues that social interaction between ‗normal‘ people and the stigmatized person is often 152 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh characterized by uneasiness, embarrassment, ambiguity, and intense efforts at impression management, and that these experiences are felt by those who bear the stigma as well as those who do not. Non-labeled adolescents and labeled adolescents may tend to avoid one another in order to avoid uncomfortable interaction dynamics. Consistent with Bernburg et al.(2006), Simmons (1965), Becker (1963)and Goffman (1963) assertion, it was realized that some of the respondents were found to arrange life so us to avoid conventional interactions because of the negatively held perceptions and reactions members of society have towards them. Narrating their stories, some of respondents also felt rejection from the members of society. The individual quotations explain how some of the respondents felt in their respective communities: Respondent 10. – ‗…Upon my release from the SBCC, I had no problem with my family, but my neighbours doubted if I had truly reformed because they thought I was a murderer… they rejected me…. because of the way they treated me I stopped getting close to them… they always made me feel bad when I was around them…‘[Adom, 38 year old persistent offender] Respondents. 7.‗...Neighbours disliked and rejected me….. they even nick-named me "rejected stone" and they really discriminated against me. People did not want to be friends with me anymore; in fact this condition lowered my self-esteem… I became paranoid with people as I often thought they were thinking ill of me. My family was however, receptive and supported me very much.‘[Agyeman, 23 year old persistent offender]. Respondent. 1 ‗…my family received me nicely; I spent only few months with my family and got arrested again…. There was a time my neighbours pointed their fingers at me that I was a criminal…. sometimes I respond sometimes too I didn‘t….. I wasn‘t bothered about what they said …after all, is it a shame to go to prison?.‘[ Agyema, 19 year old persistent offender]. Respondent 13 ‘…In the community they point fingers at me that this is the girl from prison ... When they made such comments I felt so bad‖ [ Kyeiwaa, 31 year old female offender]. As observed from the several responses provided by the respondents, there were sentiments of stereotyping and discriminations as the respondents interacted with 153 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh neighbours in their respective communities. As indicated, stereotyping of social deviants by members of society can pave the way for some groups of delinquents to persist in crime through adulthood in the sense that it weakens their bond with neighbours who should have acted as agents of informal controls. Comparatively, while 4 out of the 13 persistent offenders indicated that they experienced negative sentiment from members of the community, 5 out of the 10 participants who desisted from crime also had the same experience. While the stereotypical images and the negatively held perceptions formed by the conventional others during normal interactions relinquish the persistent offenders into deviant groups and associations, those who desisted rather changed their residential locations to avoid the discriminations and stigma. While the findings support Sampson and Laub (1993), Hirschi and Gottfredson (1990), and Durkheim (1950) that weakening of social bonds to family and society are some of the critical factors that explain why some groups of individuals persist in crime and develop criminal careers, and further reaffirms Becker (1963) and Lemert (1951)‘s claim that stigma diminishes self-worth by making offenders less likely to be productive citizens because of their difficulty in re-establishing positive bonds with prosocial institutions, the experiences exemplifies in the narratives of those who desisted from crime makes us doubt this assertion. 6.1.5 How the lack of social support explains persistence of crime The transition from juvenile delinquency to adulthood criminality as asserted by Maow (2005) Osgood et al. (2005) and Shanahan (2000) is largely a function of the support, guidance, and resources offered by families. The absence of these elements may suggest that successful transitions are more likely to be impeded, hence increasing levels of 154 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh reoffending. More so than in a previous generation, transitioning to adulthood now requires parental assistance (Furstenberg, Rumbaut, and Settersten, 2005). Young people rely on their families for a range of emotional and tangible support (Schoeni & Ross, 2005). These assertions suggest that support from families as well as institutions may go a long way to reduce an individual‘s level of involvement in crime. As the persistent offenders shared their experiences, it was realized that one of the major causes of their persistence in crime was the lack of social support [emotional, financial, and institutional] compared to those who desisted from crime. Since most of the respondents had similar experiences, Adu‘s story is presented as a case analysis. According to Adu, what has kept him in crime is the lack of support from parents and the Social Welfare Department. This is how he tells his story: ‗…I learnt to become an auto mechanic at the Borstal and obtained NVTI grade II certificate ... when I reunited with my family I searched for jobs but I couldn‘t find any… the Social Welfare Department promised to give me tools to start on my own but they didn‘t live up to their promise. My mother was poor, she told me to have patience until she gets money to support me. Since there was no support, I joined my friends doing ―galamsey‖ business. I was staying with one of my friends until that fateful day when his little sister accused me of defiling her … I was arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment…..‖ [22 year old persistent offender]. As realized from his life story, the lack of support from his family and the Social Welfare Department worsened his plight which might have led to his subsequent involvement in crime. These indications support Maow (2005), Osgood et al. (2005) Shanahan, (2000) who assert that the lack of support, guidance, and resources offered by families as well as institutions may pose a challenge to juvenile delinquents successfully navigating the transition to adulthood compared to those who desisted from crime. This indication was substantiated by the fact that all the persistent offenders excerpt 1 out of the 13, indicated 155 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh having material support from parents and compared to the 10 desisted who all had support from parent and institutions such as Ngos, and religious bodies. 6.1.6 How employment explains persistence of Crime One of the critical factors that explain persistence of crime, and that is evident in the life stories of the participants within the context of this study, was not the lack of work per se but rather the nature of ,and the kind of work, offenders are able to get when they experience multiple life domains. With respect to employment and crime, new research is beginning to trace and specify the effects of involvement in the criminal justice system on future employment prospects, suggesting a self-reinforcing relationship between the lack of quality employment opportunities and future criminal activity (Lageson & Uggen, 2013).According to Warr (1998) work is very important for theories of crime, because workers are likely to experience close and frequent contact with conventional others. Sampson and Laub (1993) and most life course theorists have established that employment is critical to explaining desistance or cessation of crime. Studies on work effects on crime are also prominent in sociological literature. Studies by Berk et al. (1980), Crutchfield and Pitchford. (1997), Hagan (1991) Sampson and Laub (1990) established several basic empirical findings that the meaning of work and it implication for crime appears to change at some point during the transition to adulthood. In their studies, Bacham and Schulenberg (1993),Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), Ploeger (1997) found a positive [bivariate] association between employment and law violation for juveniles, but negative for adults (Farrington .1986,Hagan and McCarthy 1997, Sampson and Laub 1990).Sullivan (1989) further observed that long term unemployment characterizes the work histories of most criminal offenders. According to Uggen (2000), although in the USA earnings and 156 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh employment are far below those of the general population, most inmates have at some point penetrated the paid labour market (U.S. Department of Justice 1993). Given this instability, Uggen (2000) concluded that researchers must address both changes in work and the temporal sequencing of work and crime. In our attempt to understand and explain how employment explains persistence of crime within the Ghanaian context, the respondents were asked to talk about their work history, detailing the number of times they had been employed, the nature of work, why they stopped and their commitment levels, among other things. As the respondents narrated their stories, three categories of responses emerged in relation to the nature and the kind of work they do namely, those who were unemployed, self employed and those who engaged in occupations described as criminal activities. With respect to one of the participants who ever worked in a formal organizational setting in his life time, the remaining had some kind of work to do before they were arrested and sent to the prison.Rocksonhad been unemployed since he left the correctional centre and was hanging out with friends smoking Indian hemp until his arrest. According to Rockson, this was the condition that made him persist in crime: ‗…I was working in an auto mechanics shop when I first returned from the Borstal. In fact it was my sister who sent me there to improve upon my skills, but I had to stop because of armed robbers who attacked and killed one of our colleagues… having nothing to do I joined my friends who sell ―wee‖…. In fact, it was a lucrative venture because I could get money...‘ …Interviewer: So what brought you to the prison? Participant… hmmmm it was narcotics ooo, when I left the SBCC I couldn‘t stop smoking… one day I decided to go to our usual place to smoke, when I got there I realized some group of men had joined us, these men were not in uniform so we thought they were one of us, not knowing they were police men who had disguised themselves, they arrested us and sent us to the Winneba police station… and later arraigned us before the court and placed us on remand….. I am on a 20 years sentence….‘[20 year old persistent offender]. 157 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As indicated in Rockson‘s shared experience, his sister had attempted to support him to learn a vocation, but due to the condition that happened at his work place he had to stop to join the association of deviant friends, and unfortunately for him, he was arrested and sentenced to prison. In contrast, Mensah and Kyeiwaa, respectively, were working, but since they could not do away with their deviant lifestyles, even though they had some kind of work, their deviant lifestyles led them into trouble: ‗...I couldn‘t quit my smoking after the Borstal….I assisted my friend at his cold store at Kasoa, things were not all that good, so I started trading in second hand clothing …. One day a taxi driver friend asked me to accompany him to smoke, to our surprise, we were arrested by the police and brought to prison… ‘ [26 year old persistent offender]. ―…..After the prison, I was doing petty trading [selling cosmetics and panties] … one of my boy friend‘s also opened a drinking spot for me, but I stopped because I went bankrupt because I was over spending, in addition to this, my boyfriend had a wife and all the time this woman was fighting with me so I had to leave him and the work…‖ [31 year old female offender]. Mensah and Kyeiwaa at least had opportunity to work to generate income but still had to resort to deviant life styles. Similarly, Johnson‘s, brother has gone to the extent of buying him a vehicle to use for transport service yet the deviant lifestyle he had acquired as a child had a negative effect on his adulthood life, hence his persistence in crime. Johnson shared his experience as follows: ―…When I left the SBCC, my brother bought me a car for transport so I had no problem at all … my only problem was drinking…I can‘t control this habit….. it usually puts me into trouble ...Interviewer: What brought you to prison? Participant: Hmmm, it is defilement ooo, I slept with a 13 year old girl… in fact we went to a funeral and I was very drunk so I didn‘t see anything… I recall we picked this young girl in our car with my friends and we came to the house, all of us slept in the same room, before I realized I was at the hospital, with some bruises, according to my friends the girl reported to her brothers that I raped her so they beat me…..at the court, I pleaded guilty with explanations so they brought me to the remand.. …‖[53 year old persistent offender]. 158 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Finally, there was a section of the respondents who were working, but the nature of their work has more to do with jobs that can be described as ‗illegal activities‘. The narratives of Adu and Adom best describe how poor quality of work affects persistence of crime; ‗….When I left the SBCC it was very difficult for me to get job… I did a few causal jobs, such as vulcanizing and building construction, but the income was not much so I stopped and decided to do illegal mining ―galamsey‖ … I left my mother, went to Boadua [a mining community in the Eastern part of Ghana] ... When I got there I had no place to sleep so my friend asked me to sleep at his compound…unfortunately for me, her small sister accused me one day for defiling her … I was arrested and brought to prisons ….‘ [ 22 year old persistent offender]. ‗….When I left the SBCC, I applied to some few jobs but I couldn‘t find any so I decided to do galamsey since that will fetch me more money … I wasn‘t getting enough money so I started trading in locally manufactured guns and on one of my business trips, I was arrested and brought to the prisons…..‘ [38 year old persistent offender]. From the narratives indicated above, apart from the one respondent who was not working, all the remaining participants had some kind of work that generated an income. Compared to those who desisted from crime, the experiences of those who persisted indicate, that they were not able to navigate the transition to adulthood successfully because of the short duration of the sentence which denied them the acquisition of substantive skills. It became also apparent that others had support from siblings in their late adulthood and yet continued to pursue their criminal tendencies. Apart from their inability to do away with their criminal lifestyles, another critical issue worth considering is their low quality jobs not guided by routine activities. This gave them access to link up with their deviant peers. With the findings pointed out from this study, it can be said that having employment per se does not reduces an individual‘s levels of involvement in crime, in the sense that some of the participants had relatively meaningful jobs from which they made a living, however, 159 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh their own individual differences and criminal lifestyles placed them at risk. The critical issue that appears to facility reoffending may perhaps have more to do with the nature and quality of the work. Comparatively, the desisters unlike the persistent offenders were working in more formal settings and they had opportunity to interact with conventional others and to engage in routine activities which more likely worked to reduce their risk of reoffending. As evident in their narratives, while 7 persistent offenders were self employed, 3were engaged in illegal activities and the remaining 3 unemployed, in the case of those who desisted from crime while 3 out of the 10 participants who desisted from crime were in formal jobs, 3 were self employed and the remaining four were still in school. n this light, we conclude by saying that employment per se does not increase social control, rather it is employment coupled with job stability, commitment and ties to work and the individual differences construct that should increase social control and reduce criminal activity. This finding supports self- control theory by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) who argue that people self- select into both employment and criminal activity from this perspective, criminals and noncriminal are differentiated by their varying levels of self-control and ability to delay gratification. In this sense, it is not the work, per se, that inhibits crime, but rather individual differences in factors that lead people to seek legal employment in the first place. 160 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.1.7 Adulthood deviant peer attachment and persistence of crime As observed from the shared experiences, one of critical factors that appeared to have consistently featured to predict crime from childhood through adulthood is deviant peer attachments. A bulk of criminological research such as Antwi -Boasiako and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Giordano et al.(1986), Sampson and Laub (1993) and Sutherland, (1947) have establish a relationship between bad friendship association and crime. Within the context of this study, we found that most of the information given by the participants in relation to how their friends influenced them negatively supported the claims made by these researchers. As indicated in their narratives, most of the persistent offenders reported negative friendship influences. In the words of Nortey, he went back to his friends because his parents rejected him and the only place he could be accepted was at his deviant friends, he indicated: ―…Since my family rejected me, I had no place to go, than to go back to my old friends who accepted me the way I am… When we had nothing doing, what else we can do than to go round stealing our neighbour‘s items and sometimes hide in the ghettos smoking…. It was these same narcotics issues that brought me to prison…..‖ [24 year old persistent offender]. In the case of Adu, he went back to his old friends because of the intimacy that he had with his friends which supports Giordano et al. (1986) and Sutherlands (1947) assertion that intimate relationships produces deviance. This is what Adu also said: ―…When I left the SBCC, I went back to the same old friends …. We used to sell mobile phones and other gadgets at Kaneshie and Kasoa market…Interviewer; Why did you go back to your old friends? Respondent: hmmmm I went back to them because we were very close and we were all living in the same neighborhood. It was just fun to be with them….‖ [22 year old persistent offender]. From Mensah‘s point of view, he went back to his friends because of the support that the friends gave him: ‗….When I came from the SBCC, I spent most of time with my old friends, it was my friends who gave me pocket money before I could get money to buy food to 161 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh eat….‘ [26 year old persistent offender]. While Johnson indicated that it was for the sake of fun that is what made him maintain his good friends: ‘ …Like I mentioned earlier, any time I return from the prison, I go back to my old friends, we drink and smoke and do everything together because it is always fun to be with them…‘[53 year old persistent offender]. According to Gyemfi, after assessing his own personal experience, he thinks that one of the major factors contributing to his reoffending is deviant peer associations, as he indicated: ―...I will say that my persistent in crime had more to do with the kind of friends I walked with, my friends influenced me in all that I did… just tell me, when you are in the company of smokers and thieves can you change? You will always be influenced by what they do…. Hmmm this is where I always found myself and which led me into trouble…‖ Similarly, Rockson and Ofori also explained that their continued involvement in crime is as a result of negative friendship influences: Respondent 4 ―….hmmmm, is friends oo, it was friends who influenced me all this while in smoking wee…When I went to the Borstal it was my friends and after Borstal too the same bad friends. But this time I have learnt my lesson, when I go back home I will go and learn some vocation‖ Respondent 11 ‗…I think one of the factors which has made me persist in crime throughout my life is bad friendship association, because friends will tell me to go and smoke or there is an operation out there - lets go and steal. If you say you will not go they will say you are a coward, but since I had this problem none of my friends have visited me, with this lesson, I don‘t think I will go and do bad things again.‘ A section of the respondents also explain that their persistence in crime through adulthood is the result of negative friendship influence and a difficult temperament. Mumuni related his continued involvement in crime to friendships and a difficult temperament. This is how he puts it in his own words: 162 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ‗…..It is my quick temper and bad friendship associations that have brought me this far. I say it is hardship, because even though I don‘t get enough money, I am living well. It is just a matter of bad friends that have made me persist in crime…‘ As well as Ofori: ―…Hmm, along with the wee smoking, it is my friends oo, anytime I am with them I cannot resist the urge to smoke, as for the fighting, it is in my heart, because if I check my heart, I don‘t think I will have a problem…‘ The responses generated above highlight the major reasons why the respondents will keep their old friends, while others will keep their close friends because of fun, to others it was for the sake of family rejection and lack of support that made them keep their old friends. These sentiments, as given by the respondents, explain the important role of friendship in molding our behaviour. It is the benefits and rewards of friendships that push people into deviant groups and associations. Notwithstanding these revelations, the findings support Boasiako and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Giordano et al. (1986), Sampson and Laub (1993) and Sutherland, (1947), that association with deviant peers increases a person‘s chances of maintaining his/her deviant status. 6.1.8 How marriage explains persistence of crime in adulthood Following the discussions on how friendship explains persistence of crime, one of the critical life events that Sampson and Laub (1993) and his colleagues stress with regards to how experiences in multiple life domains modify the tendency to persist or desist from crime is the issue of the good marriage effect. Ideally, it can be said that marital partners could act as catalysts for change in a life‘s direction, in the sense that a marital partner can have a positive influence on each other in so many ways. 163 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh According to Sampson and Laub, (2005:12), marriage can create opportunities for identity transformation and allow for the emergence of a new ‘self‘ that focuses on family life. Studies by Besani et al. (2009), Forrest (2007), Laub (1998) et al. Laub and Sampson (2003) McMillin (2007) who examined the relationship between marriage and desistance found that married individuals are less likely to commit crime compared to those who are single. As Osgood and Lee (1993) argued, marriage entails obligations that tend to reduce leisure activities outside of the family. It is reasonable to assume that married people will spend more time together than with their same-sex peers. Marriage, therefore, has the potential to cut off an ex-offender from his delinquent peer group (Warr, 1998). In trying to understand how marriage affects crime over an individual‘s life course, the researcher asked questions which touched on the marital experiences of the participants and later drew from their lived experiences how marriages in Ghana stabilize or change an individual‘s offending trajectory. Four out of the thirteen persistent offenders were married and their shared experiences show how their respective marriages impacted on their offending trajectories. Johnson was 58 years old, according to him he has been in two marriages which did not work. This is how he share shared his story; ―…..I married on two occasions…. I married my first wife at the age of 17, stayed with her for 10 years and had two children with her, but we broke up…. Interviewer:…….. What brought about the separation? Respondent: „I will say that it came from the woman, it was all about conflicts, every time conflict, every time conflict …so the marriage eventually broke up, because there was no peace in the house….hmmmmm, I will also say it comes from me ooo…..because when I drink any small thing I become very angry, we fought a lot and we eventually parted company…….. Interviewer: What happened to your second marriage? Respondent:‘I was 30 years when I married my second wife, we stay for 8 years and I had three children with her, the same conflict as a result of my drinking ……. eventually she had to leave, in fact I sacked her …, I‘m not married, I was living with a female footballer and made her pregnant but I learnt she gave the pregnancy to another man when she heard I was in prisons…..‖ 164 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Johnson‘s marital life indicates that he has not had stable relationships as far as marriage is concerned. As he narrated, all his marriages did not work out because of his difficult temperament. What finally brought him to the prison was for defiling a 16 year old girl. His marital experiences indicate that his inability to maintain a stable relation as well as his difficult temperament and deviant life style strengthened his criminal career. This finding supports the basic underlying assumptions of social control theories that a weak attachment to a spouse increases the level of reoffending. Similarly, Mumuni also had an uneasy marital experience; ―…this is my second marriage…I sacked my first wife because we were having a lot of misunderstandings on trivial issues, I was 19 years old when I married my first wife, I stayed with her for one year, I had no child with her but her life was not good …she was sleeping with other men so I sacked her….. I married again and was living with her till my incarceration…‖ [35 year old persistent offender]. The only female in the study, Kyeiwaa, also seems not to have a stable relationship. According to her, she has never married, but has been in several relationships which always fell on the rocks: ―….I have not been married before but I had been in about four relationships and they all didn‘t work out, because of the men I dated … the first relationship fell on the rocks when I went to prison... When I came out from prison I met another boy who was into armed robbery, in fact I will say my persistence in crime through adulthood is largely due to the influence he had on me …. He took me to some parts of the Northern Region for ― juju‖ [ meaning magical powers]… and whenever I performed those rituals nobody could arrest me … the man I was staying with before I came to prison had a wife …. He promised to marry me but unfortunately I find myself here….‖ [31 year old female offender]. Contrary to the three stories reported above, Opoku rather had a relative stable relationship and was living with his wife and five children prior to his imprisonment, he explained that he had a peaceful relationship and yet he could not desist from his deviant lifestyle: ‗….she has been my only wife throughout my life, and it is the same woman I had all my five children with, their respective ages are 24, 21, 18, 15, 12 , in fact our marriage is peaceful, we know how to resolve our issues …. We love each other so much and I provided her with everything, I also play my responsibility as a father and a husband and we had lived happily all through life …..My wife is 165 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh aware that I smoke [wee] but she is not aware that I sell the substance ―wee‖.She advised me to stop smoking …. but I still do it, I have stayed with this woman since 1983…if she knew I was selling ― wee‖ she would have advised me to stop‘... [50 year old persistent offender]. In this section, the researcher focuses on selective stories that seem generally consistent with a social control perspective and one which varies from their underlying assumptions. It has been observed that bonds to parents or school discourage delinquency during adolescence (Cernkovich and Giordano, 1992; Felson and Staff, 2006; Hirshi, 1969; Sampson and Laub, 1993) while bonds to spouses and jobs discourage offending during adulthood (Horney and Marshall 1995; Laub et. 1998; Sampson and Laub, 1993). As evident in their life narratives, all the four respondents with the exception of one had problems in their relationships, which more or less had to do with their difficult character and inability to sustain this relationship. To the contrary, Opoku had a stable relationship yet due to economic pressures he had to sell Indian hemp as a means of survival. By critically examining the narratives, it could be realized that the three respondents had problematic and unstable relationships which consequently facilities their offending behaviour. Thus, the weakening of these informal controls placed the offenders at a higher risk. Another observation which was made regarding those whose relationships did not work lies on the individual differences constructs and difficult temperaments. This observation supports Sampson and Laub (1993) and Moffit (1993) who contend that early starters [those engaged in deviance] continue their antisocial ways throughout their lives and are likely to become career criminals. 166 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Analyzing further, Sampson and Laub (1993) had contended that in terms of family life as an adult, delinquents were roughly three to five times more likely to get divorced or separated from their spouses than non-delinquents. Almost half or more of those with delinquency in childhood (official or unofficial) had weak attachment to their spouses compared to less than 25% of the control group and even the occurrences of early tantrums in childhood is related to weak attachment to the spouse as adult. With this indication, they concluded thatadult crime at this stage is therefore a direct result of weak attachments to the labour force and to spouses. Consistent with their findings, two of the persistent offenders had weak spousal attachment, and this condition increased their level of involvement in crime through adulthood. On the contrary, Respondent 5 had a stable marriage [over 31 years and had five children with the wife] and reported a strong attachment and a committed marriage and yet persisted in crime through adulthood. As expected by social control theories, his level of attachment and commitment to his spouse should have reduced his levels of involvement in crime. In this sense, we may conclude that social control theories, in particular those developed by Sampson and Laub (1993) did not adequately address the question of why, regardless of strong marital attachment, some groups of individuals continue in their antisocial life styles throughout adulthood. The findings of this study suggest that strong marital attachment and commitment to a spouse may not necessarily reduce an individual‘s level of involvement in crime, there may be thousands of juvenile delinquents out there who may have stable marriages and strong marital attachment, yet pursue their criminal career. This finding seem to supports Giordano (2002) who developed a symbolic interactionists 167 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh perspective on desistance to counterpoint Sampson and Laub‘s theory of informal social control, that levels of attachment to a marital/intimate partner and job stability may not strongly related to the likelihood of desistance for either male or female respondents. 6.1.9 Conclusion The primary aim of this section was to understand how experiences within broader life domains explain persistence of crime as juvenile delinquents navigate the transition to adulthood. The voices of the minority represented in this study suggest that critical life events such the lack of social support [emotional, financial, societal and institutional], unemployment, weak spousal and peer delinquent attachment as well as labelling /stereotyping work together to strengthen an individual‘s offending trajectory in late adulthood, however there are some variations with regards to how the concepts derived from this study are applied in a context such as Ghana. For example, even though the narratives point out that labelling explains persistence of crime through adulthood supporting the underlying arguments of traditional labelling theories in particular, Becker (1963), Tannenbaum (1938), and Schur (1971), Goffman (1963 ) that acquiring a delinquent status could be very problematic for juvenile delinquents as they navigate the transition to adulthood. As well as those of social control theories in particular those of Hirschi (1969) and Sampon and Luab (1993) that the weakening of social bond increases levels of involvement in crime. To the contrary, the narratives also generated responses that counter the basic argument of this theory, thatlabellingper se does not necessarily explain persistence of crime in the sense that some of the participants never experienced stigma, labelling or discrimination, 168 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh had a relative stable relationship and were more attached to their spouse yet persisted in crime. The findings seem to contradict Laub and Sampson (2003), Farrington and West (1995), Horney and Marshall (1995), Sampson and Laub (1993) who found support for the influence of marriage on desistance in samples of high-risk offenders. Notwithstanding this indication, more research is needed, preferably using a larger sample to determine why regardless of a stable marriage some group of offenders persists in crime through adulthood. Another crucial factor which shapes the subjects offending trajectory, was the lack of social support [family and institutional]. This revelation also supports Maow (2005), Osgood et al. (2005), Shanahan (2000) who assert that successfully navigating the transition to adulthood for juvenile offenders is largely a function of the support, guidance, and resources offered by families. The lack of these essential elements could predispose crime through later adulthood. 6.2 Turning Points in Adulthood: Experiencing Multiple Life Domains Earlier discussions have focused on how an experience in multiple life domains explains persistence of crime through adulthood. In this section, the researcher reports narratives of those respondents who changed their offending paths as they navigated to adulthood. To address the question of how experiences in multiple life domains modify the tendency to desist from crime, most criminological theories have recognized that desistance is a multifaceted process for offenders who continually engage in offending behaviour. While Brame et al. (2004) refer to criminal desistance as the end of offending among those who have committed crimes in the past, Sampson and Laub (2001) defined desistance as ‗ceasing to do something‘. 169 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Generally, Devers (2011) maintained that the primary aim of desistance theory is to explain why there is a dramatic decrease in the number of crimes committed after adolescence. Research has shown that the major critical factors leading to desistance are marriage and a stable employment. Studies by Besani and Nieuwbeerta (2009), Forrest, (2007) Laub et al. (1998) Laub and Sampson (2003) McMillin (2007), for example, who examined the relationship between marriage and desistance found that married individuals are less likely to commit crime compared to those who are single. Similarly, other scholars such as Warr (1998), Shover (1996), Hagan (1993), Sampson and Laub (1993) and Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) have explained that employment is critical in explaining desistance. A central element in the desistance process is the ‗knifing off‘ of individual offenders from their immediate environment and offering them a new script to live a new life (Caspi and Moffitt 1995). Institutions like the military have this knifing-off potential, as does marriage, although the knifing-off effect of marriage may not be as dramatic (Laub and Sampson, 2001). Regardless of how these factors explain desistance, it will be quite prudent to explore the several other factors that may lead to desistance in an entire different social context such as Ghana. In order to understand the social processes underlying desistance in a social context entirely different from the West, desistance was operationalized as ceasing to do something‘ put in other words, the cessation of criminal activity after an individual‘s correctional experience. The group of respondents who desisted from crime were asked the same questions as the persistent offenders, including how society reacted towards their 170 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh act of criminality, their associations with friends and their employment histories among other things. As the respondents shared their lived experiences, the major critical life events that were instrumental in changing their offending paths were residential change that is lack of stigma from neighbourhood, provision of social support, a stable employment as well as the selection of conventional friends. The following subsection discusses these major themes with illustrative examples of relevant quotations that best describe the concept and themes. 6.2.1 Residential Change and Maneuvering the Labelling Status ‗Many former prisoners return home to the same residential environment, with the same criminal opportunities and criminal peers, where they resided before incarceration. If the path to desistance from crime largely requires knifing off from past situations and establishing a new set of routine activities, then returning to one‘s old environment and routines may drastically limit an ex-prisoner‘s already dismal chances of desisting from crime‘ Kirk (2012:329). Kirk‘s assertion clearly illustrates that living in the same old environment that an individual commits an offence in may pose risks and hazard to the individual in late adulthood in the sense that they may have the same deviant peers who will resocialize them into deviant groups and associations. Kirk (2012) further highlighted that if criminal behaviour is inextricably tied to social contexts, then by separating individuals from those contexts associated with their previous criminality it may likely reduce their offending behaviour. Consistent with Kirk (2012), a similar observation was also made when the respondents were asked whether they were living in the same residence or area where they first committed the offence. 171 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As indicated in their narratives, it was realized that virtually all those who desisted from crime [1 out 9] changed their previous location and residence compared to the 13 persistent offenders who remained in the same neigbourhood where they committed the offence. The change of residence was seen as one of the critical factor which facilitated their desistance. For those who desisted from crime it was also realized that by changing their residence and respective locations the respondents were able to maneuver their delinquent status away from contamination. The relationship between residential change and desistance are illustrated in the statements of the few selected cases listed below. According to Alhassan, when he went back to his community, the people were all excited about him and wondered where he went, as he was looking so good, but the only problem that forced him to leave his family was the negative reactions and intimidations that he received from his family members; this is how he shared his story: ―…..Since my neighbours did not know I had ever been to the Borstal … when they first saw me they were very happy…. Some said I was looking so handsome….when they see me in town they would say ― bebia wokoo ye no eho eye enti san ko ho bio‖ [ meaning in Akan, that where you went is good so go back again]….. but I had a challenge with my family members…… my brother and some of our family members would be saying that watch out oo the thief is here, if you have some items put them in a safe place else he would steal them…… such comments made me feel so bad so one day I packed up my things and came to my master in Accra‘ [23 year old desister]. Similarly, Mawuli also had the same experience: ‗…When I left the SBCC, my family had the perception that a person who had ever been to prison [correctional facility] is bad…they would always say that so far as I had been to prison I am a bad boy... any time they made such statements I felt so bad so I distanced myself from them… either we fought or I will beat you up if I am older than you or I will hurt you when you are older than me, I also experienced the same negative reactions from neighbours.Because of this I moved to Accra to look for a job.‘ [ 23 year old desister]. 172 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In contrast Akwele did not change her residence: ‘……When I left the Girls Correctional Centre, I came to live with my parents in the same house before I left to the correctional facility. Even though people sometimes pointed their fingers at me, Iwas not bothered because I know am not what they think I am…‘[22 year old female desister] In contrast, there were other respondents who never experienced any negative reactions because their family members and neighbours did not know they had been to the SBCC, the quotations of the under listed illustrate this point: Respondent. 3. – ‗…when I left the Borstal, my family as well as my neighbours welcome me warmly, our neighbours had no knowledge of me having been to a correctional facility so everyone related with me nicely… I didn‘t feel bad …‘ [ Hope, 22 year old desister]. Respondent. 8. – ‗When I left the SBB I moved to Accra ….. here in Accra I don‘t have any challenges because nobody knew I had ever been to the Borstal… [ Kwesi,26 year old desister]. Respondent . 6. – ‘….When I left the institution I came straight to school ... , nobody here knows I had ever been to the SBCC, apart from one of my friends.So I don‘t have any problem at all….‘ [Owuraku, 20 year old desister]. The response of the participants‘ highlights the factor explaining how they managed their delinquent statues. The first thing was by moving from their previous locations. As indicated some of the respondents who did not experienced labeling or stigma were those whose neighbours did not know where they had been to the corrections. These respondents had warm relationships with their family members and were able to reduce their levels of involvement in crime due to the change of residence. They found themselves in places where people were not aware of their criminal records. The sense we make from the narratives of these respondents is, that knifing off one‘s past location or environment decreases one‘s level of involvement in crime. 173 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As observed from the individual responses, with the exception of the female who lived in the same environment after her release to the community, all the men changed their residence and moved into an entire new environment as a way of getting away from their labelling status and freeing themselves from stigma and rejections by members of society. These indications support Sharkey and Sampson (2010: 671) who concluded that moving beyond the city helps reduce violence, in part, because of the physical distance from old neighbourhoods and because it means severing ties to those city institutions—[namely, the Chicago Public Schools]—that may facilitate criminal behaviour. Although the socioeconomic context of delinquent reentry into crime remains important to consider, the findings of this study, though limited in its sample size, suggest that separating oneself from prior contexts improves a juvenile delinquent‘s prospects of desisting from crime. Just as Sharkey and Sampson (2010) concluded, the relevance of place is not just found in socioeconomic conditions in the sense that even if individuals move to neighborhoods bereft of economic opportunities, they may still fare better than if they had returned home to a similarly disadvantaged neighborhood. Laub and Sampson (2003) further stressed that residential change may be particularly meaningful for the process of desistance if it prompts a change in daily routines and provides a structured daily routine that includes meaningful activities. In the middle, we found most of the respondents changing their offending behavior achieved this by changing their place of residence. In sum, the findings on residential change and crime suggest that apart from a stable marriage and employment, residential change could be regarded as one of the contributory factors to desistance. This finding may also warrant additional research, preferable with a much larger sample size to 174 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh translate these findings from a unique natural experiment to a real-world policy environment where the effects of residential change on desistance could be realized. 6.2.2 The impact of religious bodies and Ngo’s in desistence from crime One of the critical elements that were seen to modify the offending trajectories of those respondents who desisted from crime had more to do with the social support [family and institution] that they received from religious bodies and Ngos. According to Thoits (1995), social support refers to the actual or perceived emotional, informational, or practical aid that is received from others, particularly significant others, family members, and friends. Over the past few decades, substantial evidence has found that social support has both causal and collateral effects on a plethora of physical and men mental health outcomes, though the psychosocial mechanisms at work are interconnected and complex (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Silver & Teasdale, 2005; Thoits, 1995; Travis, 2005; Uchino, 2004; Uchino, Cacioppo, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1996; Umberson & Montez, 2010. As in 2014: 3). In Leverentz‘s (2010), for example it was realized that positive social supports given to female offenders were perhaps even more important for achieving behavioural change than severing ties with negative influences. Similarly, Wallace (2014) added that social support is important for mental health outcomes for prisoners recently released from prison; however, the negative elements of social support are more influential to this relationship and suggested that future research and programming needs to simultaneously examine ways to foster familial support for prisoners both in and out of prison, as well as help families negotiate the strain and stress 175 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of a prisoner returning from prison. In this sense, moving away from former neighborhoods with the needed social or institutional support may not be the best way to reduce the likelihood of reincarceration. Following these lines of contention, similar observations were also made with respect to how the provision of institutional [nongovernmental organizations] and family support [emotional, material, and financial] transformed the lives of those respondents who desisted from crime. All the group of respondents who desisted from crime compared to the persistent offenders had some intensive support. As illustrated in the various narratives, the respondents tied their turning points to the positive support they received from family and private agencies: Respondent 3 ‗…upon my release from the institution, I furthered my education at the ATTC… way back at SBCC I was very hard working ….. I used to weed one of the officer‘s apartments and assisted the family… I did everything that they asked me to do ….. Due to my good behaviour, I was recommended by one of the officers to a Christian organization (Legon Interdenominational Church- LIC) when I expressed interest to further my education… The church enrolled me at the ATTC, paid all my fees, feeding and living expenses as well as my hostel bills …. In fact I have new friends now and I don‘t think I will go back to that old life style any more….‘[Hope, 22 year old desister]. Respondent. 6. ‗ …one of the major challenges I faced when I left the Borstal was where to live … my father asked me to go and stay with one of his nephew as Kasoa…. When I went there this man really treated me badly…. I was so bored in the house doing nothing …. This man would not give me money to buy food and I would be feeling very hungry… had it not been the fact that I had made up my mind not to steal anymore I would have gone back to stealing and join bad friends… but I made up my mind not to do any bad thing which would send me to prison…‘. Interviewer:So who is sponsoring your education now? Respondent: He pauses …. ‗Hmmm…. when I passed my BECE exams by then I had left the institution so one of the officers called to inform me …. I told my father and he said he had no money…. But when I told the officer he contacted the LIC church and the church took it upon themselves to help me, as at now they are taking care of all my needs including my school fees ….. My only worry is how to get a job when I complete this school ….. I hope they will help me then as well ….‘ [Owuraku, 20 year old desister]. Respondent 9 “….In fact when I got to the correctional centre, I realized it was not good to continue in this deviant lifestyle … I listened to all the advice they gave 176 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh me and I remained focused in life….. When I wrote and passed my exams, one of the officers contacted an NGO who is now paying my fees and all my living expenses … Had it not been for this support, I don‘t know what might have happened to me ….‘ [23 year old desister]. Respondent 10. ‗…after my release from the institutions, my mother opened a shop for me, so I am currently a operating hairdressing salon‘ [Akwele, 22 year old female desister]. As evident in the narratives of the respondents, all those who desisted from crime have some form of social support from the institutions. Almost all of them have been sponsored by an NGO that ensures that the participants have acquired the requisite skills and education to meet the job market. It was realized that support from family, friends and institutions yielded positive outcomes in reducing the respondents levels of involvement in crime compared to the persistent offenders who had no social support. Considering the experiences shared by the respondent in relation to how the support offered by NGOs and other religious bodies impacted on their transformation, the researcher made a follow up to the LIC. The rationale behind his visit was to find out the kinds of support and services rendered to juvenile delinquents who were committed to the SBCC. In an interview with the church‘s administrator this was what he said about the history, aims and the kinds of support offered to juvenile delinquents aging in and out of crime from the correctional centre, he narrated: ―…The LIC started in the 1970s on the University of Ghana Campus. During the initial stages of its inception, meetings were held in the hall chapels during the term and whenever the University was in recess, campus resident either make their way to town on Sundays or service was put on hold until the students returned for the next section… the main aim of the founding fathers who established this church was to share fellowship and encourage one another to put their Christian faith into action wherever they found themselves… apart from this broader objective, one of the corporate responsibilities of our organization for the past 15 years is to support juvenile delinquents aging in and out of crime at the SBCC…We frequent the centre every week to offer financial and material support to the inmates …we give them food, toiletries, educational material and any other 177 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh useful things that the inmates might need… for those inmates who did well in their JHS and SHS exams, we make sure that they get schools of their choice. We also pay their school fees for them….I recalled one juvenile we supported up to the university level few years ago he is now working and leading a normal life …… for those who into vocational training, we purchased the necessary training tools and items they might need in order to start on their own …. Just recently we bought a sewing machine for one of the inmates who had completed his term of sentence …. We grant this juvenile the support to prevent them from committing further crimes…‖ [The administrator of the LIC]. With these indications, the findings agree with the bulk of studies; Cohen and Wills (1985), Silver and Teasdale (2005), Thoits (1995) Travis (2005), Uchino (2004), Uchino et. al (1996) and Umberson and Montez (2010) that social support reduces levels of involvement in criminality. 6.2.3 How employment and education explains desistance from crime Compared to those groups of respondents who persisted in crime, it was realized, that all those who desisted advanced in education as they left the SBCC, which created the opportunity for them to gain meaningful employment. An advance in education coupled with job stability was seen as one of the critical factors modifying their offending trajectory. According to Lageson and Uggen (2013), moving to the post-emerging adult stage of the life course, research has linked crime and work for adults in three major areas, showing firstly, how job quality matters in desistance from crime; secondly, how prosocial bonds created through legal employment act as a deterrent to crime and third, how aggregate unemployment levels relate to crime rates. Prior research such as Allan and Steffensmeier (1989), Sampson and Laub (1993) and Uggen (1999) have established that stable employment and job quality appears to matter more than the mere presence of legal employment in its effect on reducing crime. Allan 178 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and Steffensmeier (1989), for example, found that inadequate employment and unemployment increase arrest rates among young adults. Similarly, Shover (1996) also identifies jobs with ‗a decent income‘ and the opportunity to exercise creativity and intelligence as facilitating desistance from crime (p.127). Uggen (1999) finds that former prisoners who obtain high-quality jobs are less likely to reoffend than those who obtain lower-rated jobs, even when controlling for self-selection into employment. Analyzing further, education and work are also central to the lives of young people who navigate the transition to adulthood as completing high school and pursuing a college education could increases employment opportunities in adulthood. It is generally asserted that employment opportunities nurture the development of work related skills and set the stage for future responsibilities and careers as adults. However, studies by Barth (1990),Cook et at (1991), Courtney et al.(2001), Festinger (1983), Frost and Jurich (1983), Jones and Moses (1984), Zimmerman (1992) show that individuals formerly placed in out-of-home care, have fewer years of education and many youths in foster care do not graduate from high school. However, this was not the case for those groups of delinquents who were used in this study. The responses illustrated below demonstrate how improving one‘s academic statues as a juvenile ex-delinquent offender directly decreases one‘s levels of involvement in crime. Christian, who was working in a plastic manufacturing company, indicated that he has a fulfilled life after completing his education and gaining stable employment: ―….. being at the SBCC has helped me a lot and I think it was a good place for me as at that time, because I was able to advance my educational career which improved my job prospects….. At the institution the officers encouraged us to pursue education and acquire some vocational skills….. Before I left the institution, I had obtained an NVTI grade II certificate….. I was working with an electrical company, but the salary was not good so left and joined a plastic manufacturing company as a casual worker, my salary is 250 Gh …this is my 179 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh second job and I have a fulfilled life now because I get money to buy what I want …. My family also supports me …‘ [23 year old desister]. In contrast, Alhassan was doing his own job and as a transport diver he was so committed to his work that he had no time to continue in his deviant life style: ‗…Upon release from the institution, I want back to my family and they were saying all sort of things aboutme that made me feel so bad….. Some couldn‘t believe I was a changed person…. So I came back to my master who trained me in auto mechanics in Accra…. When I came, my master received me nicely…… he bought me a trotro … I wake up at 3 am to go to work and return at 8:30 pm…. Hmmm, when I return from work I bath and go straight to bed, because I have to wake up early and go back to work the following day……. I only rest on Saturdays…..‘ [22 year old desisters]. Similarly Kwesi was doing his own job as a tailor. He thinks he was more than okay and so would not continue with his deviant life style: ‗ I learnt tailoring at the SBCC, an NGO called Orphanage Africa supported me with all the necessary items needed to open a shop and so I own my own shop now ….. I have been sewing for people and receiving lots of money ….... I don‘t think I will go back fighting again …. I have learnt my lesson….‘. [26 year old desister]. A critical analysis of the statements of the participants who desisted from crime clearly indicates that desistance is a multifaceted process. As realized from their narratives after experiencing cognitive transformation shift, the next factor which triggered their desistance was the support they received from family and institutions as well as self- advancement both in education and vocational training. Commitment to work and having a relative stable employment was also seen as a critical element facilitating their desistance. Like marriage, employment can also create new situations with supervision and monitoring as well as new opportunities of social support and a change in routine activities (Sampson and Laub, 1993).It was realized that Alhassan had very few hours to stay home and relateto and interact with his neighbours and friends. His relative job stability and commitment to work is seen as reducing his level of involvement in crime. 180 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Kwesi would not go back to crime because he was satisfied with his job [commitment]. This implies that being committed to work and having a stable job as indicated by Sampon and Laub (1993) leads to desistance from crime. As evident in the narratives, education and employment agencies facilitate the exploration and gradual movement toward independence, which has increasingly come to define how some groups of juvenile delinquents change their offending trajectory. Formal employment and educational institutions may also play a role in discouraging negative behaviour more specifically deviant and criminal activities. 6.2.4 How conventional friends changes offending paths As association with deviant peers increase the levels of involvement in crime, association with conventional friends also modifies or changes an individual‘s level of involvement in crime. One of the major factors leading to desistence among the subjects that were used in this study were the effort they made to discard old friends by forming bonds with those who would help them pursue their goals. Within the context of criminology, the relationship between friendship and delinquency has been long established. Researcher such as Antwi-Boasiko and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Giordano (1986) and Sutherland (1947) find a link between negative friendship associations and delinquent behaviour, however, much of the local studies have not actually studied the impact and dynamics of friendship on desistance. As the participants moved from their old location to new settlements to get away from any stigma and discrimination, the more likely they are to select conventional friends who will influence them positively. 181 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It was realized, that the participants were very selective with regards to the kinds of friends they chose. For Abeiku he preferred to work with friends who would give him good advice: ‗…..When I left the SBCC, I selected friends who I thought would give me good advice… I am a member of the brigade at the Methodist Church. In my leisure time, if am not out there playing football with my friends, I will be playing the drums at the church…‘. [24 year old desister]. Hope preferred friends who respect themselves: ‗ …..When I left the Borstal, I related with people who respect themselves, with this I mean people who go to church and people who can influence me positively.‘[22 year old desister]. While Mawuli feels more comfortable in the company of his old friends, he still prefers friends who are more religious: ‗…..When I came home, I usually walked with my old friends, they were nice to me and I felt more comfortable in their company, even though I stuck to the same old friends. I am closer to the good friends because we normally go to church and play football….‘ [22 year old desister]. For Alhassan and Kwesi, the friends they chose were their colleagues at work: Respondent 5 ‘…As at now, my friends are all drivers and my apprentice who I am training now …we go to work from Monday – Friday and also Sunday , we go at 3 am and end at 8:30pm ……the only free day is Saturday, so I don‘t even have time to make friends because of my work…‘ [22 year old desister]. Respondent 8 ‘…..All my friends are new, some work as drivers, tailors and others are students; I have lost contacts with all my old friends now….‘ [26 year old desister]. From the narratives provided by the respondents, we infer that successfully navigating the transition to adulthood has more to do with the kinds of friends that an individual chooses. Those who desisted from crime were very particular with the kinds they chose. Even those who reported spending time with childhood friends would select those who engage in 182 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh conventional activities. Their attachments with these friends were also seen as one of the critical factors modifying their offending trajectories. With these indications, we agree with Sampson and Laub (1993) Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) Hirschi (1969), that attachments to adults and commitment to and involvement with conventional social institutions reduce crime and delinquency by acting as agents of informal social control. Association with conventional friends and engagement in conventional activities are critical factors to change an offending trajectory in adulthood. 6.2.5 Conclusion Generally, the entire section on turning points in adulthood was to address the question of how and why experiences in multiple life domains explain desistance from crime. The shared experiences indicate that desistance from crime is indeed a multifaceted process which involves an interplay of or a combination of several factors. No single factor isolates itself to explain desistence. Factors leading to desistance in the Ghanaian social context were found to be similar to those which have been identified within the Western literature: factors such as residential change, provisions of social support, education and a relatively stable employment and association with conventional friends were seen as critical life events that facilitate desistance. 6.3 Discussions of key findings With reference to the question of whether or not structural background factors and processes of in formal social control mechanism predicts early onset of crime, the overall findings suggest that even though we may agree to some extent that structural background factors such as the socio- economic status of parents and the lack of parental support, the 183 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh type of family structure and a large family size and the interplay of informal social mechanics, such as weak attachment to schools, peer delinquent attachment, relational bond to parents, parents‘ discipline practices and sibling influence all appear to explains why juveniles will engaged in crime. The application of these concepts may vary when applied to a different socio-cultural context such as Ghana. With respects to the socio – economic status of the parents, it was realized from the pattern of responses that both lower and middle class families equally innovate, which is contrary to the position held by Merton (1968). Merton‘s (1968) anomie theory rested on the assumption that a disjuncture between cultural goals and institutional means produces crime as a result of the strain imposed on those who fall low on the socio-economic ladder. The theory supports the idea that poor people are more likely to commit crime than the rich. However, even though the life histories provided evidence of structural strain leading to crime, other individuals were from relative affluent families and yet persisted in crime. Furthermore, the causes of respondents‘ criminality were a reflection of their difficult temperament and construct rather than poverty. With these indications, we may conclude by stressing that both upper class and middle class individuals similarly innovate illegally in their quest to achieve their cultural goals and aspirations. Another indication which sought to explain why juveniles engaged in crime in the Ghanaian social context appears to be the choices and decisions that parent make for their children, other than where they are structurally positioned. In addition to this, the primarily feature of family size that influenced the subjects had more to do with economic difficulties as most of the participants indicated that their parents were not able to take care of them, because of the 184 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh large number of people within the household that they had to take care of. The inability for some parents to provide support for their children placed them in vulnerable situations. With respect to the family structure, this concept does not seem to influence criminality among the participants in childhood, considering the relative nature of the term family as applied across cultures. African families are more characterized by an extended family system rather than a nuclear family system, so there seems not to be a ‘thing‘ like disrupted families in the strict sense as it exists in the West. Furthermore, siblings appear to be largely influenced by friends because of the traditional and religious moral value system strictly adhered to by most Ghanaian families and the social media among other things. In view of this, deviance occurs more by attaching oneself to deviant peers than within families and among siblings. With respect to the informal social control processes, concepts such as sibling influence and parental disciplinary practices do not seem to predict criminality in childhood. As indicated, even though we may agree with the social control theories, in particular Sampson & Laub (1993), Hirschi (1969) and Hirshchi and Gottfredson (1990), poor parental attachment leads to delinquency, the in-depth- interviews generated responses which seem to contradicted this assumption. Some of the respondents were of the view that they were strongly attached to their parents; ‘I had a good relationship with my parents; they loved and care for me and provided all my needs‘ and yet they were exposed to criminal values. With these indications, we still need to know why and how levels of attachment to parents predict early onset of crime. And finally, another interesting and controversial finding was siblings influence on crime. As indicated in the general responses, siblings who were expected to act as deviant role 185 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh models rather had a positive influence. Almost all of the respondents, except one, reported that their siblings were not in favour of their offending behaviour. The two female offenders also reported that their uncles influenced them to commit the deviance in childhood. As it stands, the observation suggests that involving oneself in delinquency is a process of social selection arising from simple selection effects where ‗birds of a feather flock together‘ and supports Sampson and Laub (1993) who saw no connection between siblings‘ influence and offending behaviour. To the contrary, this finding varies from Brook. (1988) ,Rowe and Gulley (1992) ,Lauritsen (1993), Brownfield and Sorenson (1994), Conger and Rueter (1996) and Farrington, et al . (2001) who found strong sibling similarity in offending during adolescence among the subjects they studied. Furthermore, much of the shared experiences of the participants point to the differential association theory, as most of the respondents explained that they had no option but to learn what their friends were doing in order to survive. Sutherland‘s (1947) theory rested on nine assumptions, namely, crime is learnt through the process of communication with significant others, and that in intimate groups, individuals learn the attitudes, values, motives and rationalization for committing crime, and our results were found to be consistent with the postulations of Sutherland. It was also realized that a person becomes a criminal because of definitions favorable to violations of the law over definitions unfavorable to the violation of the law. The conclusions drawn from this work are limited within the context of this study as the intention was to understand the social forces underlying life course transitions and not to make a generalization. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that experiences within social 186 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh domains such as the family, friends and the school are far more important in enabling us understand the dynamics embedded within transitions of offending trajectories. The interlocking nature of these elements helps us to understand how criminal career develops. With reverence to the question of how corrections shape and change offending trajectories in the Adolescence Phase of Development, the critical question that the study sought to address was to find out whether or not early involvement in the criminal justice system leads to any turning points. For those who persisted in crime, it was realized that the main critical factors strengthening their offending career was the inadequacy training, the short duration of the sentence and association with deviant peers. With respect to the impact of vocational training and education on the reformation of juvenile delinquency in Ghana, it was realized that vocational training and education rather had a positive impact on those who desisted than those who persisted in crime in the sense that, those who desisted from crime had longer training periods and were able to obtain BECE, SHS and NVTI certificates when they left the correctional facility. This condition was found to increase their job prospects as they navigated adulthood than the persistent offenders who had shorter training period and as such were not able to acquire any substantive skills and competencies which placed them at risk to reoffend as they navigated adulthood. As indicated from their narratives, all the respondents who desisted from crime served the official three years term and improved their educational status and skills which had a positive impact on their transition to adulthood. This observation varies from Martinson (1974) who wrote: With few and isolated exceptions, the rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far have had no appreciable effect on recidivism (1974: 25).` 187 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh With respect to how friendships modify the tendency to persist or desist from crime, it was realized that the persistent offenders were more likely to select bad friends even though some had good friends. On the contrary, those who desisted from crime were more likely to select conventional friends with a few having good and a bad friend. With this finding, even though we can agree with the body of work that linked negative friendship association to crime in particular Differential Association Theory of Sutherland (1947), we may at the same time question the premise which underlie his assumption that deviant values are learnt among significant others. This is because the researcher found that those who desisted from crime discarded their criminal life styles in the supposedly context of differential association. Consistently, the finding has some support for social control theories in particular, those of Sampson and Laub (1993) and Hirschi (1969) who highlight the relevance of informal social control mechanisms in the etiology of criminal behaviour. According to Hirschi (1969), attachment, commitment and involvement in conventional activities reduce the propensities to engage in criminal activity. For those who desisted from crime, it was realized that an interplay of these elements were seen as a catalyst of change, in the sense, that their attachment to conventional others and their engagement and involvement in conventional activities reduced their likelihood to reoffend in the future. On the whole, it can be said that, a correctional experience is variable in the sense that while it served as a spring board for many to have a successful navigation into adulthood, it failed to help others desist from crime. For those who desisted from crime, apart from the conventional friendship effects and the longer training periods which facilitated their desistance, the other critical life events within the institutional context that triggered their desistance was 188 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh a shift in the cognitive as a result of the correctional treatment [the couselling from officers, religious leaders and the individual‘s personal convictions]. Gathered from their narratives was the concept of a cognitive transformation shift which most of the subjects experienced after weighing the consequences of the benefits and the cost of their offence. All the participants who desisted compared to the persistent offenders realized that it was not worth pursuing criminal careers so they redirected their paths. These observations agree with Vaughan (2007) who indicates that desistance from crime is a multifaceted process. The subject‘s experiences provided critical elements of desistance such as Discernment – where one reviews possible lifestyle choices, Deliberation – where one reviews the pros and cons of various action and Dedication where one is committed to a new non- criminal identity. Similarly, the findings also corroborate with Giordano et al. (2002) who explain that desistance from crime involves key elements such as openness to change, hooks for change and the availability of an appealing conventional self and a reassessment of attitudes to deviant behaviour. Notwithstanding these indications, it was also realized that a few of the persistent offenders experienced cognitive shifts and yet persisted as they matured through adulthood as the absences of hook factors placed them at a higher risk. With reference to the question of how experiences in multiple life domains shape and change offending trajectories, the critical issues the study sought to unravel was to find out how experiences in multiple life domains modify the tendency to persist or desist from crime. To achieve this goal, respondents [both persisters and desisters] were asked to narrate their lived experiences as to how their neighbours and their families reacted 189 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh towards their delinquent status. The respondents were also asked about their employment and their marital history as well as the kinds of friends they selected. For the persistent offenders it was realized, that the critical life experiences that reinforced their offending behaviour were negative reactions from neighbours and family members such as labelling and stereotyping, lack of social support [family and institutional], unemployment, deviant peer attachment and their inability to maintain stable relationships. Conversely, those who desisted from crime had an entirely different experience compared to the persistent offenders which led to their turning points. These critical factors were residential change, provision of social support, education and employment and the selection of conventional friends. Comparatively, it was realized that acquiring a delinquents status per se may not always be problematic for some group of offenders who have passed through the criminal justice system, as argued by Becker (1966), Lemert (1967) and Tannenbaum (1938) in the sense that while some of the persistent offenders never experience labelling and stigma after their released from the SBCC, the warmth and acceptance by community and family members could not work to change their offending trajectory. Similarly, some of the desisters also had the same negative labeling effect and yet they managed their delinquents‘ statues to desist from crime in the phase of stigma and discrimination. Explaining further, it was also realized that the persistent offenders were more likely to experience labelling and stigma within their respective families and communities than those who desisted from crime. As observed from the narratives, all the subjects who desisted from crime changed their residential locations. By adopting this strategy, the subjects were better able to manage their delinquent‘s status. The findings supports 190 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Sharkey and Sampson (2010), Kirk (2012) and Laub and Sampson (2003) among others who contend that the more ex -offenders change their geographical location in terms of residence, the more likely they desisted from crime. For those who desisted, changing locations such as residence, school , neighborhood, and work provided a social context guided by daily routine activities and interactions with conventional others which consequently redirected their paths to conformity. These indications were also consistent with Laub and Sampson (2003: 149) who observed that responding to structurally induced turning points indicators, such as work, marriage, and military service, serve as catalysts for a sustained behavioural change by providing an opportunity for individuals to knife off their past—to separate from the former contexts, situations, and criminal associates that facilitated their criminal behaviour. With these indications, we may conclude that even though labelling or stigma explains persistence of crime as embedded in the offending trajectories of the delinquents who were used in the study. We still need to know more about how and why in the absence of labelling some offenders will still engaged in criminal activities as they age. To conclude, even though we may agree with the traditional labelling theories that labelling to some extent explains persistence in crime, the voices of the minority illustrated in the context of this study attest to the fact that applying the ideas of the labelling theoretical perspectives in different socio cultural such as Ghana may not usually be the case. Another critical life event that explains persistence of crime was the lack of social support [family and institutional]. As one of the respondents remarked, 191 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ‗…Since the Social Welfare people failed to provide me with necessary tools when I left the family, I couldn‘t establish myself, my mother also said she did not have money to enable me set up my own shop, so I have to travel and go and look for some galamsey work to do…...‖. Compared to those who persisted in crime through adulthood, all the participants who desisted from crime had emotional, financial and material support from parents and private institutions such as Ngo‘s and other religious bodies [Orphanage Africa and the Legon Interdenominational Church , LIC]. As the delinquents left the correctional facility, it was realized from their shared experiences that the financial assistance and educational support offered by these private organization worked to change their offending trajectory. After their educational advancement, it increases their jobs prospects which eventually landed them in stable employment. With this indication, we agree with Maow (2005), Osgood et al.(2005) and Shanahan(2000) that successfully navigating the transition to adulthood for juvenile offenders is largely a function of the support, guidance, and resources offered by the family without which the participants who lack these support continued their criminal path. The findings was also consistent with Leverentz‘s (2010) who stressed that positive social support is perhaps even more important for achieving behavioural change than severing ties with negative influences. With respect to employment, it was realized that employment per se does not explain persistence of crime as most of the persistent offenders were engaged in economic activities [self employed jobs] which yielded them income. Compared to those who desisted from crime, while a few of them were self employed, the relative majority were in to formal jobs. Essentially, what appear to explain their persistence in crime were the 192 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh nature and the low quality of their jobs which was not guided by any meaningful activities as well as their inherent deviant lifestyles which they had no control of. It was also realized that those who desisted from crime were into more formal job setting linked with the interaction of conventional friends. The desisters were also found to be attached and committed to their jobs which also worked to reduce their levels of participation in crime. With these indications, we conclude by saying that, employment per se does not increase social control, rather it is employment coupled with job stability, commitment and ties to work and the individual differences construct that should increase social control and reduce criminal activity as pointed out earlier by Sampson and Laub and his colleagues. Another point of contradiction is found in the studies by Barth (1990), Courtney et al. (2001), Courtney and Dworsky (2007), Festinger (1983), Frost and Jurich (1983), Jones and Moses (1984), Zimmerman (1982) who reported that individuals formerly placed in out-of-home care have fewer years of education and many foster youths do not graduate from high school. Surprisingly, all the participants who desisted from crime represented in this study had completed high school and beyond, had relative good jobs as they navigate the transition to adulthood. The assertions made by these scholars hold true when juvenile delinquents who aged out of correctional facilities had inadequate training and shorter training periods. However, where they had adequate training and education as was found among the juveniles who aged out of the correctional facility within the context of this study, we may question this assertion. 193 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh With respect to marriage, even though three of the respondents had problematic marital relationships and poor spousal attachment, which is consistent with Sampson and Laub (1993) and Hirschi (1969), it was realized that while three of the persistent offenders had poor spousal attachment which strengthen their offending trajectory one of the participant had a relatively stable marriage and was more committed to his spouse considering the number of years they were married, yet he persisted in crime throughout adulthood. This indication seem to contradict Laub and Sampson (2003), Farrington and West (1995), Horney and Marshall (1995) and Sampson and Laub (1993) assertion that the influence of marriage on desistance reduces reoffending in late adulthood. If marriage thus reduces the inclination to desist from crime then further research may be needed to explore why regardless of stable marriages certain groups of offenders still persist in crime. With these indications, we agree with, Laub and Sampson (2003), Farrington and West (1995), Horney and Marshall (1995) and Sampson and Laub (1993) who contend that stable marriages and commitment to spouse reduces levels of involvement in crime. The next chapter discusses, the summary of major findings, conclusions, policy implications as well as the contributions of the study to criminological literature. Details of key variables are illustrated in the table below. 194 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.4 Summary of key variables explaining early onset of crime Table 6: Summary of key variables explaining early onset of crime Categories Participants N=23 Socio – economic statues  Low income families 19  Middle income families 4 Family size  6- 18 18  3-4 5 Family Structure  Stable 13  Unstable 10 Relational bonding to parents  Strong 15  Weak 8 Parent disciplinary practices  No positive effect 23 Sibling influence  Positive 20  Negative 1 2  Relative influence Table 6 gives the key variables that were used to explain the social forces leading to the onset of crime in early childhood among the participants that were used in the study. In all a total number of 23 juvenile delinquents who were in their adulthood were interviewed. The table gives the representation of the structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanisms. 195 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.5 Summary of key variables modifying offending trajectories in adulthood Table 7: Summary of Key variables modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime Categories Persistent offenders Desisted from crime N =13 N=10 The impact of vocational training  Longer training period 5 10  Shorter training period 8 - Sentencing procedures;  Short sentencing 8 -  Long sentencing 5 10 Cognitive transformation shifts 1 10 Kinds of friends  Bad 7 1  good 5 6 1 3  bad and good Effects of Labelling  Societal acceptance 3 2  Family rejection 6 3 4 5  Societal rejection Social support 1 10 Employment  Self employed jobs 7 3  Unemployed 6 - 3 3  Formal jobs - 4  In school Marriage  Strong spousal attachment 1 0  Weaker spousal attachment 3 0 Education  No education 0 1  Primary 4 0 6 2  JHS 3 1  SHS 0 6  Technical Table 7 gives the key variables that were used to explain the social forces modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime in adulthood. 196 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SEVEN SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY 7.1 Summary of major findings This study, the transition from juvenile delinquency to adulthood criminality in Ghana; the predisposing factors sought to investigate the transitions embedded in the offending trajectories of Ghanaian juvenile delinquents who were in their adulthood. The motivation for undertaking this exercise was triggered by the researcher‘s personal encounter with juvenile delinquents who had persisted in crime through adulthood regardless of their criminal justice experiences and the argument made by recent life course researchers that traditional criminologists failed to address the life course implications of criminal offenders as well as the relevance of social transitions as criminals age. In view of this, the life course researchers contend that, a better way to gain insights and understanding of the offending paths of criminals is to study their full life course. Considering the relevance of this theoretical analysis, we still do not know the dynamics that underlie social transitions among Ghanaian juvenile delinquents who are in their adulthood. The relative few studies; Antwi - Boasiako and Andoh (2010), Abrah (2006), Abotchie and Senah (1987), and Nortey (1969) that exist, do not address the life course implications of crime. This thesis extends beyond existing research by applying the life course theoretical perspectives in an entirely different context and secondly, it offers useful methodological contribution [qualitative research] to the study of the life course implication of crime which seem to have been ignored as a way of investigating the cause of crime and delinquency in Ghana. Specifically, the study addresses four major research 197 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh questions, namely, explaining how and why the interplay of structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanism predicts early onset of crime, examining whether or not early involvement in the criminal justice system reinforces or changes a criminal trajectory, identify the extent to which labeling explain persistence or desistance from crime and unearthing what social forces within multiple life domains modify the tendency to persist or desist from crime through adulthood. Using a qualitative research method, the researcher tracked and explored the lived experiences of 23 juvenile delinquents who had navigated the transition to adulthood. In all, a total number of 27 respondents participated in the study. They include 13 persistent offenders made up of one female and 12 males who were tracked at the Nsawam Male and Female Prison respectively and ten desisters made up of nine males and one female living in the environs of Accra as well as 4 stakeholders, including two Senior Prison officers at the SBCC, one Social Welfare Officer who works at the Magistrates Court (juvenile court) and one officer who worked at the Legon Interdenominational Church. In all, it took a period of one year to gather the needed information from the participants. With reference to the research objectives, the overall findings of this study suggest, that even though structural background factors and informal social control mechanisms may predict an early onset of criminality, as indicated by Sampson and Laub (1993), the same background factors may not necessarily predict crime in the Ghanaian social context due to socio-cultural and economic reasons. Within the adolescent phase of development, it can be said that the correctional experience is a variable in the sense that as it works for some to change their offending paths it failed 198 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to help others to desist from crime. For the persistent offenders, the institutional experience that appears to strengthen their offending trajectory was the shorter training periods and short sentencing as well as association deviant peer attachment. In contrast, those who desisted from crime had longer training periods, selected conventional friends and were more likely to experience shifts in cognition which resulted from their personal conviction and the advices and counsel given to them by the prison officers and religious leaders who frequent the institution worked to change their offending behaviour. As the participants experienced multiple life domains, it was also realized that critical social factors explaining their persistence in crime were the negative reactions by society as a result of their delinquents‘ status, poor spousal attachment, poor quality of work and association with deviant peers. For those who desisted from crime, the critical life events working to change their criminal careers were residential change, stable employment, social support and attachment to conventional peers. 7.1.1 Conclusions On the basis of the responses generated by the participants with respect to their persistence and desistance factors explaining the transitions in their offending paths, the following conclusions can be made. However, it must be noted that the entire narratives as represented in this study reflects the view of the minority delinquents in Ghana. In this regards, the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population. Nevertheless, the participants ‘life history provides useful insights in our attempt to explain the transitions embedded in the offending trajectories of juvenile delinquents who were in their adulthood. 199 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh On the basis of these findings, the following conclusions are drawn;  That, even though structural background factors such as socio-economic status of parents, family structure and family size as well as processes of informal social control mechanisms such as poor attachment to school, delinquent peer attachment, relational bonding to parents, parents disciplinary practices and sibling influence may predict the early onset of crime in the Western context, the application of these concepts to a different social context such as Ghana may differ due to socio- cultural reasons .  With reference to how the criminal justice system shapes and changes offending trajectories, as the criminal justice system work to change offending paths, it at the same time fail to help other to desist from crime.  With reference to how labelling explains persistent of crime, it was realized that both the persistent offenders and those who desisted from crime had negative reactions from society towards their delinquent status yet those who desisted managed their labelling status to lead conforming life as they age. In this regard, the study concludes by emphasizing that acquisition of a labelling status may not necessarily explain persistence of crime as highlighted by Becker (1963), Goffman (1963) and Lemert (1951) among others.  With reference to how experiences within multiple life domains shape and change offending trajectories the finding suggests that a stable marriage and employment may not necessarily explain persistence and desistence from crime as suggested by Sampson and Laub (1993) and their colleagues, rather critical life events such as the individual cognitive transformation shifts, the quality of work, social support and residential change modifies the tendency to persist or desist from crime over an individual‘s life span. 200 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7.1.2 Policy Implications of the Study The findings of this study do have implications for social policies as well as social control. On the basis of the findings, the following strategies are suggested for policy makers as well criminal justice officials to help address the issue of juvenile delinquency and criminality in Ghana.  As the findings reveal, there is the need for criminological researchers to revisit, test and verify the underlying assumptions of most of the traditional theories of crime to explain why people persist in or desist from crime over the life course. Undertaking a research of this nature will go a long way to generate new ideas and theoretical models that will help explain the possible causes of criminality and reduce reoffending.  There is also the need for criminal justice officials in particular; the Police, Court and Correctional institutions to develop a computerized data base that will store relevant information on criminal offenders who pass through the criminal justice system. The generation of this data will ensure easy access of information for governments and researchers to track and study the impact of correctional treatments on offenders who age out of the criminal justice system. Keeping such data will also enable researchers to undertake longitudinal and cohort studies as well as a comprehensive life course study.  There is also the need for correctional service providers to introduce cognitive behavioural treatment which will address the specific needs of young offenders receiving correctional treatment, as found in their shared experiences of those who desisted from crime, one of the major critical factors that facilitated their desistence was the cognitive shift they experienced as a result of the counselling and preaching of the religious leaders and prison officers. The introduction of such 201 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh cognitive behavioural treatments will go a long way to impact positively in transforming the lives of young persons who navigate the transition to adulthood.  As observed from the primary data, one of the social factors predicting early onset of crime and delinquency were the individual differences‘ constructs, a difficult temperament and deviant peer attachment. It is recommended that programmes such as guidance and couselling sessions at schools and other public places and character training programs such as that which exist at the SBCC will go a long way to model non-conforming behaviours.  Parents‘ discipline practices were also seen as a weak informal social control mechanism for controlling non -conforming behaviour. In the light of this, child welfare policies and guidance and counselling programmes will go a long way to educate parents on effective child discipline practices. Social protection programmes should also form part of the government agenda in reducing poverty, as realized from the stories of the participants, most of them who fell prey to crime at the early stages of their developmental cycle were from relatively poor backgrounds.  It is also recommended, that the juvenile justice system reviews the guidelines and sentencing procedures of juvenile offenders who pass through the system, the best interest of the child should be paramount in all judgment that concerns the juvenile offender. Short sentencing should only be given when criminal justice officials are adequately informed about the juvenile‘s family background as to whether the juvenile can acquire the needed skill and education as they progress through adulthood.  There is also the need for governments as well as welfare agencies to provide after care services and social support systems that will ensure that juvenile offenders are 202 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh well integrated into the society. Institutional support, such as support from the social welfare department, NGOs and private individuals and the family are very crucial in the transition processes of juvenile offenders who navigate to adulthood.  Correctional service providers, in particular the management of the SBCC should put in place the necessary social control mechanisms and strategies such as strict supervision of juveniles placed in their custody to ensure the safe custody and if possible walled the entire facility. As indicated from their excerpts, it was realized that since the offenders are not restricted in their movement they were able to bring contraband goods to contaminate other inmates who were affected negatively.  As observed from the narratives generated by the participants, it was realized that one of the critical factors facilitating desistance among the delinquents was the support they received from NGO‘s and other religious bodies. In this regard, attempt should be made by government to support the activities of these privates institutions whose support and assistance worked to control the delinquents‘ propensities to commit crime in adulthood.  It was also observed that since poverty and group membership are persistently related to crime and delinquency, there is the need for future researchers in criminology to determine the extent of the effects of these two variables on crime by employing the Quantitative approach in their study. 7.1.3 Theoretical Contributions of the Study The study that sought to understand the transitions in offending trajectories in the Ghanaian social context, fill our knowledge gaps and contribute to criminological theory in several ways. The major contribution of this work is that it provides rich and detailed contextual lived experiences of juvenile delinquents aging in and out of crime through 203 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh adulthood which broaden and expand our knowledge on the relevance of social transitions in offending trajectories in a social context entirely different from the West, where most of the life course theoretical perspectives of criminality have been applied. The general contribution of this work to the life course theoretical perspective of criminality in particular the age graded theory of informal social control developed by Sampson and Laub (1993) is that, contextually, the theory can be used to explain the stability and change in offending trajectories in varied cultures and societies. The caveat however is that its application may not yield the same results in a different socio-cultural context such as Ghana. Within the childhood phase of development, it was realized in this study that structural background factors such as the socio-economic disadvantage of parents, family structure and large family size do not necessarily predict early onset of crime within the Ghanaian social context. Adding further, informal social control mechanism such as sibling influence and parents‘ disciplinary practices do not predict an early onset of crime. Within the same structural context argument and early onset of crime, the narratives generated by the participants also broadens our minds pointing out that, both lower and middle class family may be exposed to the learning of deviant values which do not agree with Merton‘s position on social structure and crime. In the adolescent phase of development, unlike Sampson and Laub (1993) who looked at the length of incarceration, the current study went beyond what Sampson and Laub (1993) investigated to address the question of how and why early involvement in the entire criminal justice system modifies the tendency to persist or desist in crime. The point of 204 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the overall findings suggested that the criminal justice system either worked to shape or to change offending paths. The critical elements of change have to do with the length of incarceration, self-advancement, and association with conventional friends. These emerging findings add up to their existing social factors that have been identified to trigger turning points in offending trajectories. Theoretically, while the findings on how the criminal justice factors modify the tendencies to persist or desist from crime in the adolescence phase of development tends to question the theoretical underlying assumptions of differential association theory of Edwin Sutherland (1947) and the traditional labelling theories of Becker (1963), Goffman (1963), and Tannebaum (1938), it at the same time agrees with most of their assumptions considering the narratives of the subjects who age in and out of crime through adulthood. With regards to the Differential Association Theory, Sutherland (1947) had contended that the learning of deviant values occurs in intimate groups by social selection effects when individuals interact with significant others. The main point of departure to that of Sutherland‘s assumptions is that the narratives frequently provide experiences of juvenile delinquents who appear to discard their deviant lifestyles in a context of a supposedly differential association. As the respondents narrated their stories, it was realized, that in the same way as individuals learn the techniques of appropriate motives, attitudes and rationalization for committing crime in intimate groups, the same intimate groups may provide the opportunities to learn the appropriate motives, attitudes and rationalization for desisting from crime. Furthermore, it was also observed, that the longer, earlier, more intense and 205 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh more frequently delinquents interacted with friends and were exposed to a set of values about criminality, the more likely they changed their deviant pathways. The study therefore establishes that a context of differential association may provide the opportunity for some groups of individuals to experiencea turning point. On the basis of these findings, we may conclude by highlighting, that it is not always true that individuals exposed to situations favourable to the violation of the law usually commit crime. Nevertheless, the findings, as generated from the lived experiences of the subjects, are limited within the context of this study as more research will be needed to verify the validity of these assumptions in an entirely different social context. With regards to the traditional labelling theories, in particular, those of Lemert (1951), Becker (1963), and Goffman (1963), their basic argument rested on the premise that the major reasons why some group of offenders persist in crime is as a result of the labelling status that they acquire after passing through the criminal justice system. In the words of Goffman (1963) the labelling of person is usually seen as evil and sometimes causes the loss of self-confidence when they interact with ―normal‖ people. This situation causes the labelled person to arrange his/her life so as to avoid the contact of normal people, hence redirecting their paths to deviant groups and associations. As observed from the narratives, even though the primary data have some support for traditional labelling theories, that acquiring a delinquent status facilitates reoffending as demonstrated in the life histories of those who persisted and desisted from crime. We may on the other hand disagree in the sense that the narratives frequently provided experiences of persistent offenders who never experienced rejection or stigma, yet they persisted in crime through adulthood and desisters who experienced stigma and rejections and yet 206 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh change their offending trajectory. Their life stories perhaps represent the experiences of thousands of juvenile delinquents who never experienced label or discrimination and yet persisted in crime through adulthood. The findings concluded by stressing that labelling per se does not explain persistence of crime as the study provides experiences of individuals who were able to maneuver their delinquent‘s status in the phase of challenges and to later lead conforming lives. With these indications emanating from the voices of the delinquents we still need to know more about how the labelled manages his/ her status with conventional others to desist from crime. The narratives also illuminated the concept of cognitive transformation which has been put forward by Giordano et al. (2002) as model for explaining desistance from crime, it was realized that cognitive behavioral programmes are essential tools in reducing levels of participation in crime. Turning point or desistance from crime starts with a cognitive shift. The finding also suggests that residential change and cognitive transformation shift as well as support received from private institutions can also serve as critical factors in facilitating desistance. Methodologically, the study has demonstrated the relevance of using a qualitative research method as a useful analytical tool in explaining the transitions embedded in offending trajectories over an individual life course. The ideas and concepts generated from this study serve as a spring board for studying larger groups of juvenile delinquents who have navigated the transition to adulthood. Based on the findings and the emerging concepts generated from the responses of the participants a transitional model is developed demonstrating the socio- economic and cultural factors explaining the dynamics embedded in the offending trajectories of Ghanaian delinquents in adulthood. 207 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 2: The Transitional Theory of Formal and Informal Social Control Mechanism Adulthood Experience [18 & Above] Friendship Quality of employment Residential change Labelling Social support Correctional Experience Persistence Desistance (10-17 years) (Adolescent) Vocational training and education Length of sentencing Cognitive Shift Friendship Short sentencing/ Long sentencing/ training training Childhood Experience (0-10 years) Parent‘s guidance Child‘s disposition to parents direction Lack of supervision (family members) Influence of relative (extended) Attachment to deviant peer Poverty Source: Author’s Construct, 2014 208 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The transitional theory of formal and informal social control was developed based on the emerging themes and concepts derived from the narratives of the participants. This theory explains how the juvenile delinquents developed their criminal career from childhood to adulthood in the Ghanaian social context viewing it from the perspective of the life course criminality. This theory contributes to criminological literature on crime and the life course by demonstrating how socio-economic and cultural factors explain persistence and desistance from crime in a context different from the west where the life course perspectives have been applied. Like the age graded theory of informal social control developed by Sampson and Laub (1993) which looked at how the interplay of structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanism predict crime from childhood through adulthood. This study explored in details the impact of formal (the impact of correctional experience) and informal social control mechanisms in modifying the offending trajectories of juvenile delinquents who were in their adulthood. In trying to understand how structural background factors and processes of informal social control mechanism predict the early onset of crime in childhood [0-10 years]. Theoretical factors leading to the early onset of crime among the participants has more to do with parental roles such as parents guidance, the child‘s disposition to parents direction, lack of supervision (extended family) and influence of relatives rather than structural background factors such as low family socio-economic status, family size, family disruption among others as found in the works of Sampson and Laub. In the case of sibling influence, the participants were influence by their friends and relatives negatively rather than their 209 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh siblings which may be attributed to effects of the extended family systems and the social media, attachment to deviant peers and the school. Even though we may agree with Sampson and Laub (1993) that structural background factors such as socio- economic status of parents, family size and family structure may lead to the early onset of crime, with regards to socio- economic status, both lower and middle income children for example were found by this study to be exposed to the leaning of deviant values. In the case of family size, the largeness of the family per se does not increase the chances of a child to become delinquent as found from the narratives of the participants. The critical factor has to do with the lack of support from parents. With regards to family structure, it was observed from the narratives that both intact and fragmented families as used in the western sense were found to predispose the participants to crime. The critical point to note with respect to family structure is that African families are more characterized by the extended family influences even with the advent of social change. The same factors of informal social control as found in figure two on the childhood phase of development from the participants life stories also play out in their adolescence stage in predisposing the participants to criminality. In the adolescence phase of their development, the critical question that the researcher sought to address was to find out how an individual‘s experience of the criminal justice system may trigger persistence in crime or constitute a turning point in adulthood. As the participants life stories indicates, the correctional experience was seen to be a variable with mixed effects in the sense that while it helped some participants to desist from crime others learnt the techniques, attitudes and rationalization for committing crime in 210 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh adulthood which led to their imprisonment. For the persistent offenders, the shorter sentencing could not allow most of them to acquire the needed skills and education to have a smooth transition compared to the desisters whose longer training periods enable them to acquire certificates and skills which facilitated their desistance in adulthood. The persistent offenders were more likely to attach themselves to deviant peers who never experienced cognitive shifts compared to the desisters who experienced cognitive shifts as a result of discarding deviant friends and heeding to the counselling and advices from religious groups and prisons officers. In adulthood, as the narratives reveals, even though we may agree with Sampson and Laub (1993) that a stable marriage and employment may determine whether a person will persist of desist from crime in adulthood, it was found within the context of this study that employment per se may not reduce an individual‘s level of involvement in crime as well as a stable marriage as some of the persistent offenders had employment and a relatively stable marriage and yet persisted in crime in adulthood. It was observed that the quality and nature of employment, provision of social support (family and institutional), residential change, labelling and friendship were seen as critical factors explaining the participants‘ persistence and desistance in crime through adulthood. In view of this observations, much study is needed, in particular using a larger sample size to determine why regardless of a stable marriage some group of individuals still persist in crime in their life time. 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New Orleans: School of Social Work, Tulane University. 229 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX UNIVERSITY OF GHANA SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT PRINCE ABRAH BOAMAH (PhD Candidate) Interview Guide TITLE: The Transition from Juvenile Delinquency to Adulthood Criminality in Ghana: The predisposing factors In-depth interview with Respondents on social factors modifying the tendency to persist or desist from crime A. Socio – demographic characteristics of respondent 1. Sex? 1. Age? 2. Marital status 3. Ethnicity? 4. Level of education? 5. Religion? 6. Where and who do you live with before coming to the prisons? 7. Describe how your childhood was like, your life at home, the people you spend much time with, who influenced you the most and why, the kinds of troubles you got into, and the people you likely get into trouble with? 8. Tell me more about your family background, who are your parents, what are their occupations and how have they influenced you? 9. How many children do your parents or guardians have? 10. Do other children live together with you in your parents or guardians house? 230 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11. How did they influence you? [ including siblings] 12. How was your relationship with your nuclear and extended family? (Uncles, aunties, cousins etc), did it affect you in any way? 13. Did you have any ambition in life? [what you wanted to become and what prevented you] 14. Who provided your basic needs (food, shelter, clothes and school fees) in childhood? 15. Would you say that the basic needs provided by your parents, guardian or foster parents were adequate? Tell me more 16. Did you get punishment as a child when you go wrong? Which behaviours attracted punishment and to extent were you affected by the punishment? Tell me more. 1. Experience with the Criminal Justice System 17. How did you get to the Senior Boys Correctional Centre (SBSC) and how old were you? 18. Can you describe the environment, how long you spent, the type of training you received and the benefits of the training? 19. Did you have any friends at the SBSC? 20. Can you describe your relationship with your friends? how were you influenced by your interaction with them? 21. What brought you to the Nsawam prisons, tell me the whole story? 22. What or who will you blame for your predicament? 23. In general what are your perceptions about prisons life? 231 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2. Patterns of Offending ; Nature , Frequency and Specialization [gender differentiation] 24. In general, how many times have you been arrested or convicted by the police? 25. Tell me more about the types of offences you committed from childhood to date giving the time periods and age at which each event took place? 26. How would you describe your relationship with your family and community after release from the SSC [ societal reaction towards his act of deviance] 27. To what extent has your committal to the SSR affected the quality of your relationship with people? [ eg, in finding a prosocial partner) 28. What kinds of friends did you associate with after your release from the senior correctional centre and what kinds of activities do you engage in? Tell me more. 3. Difficulties faced by offenders in the Transitional Process 29. What has been the major problem in life after your release from the senior correctional? [Giving instances of events and what actually happened]. 30. Where do you go from here? [Back to family, friends, relatives, street etc] 31. How has your contact with the criminal justice system (Police, Court and Corrections) affected your attitude and behaviour in your life? 4. Social factors Modifying Criminal Trajectories and Conformity 32. To what extent has the prison experience reformed you, what are your goals about behaviour change before leaving, how and why your goals becomes impossible or possible [probing more about the role of the family, employment, marriage, religion relational problems among others] 232 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (a.)Family: No. of children and people living with? (b.) Employment: No. of times employed, nature of job; whether being at RCC affected his/her job opportunities, challenges etc (c.) Marriage: No. of times married, nature of relationships, if not married why relationships don‘t work etc. (d.) Religion: which group he/ she is affiliated to, role and commitment levels 33. To what extent has the experience you have shared affected you in life? Tell me more 233