ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4347-0275
Current Organisation
UNSW Sydney
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-04-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-05-2021
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-04-2023
DOI: 10.1177/17488958231161429
Abstract: This article contributes to the discussion on criminal record-keeping and post-prison employment from the perspective of a developing country. We present and discuss the results of a qualitative research based on interviews with 13 employers in Ghana about the use of criminal background checks in the hiring process. Data suggest a perceived lack of trust towards formerly incarcerated in iduals primarily rooted in traditional cultural and moral values. Participants perceived that being associated with people with a criminal record is largely disapproved at the societal level. As a result, formerly incarcerated in iduals are discriminated against in the employment setting. We also found that community dynamics and relations manage to overcome the lack of accuracy and reliability of state-provided criminal history information. Due to the absence of reliable access to criminal records through official channels, employers resort to informal means relying on community ties to get access to information about the past and character of job applicants. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for research, policy and practice.
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-10-2022
Abstract: In Ghana, a convicted person is not entitled to parole. The only hope for their return into the community is either completing the sentence or government amnesty. However, reci ists on life sentences are completely denied the chance of returning into the community. This coupled with the demand of adjusting to the country’s prison conditions affects the mental well-being of life-sentenced inmates. This study explored the mental health experiences of life-sentenced inmates. An interpretive phenomenological approach guided the analysis of qualitative data collected from 21 life-sentenced inmates who were serving terms in three selected prisons. We employed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition ( DSM-5) and International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision ( ICD-11) mental disorder symptomologies to situate the participants’ narration of their experiences. The participants reported feeling sad, hopelessness, and having sleepless days and nights due to thinking about their perceived spoiled plight. They also experienced stress and were fearful of uncertainties due to perceived prison officer apathy and harsh prison conditions. Additionally, the participants resorted to drug use as a means to cope with their mental health experiences. The participants’ descriptions of their experiences were consistent with some symptomologies of mental disorders as provided in the DSM-5 and ICD-11 and call for the creation of mental health treatment services in the country’s prisons to improve the mental health of inmates.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-12-2019
Abstract: The study contributed to filling a knowledge gap in the area of intimate partner violence (IPV). Previous studies conducted in Ghana have investigated the causes and types of IPV, leaving a gap on the consequences the violence had on the victims. Using a population of local economic migrants (hereafter, head-load carriers), a qualitative design with emphasis on phenomenology was employed to investigate the effects of IPV on 20 head-load carriers in two major cities in Ghana (Kumasi and Accra). The analysis performed on the data, using interpretive phenomenological analysis, revealed that IPV affected the head-load carriers’ health, employment, and human relationships. Each of the participants spoke of one or more health complications, which they attributed to IPV. Among the health-related effects reported by the head-load carriers were body pains, wounds, depression, suicide ideation, headache, and abdominal pains that resulted from the termination of an unwanted pregnancy. All the head-load carriers recounted the detrimental outcomes of IPV on their job and human relationships. After they had experienced IPV, some of the victims could not go to work due to fear of stigmatization and those who were able to could not work as they usually do due to severe pain. At their workplace, some of the IPV victims became aggressive toward customers and coworkers, whereas others remained isolated. These negatively impacted on their human relationship skills and earnings. Based on the findings, there is the need for policies that seek to address IPV to consider the effects on victims’ employment, earning, and behavior.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 25-06-2022
DOI: 10.1177/00111287221106944
Abstract: This paper reflects on the process of undertaking qualitative research with incarcerated in iduals and prison staff in selected Ghana prisons. The challenges encountered during the planning, approval, and fieldwork stages, as well as measures adopted to address these challenges, have been discussed. The paper aims to serve as a guide to novel prison researchers in the sub-Saharan African context, given that the majority of studies on challenges and approaches to conducting prison research have come from jurisdictions outside the region. To this end, given the unique nature of the prison governance system in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries, this paper contributes to filling a knowledge gap in qualitative prison research.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 22-09-2021
Abstract: The article investigates ex-convicts’ experiences of stigmatization and its effect on their well-being in selected prisons in Ghana. Qualitative data were collected from 20 male inmates who, after residing for a time in the community, were thereafter reincarcerated. Findings indicate that these men were subjected to stigmatization and degrading treatment in the community, which limited their chances of securing lawful employment, establishing romantic relationships, and even maintaining platonic and family ties. As a result, this negatively impacted upon their mental well-being, leading some to substance abuse and suicide ideation. The article thereafter discusses policy and future research implications that arise from these findings.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 31-01-2021
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 24-02-2021
No related grants have been discovered for Frank Darkwa Baffour.