NCJ Number
91335
Date Published
1983
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This discussion of the status of criminology in Ghana also considers the current status of the country's development, its social structure, and crime patterns.
Abstract
Since attaining political independence in 1957, Ghana has been involved in building new political, educational, economic, and religious institutions, and the social structure is a mixture of the traditional and modern. Fundamental social, political, and cultural changes have been conducive to social deviance, including the appearance of crime types absent in the traditional and colonial eras, such as white-collar crimes, currency trafficking, smuggling, and armed robbery. There are two categories of criminologists in Ghana: those who practice criminology as a full-time occupation (the few academic criminologists who teach the subject in educational institutions) and those who deal directly with offenders. Criminology as an academic subject was introduced in the undergraduate curriculum in sociology as one of the core subjects in 1952. So far, none of the sociology students who have completed courses in criminology have been employed as criminologists. Very little criminological research has been conducted in Ghana. Eighteen notes and 11 bibliographic entries are provided.