TY - JOUR
T1 - Vigilante homicides in contemporary Ghana
AU - Adinkrah, Mensah
N1 - Funding Information:
The author gratefully acknowledges the many useful comments he received from Carmen M. White and Joseph Appiahene-Gyamfi on preliminary drafts of the essay. The author also expresses his gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers of the journal for their helpful comments on the manuscript. Research for the study was funded by a United States Fulbright Scholar Award, which enabled the author to spend the 2003–04 academic year in Ghana. Financial assistance was also provided by a Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors (FRCE) grant of Central Michigan University.
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - This article provides a systematic analysis of vigilante homicides that occurred in Ghana, West Africa, during 1990-2000. Through the use of newspaper accounts, the study identified the socio-demographic characteristics of victims, spatial distribution, modus operandi, and the circumstances of death. The data suggested that young urban males suspected or accused of robbery, larceny, and other forms of theft were most often victims of vigilante killings. Mob attacks were spontaneous and the assaults involved the use of weapons available on the scene, such as stones, sticks, clubs, and personal weapons. Factors contributing to the escalation of vigilantism in the society included an under-resourced police force, poor police-civilian relations, burgeoning crime rate, a slow and overburdened judiciary, heightened public fear of crime, and a breakdown in traditional methods of dispute resolution. The article also reports on a survey that targeted the attitudes of a sample of law enforcement officers towards vigilantism in Ghana.
AB - This article provides a systematic analysis of vigilante homicides that occurred in Ghana, West Africa, during 1990-2000. Through the use of newspaper accounts, the study identified the socio-demographic characteristics of victims, spatial distribution, modus operandi, and the circumstances of death. The data suggested that young urban males suspected or accused of robbery, larceny, and other forms of theft were most often victims of vigilante killings. Mob attacks were spontaneous and the assaults involved the use of weapons available on the scene, such as stones, sticks, clubs, and personal weapons. Factors contributing to the escalation of vigilantism in the society included an under-resourced police force, poor police-civilian relations, burgeoning crime rate, a slow and overburdened judiciary, heightened public fear of crime, and a breakdown in traditional methods of dispute resolution. The article also reports on a survey that targeted the attitudes of a sample of law enforcement officers towards vigilantism in Ghana.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=25144443051&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2005.06.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2005.06.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:25144443051
VL - 33
SP - 413
EP - 427
JO - Journal of Criminal Justice
JF - Journal of Criminal Justice
SN - 0047-2352
IS - 5
ER -