Abstract
An Executive Instrument (E.I. 4) gives prosecutorial powers to the police in Ghana to prosecute cases of summary jurisdiction. Thus, the penetrative sexual abuse of a child under 16 years (defilement), which is a second degree felony, falls under their ambit. However, some challenges have been observed with how the police have handled these cases. This chapter presents a qualitative account of 14 participants comprising of 6 defense lawyers (Meanage = 38.3; 83.3% male), 7 police prosecutors (Meanage = 46.1 years; 57% male) and one female legal prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Department on their views with respect to the role played by police prosecutors in their interactions with victims and caregivers of child sexual abuse. Three main themes are discussed as follows: inadequate training; intimidating or friendly; and cross fire of accusations. These themes are discussed with their respective sub-themes and conclusions made with respect to the role played by the police prosecutors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Ghana has two levels of court, namely the Superior courts (comprising of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court) and Lower courts (comprising the Circuit and District Courts). The jurisdiction of the superior courts are set out in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and the Courts Act, 2003 (Act 459) (as amended) whereas the jurisdiction of the lower courts is set out in the latter.
- 2.
They are often referred to as Judicial Police Officers (JUPOL).
References
Accountability Rule of law and Anti-Corruption Programme. (2018). Improving professional standards in criminal prosecutions: A Report on the work of Police Prosecutors (Issue January). Retrieved from http://arapghana.eu/sia/web/uploads/documents/ARAP_Functional_Analysis_Report_-_Police_Prosecutors_250118.pdf
Amoakohene, M. I. (2004). Violence against women in Ghana: A look at women’s perceptions and review of policy and social responses. Social Science and Medicine, 59(11), 2373–2385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.001
Antonsdóttir, H. F. (2018). ‘A witness in my own case’: Victim–Survivors’ views on the criminal justice process in Iceland. Feminist Legal Studies, 26(3), 307–330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-018-9386-z
Appiahene-Gyamfi, J. (2009). Crime and punishment in the Republic of Ghana: A country profile. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 33(2), 309–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2009.9678810
Atuguba, R. (2008). The colonial state lives on: Reflections on the colonial character of Ghana’s police. African Agenda, 11(2), 14–16. Retrieved from http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/415
Back, C., Gustafsson, P. A., & Berterö, C. (2013). Sexually abused children – Prosecutors’ experiences of their participation in the legal process in Sweden. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 20(2), 273–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2012.666017
Back, C., Gustafsson, P. A., Larsson, I. B., & Berterö, C. (2011). Managing the legal proceedings: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of sexually abused children’s experience with the legal process. Child Abuse and Neglect, 35(1), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.08.004
Boakye, K. E. (2009). Culture and nondisclosure of child sexual abuse in Ghana: A theoretical and empirical exploration. Law & Social Inquiry, 34(4), 951–979. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2009.01170.x
Boateng, F. D., & Darko, I. (2016). Our past: The effect of colonialism on policing in Ghana. International Journal of Police Service and Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461355716638114
Boateng, F. D., & Lee, H. D. (2014). Willingness to report sexual offenses to the police in Ghana. Victims and Offenders, 9(4), 436–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2014.907848
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Castelli, P., & Goodman, G. S. (2014). Children’s perceived emotional behavior at disclosure and prosecutors’ evaluations. Child Abuse and Neglect, 38(9), 1521–1532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.010
Christensen, L. S., Sharman, S., & Powell, M. (2015). Professionals’ views on child sexual abuse attrition rates. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(4), 542–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2014.960036
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9760, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613
Crandall, C. S., Bahns, A. J., Warner, R., & Schaller, M. (2011). Stereotypes as justifications of prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(11), 1488–1498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211411723
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Daly, K. (2014). Reconceptualizing sexual victimization and justice. In A. P. Vanfraechem & F. Hdahinda (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of victimology (pp. 378–395). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203094532
Daly, K., & Bouhours, B. (n.d.). Rape and attrition in the legal process: A comparative analysis of five countries. March 2009.
Daly, K., & Curtis-Fawley, S. (2006). Justice for victims of sexual assault: Court or conference. In K. Heimer & C. Kruttschnitt (Eds.), Gender, offending, and victimization (pp. 1–65). New York University Press.
Darkwah, A. K., & Prah, M. (2016). Beyond domestic violence laws: Women’s experiences and perceptions of protection services in Ghana (Regional evidence papers). CEGENSA.
Eastwood, C. (2003). The experiences of child compainants of sexual abuse in the criminal justice system. In Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice (Vol. 250).
Fusch, P. I., & Ness, L. R. (2015). Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research. Qualitative Report, 20(9), 1408–1416. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2281
Ghana Police Service. (2018a). Communication and Public education strategy 2018–2020.
Ghana Police Service. (2018b). Service Manual.
Herman, J. L. (2005). Justice from the victim’s perspective. Violence Against Women, 11(5), 571–602. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801205274450
Kwakye-Nuako, C. O. (2018). The psychosocial context of withdrawals and discharges in court cases involving child sexual abuse in Accra: A documentary study. University of Ghana School of Social Science Conference.
Levitt, H. M., Bamberg, M., Creswell, J. W., Frost, D. M., Josselson, R., & Suárez-Orozco, C. (2018). Journal article reporting standards for qualitative primary, qualitative meta-analytic, and mixed methods research in psychology: The APA publications and communications board task force report. American Psychologist, 73(1), 26–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000151
Molyneux, E. M., Kennedy, N., Dano, A., & Mulambia, Y. (2013). Sexual abuse of children in low-income settings: time for action. Paediatrics and International Child Health, 33(4), 239–246. https://doi.org/10.1179/2046905513Y.0000000087
Moore, J. R. (2006). Shattering stereotypes: A lesson plan for improving student attitudes and behavior toward minority groups. The Social Studies, 97(1), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.3200/TSSS.97.1.35-39
Mulambia, Y., Miller, A. J., MacDonald, G., & Kennedy, N. (2018). Are one-stop centres an appropriate model to deliver services to sexually abused children in urban Malawi? BMC Pediatrics, 18(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1121-z
Musiwa, A. S. (2018). How has the presence of Zimbabwe’s victim-friendly court and relevant child protection policy and legal frameworks affected the management of intrafamilial child sexual abuse in Zimbabwe? The case of Marondera district. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(11), 1748–1777. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517752154
Oulmokhtar, D., Krauth-Gruber, S., Alexopoulos, T., & Drozda-Senkowska, E. (2011). Police officers’ stereotype content and its evolution over two decades: From “neither nice nor able” to “still not nice but able.” International Review of Social Psychology, 24(3), 87–100. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288388445_Police_officers’_stereotype_content_and_its_evolution_over_two_decades_From_neither_nice_nor_able_to_still_not_nice_but_able
Pokoo-Aikins, J. B. (1998). The Ghana police service: Changes after colonization. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 71(2), 176–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032258x9807100213
Pryce, D. K. (2018). Ghanaian immigrants’ differential trust in and obligation to obey the US police and Ghana police: Findings from a qualitative study. African Identities, 16(4), 396–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2018.1467751
Pryce, D. K., Johnson, D., & Maguire, E. R. (2016). Procedural justice, obligation to obey, and cooperation with procedural justice. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20(10), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854816680225
Rutland, A., & Brown, R. (2001). Stereotypes as justifications for prior intergroup discrimination: Studies of Scottish national stereotyping. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31(2), 127–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.25
Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2008). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In J. A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A practical guide to research methods (pp. 53–80). SAGE Publications. http://med-fom-familymed-research.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2012/03/IPA_Smith_Osborne21632.pdf
Spohn, C. C., & Holleran, D. (2001). Prosecuting sexual assault: A comparison of charging decisions in sexual assault cases involving strangers, acquaintances, and intimate partners. Justice Quarterly, 18(3), 651–688. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820100095051
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks Cole.
Tankebe, J. (2008a). Colonialism, legitimation, and policing in Ghana. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 36, 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2007.12.003
Tankebe, J. (2008b). Police effectiveness and police trustworthiness in Ghana: An empirical appraisal. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 8(2), 185–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895808088994
Tankebe, J. (2009). Public cooperation with the police in ghana: Does procedural fairness matter? Criminology, 47(4), 1265–1293. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00175.x
Tyler, T. R. (2006). Psychological perspectives on legitimacy and legitimation. Annual Review of Psychology, 57(1), 375–400. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190038
Wexler, D. B. (1993). Therapeutic jurisprudence and the criminal courts. William & Mary Law Review, 35(1), 279. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248074727_Therapeutic_Jurisprudence_and_the_Criminal_Courts
Wexler, D. B. (2011). From theory to practice and back again in therapeutic jurisprudence: Now comes the hard part. Monash University Law Review, 37(1), 33–42. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=86195601&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Wrigley-Asante, C., Owusu, G., Oteng-Ababio, M., & Owusu, A. Y. (2016). Poverty and crime: Uncovering the hidden face of sexual crimes in urban low-income communities in Ghana. Ghana Journal of Geography, 8(81), 32–50.
Statutes Referred To
Ghana Police Service Act, 1970 (Act 350).
Legal Professions Act, 1960 (Act 32).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kwakye-Nuako, C.O. (2021). Issues of Competence, Experience and Psychological Awareness among Police who Prosecute Cases of Child Sexual Abuse in Ghana. In: Chan, H.C.(., Adjorlolo, S. (eds) Crime, Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71024-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71024-8_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71023-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71024-8
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)