Justice for Children in Ghana: The Untold Dimension
Abstract Studies on criminal justice in Ghana have implicated the police in bribery, breach of trust, crime trade, and brutality, among others. This study departed from the approach of “perceived wrongs” cited against the police and examined the less untold challenges which militate against child-fr...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Annales internationales de criminologie 2023-06, Vol.61 (2), p.1-15 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng ; fre ; spa |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Abstract Studies on criminal justice in Ghana have implicated the police in bribery, breach of trust, crime trade, and brutality, among others. This study departed from the approach of “perceived wrongs” cited against the police and examined the less untold challenges which militate against child-friendly policing in the country. A total of 160 police respondents were randomly selected from three police districts in the Northern Region of Ghana in a correlational study design. Administering a questionnaire was used as the primary data collection method. The study found that the police are constrained by inadequate cells for juveniles, inadequate serviceable vehicles, lack of remand homes for juveniles, lack of State-owned temporary shelters for victims of abuse and inadequate budgetary support for handling juvenile crimes. Using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, with a 147.119 (df = 5) value for χ 2 , the asymptotic significance ( p ) was 0.000, signifying a significant agreement among police officers’ grading scores. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) figure was found to be 0.751, implying that 75.1% of the ranking scores given by police officers were in consonance with these challenges which have restrained them from any practical child-friendly policing and administration of juvenile justice in the study locality.
Abstracto Los estudios sobre justicia penal en Ghana han implicado a la policía en sobornos, abuso de confianza, tráfico delictivo y brutalidad, entre otros. Este estudio se apartó del enfoque de los “males percibidos” citados contra la policía y examinó los desafíos menos incalculables que militan en contra de la policía amiga de los niños en el país. En total, 160 policías encuestados fueron seleccionados al azar de tres distritos policiales en la región norte de Ghana en un diseño de estudio correlacional. La administración de un cuestionario se utilizó como método principal de recopilación de datos. El estudio encontró que la policía está limitada por celdas inadecuadas para menores, vehículos reparables inadecuados, falta de centros de detención preventiva para menores, falta de refugios temporales estatales para víctimas de abuso y apoyo presupuestario inadecuado para manejar los delitos juveniles. Utilizando el coeficiente de concordancia de Kendall, con un valor de 147,119 (df = 5) para el χ 2 , la significancia asintótica fue de 0,000, lo que significa un acuerdo significativo entre los oficiales de policía que califican las |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0003-4452 2398-676X |