History of psychology in Ghana since 989AD

Seth Oppong

doi:10.5964/psyct.v10i1.195

Abstract

Psychology as taught in Ghanaian universities is largely Eurocentric and imported. Calls have been made to indigenize psychology in Ghana. In response to this call, this paper attempts to construct a history of psychology in Ghana so as to provide a background for the study of the content and process of what psychology would and/or ought to become in Ghana. It does so by going as far back as the University of Sankore, Timbuktu established in 989AD where intellectual development flourished in the ancient Empire of Mali through to the 1700s and 1800s when Black Muslim scholars established Koranic schools, paying particular attention to scholarly works in medicine, theology and philosophy. Attention is then drawn to Anton Wilhelm Amo’s dissertation, De Humanae Mentis “Apatheia” and Disputatio Philosophica Continens Ideam Distinctam (both written in 1734) as well as some 18th and 19th century Ghanaian scholars. Special mention is also made about the contributions by the Department of Psychology at the University of Ghana (established in May 1967) in postcolonial Ghana as one of the first departments of psychology in Anglophone West Africa. The paper also discusses the challenges associated with the application of psychological knowledge in its current form in Ghana and ends by attempting to formulate the form an indigenous Ghanaian psychology could to take.

Highlights

Psychology as taught in Ghanaian universities is largely Eurocentric and imported
Psychology was first introduced as a course in 1949 (Nsamenang, 2007; Oppong Asante & Oppong, 2012) while the first department of psychology was established in the region in 1964
Given that commerce often leads to cross-fertilization of knowledge and ideas (Brennan, 1998; Dumbe, 2013; Graness, 2016; Murphy, & Kovach, 1972; Reindorf, 1889/1895; Windsor, 2003) which makes it difficult to talk about distinct knowledge tradition (Lauer, 2013), it is plausible to suggest that Akan philosophy, for example, influenced and was influenced by the knowledge brought from the University of Sankore by the Timbuktu scholars to the Gold Coast

Summary

Introduction

Psychology as taught in Ghanaian universities is largely Eurocentric and imported. Calls have been made to indigenize psychology in Ghana. What scientific psychology has done in Africa is to provide systematic methods that African psychologists can employ to resolve their philosophical questions on the nature of human mind and behaviour without resorting to logical arguments.

Results

Conclusion