Understanding Criminal Justice Corruption in Ghana: Voices from Within

Abstract

Corruption in any form is a serious crime that threatens democracies and governments, damages economies, causes devastating inefficiencies, diverts funds away from essential public services, and exacerbates inequalities, especially in developing nations. It negatively affects the lives and destinies of citizens, public bodies, businesses, governments, and charity organisations. Corruption is so infectious that it sometimes affects systems established to enforce the laws and control corruption. Indeed, research has shown that criminal justice systems (CJSs) or institutions, which are often the last resort for nations and citizens to address crimes that occur in other parts of the economy, including corruption, are severely affected by corruption. Corruption has attracted substantial academic attention for decades, with several studies reporting that citizens of developing countries in Africa and elsewhere perceived their countries’ criminal justice institutions (CJIs), especially the police and judiciary, as among the most corrupt public institutions. Despite the public perceptions of high corruption in CJSs, its negative consequences, and extensive research on general corruption, little research focuses on corruption in CJSs from the perspectives of criminal justice officials, and across multiple CJIs simultaneously. This study does precisely this. The current study uses theories of rational choice, routine activity, and crime pattern and situational crime prevention framework to examine various aspects of corruption across multiple CJIs in Ghana. Using interview data from 65 criminal justice and anti-corruption officials and spontaneous observations across three regions of Ghana, this thesis addresses six research questions. These are 1) What is the nature of criminal justice corruption in Ghana; 2) Which institutions and processes in Ghana’s CJS are affected by corruption and how; 3) What factors account for the occurrence and persistence of corruption in Ghana’s CJS; 4) What measures exist for controlling criminal justice corruption in Ghana; 5) Are existing measures to control corruption in Ghana’s CJS adequate and effective; and 6) How can Ghana control corruption in its CJS effectively? Results from this study demonstrate that participants perceive that: 1) corruption concentrates at entry points of Ghana’s CJS and institutions; 2) deficiencies in the internal operations of the CJS, institutional (in)actions and lack of guardianship create opportunities and motivations for widespread corruption; and 3) low literacy and a lack of awareness among the public about criminal justice operations, procedures and services serve as key facilitators of corruption. In addition, criminal justice officials variously explain and justify the occurrence and prevalence of corruption in Ghana’s CJS. This thesis makes some significant contributions to the corruption literature from the perspectives of opportunity theories and organisational context, with important implications for developing evidence-based measures that can help to control corruption in Ghana’s CJS.