Frank Baffour

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Lecturer at University of Newcastle Australia

Purpose Mental health challenges are highly prevalent in African migrants. However, understanding of mental health outcomes in first-generation voluntary African migrants is limited, despite the unique challenges faced by this migrant subgroup. This review aimed to synthesize the literature to understand the mental health challenges, help-seeking b...

The article explored overcrowding in Ghana prisons and sought to understand its impact on the health and well-being of persons in custody and prison officers. Qualitative data from 38 participants who were serving terms or working in three prison facilities in Ghana revealed three themes, including (a) fear over the spread of communicable diseases,...

Background African migrants constitute a significant proportion of the Australian population, with over 7.6 million migrants residing in the country in 2020. While migration and resettlement offer opportunities, the associated stressors may adversely affect the mental health and well-being of African migrants. This study explores, for the first tim...

Information provision and services in prisons have been demonstrated to be a critical component of successful rehabilitation and reintegration. The study therefore examined the information behaviour of inmates in Ghana prisons with the aim of understanding their information needs, sources and challenges towards improving the information provision a...

This article contributes to the discussion on criminal record-keeping and post-prison employment from the perspective of a developing country. We present and discuss the results of a qualitative research based on interviews with 13 employers in Ghana about the use of criminal background checks in the hiring process. Data suggest a perceived lack of...

This paper reflects on the process of undertaking qualitative research with incarcerated individuals and prison staff in selected Ghana prisons. The challenges encountered during the planning, approval, and fieldwork stages, as well as measures adopted to address these challenges, have been discussed. The paper aims to serve as a guide to novel pri...

Given the increasing levels of stress, strain and anxiety brought about by “ongoing challenges of living independently, autonomous learning and peer competition [initially for better grades, and thereafter, for better jobs/careers] [as well as the] … financial challenges established by high tuition and living fees”, tertiary-level students from acr...

We assess the extent to which the penal system in Ghana has adopted rehabilitation as a fundamental principle and a means to attain desistance from offending and examine the history of incarceration in Ghana, how the advent of colonialism supplanted the traditional rehabilitation approach of restitution and community reintegration and rehabilitatio...

The physical, sexual and reproductive, and mental health complications posed by Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) raise problems that must be addressed by victims. This study presents qualitative data on the coping strategies employed by 20 head-load carriers (females who carry loads in a saucepan on the head for a fee) who were survivors of IPV. The...

Introduction In most traditional societies in Ghana, infertility is unacceptable and every couple is expected to conceive children by any means. This study explores the sociocultural implications of infertility in Ghana and the challenges couples encounter in accessing assisted reproductive technology. Methods The study used a qualitative descript...

This study explores the causes of recidivism among inmates in a prison facility in Ghana. Eleven men who had served two or more terms of imprisonment, five prison officers who were in charge of rehabilitation, five community members, and two police officers (in Ghana, most offenses are prosecuted by the police) who had prosecuted at least three rec...

In Ghana, a convicted person is not entitled to parole. The only hope for their return into the community is either completing the sentence or government amnesty. However, recidivists on life sentences are completely denied the chance of returning into the community. This coupled with the demand of adjusting to the country’s prison conditions affec...

The article investigates ex-convicts’ experiences of stigmatization and its effect on their well-being in selected prisons in Ghana. Qualitative data were collected from 20 male inmates who, after residing for a time in the community, were thereafter reincarcerated. Findings indicate that these men were subjected to stigmatization and degrading tre...

The psychosocial issues posed by offenders, victims of crime and their respective families who have come into contact with the criminal justice system continue to escalate in quality and quantity around the world. As a result of this, the involvement of social workers in such criminal justice issues in developing (India) and developed (Australia) c...

The study contributed to filling a knowledge gap in the area of intimate partner violence (IPV). Previous studies conducted in Ghana have investigated the causes and types of IPV, leaving a gap on the consequences the violence had on the victims. Using a population of local economic migrants (hereafter, head-load carriers), a qualitative design wit...

This study employed a qualitative research design to explore the perceptions and experiences of stigmatization and discrimination against recidivists in Ghana. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 20 adults and analyzed to identify emerging themes that addressed the objectives of the study. The findings indicated that the community m...

The upsurge in the rate of juvenile delinquency over the past decades and scanty literature in the area of juvenile delinquency in Ghana necessitated this study. Accordingly, the study employed Travis Hirschi's social bonding theory to explore the factors that predisposed the inmates of the Ghana Senior Correctional Center to delinquency. A qualita...