Abstract

This study examines crime rate trends in Ghana in the context of research into the international crime drop. Ghanaian police-recorded crime data are imperfect, but crime rates appear to have increased to the early 2000s then to have declined significantly. However, the national trend for all crime types masks significant variation by crime type and region. The national trends appear, broadly speaking, consistent with long-term crime increases and decreases in high-income countries, but with a lag that may reflect Ghana’s economic development trajectory. This may be consistent with the routine activity perspective if both crime opportunities and economic development increased in parallel, followed by a crime decline that reflected increased security measures or other change. The study raises many questions that require further research, and some suggestions to that end are outlined.

Details

Title
Crime drop in Ghana? Some insights from crime patterns and trends
Author
Dziwornu, Michael Gameli 1 

 University of Milan-Bicocca, Department of Sociology and Social Research, Milan, Italy (GRID:grid.7563.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2174 1754); Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (CSIRINSTI), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Accra, Ghana (GRID:grid.511545.1) 
Pages
433-449
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Dec 2021
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
ISSN
14603780
e-ISSN
17434629
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2587493885
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.