The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions

This study aims to document, describe, and examine how the informal prison economy is mediated. It is argued that, in part, it is the prison’s internal micro bureaucratic capitalism that gives rise to its informal economy. The data discussion draws on ethnographic observation, interviews with inmate...

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Autores principales:	Elijah Tukwariba Yin, Nelson Kofie
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Taylor & Francis Group 2021
Materias:	formal economy informal economy contraband institutional contradictions prison Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d12633eaf38c48329d73509c03d22a8a
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:d12633eaf38c48329d73509c03d22a8a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d12633eaf38c48329d73509c03d22a8a2021-11-26T11:19:50ZThe informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions2331-188610.1080/23311886.2021.2004673https://doaj.org/article/d12633eaf38c48329d73509c03d22a8a2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.2004673https://doaj.org/toc/2331-1886This study aims to document, describe, and examine how the informal prison economy is mediated. It is argued that, in part, it is the prison’s internal micro bureaucratic capitalism that gives rise to its informal economy. The data discussion draws on ethnographic observation, interviews with inmates, ex-convicts, and prison officers. The paper also makes use of newspapers and internet-based news articles on prisons in Ghana. The data was analysed based on themes and patterns. The analysed data showed that the informal prison economy was antithetical yet symbiotic with the formal bureaucracy. And that the illicit economy was a product of a poorly managed system that enabled ordinary staff members to engage in corrupt practices without fear of negative sanctions. The role of the informal prison economy in the lives of inmates was enormous—ranging from family sustenance, de-facto health insurance, hiring of legal services to say the least. The paper concludes that the informal economy has become habituated and has taken on a life of its own; to the extent that it has become resistant to administrative control.Elijah Tukwariba YinNelson KofieTaylor & Francis Grouparticleformal economyinformal economycontrabandinstitutional contradictionsprisonSocial SciencesHENCogent Social Sciences, Vol 7, Iss 1 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	formal economy informal economy contraband institutional contradictions prison Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	formal economy informal economy contraband institutional contradictions prison Social Sciences H Elijah Tukwariba Yin Nelson Kofie The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
description	This study aims to document, describe, and examine how the informal prison economy is mediated. It is argued that, in part, it is the prison’s internal micro bureaucratic capitalism that gives rise to its informal economy. The data discussion draws on ethnographic observation, interviews with inmates, ex-convicts, and prison officers. The paper also makes use of newspapers and internet-based news articles on prisons in Ghana. The data was analysed based on themes and patterns. The analysed data showed that the informal prison economy was antithetical yet symbiotic with the formal bureaucracy. And that the illicit economy was a product of a poorly managed system that enabled ordinary staff members to engage in corrupt practices without fear of negative sanctions. The role of the informal prison economy in the lives of inmates was enormous—ranging from family sustenance, de-facto health insurance, hiring of legal services to say the least. The paper concludes that the informal economy has become habituated and has taken on a life of its own; to the extent that it has become resistant to administrative control.
format	article
author	Elijah Tukwariba Yin Nelson Kofie
author_facet	Elijah Tukwariba Yin Nelson Kofie
author_sort	Elijah Tukwariba Yin
title	The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
title_short	The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
title_full	The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
title_fullStr	The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
title_full_unstemmed	The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
title_sort	informal prison economy in ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions
publisher	Taylor & Francis Group
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d12633eaf38c48329d73509c03d22a8a
work_keys_str_mv	AT elijahtukwaribayin theinformalprisoneconomyinghanapatternsexchangesandinstitutionalcontradictions AT nelsonkofie theinformalprisoneconomyinghanapatternsexchangesandinstitutionalcontradictions AT elijahtukwaribayin informalprisoneconomyinghanapatternsexchangesandinstitutionalcontradictions AT nelsonkofie informalprisoneconomyinghanapatternsexchangesandinstitutionalcontradictions
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The informal prison economy in Ghana: patterns, exchanges, and institutional contradictions

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