Inusah Abdul-Nasiru

Mental Health Professionals’ Attitudes Toward Offenders With Mental Illness (Insanity Acquittees) in Ghana

Mental health professionals’ attitudes toward offenders with mental illness have significant implications for the quality of care and treatment rendered, making it imperative for these professionals to be aware of their attitudes. Yet, this topical issue has received little research attention. Consequently, the present study investigates attitudes toward offenders with mental illness (insanity acquittees) in a sample of 113 registered mental health nurses in Ghana. Using a cross-sectional survey and self-report methodology, the participants respond to measures of attitudes toward offenders with mental illness, attitudes toward mental illness, conviction proneness, and criminal blameworthiness. The results show that mental health nurses who reportedly practiced for a longer duration (6 years and above) were more likely to be unsympathetic, while the male nurses who were aged 30 years and above were more likely to hold offenders with mental illness strictly liable for their offenses. Importantly, the nurses’ scores in conviction proneness and criminal blameworthiness significantly predict negative attitudes toward the offenders even after controlling for their attitudes toward mental illness. Yet, when the nurses’ conviction proneness and criminal blameworthiness were held constant, their attitudes toward mental illness failed to predict attitudes toward the offenders. This initial finding implies that the nurses’ views regarding criminal blameworthiness and conviction may be more influential in understanding their attitudes toward offenders with mental illness relative to their attitudes toward mental illness.

Attitudes Toward the Insanity Defense: Examination of the Factor Structure of Insanity Defense Attitude-Revised (IDA-R) Scale in Ghana

ABSTRACT Decades of research have revealed the potential of individuals to be partial toward defendants pleading insanity at the time of offense. This study examines the internal structure of the Insanity Defense Attitude-Revised (IDA-R) scale as well as predictors of insanity defense attitude in a Ghanaian sample (N = 253). Using principal component analysis, we identified three distinct latent factors, two (i.e., strict liability, unprofessional behavior and safety concerns) of which corroborate the findings of previous studies, and a unique factor- expression of sympathy. Participants who were highly involved in religious activities were more likely to be sympathetic. Views regarding the causes and treatability of mental illness did not significantly predict insanity defense attitudes.

International Development and I-O Psychology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives from Local and Expatriate Standpoints

This chapter describes the work of the two authors who served separately to help improve the quality of education in different sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana and South Africa. While both authors were not I-O psychologists at the time, their experiences involved applying industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology principles and helped shaped their current perspectives, and careers, as I-O psychologists. While both authors were associated with development initiatives tied to the United States, their perspectives represent different sides of traditional development projects as one brought the perspective of someone from the United States to South Africa while the other brought a local Ghanaian perspective and expertise to his project in Ghana. The authors’ projects involved a range of topics from I-O psychology including motivation and organizational development, but they highlight select challenges and priorities that are frequently prominent in development work, namely, communication difficulties, the importance of strengthening relationships between stakeholders, and physical security. They discuss and explore the ramifications of these challenges and priorities, including how they reflect on the importance of issues of identity, power, and justice in international development work.