Professor
Sociology: Social & Criminal Justice Advisor​​​Mensah Adinkrah

Anspach Hall 126
(989) 774-3367
email: adink1m@cmich.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. in Sociology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1988
  • M.A. in Sociology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1986
  • M.A. in Sociology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 1983
  • B.A. (Honors) in Sociology, University Ghana, Legon, Ghana, 1980

Areas of Teaching expertise

  • Criminology
  • Comparative Criminal Justice
  • Juvenile Delinquency
  • Corrections
  • Victimology
  • Homicide: Global Perspectives

Research Interests

  • Homicide
  • Suicide & Homi​cide-Suicides
  • Witchcraft in Africa
  • Violence Against Women and Children
  • Mortuary Beliefs and Practices

Selected Publications

Books

  • Adinkrah, M. (2015). Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana (Hardcover). New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2016). Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana (Paperback). New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books.
  • Adinkrah, M. (1996). Violent Encounters: A study of Homicide Patterns in Fiji Society. Suva, Fiji: FCOSS.
  • Adinkrah, M. (1995). Crime, Deviance and Delinquency in Fiji. Suva, Fiji: FCOSS.

Scholarly Articles

  • Adinkrah, M. (2020). "If You Die a Bad Death, We Give You a Bad Burial": Mortuary Practices and "Bad Death" Among the Akan in Ghana. Death Studies.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2020). Grannicides in Ghana: A Study of Lethal Violence by Grandchildren Against Grandmothers. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2019). Crash-Landings of Flying Witches in Ghana: Grand Mystical Feats or Diagnosable Psychiatric Illnesses? Transcultural Psychiatry, 56, 379-397.
  • Adinkrah, M. & Jenkins, E. (2019). Sororicides in Ghana: An analysis of Homicidal Aggression Against Sisters. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63, 1265-1288.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2019). A Case Study of a Maternal Filicide-Suicide in Ghana: The Role of Culture and Mental Health. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, 12, 45-54. 
  • Adinkrah, M. & Clemens, W. (2018). To Reinstate or to Not Reinstate? An Exploratory Study of Student Perspectives on the Death Penalty in Michigan. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62, 229-252.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2018). Characteristics of Elderly Suicides in Ghana. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2017). When a Wife Says ‘No’: Wife Sexual Refusal as a Factor in Husband-Wife Homicides in Ghana. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2017). Matricide in Ghana: Victims, Offenders, and Offense Characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62, 1925-1946.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2017). Commercial Transactions in Children: The Ghana Case. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62, 2391-2413.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2017). Patricides and Step-Patricides in Ghana: Victims, Offenders and Offender Characteristics. Journal of Family Violence, 32, 817-829. 
  • Adinkrah, M. (2017). Mass murder in Ghana: Offenders, Victims and Incident Characteristics. Journal of Forensic Pathology, 2 (2), 1-8.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2017). Representations of Mortuary Beliefs and Practices in Akan Literary Works: A Focus on Edwin Efa’s Forosie. International Journal of Literature and Culture.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2016). Anti-Suicide Laws in Nine African Countries: Criminalization, Prosecution and Penalization. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, 9, 279-292.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2015). Suicide and Mortuary Beliefs and Practices of the Akan of Ghana. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 74, 138-163.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2014). Femicide-Suicides in Contemporary Ghana: Victims, Offenders and Incident Characteristics. Violence Against Women, 20, 1078-1096. 
  • Adinkrah, M. & Adhikari, P. (2014). Gendered Injustice: A Comparative Analysis of Witchcraft Beliefs and Witchcraft-Related Violence in Ghana and Nepal. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 6, 314-321. 
  • Adinkrah, M. (2014). Confessions: Suicidal Ideation on a Ghanaian Radio Program. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology, 6, 234-239. 
  • Adinkrah, M. (2014). “Suicide in Ghanaian Men.” In Lester, D., Gunn, J. F., & Quinnett, P. (Eds.). Men and Suicide. (pp.262-276). New York: Charles C. Thomas Publishing Limited.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2014). Homicide-Suicides in Ghana: Perpetrators, Victims and Incidence Characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58, 364-387.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2013). Glimpses of African Suicidality: Suicide and Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine. European Journal of Social Sciences, 37, 21-31.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2013). Criminal Prosecution of Suicide Attempt Survivors in Ghana. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57 (12), 1477-1497. 
  • Adinkrah, M. (2012). Better Dead Than Dishonored: Masculinity and Male Suicidal Behavior in Contemporary Ghana. Social Science and Medicine, 74, 474-481.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2011). Patterns of Female Suicidal Behavior in Ghana. Psychological Reports, 109, 649-662.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2011). Child Witch Hunts in Contemporary Ghana. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 35, 741-752.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2011). Epidemiologic Characteristics of Suicidal Behavior in Contemporary Ghana. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 32, 31-36.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2011). Criminalizing Rape within Marriage: Perspectives of Ghanaian University Students. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55, 982-1010.
  • Adinkrah, M.  (2008). Spousal Homicides in Contemporary Ghana. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36, 209-216.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2008). Husbands Who Kill Their Wives: An Analysis of Uxoricides in Contemporary Ghana. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 52, 296-310.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2008). Witchcraft Themes in Popular Ghanaian Music. Popular Music and Society, 31, 299-311.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2007). Women Who Kill Their Husbands: Mariticides in Contemporary Ghana. Aggressive Behavior, 33, 526-536.
  • Adinkrah, M. & White, C. M. (2007). “Mythical Realities”: College Students’ Construction of the South Pacific. College Student Journal, 40, 99-111.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2005). Vigilante Homicides in Contemporary Ghana. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33, 413-427.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2005). Ritual Homicides in Contemporary Ghana. International Journal of Comparative Criminology, 5, 29-59.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2004). Witchcraft Accusations and Female Homicide Victimization in Contemporary Ghana. Violence Against Women, 10, 325-356.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2003). Men Who Kill Their Own Children: Paternal Filicide Incidents in Contemporary Fiji. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 27, 557-569.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2003). Homicide-Suicides in Fiji: Offense Patterns, Situational Factors & Sociocultural Contexts. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 33, 65-73.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2001). When Parents Kill: A Descriptive Analysis of Filicide in Fiji. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45, 144-158.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2001). Patriarchal Family Ideology and Female Homicide Victimization in Fiji. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 32, 283-301.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2001). Child Homicide Victimization in Contemporary Fiji. International Journal of Comparative Criminology, 1, 23-39.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2000). Female perpetrated spousal homicides: The Fiji case. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28, 151-161.
  • Adinkrah, M. (2000). Maternal infanticides in Fiji. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 24, 1543-1555.
  • Adinkrah, M. (1999). Spousal homicides in Fiji. Homicide Studies, 3, 215 240.
  • Adinkrah, M. (1999). Uxoricide in Fiji: The sociocultural context of husband wife killings. Violence Against Women, 5, 1294 1320.
  • Adinkrah, M. & Chand, A. (1996). Suicide in Fiji: Report of a Nationwide Survey. School of Social and Economic Development, the University of the South Pacific, Suva. 
  • Adinkrah, M. & Qalo, R. (1995). Law and Order Issues in Fiji. In National Economic Summit Sub Committee Reports, (pp. 71 96). Suva, Fiji: Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. 1995.