| ID | 120907 |
| Title Proper | There should be no open doors in the police |
| Other Title Information | criminal investigations in northern Ghana as boundary work |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Beek, Jan |
| Publication | 2012. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In criminal investigations by police officers in northern Ghana, the lines are fluid: civilians arrest suspects on their own, assuming the tasks of the police. Police officers are heavily influenced by civilians, often forming paid alliances with them. Yet such entanglements paradoxically enable state policing and integrate the police into society in a context of low resources and low legitimacy. Other practices limit and frame such transgressions. Using the concept of boundary work, this article analyses how actors maintain and negotiate the seemingly blurred distinction between state and society in West Africa. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of Modern African Studies Vol. 50, No.4; Dec 2012: p.551-572 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Modern African Studies Vol. 50, No.4; Dec 2012: p.551-572 |
| Key Words | West Africa ; Boundary Work ; Police ; Civilians ; Northern Ghana ; Criminal Investigations |