"Suffering in silence": a qualitative inquiry of sexual violence against married women in Ghana

Although a global problem, sexual violence against women is more pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet academic scholarship on this important topic remains scant. In particular, little attention has been given to the lived experiences of sexual violence from the perspective of married women. This gap is problematic as previous studies suggest that sexual violence is commonplace among married than single women in sub-Saharan Africa, requiring immediate research and policy attention. Contributing to the limited but growing body of literature, this study examined the lived experiences and perspectives of married women who suffered sexual violence in the Eastern Region of Ghana, one of the areas with the highest or most prevalent incidents of male-partner violence in the country. A qualitative research approach with Heise’s social-ecological framework was employed to better understand sexual violence in Ghana. Specifically, the study used fifteen qualitative recorded in-depth interviews purposively held with Ghanaian women who had experienced sexual violence in their marriages to answer two main research questions: (1) what are the reasons for married women’s experience of sexual violence? (2) how does sexual violence affect married women? Results from the thematic analysis showed that several driving forces and motivations triggered sexual violence against married women. Some of the reasons participants identified were macro-level and exosystem issues including cultural beliefs about gender division of labour, some traditional marriage practices, poverty and adherence to traditional masculine norms. Other explanations were micro-level and ontogenic issues comprising substance use, past experiences of violence and extramarital sexual affairs on the part of husbands. Due to itsperpetration, participants indicated that women did not experience only sexual violence but also physical violence and verbal violence. The results showed that the experiences of married women following sexual violence and other forms of abuse were physical injuries, psychological problems, sexual, reproductive health problems, and suicidal ideations. These negative health outcomes significantly undermined women’s economic activities and depleted their income. Overall, the findings demonstrate that sexual violence among married women is a chronic experience, with severe implications for their health and well-being. Thus, campaigns against marital violence and domestic abuse should make sexual violence a priority. It is also important that legal and policy frameworks are strengthened to address the aetiology of male-partner sexual violence against women in Ghana

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Graduate course catalog (Florida International University). [2016-2017]

This catalog contains a description of the various policies, graduate programs, degree requirements, and course offerings at Florida International University during the 2016-2017 academic year.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/catalogs/1072/thumbnail.jp

Internationalisation of business clusters: the case of fruit processing clusters in Ghana

Since Alfred Marshall propounded industrial clusters, the study of spatial organisation over the years has revealed numerous benefits of agglomeration to businesses, countries and regions. Until recently, discussions on the gains associated with internationalising clusters have mainly been situated within the developed economy setting. The key drivers of exporting clusters have mostly been related to cases within more functioning institutional environments. However, factors responsible for driving exporting activities in clusters within developing economies’ setting are a current phenomenon in academic enquiry that has received minimal attention. Thus, the study aims to fill the knowledge gap by investigating the emergence of and dynamism within clusters, thereby understanding the key drivers of exporting fruit processing cluster activities in developing economies like Ghana. The study focuses on spatial and internationalisation theories to draw out key concepts on networking and knowledge. The research adopts a mixed methods approach, using 99 surveys and 24 interviews, to empirically study actors in two fruit processing and exporting clusters. The findings show that, comparatively, palm processing businesses have a more socially embedded network structure that drives exporting activities in the cluster as opposed to the more formal business-like relationship in the pineapple cluster. As a result, parallel social institutions have emerged among the palm processing businesses which are enhancing their exporting capabilities. The findings also reveal how pineapple processors, due to their more outward-looking nature, have been able to externally acquire and transmit ‘tacit’ knowledge on MD2 pineapples through an entrepreneur ‘gatekeeper’. Further evidence shows that processing businesses in the pineapple cluster are mostly set up to internationalise from the onset due to the presence of external investors and the exposure of entrepreneurs to international markets. The results provide a compelling case of born global businesses within a developing economy setting. The research contributes to extant theoretical development and understanding of the key drivers of exports within clustered businesses. Particularly, it emphasises the role spatial organisation plays in exporting clusters within the developing economy setting

An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) investigation of positive psychological change (PPC), including post traumatic growth (PTG)

Positive Psychological Change (PPC) following trauma is a developing field for which there is no standard terminology. The plethora of labels, of which Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) is probably the most common descriptor, arguably masks a significant gap in clinical and theoretical understanding of the phenomenon. One specific gap addressed by this study is PPC following psychological trauma stemming from a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) in which the person involved has subsequently received Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR). To investigate this gap in knowledge, an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was used and twelve participants recruited via a snowball sampling method. The participants were then interviewed using a Semi-structured Interview Questionnaire (SSIQ) and the interviews were then transcribed for IPA analysis. Key themes that emerged included Navigational Struggle (NS) to describe Negative Psychological Change (NPC), and Network Growth (NG), to describe PPC. At any one post-RTA/EMDR point there was a preponderance of one over the other, however, NS and NG were inseparable and found to co-exist along an NS-NG continuum. In addition, Figurative Language Use (FLU) had a significant role in both NS and NG yet was independent of both and apparently driving change towards the development of NG. Whilst NS and NG were both post-trauma phenomena, FLU seemed to hallmark expansion of memory networks as part of a general maturation process post-RTA. Furthermore, there was evidence that participants were incorporating their traumatic experiences via FLU into the rebuilding of their assumptive worlds. To account for these findings, an extension to Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) – the theory widely accepted to underpin EMDR - is proposed based upon a hypothesised Plasticity of Meaning (PoM), which is observable through FLU. PoM predicts which, why and how memory networks connect resulting in the adaptive processing predicted by AIP. The study’s findings are re-examined in terms of consequential modifications to the clinical use of EMDR. Extensive suggestions for further research are provided