A Critical Assessment of Public Administration and Civil Disobedience in Developing African Democracies: An Institutional Analysis of Mob Justice in Ghana

Public administration exists primarily to enforce laws and the extent to which this mandate is carried out espouses trust among citizenry in the entire political system. The study aimed at assessing the relationship between institutional effectiveness and civil disobedience in Ghana using the specific case of how perception of unresponsive police and legal systems do contribute to mob justice. The study adopted the case of Nima Community in Greater Accra Region. The study sampled 140 respondents involving 40 police officials and 100 community members using the simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Semi-structured questionnaire was the main research instrument. Findings of the study revealed that mob justice is prevalent in the Nima community not that the people are lawless per se but it is an action to put ‘the fear of God’ or to deter potential criminals in the community. More importantly, mob action is perpetrated to ensure justice is given to individuals for their actions. The study revealed that whilst respondents view the action as barbaric and affront to human rights and the law, they are compelled to do so because the alternative is probabilistic. The study found out that, the absence or insufficient law enforcement agents, and the perceived unsatisfactory performance of the security agents as well as legal system greatly influence mob violence. The study concludes that people perceive the police system and law courts to be too slow in reacting to issues of stealing, crime, robbery and murder which to the people demand quick interventions; this suggests that the ability of the law enforcement officials and agencies to work conscientiously to the satisfaction of the populace does have a greater implication on how people obey the law and trust the legal regime. Put differently, if the police and law courts work effectively, professionally, and impartially, it will inspire confidence and trust among community members to report crime suspects on daily basis without recourse to mob justice. The study makes four main recommendations to help curb the phenomenon of mob justice. Keywords: Mob justice, Civil disobedience, Instant justice, Institutions, Developing countries, Ghan

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways