CHAPTER 1

History, Development and Current Status of Psychology in Ghana

Seth Oppong 12, Kwaku Oppong Asante 3 and Stephen K. Kumako1

1 Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Legon

2Sam E. Jonah School of Business, African University College of Communication

3 Discipline of Psychology, School of Applied Human Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

The principal objective of this chapter is to trace the history of psychology as both an academic

discipline and a profession, describe the current state of psychology in Ghana and the associated

challenges and also identify prospects for future growth and development. Psychology as a

taught course is presented, highlighting the fact that the classroom has been used mainly to train

psychologists in Ghana. This is followed by a discussion on the practice of psychology as a

profession in Ghana and the challenges that are encountered in this regard. We then identify

opportunities available to Ghanaian psychologists to make psychology an indispensable

discipline that can be leveraged for national development. Finally, the prospects for indigenizing

psychology are identified and discussed.

Key words: Ghana, Psychology, Indigenizing Psychology

Please cite as:

Status of Psychology in Ghana. In C. S. Akotia and C.C. Mate-Kole (Eds). Contemporary Psychology: Readings from Ghana (pp. 1 – 17). Accra: Digibooks Ghana Ltd.

Oppong, S., Oppong Asante, K., & Kumaku, S. K. (2014). History, Development and Current

Introduction

Psychology is one of the most popular university courses in Ghana. This is due to the fact that

many private universities in Ghana provide at least a semester course in introductory psychology

as part of their university required courses for graduation while four public universities also

provide a four-year degree programme in psychology or a branch of psychology. As psychology

is not taught in second-cycle institutions, most of the students who pursue it do not necessarily

choose it as a course of study at the university. Rather, psychology is “imposed” on them as an

alternative for not securing their preferred programmes. Psychology’s popularity is increasing

among such students as a result of the very broad nature of the discipline and its associated

careers. Careers in psychology range from those that have to do with working with children to

those that focus on the applications of psychology to business management, the treatment of

mental disorders as well as those that deal strictly with counseling individuals with personal

problems.

Few research papers have been written to assess the relative importance of psychology in

Ghana since the introduction of psychology as an academic discipline. However, five of such

research papers dealt with specific areas of specialization within psychology and psychological

research in Ghana - School psychology in Ghana (Danquah, 1984),Community psychology in

Ghana (Akotia & Barimah, 2007), Psychology in Ghana Revisited (Mate-Kole, 2013),

Psychology in Ghana: and a review of research and practice (de-Graft Aikins, Ofori-Atta,

Anum,& Dzokoto, (forthcoming).The fifth paper provided a brief overview of the emergence,

education and practice of psychology as a profession and academic discipline in Ghana (Oppong

Asante & Oppong, 2012).

In this chapter, we highlight some issues about the origin, academic training and

professional practice of psychology in Ghana and challenges associated with its practice. We

also discuss the possibility of indigenizing psychology into the Ghanaian context, with emphasis

on understanding African perspectives.

Origin

Two main approaches are available to researchers and historians who wish to trace and

explore the history of a given event or discipline (Boring, 1950; Brennan, 1998). According to

Boring (1950), a prominent historian of psychology, one can apply either the great man or

Zeitgeist model to the history of psychology. The great man theory states that “historical

progress occurs through the actions of great persons” whiles Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) holds

that historical progress occurs through “events themselves that permit the right person at the right

time to express an innovation” or social and cultural forces developing paradigms that shape

science or prevailing cultural forces of a given age (Brennan, 1998, p. 2-3). We adopt the

Zeitgeist approach and as a result, we examine the events and prevailing social and cultural

forces of a given time where possible.

In Ghana, scientific psychology emerged during colonization within the context of

providing education to serve colonial interests as it was in other West African colonies (Peltzer

& Bless, 1989). In most African countries, psychology has been “fragmented and further

undermined through incorporation into training service staff in education, health, and social and

missionary work instead of developing as a separate professional or academic discipline”

(Nsamenang, 2007, p. 5 & 6). In British West Africa, psychology was first taught as a course in

1949 (Nsamenang, 2007), the first department of psychology was established in the region in

1964; the first undergraduate psychology degree was awarded in 1967; a Master’s degree in

1975; and a Doctorate in 1982 (Eze, 1991). The first laboratory of experimental psychology in

the sub-continent was established in Zambia in 1965 (Nsamenang, 2007).

Historical records indicate that training of teacher-missionaries in Ghana began with the

establishment of the Basel Seminary (now Presbyterian College of Education) in 1898 and the

Accra Teacher Training College (now Accra College of Education) in 1909 by the Basel Mission

and the government of the Gold Coast respectively (Graham, 1971). The teaching and practice of

psychology can therefore be traced to the training and nonprofessional practice of psychology

(teachers and African missionaries) in the late 1890s. Given such humble beginning, the majority

of professionals who were involved in the application of psychological knowledge were not

always trained as professional psychologists per se. Their training might be in such fields as

education, medicine, and human services, to name but a few. In this sense, a fair degree of

training and practice of psychology as a scientific discipline existed in Ghana but not as an

academic discipline as known today.

Psychology as an academic discipline started at the University of Ghana, Legon and it

was first taught in 1963 as a combined psychology-sociology course in the Department of

Sociology (Agbodeka, 1998), but became an independent academic discipline, when the

Department of Psychology was established at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, in May

1967. Psychology has gradually been established as a professional discipline, a fledgling science

at best in Ghana due to the hard work of prominent professionals such as the late Prof. C. E.

Fiscian, Emeritus Prof. Gustav Jahoda, Mr. H. C. A. Bulley, Prof. J. Y. Opoku, and Prof. S. A.

Danquah. Prof. Fiscian was the first Head of Department while Emeritus Prof. Jahoda was

instrumental in the establishment of the psychology programme; Mr. Bulley, Prof. Opoku, and

Prof. Danquah were among the first lecturers of the department whose contributions to the

training of next generation Ghanaian psychologists and research are well known. Psychology in

Ghana has since then been growing (at least in the number of psychology graduates) to the

current state of having four public universities and two private university colleges offering

general psychology education or a branch and many private universities offering psychology as

part of their business education curricula. Notwithstanding this increase in numbers, psychology

has had little impact on social and public policies with a number of people not knowing services

offered by psychologists relative to status and policy impact that Ghanaian economists,

agriculturists, and political scientists have had. Despite this, Ghanaian psychologists have

actively participated in drafting and the subsequent passage of Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act

846), developments on chronic diseases research, and the recent policy to integrate psychology

into Ghana Health Service. However, these efforts at policy participation only represent attempts

by Ghanaian psychologists to take care of themselves rather than reaching out to policy-makers

on relevant policy issues.

Academic Training of Ghanaian Psychologists

Psychological science is a relatively new phenomenon in Ghana despite the application of

psychological principles for almost half a century. Indeed, to say that application of

psychological principles began with the arrival of Europeans may itself be a falsehood. This is

because Yang (2012) has categorized three different kinds of psychology in human history: folk

psychology (including common-sense psychology), philosophical psychology, and scientific

psychology. He argued that at the base of every scientific psychology are folk and philosophical

psychologies and also showed that ‘cultural misorientation’ of western psychology in

nonwestern societies is due to the disconnect between their foundations of psychology and that

of western scientific psychology: folk and philosophical psychologies. To this extent

psychology has always been part of the Ghanaian society from time immemorial. This situation

becomes more interesting and complicated if one thinks of the fact in April 1734, Antonius

Guilielmus Amo (Guinea-Afer), the first black African or Ghanaian to obtain a PhD, earned his

PhD in Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Wittenberg. Amo’s dissertation was

titled “On the Apathy of the Human Mind Or the Absence of Sense and of the Faculty of Sensing

in the Human Mind And the Presence of these in our Organic and Living Body” (see Amo,

1734/2012).

However, psychology is gradually becoming one of the popular courses to most

university students. It is therefore not surprising that most of the undergraduate proprammes in

Business Studies have introduction to psychology as one of its courses. However, the popularity

of psychology in Ghana has not translated into the number of universities that offer the four-year

undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in psychology. There are currently two

public and two private universities that offer psychology undergraduate and postgraduate

programmes in Ghana. These are the University of Ghana, Legon, , University of Cape Coast,

Cape Coast, Methodist University College Ghana, Dansoman and the Regent University College

of Science and Technology, Dansoman. In addition, the University of Education, Winneba,

another public university, provides specialist training in educational psychology and allied

programmes.

It is important to state that academic training of Ghanaian psychologists was marked by

the establishment of the Department of Psychology at the University of Ghana in 1967. In fact,

the teaching of scientific psychology at the University of Ghana began in 1967 with four (4)

students and two lecturers. The Department was one of the first Psychology Departments to be

established in an Anglophone West African University (Agbodeka, 1998; Eze, 1991). Since its

establishment, the Department of Psychology at the University of Ghana has trained numerous

psychologists occupying various positions in Ghana and around the world (Oppong Asante &

Oppong, 2012). It is arguably one of the largest Departments at the University of Ghana in terms

of student numbers (University of Ghana, 2010). The Department of Psychology offers BA/BSc

(Hons), Master of Philosophy in I/O Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Social Psychology,

and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). However, since its inception as an independent academic

department at the University of Ghana in 1967, it has produced several bachelor-level

psychology graduates, relatively few master-level psychologists and only two doctoral-level

psychologists, a situation that leaves much to be desired. The department currently has about 16

doctoral students with about half at the final stage of dissertation writing. The Department of

Psychology at University of Ghana, however, provides leadership in the development of new

psychology departments around the country. The faculty is mostly responsible for external

quality assurance services that the new psychology departments receive from the National

Accreditation Board (NAB) - a regulatory agency of the Ministry of Education that facilitates the

establishment of both public and private tertiary institutions and ensuring that standards are set

and maintained. NAB usually relies on the faculty to assess the quality of psychology curricula

developed at the new departments as well as the quality of student assessment practices

prevailing at the new psychology departments (Oppong Asante & Oppong, 2012).

Psychology is a recent development for the other universities. For instance, though the

University of Cape Coast (UCC) established its Bachelor of Education in Psychology in the late

1970s, it was only in the 2005/2006 academic year that the university introduced its B.Sc.

Psychology. Though UCC offers master’s degree in educational psychology, educational

measurement and evaluation, educational planning, curriculum and teaching, guidance and

counseling, teacher education, educational administration, administration in higher education,

and PhD in curriculum and teaching as well as qualitative research methods, it does not have as

at now any postgraduate degree programme in fields of psychology like clinical,

industrial/organizational, developmental, health and social psychology.

Similarly, psychology at Methodist University College was originally introduced as part

of the Department of General Studies at the inception of the university in early 2002. By the end

of 2008, a full-fledged department had been established for the teaching and research in

psychology as part of the Faculty of Social Studies (Oppong Asante & Oppong, 2012).

Currently, it offers B.A. Psychology, B.A. Religion, Ethics and Psychology as well as a Master

of Arts and Master of Philosophy degree in Guidance and Counselling. There is ongoing

preparation to mount an MPhil/PhD in Clinical-Health Psychology at the Department. At Regent

University College of Science and Technology, the Department of Psychology was established in

September, 2008 after approval from National Accreditation Board to run the BSc Psychology

and Human Development programme. There is also ongoing preparation to mount an M.Sc.in

Human Development. Two other private universities that deserve mention here are the

University of Applied Management (UAM) and Central University College (CUC). UAM offers

B.A and M.A in Business Psychology at its McCarthy-Hill campus whiles CUC offers a BA

Family Counseling and theology.

Given that only the Department of Psychology at the University of Ghana offers

psychology education up to the doctoral level, there are often few places that many prospective

students have to compete for. As a result, many of those who desire postgraduate education in

psychology have to travel abroad for their studies. Among the countries where some Ghanaian

psychologists are trained are Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom (UK),

the United States of America (USA) and South Africa, with majority of the externally-trained

psychologists receiving their education in the UK and the USA.

Professional Practice of Psychology

There are currently seven (7) categories of professional psychologists in Ghana (Oppong

Asante & Oppong, 2012). They are the industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists, clinical

psychologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, educational psychologists,

community psychologists and counseling psychologists. Among the various applied fields of

psychology, I/O psychology and clinical psychology are the most popular. As a result, the

discussion about the professional practice of psychologists will be limited to I/O and clinical

psychologists. It is worth noting that the various psychologists in Ghana are in various positions

in several organizations including institutions of higher learning, Corporate Ghana and non-profit

organizations.

Industrial and Organizational (I/O) psychologists are found in various positions in

Corporate Ghana as heads of Human Resource Departments or as consultants. For instance, a

number of the I/O psychologists have established their consulting firms, providing services

mostly in the area of training, recruitment, psychometric testing, and to a lesser extent,

organizational development. Though there are few I/O consulting firms, I/O graduates have been

hired by some of the management consulting firms operating in Ghana. Most I/O graduates are

in Human Resources and/or training positions in the banking, insurance, shipping and logistics,

telecommunication, and allied industries (Oppong, 2013).

Clinical psychologists are also hired by various organizations in Ghana. These

organizations include the Ghana Armed Forces, Hospitals and educational institutions. Other

Ghanaian clinical psychologists work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The

passage of the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846) and the inclusion of clinical psychologists on

the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) for the public and civil services will also facilitate the

hiring and placement of clinical psychologists into the various public and private health

institutions in Ghana.

Challenges

Like other Sub-Saharan African countries, Ghanaian psychologists encounter challenges.

The small number of universities that offer four-year bachelor’s degree in psychology is a

serious challenge as it limits access to psychology education to only a handful of prospective

students who gain admission to these four universities. What makes the situation more difficult is

the fact that out these four universities, only one offers postgraduate-level psychology education

up to the doctoral-level; the consequence of this is that only a handful of Ghanaian psychologists

have obtained their PhD. Related to the problem of limited access is lack of variety in

psychology programmes offered in universities. As at now, prospective students can only hope to

train successfully as a clinical psychologist, an industrial psychologist, a social psychologist, an

educational psychologist, and a counseling psychologist in Ghana at a Ghanaian university.

Given that fewer universities offer psychology at graduate level in Ghana, the only alternative is

for the individual to obtain their postgraduate training abroad. However, a major obstacle is the

scarcity of scholarship to support postgraduate studies abroad. This accounts for the lack of

psychologists in other areas of specialization such as sports, forensic, engineering, health and

many others in Ghana.

Limited availability of suitably trained personnel further exacerbates the problem. The

scarcity of scholarships combines with this problem of lack of suitably trained personnel to

further reduce capacity for the training of next generation of psychology educators. This is to say

that if there were more suitably trained psychologists, access to postgraduate training can be

expanded even at the few universities that provide the postgraduate training. It also minimizes

the capacity of the existing programmes to expand course offerings.

Another challenge is the over-reliance on western theories for applications. Despite its

existence for almost half a century, psychology in Ghana is foreign in its content and relies

predominantly on western theories. As a result, practitioners often have difficulties applying the

western theories to Ghanaian cultural context. Indeed, it is crucial to admit that the “imported

disciplinary organization of psychological knowledge may not be appropriate at all times and

everywhere” (Danziger, 2006; p. 269). According to Peltzer and Bless (1989) Zambian

psychologists overcome this lack of fit between theory and the socio-cultural milieu “by utilizing

their own experience and link them up with the cross-cultural research material available” (p. 8).

Similarly, Ghanaian psychologists also addressed this lack of fit by utilizing their own

experience and support their practices with culturally relevant examples.

Another notable challenge is the fact that the psychology is not well known among

Ghanaians. “Unlike many other physical and social science disciplines, psychology is not much

known by the average administrator/policy maker, let alone the average person…” (Machungwa,

1989, p. 55). The situation described by Machungwa (1989) about psychology in Eastern and

Southern Africa is still true in Ghana today. McKnight, Sechrest, and McKnight (2005) also have

suggested that “because policy makers do not have the luxury of doing a literature search when

charged with finding political solutions, they often will contact experts who they think might

have some ideas about solutions” (p. 563). McKnight et al (2005) intimated this as an

explanation for the low profile of psychology in policy circles in the US. The situation in the US

is not so different from what happens in Ghana and as a result, equally makes it less likely for

Ghanaian psychologists to be called upon for their expertise. This implies that Ghanaian

psychologists have a responsibility to create awareness about the role that psychologists can play

in the nation-building process as policy-makers will only consult experts whom they think can

actually help them.

For a long time profession of psychology in Ghana has been plagued with absence of a

vibrant association for psychologists and legislative instruments to protect the practice of

psychology in Ghana and this has been a hindrance to the growth of the discipline and

profession. However, Ghana Psychological Association has been relaunched (Mate-Kole, 2013)

and the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846) has also been passed. Act 846 has established a

Mental Health Authority. It is expected that new regulatory framework will provide the needed

legal backing for psychologists to practice their trade in Ghana as they ought to.

Opportunities for Growth and Development

Growth of the profession of psychology in this chapter is defined as the increased

awareness of the profession and the increased use of the expertise of psychologists in Ghana. A

major approach to enhance the growth and development of psychology in Ghana lies in the

application of the theory of mere exposure effect as advanced by Zajonc (1968). According this

theory, “mere repeated exposure of the individual to a stimulus is a sufficient condition for the

enhancement of his attitude toward it” (Zajonc, 1968, p.1).This was further advanced by Lee

(2001) that mere exposure effect occurs because what is familiar is preferable, as it reduces

uncertainty. Thus, the devil you know is better than the angel you do not know. The argument

being advanced in this section is that repeated exposure of Ghanaian policy-makers and the

general populace to the applications of psychological principles and the role of psychologists

will enhance their attitude towards the profession and the professionals.

Are there opportunities which Ghanaian psychologists can exploit to accelerate the

growth of the profession? One sure way of achieving this is to provide appropriate solutions to

some of the social problems Ghanaians and policymakers face. Notable social problems include

corruption, crime, suicide, homosexuality, poverty, unemployment, alcohol and drug

dependency, ethnocentrism and political polarization, child and adult prostitution, child labour

and streetism, adolescent problems (e.g. teenage pregnancy, poor academic performance, etc.),

conflicts, outmoded cultural practices, pornography, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular diseases and

other lifestyle diseases, job evaluation and fair remuneration, psychometric testing, customer

service, employee supervision, human capital development, occupational and traffic safety,

industrial relations and strikes, and employee motivation (Oppong, 2011; Tonah, 2009).

In addition, Ghanaian psychologists can also focus their attention on creating

psychological sense of community to mend the ethnic divisions among Ghanaians and to also

support peace-building processes in the North; attitude change to promote proper disposal of

waste in order to prevent cholera and malaria; response to disaster via psychological trauma

management; empirically assessing the effect of duration of academic performance of senior

high school students (viability of four-year vs. three-year SHS); empirically examining the role

of mother-tongue in quality early childhood education; political campaigning; and training and

certification of pastoral counselors. It is, however, important to note that Ghanaian psychologists

should not wait for policymakers to call on them to participate in the nation-building process but

be proactive and avail themselves in the service of nation-building pro bono when the need

arises. There have been countless occasions that Ghanaian psychologists could have seized to

enhance the public image of the profession. For instance, after major floods in Accra,

psychologists have been unable to offer free psychological trauma management services and to

make public pronouncements about their impact on the general wellbeing of the affected people.

Ghanaian psychologists have not utilized the persistent conflict in the Northern Ghana to provide

lasting solutions based on empirical social psychological studies. Additionally, Ghanaian

psychologists have been silent in the midst of the ongoing problems associated with managing

the single spine salary structure and labour unrest as well as the use of intemperate language on

the political scene. Psychologists in Ghana can become relevant to the general populace by

engaging in public lectures, free psychological services, press releases, press conferences,

issuing of white papers or position papers. Ghanaian psychologists can also put together a team

of psychologists to examine draft legislations and make presentations to the appropriate

parliamentary select committees when the draft legislation advances to the committee stage.

Indigenizing psychology in Ghana

Psychology as taught and practiced in Ghana is an imported discipline in both content

and orientation. Like any other colonial import, psychology has remained imperialistic and racist

(Owusu-Bempah & Howitt, 1995) as the mainstream theories and methods are still Euro-

American and the principal focus is on topics that reflect an externalized orientation

(Nsamenang, 2007). This has created a situation whereby we largely lose sight of the context in

which the existing African societies have grown and the human values they have produced

(Nsamenang, 2007; Westermann, 2001).

Peltzer and Bless (1989) have indicated that psychologists tend to overcome this lack of

fit between theory and the socio-cultural milieu “by utilizing their own experience and link them

up with the cross-cultural research material available” (p. 8); however, more is needed to be done

to domesticate or indigenize psychology to enhance the relevance of psychological knowledge

imparted to Ghanaian students. This contextually relevant psychological knowledge imparted to

students will also improve the capacity of next Ghanaian psychologists to facilitate nation-

building by making their knowledge available to policymakers.

To address this lack of fit between the western theories and the Ghanaian socio-cultural

milieu, systematic inquiry should be carried out into what practices and techniques best fit our

cultural context; a mixed model design combining both qualitative and quantitative methods

could be useful. Results of such research should be incorporated into the psychology curriculum

to enable knowledge transfer to future Ghanaian psychologists. In addition, academic

psychologists are encouraged to also draw on the oral literature (folktales, songs, values,

proverbs, maxims, and beliefs) of the various ethnic groups in Ghana to develop acceptable

psychological theories and models that best explain certain phenomena in their cultural context.

Thus, to the extent that folk and philosophical psychologies serve as the foundation for scientific

psychology (Yang, 2012), oral literature which is an embodiment of both folk and philosophical

psychologies can be drawn on in the indigenization project. As an example, Asante and Akyea

(2011) drew on Akan and Ewe proverbs to explore gender perceptions among Ghanaians; their

work is exemplary as it shows the potential of proverbs as relevant sources for understanding the

psychology of Ghanaians. Another study that also deserves mention here is the work of one

home-grown social psychologist, Jonathan Kuma Gavi whose work on moral development using

the Ananse Modelled Behaviour (AMB) as it is a pioneer work. Gavi (2009) began the pursuit of

this research agenda during his undergraduate research years. This AMB is a set of undesirable

social behaviours demonstrated as unacceptable through the telling of folktales in which the

villain or protagonist is Ananse, the spider. The crux of Gavi’s (2009) research using the AMB is

that though behaviours modelled by Ananse in the folktales are unacceptable, there appears to be

no attempts in these oral narratives to provide adequate punishment for Ananse. This, therefore,

implies that the desired outcome (learning of ethical behaviour) of telling such narratives is

defeated as Ananse is never caught and punished in these oral narratives. Thus, Gavi’s work is an

attempt to explore the folk psychology of Ghanaians.

Another approach is to adopt problem-oriented research paradigms as opposed to

method-oriented research paradigm. Adair (1999) distinguished between method-oriented and

problem-centred approaches to research. He provided the following distinction:

Contrasted with method-oriented research to demonstrate competence as a researcher,

problem-oriented research, whether guided by theory or not, can still be a useful direction

to pursue. It encourages researchers to solve a problem; not to demonstrate their

methodological rigour. It frees researchers from the shackles of methodology (which is

Western) to focus on that which can solve a problem (which is indigenous). (pp. 411 –

412).

This suggests that adopting a problem-oriented approach to research will imply that the problems

to be addressed will determine the research methodology rather than available methodology

determining what problems can be studied. The reverse is the situation in Ghana where research

students are forced to fit their problems to known research techniques.

Adair (1999) has also suggested that the above problem of fitting problems to mainstream

research methods is as a result of the fact that newly trained psychologists are attempting to

establish themselves. He further wrote that:

Within a newly imported discipline, the vast majority of researchers are either newly

graduated psychologists or young researcher s still in training. Most are just beginning to

establish themselves as independent investigators. To these scholars, previous research

serves as a model for how research should be conducted, and topics to research are

readily selected from the journals. To become established as a psychologist, conducting a

replication of a Western study applied to their own culture ensures a demonstration of

their abilities as researchers and yields some knowledge about the replicability of the

phenomena within the culture. However, it does not chart new ground for indigenous

development (Adair, 1999 p. 409).

In addition to adopting a problem-centred research paradigm and making use of

indigenous Ghanaian concepts captured in the oral literature, there is also a need to strengthen

doctoral-level training programmes in psychology in Ghana. According to Adair (1999), many

psychologists who receive their research training abroad may no longer be sensitive to problems

within their own culture. Trained in Western models with Western methods for research they

become poised to identify research problems within the research literature rather than turn to

problems and behaviours within their socio-cultural milieu. This makes case for the

strengthening of doctoral programmes in Ghana.

Thus, the application of contextually relevant psychological knowledge will enhance the

public image of Ghanaian psychologists. Contextually relevant knowledge from problem-

centred research and problem-centred paradigm not appreciated among many foreign-trained

psychologists should make a compelling case for all psychologists to constructively support

doctoral programmes in Ghana. As indicated earlier, we benefit from the enhanced collective

public image of our profession and our collective public image is enhanced only when we make

meaningful contributions to nation-building while our meaningful contributions only come from

application of contextually relevant knowledge. It is important to note that production of

contextually relevant knowledge can be promoted and strengthened through quality domestic

doctoral training in psychology. Psychology has grown in countries that promote domestic

doctoral training.

Related to the promotion of domestic doctoral training in psychology is the production of

contextually relevant teaching and learning materials. Thus, Ghanaian psychologists are

encouraged to collaborate to produce textbooks on psychology that incorporates relevant

Ghanaian concepts and methods. The establishment of quality domestic journals and publication

in such journals is highly recommended; however, the materials in the journals should be used as

teaching materials. In describing how the first Canadian psychology textbook was produced,

Adair (1999) stated that:

As a first step in addressing the need for Canadian textbooks and supplementary teaching

material, edited books of readings were produced that brought together examples of

Canadian research on culturally relevant issues. Concurrent with developing research

personnel, the infrastructure for the discipline developed: two new journals were added; a

code of ethics was drafted and adopted… (p. 414).

Annual conferences and symposia are equally needed to help promote psychology in Ghana and

to also share new insights about the contextually relevant paradigms. All these will be useless if

academic psychologists are unwilling to impart such knowledge to the next generation

psychologists in Ghana.

Conclusion

In this chapter, we traced the history of psychology as both an academic discipline and

profession, identified some of the challenges associated with the practice of psychology in

Ghana. Given the challenges that scientific psychology currently faces in Ghana, we conclude

that Ghanaian psychologists should take advantage of the prevalent social problems to

demonstrate the role psychology can play in the nation-building process. Through relevant

research and dissemination of the research findings to policymakers and the general public,

Ghanaian psychologists can enhance the image of the profession as suggested by the theory of

mere exposure effect. The authors also call upon fellow academic psychologists to begin to think

about contextualizing the content of the current psychology curricula by incorporating Ghanaian

values into the theoretical frameworks of psychology.

References

Adair, J. G. (1999). Indigenization of Psychology: The concept and its practical implementation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 48 (4), 403–418.

Agbodeka, F. (1998).A history of University of Ghana: Half a century of higher education

(1948-1998). Accra, Ghana: Woeli.

Akotia, C. S., & Barimah, K. B. (2007).History of Community Psychology in Ghana. In S.M.

Reich, M. Reimer, I. Prilleltensky, & M. Montero (Eds.), International Community

Psychology: Histories and Theories (407–414). New York: Springer Science+Business

Media.

Amo, A. G. (2012). On the Apathy of the Human Mind Or the Absence of Sense and of the

Faculty of Sensing in the Human Mind And the Presence of these in our Organic and

Living Body. (Doctoral thesis) (J. E. H. Smith, Trans.), University of Wittenberg,

Germany (Original work written in 1734).

Asante, C. & Akyea, G. M. F. (2011). From The Horse’s Own Mouth: Gender Perception in

Some Akan and Ewe Proverbs. ABIBISEM: Journal of African Culture and Civilization,

4, 31 – 49.

Boring, E. G. (1950). A history of experimental psychology (2nd ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice-Hall.

Brennan, J. F. (1998). History and Systems of Psychology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice-Hall.

Danquah, S. A. (1987). School Psychology in Ghana.Journal of School Psychology, 25, 247 –

253.

Danziger, K. (2006). Comment (pp. 269-275): Special issue on indigenous psychologies.

International Journal of Psychology, 41, 241–242.

de-Graft Aikins, A, Ofori-Atta A., Anum, A., Dzokoto, V. (forthcoming). Psychology in Ghana:

a review of research and practice. In S. Agyei-Mensah, A. Oduro and J. Ayee (Eds)

Changing Perspectives in the Social Sciences in Ghana. Springer.

Eze, N. (1991). The progress and status of psychology in Africa.Journal of Psychology in Africa,

1, 27–37.

Gavi, J. K. (2009). Impact of Theme Comprehension and Modelled Behaviour in Oral Narratives

on Cheating Behaviours: The Ananse Model. (Master’s thesis), University of Ghana,

Accra, Ghana.

Graham, C. K. (1971). The history of education in Ghana: from the earliest times to the

Declaration of Independence. London, UK: Frank Cass

Lee, A. Y. (2001).The Mere Exposure Effect: An Uncertainty Reduction Explanation

Revisited.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(10), 1255 –1266.

Machungwa, P. D. (1989). Postgraduate training in industrial psychology: Issues and Problems.

In F. M. Okatcha, I. M. Omari, & P. W. Karuiki (Eds.), Psychological Research and

Teaching for Social Development in Eastern and Southern Africa (pp. 50–56). Nairobi,

Kenya: International Research Development Center (IRDC)

Mate-Kole, C. C. (2013). Psychology in Ghana Revisited. Journal of Black Psychology, 39 (3),

316 – 320.

McKnight, K. M., Sechrest, L., McKnight, P. E. (2005). Psychology, Psychologists, and Public

Policy.Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 557–576.

Nsamenang, A. B. (2007). Origins and development of scientific psychology in Afrique Noire.In

D. Wedding & M. J. Stevens (Eds.). Psychology: IUPsyS global resource (Edition 2007).

International Journal of Psychology, 42, (Suppl. 1).

Oppong Asante, K. & Oppong, S. (2012). Psychology in Ghana.Journal of Psychology in Africa,

22 (3), 473–478.

Oppong, S. (2011).Organizational Management: Issues and Trends in Ghana. Saarbrücken,

Germany: Lambert.

Oppong, S. (2013). Industrial and Organizational Psychology in Ghana. The Industrial-

Organizational Psychologist, 50 (3), 79-83

Owusu-Bempah, J. & Howitt, D. (1995). How Eurocentric psychology damages Africa. The

Psychologist, 18(10), 462–465.

Peltzer, K., & Bless, C. (1989). History and Present Status of Professional Psychology in

Zambia.Psychology Developing Societies, 1(1), 53 – 64.

Tonah, S. (2009). Introduction: Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. In S. Tonah (Ed.),

Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana (1–10). Accra, Ghana: Research and

Publication Unit.

Yang, K-S. (2012). Indigenous Psychology, Westernized Psychology, and Indigenized

Psychology: A Non-Western Psychologist’s View. Chang Gung Journal of Humanities

and Social Sciences 5 (1), 1-32.

Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal Effects of Mere Exposure. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology 9(2), 1–27.