19th May 2026
Dr Lilian Ayete-Nyampong, Research Centre Director at the Head Office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Ghana.
Chaired by: Milena Tripkovic, University of Edinburgh.
Abstract:
Drawing on four years of ethnographic research in Ghana’s juvenile correctional centres (2008–2013) and follow-up visits in 2019 and 2023, this presentation explores children lived experiences of neglect, agency, and resistance within custodial settings. Findings reveal that incarcerated youth often express deep anger and a sense of betrayal rooted in persistent familial neglect – before, during, and after confinement – exacerbated by systemic failures to safeguard juvenile rights. Such neglect intensifies vulnerability, leaving young offenders susceptible to cycles of violence, vengeance, and radicalization. Against this backdrop, the author considers how correctional centres might serve as sites for preventing violence and radicalism, situating juvenile justice within broader landscapes of security, family relations, and intergenerational support. By departing from normative treaty-based conceptions of rights, discussions draw on practical meanings youth attach to survival and correction, calling for reflective, context-sensitive reforms that bridge practitioner perspectives with everyday realities across Ghana and Africa.