Supervisor: Prof. Sara Zhong

Understanding Cyber Fraud in Ghana: An Analysis of Offender Motivations, Life-Course Patterns, and Desistance Through Integrative Criminological Approaches and Characteristics of the Internet

Currently engaged in research aimed at understanding the recent increase in youth criminality in cyberspace, with a particular focus on the motivations of cyberfraudsters and their criminal trajectories over the course of their lives. One of my primary goals is to integrate conventional criminological theories and explore how they can be applied to this unique virtual environment. To this end, I am constructing a comprehensive and large-scale cybercriminal database consisting of 515 surveys and 50 in-depth interviews, which is a significant undertaking given the challenges of obtaining such data in the African context. In addition to my work on cybercrime, I am also interested in exploring issues related to gender and sexuality, intimate partner violence, and individuals with addiction.

Cybercrime, Crime and Deviance; Gender and Sexuality; Youth and Drugs; Criminal Careers and Life Course Criminality; Demography of Crime (Age, Gender, Ethnicity); Economic and Organized Crime; Gender and Crime; Crime Organizations and Networks; Qualitative and Quantitative Methods, Data Triangulation; Family Wellbeing; and African Parenting.

Asiama, A. A., & Zhong, H. (2022). Victims rational decision: A theoretical and empirical explanation of dark figures in crime statistics. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2029249

Asiama, A. A., Lam, K. W. K., & Zhong, H. (2021). Chase out or unfortunate coping strategy? Analysis of urban settlement of the homeless addicts at public parks, J Addict Ther Res, 5, 020-026. https://doi.org/10.29328/journal.jatr.1001018

Oduro, G. Y., Otoo, S. & Asiama, A. A. (2018). ‘Sisters of the Night:’ Ethical and practical challenges in researching prostitution among minors in Ghana. In S. Dewey, I. Crowhurst, & C. O. Izugbara (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Sex Industry Research. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351133913

Lam, K. W. K., & Asiama A. A. (2020). No family reunion this summer: International students stranded in Hong Kong in times of immobility. Routed Magazine 12.
https://www.routedmagazine.com/no-family-reunion-this-summer