Joseph Asomah

• SOC 2510 - Criminology
• SOC 3740 - Global Corruption
• SOC 3830 - Youth, Crime and Society
• SOC 3880 - Global Criminology and Criminal Justice
• SOC 7450 - White-Collar Crime

Dr. Joseph Yaw Asomah is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba (UM), Canada. Before joining UM, he was an Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada. He also taught at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Dr. Asomah’s research intends to produce a critical sociological scholarship to inform policy and advocacy efforts and advance a more just and safe global society through inclusive and sustainable development. His research generally focuses on corruption, socio-legal studies, criminology and criminal justice. For instance, in the corruption field, he examines corruption causes and effects and responses from influential actors, including governments, the media, civil society and the international community. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including “Third World Quarterly,” “Critical Studies in Medi a Communication”, “Crime, Law and Social Change”, “African Human Rights Law Journal” and “Democratization”.

• PhD (Sociology), University of Saskatchewan, 2018
• MA (Sociology), University of Manitoba, 2015
• MSc (Health, Population, and Society), London School of Economics and Political Science, 2010
• BA (Political Science and Sociology), University of Ghana, 2006

Research interests

• Corruption
• Socio-legal studies
• Criminal justice
• Criminology

• Asomah, J. Y. (2023). Does democracy fuel corruption in developing countries? Understanding Ghanaians’ perspectives. Democratization. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2022). What role do social accountability actors play in resisting media capture in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Ghana. Third World Quarterly. 
• Asomah, J. Y., Dim, E. E., Li, Y., and Cheng, H. (2022). Are women less corrupt than men? Evidence from Ghana. Crime, Law, and Social Change. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2022). How can the private media be strengthened to investigate and expose corruption in Ghana? Understanding Ghanaian perspectives. Journalism Practice. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2021). What can be done to address corruption in Ghana? Understanding citizens’ perspectives. Forum for Development Studies, 48(3), 519-537. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2020). Can private media contribute to fighting political corruption in sub-Saharan Africa? Lessons from Ghana. Third World Quarterly, 41(12), 2011-2029.
• Asomah, J. Y. (2020). Democracy, the public sphere, and power elites: Examining the Ghanaian private media’s role in political corruption. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 37(3) 221–237. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2019). What are the key drivers of persistent Ghanaian political corruption? Journal of Asian and African Studies, 54(5) 638–655.
• Asomah, J. Y. & Cheng, H. (2018). Food crime in the context of cheap capitalism. In R. Hinch & A. Gray (Ed.), Handbook of food crime: Immoral and illegal practices in the food industry and what to do about them (pp. 193-210). Bristol: University of Bristol Press. 
• Asomah, J. Y. & Cheng, H. (2018). Sociology of crime and juvenile delinquency. In J. M. Ryan (Ed.), Essential concepts in sociology. Blackwell-Wiley. 

• 2017-2018 - Dr. Rui Feng's Doctoral Research Award, University of Saskatchewan 
• 2015-2018 - Dean's Award, University of Saskatchewan

• Asomah, J. Y. (2023). Does democracy fuel corruption? Most Ghanaians don’t think so. The Conversation Africa. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2022). What Ghana can do to combat corruption: Educate, prevent, enforce. The Conversation Africa. 
• Asomah, J. Y. (2021). Why some of Ghana’s private media fight corruption: Reasons, rules and resources. The Conversation Africa. 
• Asomah, J.Y. (2020). How parts of the media in Ghana aid – rather than fight – corruption. The Conversation Africa.