Francis Benyah
Biographic Data
| ID | 1425633 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Francis Benyah |
| GIVEN NAMES | Francis |
| FAMILY NAME | Benyah |
| SIGNATURE | BENYAH F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Åbo Akademi University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2457-882X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Media Portrayals of Religion, Prayer Camps and Persons with Mental Illness in Ghana: A Discursive and Narrative Analysis
In Ghana, the situation of persons with mental illness is precarious. This is due, in part, to the inadequate resources for mental health care. Individuals and families whose relatives suffer from mental illness rely largely on faith-based resources. The media has sought to highlight aspects of the stigmatisation and rejection of the mentally ill. These reportages show the dilapidated conditions under which vulnerable persons are kept in religiou…
Enchanted Worldviews and Violence Against Persons with Albinism in Sub-Saharan Africa
Healing the Incurable? Pentecostal Prayer Camps and Healing of Chronic Illnesses in Ghana
Healing is one of the distinctive features of the Pentecostal movement. In Pentecostal missiology healing is fundamental and is geared towards the transformation of the human person and society. Healing thus encompasses both physical and spiritual ailments. It also concerns the healing of unjust structures of society – inequality, corruption, bad governance, and so on. In this article I examine some of the plausible factors that make persons livi…
Appropriation and Contestation of Akan Traditional Healing Approaches in the Healing of Mentally Ill Patients at Prayer Camps in Ghana
Prayer camps are Pentecostal healing centres established across various parts of Ghana. Prayer camps in Ghana have become notable centres offering mainly spiritual help to people with mental health conditions. Arguably, prayer camps serve as a breakpoint or watershed between traditional healing shrines and the ‘gardens’ operated by Spiritual churches, popularly known as Sunsum sorè , in Ghana. Analysing data collected from fieldwork between 2019 …
Consented Abuses? Analyzing Perspectives of Christian Young Adults Regarding Human Rights Concerns in Neo-Pentecostal Deliverance Practices in Ghana
Deliverance practices have become central features of Ghanaian Pentecostalism. However, there have been human rights concerns and abuse of power regarding some of these practices. Consequently, using the theory of consumer religion, this article sought to analyze perspectives of some Christian young adults regarding some of these concerns. Findings suggest that deliverance is considered as a solution to existential problems and human rights conce…
Contemporary Discourses in Social Exclusion
Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, Volume 8: Pentecostals and the Body, edited by Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse
Prayer Camps, Mental Health, and Human Rights Concerns in Ghana
This article discusses the role that Ghana's prayer camps provide in mental health care and the human rights concerns that are expressed. The article argues for the recognition of both state and nonstate actors in dealing with the problem of mental illness and its related human rights concerns. The article maintains that the mere existence of mental health legislation to protect the rights of mental health patients is not enough if it fails to re…
Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches and the Provision of Social Services in Ghana
The provision of social services by Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in Ghana is discussed in this article. Focusing on four selected Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in Ghana, it is argued that Pentecostal/Charismatic churches are not only concerned with the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ but are also actively engaged in the provision of social and welfare services aimed at transforming the lives of their constituents. This developme…
Pentecostals and Charismatics in Britain: An Anthology, by Joe Aldred (ed.)
Apparatus of Belief: Prayer, Material Objects/Media and Spiritual Warfare in African Pentecostalism
The neo-Pentecostal churches which burgeoned between the late 1970s and early 1990s, have grown not only in numbers but have also become the representative face of global Christianity. One significant feature of the neo-Pentecostal movement is their emphasis on prayer and the need for one to be “born again” and enjoy life devoid of the manacles of the devil. To achieve this, there is the need for one, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to disc…
Pentecostalism and Development Discourse in Sub-Saharan Africa
Until recently, religion has been quite a neglected subject of enquiry to development workers and policy makers. This neglect is as a result of the suspicious, corrosive and irrational view many attach to religion as a vital instrument for development. This article, discusses how Pentecostal theology of salvation evinces a development ethos that needs to be taken seriously by policy makers and development workers. Focusing on some of the religiou…
From socialization to self-socialization? Exploring the role of digital media in the religious lives of young adults in Ghana, Turkey, and Peru
Previous research has pointed to the central role of media for the current young adult generation when it comes to finding information about religion, exploring beliefs, and developing a religious identity. This article explores how young adult university students in three different contexts – Ghana, Turkey, and Peru – report using digital media for religious purposes. The article builds on previous research on the role of media in religious soci…
Primary religious socialization agents and young adults' understanding of religion: Connections and Disconnections
A recurrent critique towards socialization theory is its emphasis on stability and disregard for change. Some case studies in the YARG project, particularly that of Ghana, do indeed point to the central role and influence that young adults ascribe to their primary socialization agents. In these contexts, personal religiosity is described as being in accordance with the values of parents and family, making religious transmission from one generatio…
Commodification of the gospel and the socio-economics of neo-Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity in Ghana
In Africa, religion, generally, has often been used as a medium to assuage difficulties in life. The pragmatic-oriented function of religion, as found in Africa’s economy of faith, makes religion a kind of an economic good/service that can be harnessed to deal with existential needs and aspirations. Operating within this worldview, and with the help of the media, some Ghanaian Pentecostal/Charismatic pastors-prophets have commodified the gospel b…
Church Branding and Self-Packaging: The Mass Media and African Pentecostal Missionary Strategy
The use of the mass media has become a contemporary and fast-growing religious phenomenon within Pentecostal and charismatic churches. By drawing implications on the use of modern media technologies, this article presents a popular case of a Charismatic church in Ghana and shows how the idea of branding evolves around the use of the mass media. This article argues that the branding of the leaders' personality and the church is a marketing strateg…
From socialization to self-socialization? Exploring the role of digital media in the religious lives of young adults in Ghana, Turkey, and Peru
Previous research has pointed to the central role of media for the current young adult generation when it comes to finding information about religion, exploring beliefs, and developing a religious identity. This article explores how young adult university students in three different contexts – Ghana, Turkey, and Peru – report using digital media for religious purposes. The article builds on previous research on the role of media in religious soci…
Primary religious socialization agents and young adults' understanding of religion: Connections and Disconnections
A recurrent critique towards socialization theory is its emphasis on stability and disregard for change. Some case studies in the YARG project, particularly that of Ghana, do indeed point to the central role and influence that young adults ascribe to their primary socialization agents. In these contexts, personal religiosity is described as being in accordance with the values of parents and family, making religious transmission from one generatio…
Apparatus of Belief: Prayer, Material Objects/Media and Spiritual Warfare in African Pentecostalism
The neo-Pentecostal churches which burgeoned between the late 1970s and early 1990s, have grown not only in numbers but have also become the representative face of global Christianity. One significant feature of the neo-Pentecostal movement is their emphasis on prayer and the need for one to be “born again” and enjoy life devoid of the manacles of the devil. To achieve this, there is the need for one, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to disc…
Church Branding and Self-Packaging: The Mass Media and African Pentecostal Missionary Strategy
The use of the mass media has become a contemporary and fast-growing religious phenomenon within Pentecostal and charismatic churches. By drawing implications on the use of modern media technologies, this article presents a popular case of a Charismatic church in Ghana and shows how the idea of branding evolves around the use of the mass media. This article argues that the branding of the leaders' personality and the church is a marketing strateg…
Commodification of the gospel and the socio-economics of neo-Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity in Ghana
In Africa, religion, generally, has often been used as a medium to assuage difficulties in life. The pragmatic-oriented function of religion, as found in Africa’s economy of faith, makes religion a kind of an economic good/service that can be harnessed to deal with existential needs and aspirations. Operating within this worldview, and with the help of the media, some Ghanaian Pentecostal/Charismatic pastors-prophets have commodified the gospel b…
Church Branding and Self-Packaging: The Mass Media and African Pentecostal Missionary Strategy
The use of the mass media has become a contemporary and fast-growing religious phenomenon within Pentecostal and charismatic churches. By drawing implications on the use of modern media technologies, this article presents a popular case of a Charismatic church in Ghana and shows how the idea of branding evolves around the use of the mass media. This article argues that the branding of the leaders' personality and the church is a marketing strateg…
Pentecostalism and Development Discourse in Sub-Saharan Africa
Until recently, religion has been quite a neglected subject of enquiry to development workers and policy makers. This neglect is as a result of the suspicious, corrosive and irrational view many attach to religion as a vital instrument for development. This article, discusses how Pentecostal theology of salvation evinces a development ethos that needs to be taken seriously by policy makers and development workers. Focusing on some of the religiou…
From socialization to self-socialization? Exploring the role of digital media in the religious lives of young adults in Ghana, Turkey, and Peru
Previous research has pointed to the central role of media for the current young adult generation when it comes to finding information about religion, exploring beliefs, and developing a religious identity. This article explores how young adult university students in three different contexts – Ghana, Turkey, and Peru – report using digital media for religious purposes. The article builds on previous research on the role of media in religious soci…
Primary religious socialization agents and young adults' understanding of religion: Connections and Disconnections
A recurrent critique towards socialization theory is its emphasis on stability and disregard for change. Some case studies in the YARG project, particularly that of Ghana, do indeed point to the central role and influence that young adults ascribe to their primary socialization agents. In these contexts, personal religiosity is described as being in accordance with the values of parents and family, making religious transmission from one generatio…
Apparatus of Belief: Prayer, Material Objects/Media and Spiritual Warfare in African Pentecostalism
The neo-Pentecostal churches which burgeoned between the late 1970s and early 1990s, have grown not only in numbers but have also become the representative face of global Christianity. One significant feature of the neo-Pentecostal movement is their emphasis on prayer and the need for one to be “born again” and enjoy life devoid of the manacles of the devil. To achieve this, there is the need for one, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to disc…
Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches and the Provision of Social Services in Ghana
The provision of social services by Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in Ghana is discussed in this article. Focusing on four selected Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in Ghana, it is argued that Pentecostal/Charismatic churches are not only concerned with the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ but are also actively engaged in the provision of social and welfare services aimed at transforming the lives of their constituents. This developme…
Pentecostals and Charismatics in Britain: An Anthology, by Joe Aldred (ed.)
Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, Volume 8: Pentecostals and the Body, edited by Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse
Prayer Camps, Mental Health, and Human Rights Concerns in Ghana
This article discusses the role that Ghana's prayer camps provide in mental health care and the human rights concerns that are expressed. The article argues for the recognition of both state and nonstate actors in dealing with the problem of mental illness and its related human rights concerns. The article maintains that the mere existence of mental health legislation to protect the rights of mental health patients is not enough if it fails to re…
Contemporary Discourses in Social Exclusion
Media Portrayals of Religion, Prayer Camps and Persons with Mental Illness in Ghana: A Discursive and Narrative Analysis
In Ghana, the situation of persons with mental illness is precarious. This is due, in part, to the inadequate resources for mental health care. Individuals and families whose relatives suffer from mental illness rely largely on faith-based resources. The media has sought to highlight aspects of the stigmatisation and rejection of the mentally ill. These reportages show the dilapidated conditions under which vulnerable persons are kept in religiou…
Enchanted Worldviews and Violence Against Persons with Albinism in Sub-Saharan Africa
Healing the Incurable? Pentecostal Prayer Camps and Healing of Chronic Illnesses in Ghana
Healing is one of the distinctive features of the Pentecostal movement. In Pentecostal missiology healing is fundamental and is geared towards the transformation of the human person and society. Healing thus encompasses both physical and spiritual ailments. It also concerns the healing of unjust structures of society – inequality, corruption, bad governance, and so on. In this article I examine some of the plausible factors that make persons livi…
Appropriation and Contestation of Akan Traditional Healing Approaches in the Healing of Mentally Ill Patients at Prayer Camps in Ghana
Prayer camps are Pentecostal healing centres established across various parts of Ghana. Prayer camps in Ghana have become notable centres offering mainly spiritual help to people with mental health conditions. Arguably, prayer camps serve as a breakpoint or watershed between traditional healing shrines and the ‘gardens’ operated by Spiritual churches, popularly known as Sunsum sorè , in Ghana. Analysing data collected from fieldwork between 2019 …
Consented Abuses? Analyzing Perspectives of Christian Young Adults Regarding Human Rights Concerns in Neo-Pentecostal Deliverance Practices in Ghana
Deliverance practices have become central features of Ghanaian Pentecostalism. However, there have been human rights concerns and abuse of power regarding some of these practices. Consequently, using the theory of consumer religion, this article sought to analyze perspectives of some Christian young adults regarding some of these concerns. Findings suggest that deliverance is considered as a solution to existential problems and human rights conce…
Sociology (14 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (11 works) · Political science (9 works) · Religious studies (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Charisma (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies (5 works)