Criminalizing Fashion Statements and Appearance of a Socio-Economic Class: The Case of “Bellyful Rastas” vs “Ghetto Rastas”

Purpose: The study explores experiences of male dreadlock wearers in Ghana perceived to have good economic net worth (Bellyful Rastas) and their appearance and fashion sense; to ascertain whether or not they have escaped from the grips of harassment, prejudice, stigma and crime-tagging vis-à-vis the others who are perceived to have low-economic net worth (Ghetto Rastas). The latter is said in a study to be caught in the web of constant profiling and prejudice (Ghetto Rastas) while the fore is not. Methodology/Design: Through a qualitative approach, a case study design and library search were employed to review appearances and experiences of those mentioned to be of good economic background and also inquire from the security personnel on what informs their suspicion and profiling of male dreadlock wearers. Therefore, the population for the study were male dreadlock wearers and security personnel. To achieve this, a snowball, purposive and stratified random sampling techniques were adopted in selecting 6 persons comprising of three (3) male dreadlock wearers and three (3) personnel from the Ghana security services resulting in a grand sample size of six (6). Data was gathered from participants through semi-structured interviews and were thematically analysed. Findings: Hairstyling is a fashion, philosophical, religious and socio-cultural statement as well as a symbol of identity. The dreadlocks hairstyle which largely represents a race, social group and spiritual/religious sect, ironically has been branded as crime paraphernalia in Ghana. Some dreadlock wearing males in Ghana are unlawfully and unfairly treated generally by the Ghanaian populace, security agencies and even in academic spaces. A class of dreadlock wearing males was mentioned to be exempted from these ill treatments due to their perceived good economic background which seem to reflect in their fashion sense; clothing styles, looks and grooming. Practical and Social Implications: Criminalizing people based on their fashion statement or appearance is an impediment on creativity, diversity and self-expression; which has a retrogressing effect on the Ghanaian fashion industry and Arts in general. Also, correlating one’s standard of living through the appearance to his/her tendency to commit crime, is a violation on the dignity and fundamental human right of persons perceived to have low economic background. It can lead to a caste system or escalate into social unrest when a class of society feel unfairly treated consistently. By extension, scrutinizing and mounting surveillance on only persons with eccentric or poverty-stricken appearance further makes the security intelligence and apparatus porous and easy for psychopaths to beat. Originality: The study provides insight to factors that lead to the criminalization of certain individuals and their appearance from the security personnel’s perspective. It further unearths the distinction between art and crime, and contributes to addressing the act of stereotyping. This set the tone for further deliberations on a more objective and humane approach in fighting crime without denigrating a social group.