Abstract: | The author reviews some of the main mechanisms of social control that have been operative in what is now Ghana over the past six or seven decades and notes some of the adaptations and adjustments which a changing social structure has necessitated. By the beginning of the 20th century the tribal units in Ghana had through conquest or treaties of so-called friendship come under British colonial rule. Since then two processes have been at work: a) The transformation of the tribal states into a unitary nation-state, and b) the evolution of social values to tie in with the demands of a modern political community. The effects of these two processes on the control mechanisms are examined: control mechanisms in tribal society; the tranformation in a modern political community; problems and conflicts; sources of national solidarity. Notes. |