Social Parameters of Corruption and Status in Sierra Leone: How Our Social Thinking and Perceptions Enhance or Deter Acts of Corruption

Sierra Leone is a complex but straightforward society of homogeneity and heterogeneity. In as much as there are a lot of cultural and other commonalities, encounters with the cash economy and other social factors, some of which go back to pre-colonial days of the trans-Atlantic trade, created social and other structures and institutions that have passively become traditions or modus operandi evolving into a culture. The psychology of locus of control, which determines perceptions of what causes whatever experiences people encounter, was researched in 1979 by this writer in a dissertation in partial fulfilment of the Bachelor of Arts in Education, pointing to an external locus. Thus, the inability to take responsibility for actions is one parameter that fuels corruption. The inability to take responsibility fuels corruption, which concurrently institutes a dependency that fuels bribery. Another factor impacting and influencing corruption acts was the diverse “Western lifestyles” adopted by the working class, primarily engaged in low-wage white-collar jobs. The quest to live a lifestyle that apes European consumption coupled with traditional roles and extended family roles leaves any low-wage earner deficits of income and budget that are only rectified by acts of corruption.