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Professor Desmond Ayim-Aboagye
BA, MA (Andrews), MA, MA, PhD, Postgrad Pedagogic (Uppsala) Edu. Cert (New
Jersey), Associate Professor (Åbo & Uppsala), Professor of Psychology of Religion
(Uppsala)
Visiting Scholar, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon (2012)
Dean of Graduate School, Wisconsin International University College, Ghana (2014)
PROFILE
Professor Desmond Ayim-Aboagye is currently an Associate Professor in Åbo
Akademi University in Finland and Uppsala University in Sweden and also Professor
of Psychology of Religion, Uppsala University. He is in the Multidisciplinary Pain
Research Clinic in Uppsala University where he is a Research fellow investigating on
immigrants response to drug treatments due to their substance abuse in society.
Desmond Ayim-Aboagye obtained his BA in Theology (1986) BA in Elementary
Education (2000) and MA in Religion (1987) at the Andrews University in the USA,
Diploma in Theology (1986) at the Newbold College in England (UK); MA in
Behavioral Science and Religion (1990), MA in Educational Science (2003), and PhD
in Psychology of Religion (1993) at the Uppsala University in Sweden. He also
submitted a dissertation to the Åbo Akademi University in 1997.
He has studied Educational Science and also studied and collaborated in research
activities with the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at the Uppsala
University, which was headed by a renowned scholar called Professor Peter
Wallensteen. In 1997 he became an Associate Professor of the Sciences of Religion at
the Åbo Akademi University in Finland and in 2015 full Professor of Psychology of
Religion, Uppsala University in Sweden. Åbo Akademi University is the only
Swedish Speaking University that is situated outside Sweden. Since he obtained his
educational qualifications Desmond has conducted research and taught in a few
universities around the world which include Uppsala University, Åbo Akademi
University, Örebro University, Mäladalen University in Sweden and also the
University of Ghana, Legon in Ghana.
His research activities which is mostly on Philosophy, Psychiatry and Medical
Anthropology, Healing, and Religion has enabled him to produce books, scientific
articles, and other numerous writings that have nothing to do with science. Through
his numerous contacts in the Europe, America, and Africa, Professor Ayim-Aboagye
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has shown that Africans deserve to be included in the educational market where they
could make their marks toward national development leading to globalization of ideas.
He is currently at the Centre of Multidisciplinary Study of Pain, Uppsala University in
Sweden where he conducts research concerning patients receiving treatments from
their substance abuse.
Professor Ayim-Aboagye is the author of a number of books, which includes: The
Function of Myth in Akan Healing Healing Experience: A psychological Inquiry into
Two Akan Healing Communities. Acta Universitatis Uppsaliensis, (Alquist &
Wiksell,Uppsala, 1993); Leisure and Religion in the Rural Sweden: A Sociological
Perspective (Uppsala University, 1996); Ageing and Religiosity: A Sociological
Investigation into the Effect of Ageing on the Involvement Among Different Age
Groups in the Church of Sweden (Uppsala University, 1996); Using Christian
Religious Resources in the Welfare of Prisoners: The Case of Swedish Prisons (Åbo
Akedemi University, 1997); The Psychology of Akan Religious Healing (Åbo
Akademi University, 1997); Prison, Punishment and the Church: A Socio-
Psychological Investigation of the Work of the Chaplains Among the Immigrants
Inmates in Swedish Prisons (Uppsala University, 2000); Indigenous Psychiatry:
Transcultural Study of Traditional Practitioners in West Africa Healing Communities
with Focus on Ghana (Åbo Akademi University, 2006); The Matter Man and the
Theory of Adaptability. Modern Scientific Theory on Discrimination (Lulu Com,
2006); Matter Man and Motion: Scientific Theories on Modern Man and Adaptation.
London, Lulu Com UK Enterprise, 2008); The Security of Nations: A Psychological
Perspective on Modern Theory of War (London, Lulu UK Enterprise, 2010); The New
Facade: Ghana in the New Millennium. Political Discourses on Ghana and Africa.
Lulu Com Inc, 2010); War Psychiatry. Contemporary Theories on War Disorders and
Other Related Conditions. Lulu Com, Inc, 2010); Elements of Psychological Therapy
in West Africa. With Notes on Social and Psychiatric Research Methods. Lulu Press,
2010); Hollywood Wars and Africans. Educational Therapy (MaGraw Hill Book
Open Publishing, 2011).
In January 6, 2012, Professor Ayim-Aboagye’s scientific treatise, Indigenous
Psychiatry: Transcultural Study of Traditional Practitioners in West Africa Healing
Communities with Focus on Ghana (Åbo Akademi University, 2006) placed 34 in
Nature and Science Genre in all countries, including France where he had already
achieved popularity among its numerous mathematicians. His knowledge in logic and
mathematics has enabled him to propound many theories in the area of social sciences
and physical sciences, which will soon change the manner we live and operate on the
expanse world. His book, Elements of Psychological Therapy in West Africa. With
Notes on Social and Psychiatric Research Methods (2010), has received Helix Review
in the year 2013. Four of his recent studies have also appeared as articles in the
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famous medical journal known as Scandinavian Journal of Pain: “HIVS/AIDS in
different cultures” Scandinavian Journal of Pain, Volume 3, Issue 3 July 2012, pp
191-192, “Pain treatment in rural Ghana: A qualitative study”, Scandinavian Journal
of Pain, Volume 4, Issue 4, October 2013, p. 256, “Some practical treatment methods
of pain disabilities in rural Ghana”, Scandinavian Journal of Pain, Volume 5, Issue 3,
July 2014, p. 207, "Practitioners' perspectives on pain disabilities on Ghanaian
women" Scandinavian Journal of Pain (forth coming next issue 2015), which he
collaborated with Professor Torsten Gordh. He is also a member of the Association of
Scandinavian Study of Pain (SASP) which encompasses mostly scholars, clinicians,
and philosophers from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and other parts of
the world. He is not only a Philosopher, but Psychologist of Religion, Educational
Scientist, Politician, Political theorist, and a Writer.