HEALTH PROFILE OF PRISON INMATES IN NIGERIAN PRISON SERVICES
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
HEALTH PROFILE OF PRISON INMATES IN NIGERIAN PRISON SERVICES
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The term “health conditions” refers to one’s health status, as well as health-related concerns and events. In this situation, with particular reference to convicts confined within the four walls of the prison.
The term “health” can be used in a variety of contexts. Historically, health was defined as the absence of sickness or illness. Nowadays, health has a broader definition. Health can be defined broadly as a condition of well-being in an individual. Health is a necessary for living since the healthier we are, the more effective we can be.
Health improves our efficacy, thus the adage “health is wealth.” Health is described as a condition of physical and mental well-being. Dictionary for Advanced Learners by Oxford The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as a complete condition of physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than simply the absence of sickness or disability.
It means that the body and its organs are free of any sickness and deformity while remaining mentally healthy. However, in a broader sense, health includes economic and spiritual well-being. If this definition is correct, I’m not sure how many people can be considered healthy, especially in this region of the world.
According to the discussion, the health of detainees in Nigerian prisons; who are the inmates? They are those who are imprisoned by the law of the land. Those who are detained or incarcerated because they have broken the law. When apprehended, the deviant is detained by police, who then charges him in court and remands him in prison custody while awaiting trial or sentenced to prison time. If a legal court finds you guilty.
Nigeria’s jail service history
Prior to the arrival of British colonial control in Nigeria, there had been some type of liberty deprivation as a form of imprisonment for offences against the community or society.
The communities already have established rules and practises. Some tribal cultures, for example, have varied methods of disciplining deviant members of the tribe. The Ogboni house among the Yoruba, the Wedos among the Edo acted as jails, the Fulani had comparable institutions in the north, and the Tivs and Igbo had their own ways.
The contemporary Nigeria jail system may be traced back to 1861, when the colonial notion of prison was formed. The establishment of Lagos as a colony in 1861 marked the beginning of formal colonial governance mechanism.
When the then Governor (H.S. Freeman) was commissioned to appoint Judges and other officers in 1862, they saw the need for prisons where persons accused could be kept, and they established the first prison administration based on British tradition and staffed by officers trained in the same British tradition.
As a result, the first prison, Broad Street Prison, was built in 1872 to house 300 inmates. In 1876, the jail ordinances authorising for the building of prisons were passed. The colonial authority had built prisons in Calabar, Onitsha, Benin, Ibadan, Jebba, Lokoja, and Degema by 1910.
Prisons were not meant for reformation during the colonial era; instead, inmates were mostly used for public works for enslavement and to serve the colonial objective of preserving law and order. Medium security jail Lagos, with a capacity of 705 people, was erected in 1958 at Kirikiri Apapa local government.
It consists of 15 construction blocks. It was expanded to a capacity of 1,700 convicts in 2010 and now holds approximately 2,550 inmates.
The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) was established as an organisation to punish and reform social deviants (F.GN, 1990). The primary goal of building the jail institution is to provide reformation and rehabilitation for people who have violated their society’s laws and regulations.
The living conditions in Nigerian prisons are deplorable and harmful. Inmates are forced to live in deplorable conditions, including poor sanitation, a lack of a sufficient balanced meal, medication, overcrowding, inadequate clothing, and a lack of regular visits from family and friends.
There has been a significant growth in the number of inmates in numerous countries around the world in recent years.
According to the world prison population list, prison populations have expanded by 73% in a very short period of time (Walmsley, 2007), as is evident in any challenges faced convicts living in prisons around the world due to congestion.
Physical, emotional, and psychological disorders are among the health issues. Prisons are not isolated from the outside world; many individuals (prison staff, lawyers, social workers, health personnel, clergy, and prisoners’ family members) come and leave every day.
Many inmates only stay in prison for a brief time before returning to their family. Although the global prison population exceeds 9 million, the annual turnover is projected to be closer to 30 million (Walmsley, 2007). Because of the high movement of persons into and out of prisons, there is a considerable risk of diseases acquired in prison being transmitted outside of prison (Simooya, 2010).
Despite this, there is still a global deficit in the provision of health treatment to inmates, particularly for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV, and other blood-borne illnesses (Long et al, 2001; Kmietowicz 2001). It has been established that infectious diseases such as HIV, TB, and hepatitis are more prevalent in the prison system as a whole.
The Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) was established as an agency to rectify social deviants, punish and reform criminals, and supplement judicial adjudication and law enforcement processes (Federal Government of Nigeria, 1990).
Nigeria prisons is headed by a Controller General of Prisons with six Directorates to manage the various units of prisons, including the Directorate of Medical Health and Social Welfare Services, whose duties include, among other things, the administration of prison clinics and hospitals with their complement of Doctors, nurses, chemists and paramedics.
The department guarantees that medical services are provided to inmates in all jails around the country all year long. To fulfil these demands, the Nigerian Prison Service commissioned a 20-bed prison hospital in Bauchi and Ilesha in 2001, in addition to the existing ones in Lagos and Kaduna.
Clinics are available throughout the jail system to supplement these hospitals (The Reformer 2002). In addition, the medical and welfare directorate develops and implements innovative strategies for dealing with the changing faces of illness control and management.
To that end, it launched a medicine compounding initiative in the federal capital, with the goal of producing drugs to assist the jail system’s clinics and hospital network.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria, like many other countries of the world, is experiencing an alarming surge in crime, with a corresponding increase in jail population. Because of the crowding, this condition has a negative impact on the convicts’ health.
The government is not doing enough to contain the crisis, and the society’s elite and wealthy see no need to come to the rescue of this marginalised and rejected people. As a result, the state government has made no provision in its state-owned hospitals to exclude detainees from hospital expenditures.
As a result, this study examines the health status of jail inmates in Nigerian jail: Services.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The investigation’s goal is to:
1. Investigate the health of jail inmates in Nigerian prison Services.
2. Evaluate the living circumstances of inmates in Nigeria Prison Services.
3. Emphasise the government’s involvement in ensuring that Nigerian prisons are adequately maintained.
4. Investigate the impact of prison warders on the health of convicts.
5. To analyse how jail convicts can contribute to the country’s economic and social development following their release.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To guide the investigation, the following research questions were developed:
What are the most common health conditions in Nigerian prisons?
Does the state of the jail have an impact on the health of inmates?
Can a prisoner’s health state influence his or her productivity after release?
1.5 THEORIES OF RESEARCH
In the study, the following hypotheses were tested:’
In Nigeria, there is no substantial association between prison conditions and inmate health.
2. There is no substantial association between prison warders’ attitudes and inmates’ health conditions.
3. There is no significant association between jail inmates’ health and their productivity following release.
4. In Nigeria, there is no statistically significant association between government action and prison conditions.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
When completed, the study will assist the country in the following ways:
The government will gain knowledge about the conditions of jail inmates in Nigeria as a result of this study, and will recognise the necessity to give enough health facilities and competent educated health workers to the Nigerian jail Service.
The Nigeria Prison Service will increase its efforts through this study to ensure that prisons are properly kept and in good sanitary conditions in order to prevent illness outbreaks in the prison.
The general public will be educated on the importance of integrating jail convicts into society, despite the fact that their lives are regimented. This will enable them to become more productive members of society.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERM
Inmates are those who are confined in a jail.
Prison: a state-run institution for the incarceration of those convicted of serious crimes.
Warden: an official in charge of running a jail.
Incarceration: the act of incarcerating someone.
The act of breaching the law is referred to as a violation.
Deviants are those who depart from accepted norms or behaviours.
Rehabilitation: the restoration or restoration of an individual’s health or useful and constructive engagement in society.
Infections are diseases caused by contamination.
Tuberculosis is defined as a “highly variable communicable disease of humans characterised by fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.”
Hepatitis: an illness or condition characterised by liver inflammation (as in hepatitis A or hepatitis B).
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic