Rehabilitation Of Prison Inmates Through Vocational Skills Acquisition Programmes In North-West States, Nigeria
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Rehabilitation Of Prison Inmates Through Vocational Skills Acquisition Programmes In North-West States, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The study examined the effectiveness of Vocational Skills Acquisition (VSA) programs in rehabilitating prisoners in Nigeria’s North West States. The study focused on five research topics and five null hypotheses.
The study used a descriptive survey research design. The survey involved 1,592 jail authorities. A total of 351 respondents were selected by purposeful sampling. The sample consisted of 266 male and 85 female jail administrators.
The data was collected using a self-structured questionnaire titled “Questionnaire on the Rehabilitation of Prison Inmates through Vocational Skills Acquisition Programs (QRPITVSAP).” The instrument was validated by professionals from three departments at the University of Nigeria Nsukka: Adult Education and Extra-mural Studies, Vocational and Teacher Education, and Science Education.Cronbach alpha was used to calculate the instrument’s internal consistency reliability coefficient for each cluster.
The instrument had an overall dependability coefficient of 0.75. Data was examined using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation. The results were interpreted using the real limit of numbers, and the five null hypotheses were checked with t-tests at a significance threshold of 0.05.
The findings of the study revealed that prison inmates participate to a high extent in the VSA programmes for their rehabilitation, the rehabilitation of prison inmates through VSA programmes has enhanced the social well-being and as well the economic well-being of the inmates to a high extent; challenges that affected the prisons in the rehabilitation of prison inmates through VSA programmes in the North West States’ prisons were: inadequate governmental agencies’ support, inadequate support from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
inadequate vocationally trained personnel to train the prison inmates in various vocations, inadequate modern and well-equipped vocational training workshops;strategies for improvement to ensure effective rehabilitation of prison inmates through VSA programmes in the prisons were provision of more governmental support and non-governmental agencies’ support for the promotion of rehabilitation of prison inmates and recruitment of more vocationally trained personnel in the prison services for effective rehabilitation of prison inmates in the prisons.
The study suggests that prison authorities in the study area implement more vocational skill acquisition programs and provide modern, well-equipped workshops for inmate rehabilitation.
The review included empirical studies on prison inmate participation in rehabilitation programs, enhancing socio-economic well-being through vocational skill acquisition programs, challenges in prison rehabilitation, and strategies for improving rehabilitation. The literature review included two important theories: skill acquisition theory and rehabilitation theory.
Chapter One: Introduction
Background Of the Study
The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) is responsible for criminals’ secure confinement, reformation, rehabilitation, and reintegration.
According to Dambazau (2007), decree No. 9 of 1972 assigns prisons the obligation of teaching and training inmates to become law-abiding citizens upon release.
Igbo (2007) emphasises the importance of administrative, reformative, and rehabilitative programs to promote discipline, respect for law and order, and honest labour.
At the end of their sentence, the offender aims to not only follow the law but also contribute to society. According to the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to education.
Additionally, Rule 71 (3) of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states that prisoners should be given enough useful work to sustain them for a normal working day. Nigeria actively supported the Declaration of Human Rights in 1976, recognising its significance (Hassan and Oloyede, 2013).
Despite the UN’s declaration of human rights and Nigeria’s ratification, the country continues to have high rates of crime, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and recidivism among ex-prisoners (Tenibaije 2010).
Discharged inmates in Nigerian prisons face significant challenges due to society’s perception of them as social misfits who cannot be corrected. According to the Nigerian Prison Service (N.P.S. Report, 2015), the prisons’ statutory functions include protecting the safety of awaiting trial and convicted convicts, as well as reforming and rehabilitating offenders.
Tanimu (2010) found that discharged inmates may face unemployment and social stigma. Inmates’ unemployment and social rejection can lead to re-offending.Vocational skill acquisition programs in prisons aim to promote self-sufficiency after release.
Numerous studies support the idea of providing vocational training to prisoners. Onweonye, Obinne, and Odu (2013) suggest that reformation and rehabilitation are important aspects of modern correctional procedures. Vocational training has been used in several Nigerian prisons to achieve these goals.
Vocational training in prison is vital for reforming, rehabilitating, and integrating freed convicts. According to Glym & Tracey (2012), vocational skills acquisition programs are educational programs designed to prepare individuals for employment in recognised occupations.
According to Sonfield and Bonbato (2003), individuals are drawn to self-employment programs for their ability to help themselves, create jobs, and benefit the community.
Prison rehabilitation services have been established in Nigerian prisons to teach inmates skills in arts and crafts, promoting self-sufficiency and preventing recidivism. Tanimu (2010) defines rehabilitation as restoring usable life through therapy and education, or restoring good operation or capacity.
Onweonye, Obinne, and Odu (2013) define rehabilitation as assisting individuals in developing skills that lead to job chances in society. This study defines rehabilitation as the process of assisting a jail convict to reintegrate into society or return to a previous position or rank.
Prison has sparked controversy among social science researchers. The subject has been approached from multiple aspects, including structural and functional elements.
Tanimu (2010) defined a jail as a physical facility in a specific area where individuals under highly specialised conditions adapt to their unique social environment. According to Ogwuoke and Ameh (2014), prisons are places of isolation and strict supervision over individuals.
In this research, a prison is a secure facility that houses and rehabilitates those who have been convicted or are awaiting trial.
A prison is a walled institution that holds those who are socially rejected, crazy, or intellectually handicapped, as opposed to a free community. According to Hassan and Oloyede (2013), a “prison inmate” is someone who is confined to a certain institution, such as a prison or mental health facility.
It is another name for a prisoner, offender, or law violation. Prisoners, often known as inmates, are held in continuous custody for short or lengthy periods of time. In this study, a prison inmate is someone who is legally confined in a secure institution and has been convicted or is awaiting trial.
The establishment of prisons in Nigeria can be traced back to 1861.According to Hassan and Oloyede (2013), the designation of Lagos as a colony in 1861 initiated the institution as a legal form of government. The Colonial Government prioritised protecting legitimate trade, ensuring profit for British merchants, and regulating missionary operations.
In 1861, the Acting Governor of Lagos Colony, a famous British trader, established a police force consisting of approximately 25 constables. In 1863, Lagos established four courts: a police court for minor disputes, a criminal court for serious cases, a slave court for cases related to the abolition of slavery, and a commercial court for disputes between merchants and traders.
In colonial settings, the operation of courts and police necessitated the use of prisons. In 1872, the Broad Street Prison was created with an original capacity of 300 inmates. According to Lawal (2015), there was a prison in Bonny at the period, although details on its size and contents are unknown.
The Ministry of Interior and the Civil Defence, Immigration and Prisons Service Board oversee and administer the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS). According to Talba (2015), the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) is empowered by CAP 366 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 to take custody of those certified by courts
produce suspects in court as needed, identify causes of anti-social behaviour, and implement treatment and reintegration into society as law-abiding citizens. The jail system in Nigeria is a federal phenomena.
Currently, no state has the constitutional responsibility to administer or maintain prisons, as the organisation is solely managed by the Federal Government. Currently, the NPS has 238 prisons.
There are 155 penal prisons and 83 satellite jails. There are various prison-related institutions throughout the country, including 83 satellite prison camps, 12 major farm centres, 9 cottage industries, 9 subsidiary farms, 124 market gardens, 3 Borstal institutions, 1 open camp, 1 staff college, 5 training institutions, and 1 prison academy.
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Conventional convict jails hold both convicted and awaiting trial inmates. Talba (2015) identified two categories of convict prisons in Nigeria. These are the maximum and medium-security prisons. Maximum security prisons house many types of prisoners, such as condemned criminals, lifers, and long-term inmates.
Maximum Security Prisons are unofficially classified as having heightened security. This explains why a high-risk prisoner may be sent to one Maximum Security Prison rather than another. Medium security prisons hold both remand prisoners and convicts.
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