The Study of the Attitude of Prison Inmates Towards Education in the Prison
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study is to identify attitude of prison inmates towards education of Nigerian prisons. The specific objectives are as follows:
- To identify the internal factors that enhance the education of inmates in Aguata and Onitsha prisons, Nigeria.
- To discover the external factors that enhance the education of inmates in Aguata and Onitsha prisons, Nigeria.
- To identify how the internal factors constrain the education of inmates in Aguata and Onitsha prisons, Nigeria.
- To investigate how the external factors constrain the education of inmates in Aguata and Onitsha prisons, Nigeria.
- To proffer measures that could be employed in tackling the challenges of correction of inmates in Aguata and Onitsha
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
In this chapter, the views of other scholars related to the topic under study were examined. Also empirical works that have been done by other scholars as it relates to the topic at hand were reviewed. This was followed by the review of theories that can be used to explain the topic under study. After which the most appropriate theory was selected as the theoretical framework for the study. To conclude the chapter, three hypotheses were formulated which guided the study.
Conceptual Issues
The Concept of Prison
The concept of prison has been treated from various perspectives which include structural and functional dimensions. Mccorkle and Korn (1954) described a prison as a physical structure in a geographical location where a number of people living under highly specialized condition, adjust to the alternatives presented to them by the unique kind of social environments. Sykes (1958), Goffman (1961) and Okunola (1986) conceived prison as a place where people are highly secluded from the rest of the world with entirely new order and control. This conceptualizations advanced by scholars are limited towards understanding that, prison is a physical environment and could be described geographically or spatially.
Different from the physical conception, there are other schools of thought that are based on function, framework and label. From the functional perspective, a prison is perceived as a place to punish offenders, where criminals that are removed from the society are dumped to protect the society from further criminal activities. It is a place to reform, and teach offenders to be law abiding and productive after their release.
Okunola (1986) and Goffman (1961) defined the concept of prison in various ways. While Goffman (1961) conceptualized total institution as where there is a basic split between large classes of individuals who are restricted contact pattern where social mobility is restricted, Okunola (1986) on the other hand, sees a total institution as a place, (unlike the free environment or the community) that inhabits those who are socially rejected, insane, or mentally retarded.
The labeling point of view on the other hand, stressed prison as a place for vagrants who may pose actual danger to social life in the larger society. This model pre-supposes that every person in the prison is a vagrant and irresponsible person. This was the position of Howard (1986)
who demonstrated his view with what obtained during the ancient Greek times. With the recent developments, the general conception about the prisons is changing in the mind of some people with reference to the economic idea that people in the prisons are dregs of the society (Yongo, 2010). Imprisonment is most appropriately conceived as a formal perspective of inflicting pain on the individual. This has been an aspect of the traditional criminal justice system in various societies in Nigeria (Obioha, 1995; Obioha 2002).
The Nigeria prison service was established to manage criminals in prison yards. This constitutional function empowers the Nigerian prison services to:
- Keep convicted offenders (prisoners) in safe
- Keep awaiting trial inmates in custody until law courts ask for their
- Punish offenders as instructed by the law
- Reform the convicted
- Rehabilitate and re-integrate prisoners who have completed their sentences in the prison (extract from prison training manual (cited in Adetula, 2010).
Philosophy of Punishment
Punishment serves numerous socio-cultural functions. The concept of punishment has been justified on four basic principles or goals. These principles/goals are seen as the basic aims of punishment. Andrew (2008) in reviewing the philosophy of punishment in Nigeria opined that, of all the four goals of punishment which includes retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation, the first three goals are the most focused on in the Nigeria Prison system. An examination of scholars’ views on the above philosophies of punishment will suffice to shed proper light on the concept.
Retribution: Ahmed (2009) submits that one of the oldest and most basic justifications for punishment involves the principles of revenge. This equation of punishment, with the gravity
of the offence is embedded in the Judeo Christian tradition in the mosaic laws of the old testament in the Holy Bible that emphasize the idea of an eye for an eye. This idea was the classical principle of how justice should be dispensed in democratic society (Alfreton, 2007).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The study employed a cross sectional survey design. For Obodoeze (2005), a cross-sectional survey refers to a method whereby the researcher selects representative samples of individuals within the various specified stages of the study. This research design was adopted because it guaranteed representativeness of the universe.
Population of the Study
The target population for the study was the staffs and inmates of Aguata and Onitsha prisons. According to the Aguata and Onitsha prisons records, the population is put at 220 and 680 prison inmates, 73 and 229 prison staffs within the two prisons respectively at the time of this study (Federal Prisons service, Awka, Statistics Department, 2023). The sum total of the target population for the study was 1220 prison staffs and inmates excluding lifers (those in life sentence).
Scope of the Study
The scope of the study is on the factors affecting Nigeria prisons as a corrective institution, taking Aguata and Onitsha prisons as case studies. The study tries to find out the internal and external factors that enhance and constrain the correction of prison inmates. It also tries to find out how the services of the Nigerian prisons as a correctional institution can be improved.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
This chapter deals with the presentation of data obtained from the field. It gives details about the personal data of the respondents, analysis of research questions, test of hypotheses and discussion of findings. 301 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the respondents, out of which only 273 copies, representing 91% of the questionnaires were collected back. The response rate was considered fair and 273 completed questionnaires were used for the analysis of data.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings
The inefficiencies observed in the Nigerian Prison system in the bid to performing her statutory functions of correcting prisoners, formed the basis of motivation for this study. Hence, the study aimed at examining the various internal and external factors which affects the corrective functions of Nigeria prisons. Two prisons namely Aguata and Onitsha Prisons were used in this study and the researcher made use of data from both quantitative and qualitative sources to gather the data for this study which were used to answer the research questions.
Many internal and external factors were found to influence and constrain the corrective functions of the prison system. The internal/external factors influencing the education of inmates include: Staff briefing inmates on any matter that affects them (effective communication), inmates using the goodwill of prison officials to meet some of their pressing needs outside the prison walls, Prison environment being kept very clean and hygienic, inmates being fed and clothed properly, and attitude of prison officials towards inmates, cordial relationship between the prisons and their host communities, the activities of faith-based organization and non-governmental organizations and prompt releases of finance from the government.
Corrupt practices among prison officials, insufficient prison cells, lack of functional correctional facilities, power struggle between prison staff, poor communication between prison staff and inmates, inequitable distribution of resources meant for prison inmates and poor working attitude of some of the prison staff were found to be the internal factors which constrain the prisons from effectively performing their corrective functions. Also, poor funding of the prisons by the government, late release of funds meant for the prisoners and delays in the criminal justice system with constant strike actions and other logistical problems constrain the corrective roles of prisons and hampers on the efforts towards inmates’ correction.
In addition, the study found that prompt release of prison funds, release of well-behaved prisoners a mid-way to their prison sentence, assisting discharged prisoners with finance to start up a business would help in the education of inmates. Other findings suggest that establishment of Open University, churches and workshops within the prison yards would be very effective in correcting the prisoners. The respondents were emphatic on the training and retraining of prison staffs as well as the employment of more qualified trainers, as important measures that would help to solve the inefficiencies of the prison staffs in their correctional duties.
Conclusion
This study has provided theoretical as well as empirical perspectives on the factors influencing the corrective roles of the prisons in Nigeria. Through the findings of this study, it is obvious that the Nigeria prison system is plagued with various challenges affecting its correctional functions. Thus, this study has produced insights into various internal and external factors which influence and constrain the corrective roles of the prisons as a corrective institution with the hope that proactive measures as identified in the findings would help in strengthening the lapses observed in the Nigeria prison system especially in Anambra State. In doing so, it is assumed that this study would help to filling the gap in empirical and theoretical knowledge about factors affecting the corrective functions of prisons in Nigeria.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher makes the following recommendations:
- There is the need for urgent legislation on realistic prisons reforms and policies that would emphasize on eradicating corruption among the prisons officials and increase in the budgetary allocations for the prisons.
- As the study found that lack of qualified trainers constrains the corrective functions of prisons, there is therefore the need for compulsory training and retraining of the prison staffs so as to acquaint them with the latest global knowledge in prison management and correctional roles.
- There is the need to introduce a recognized academic certificate programmes for inmates through the Open University system, so as to help equip them with the basic educational knowledge and skills and reshape their mindsets.
- There is also the need to review the laws militating against the employment of ex- convicts into public offices as this would help to break the barrier of stigmatization and increase the integration of ex-convicts into the
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