An Analysis Of Imprisonment As A Source Of Punishment A Case Study Of Kampala District

ABSTRACT

The study analyzed imprisonment as a source of punishment in Kampala District it was guided

by the following objectives to discover role played by prisons in Uganda in the reduction of

crime rate and recidivism by reforming and rehabilitating prisoners under incarceration, to

examine whether the existing laws are effective to enable the reformation and rehabilitation of

prisoners who have been imprisoned, to change the general perception of the community about

imprisonment from being purely retributive institutions to reformative and rehabilitative

institutions and to influence the amendment to the Uganda Prisons Act and other laws to bring

them into conformity with the U.P.S policy of reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners. ln

conducting this research, both secondary and primary methods were used to collect data. The

study recommended that the Uganda Prisons Act should be amended to incorporate some of the

aspects covered by international instruments especially the Standard Minimum Rules.

Protection of prisoners' basic rights is reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners' concomitant.

As it has been argued in the preceding chapters of this work, in order to have effective

reformation and rehabi I itation of prisoners, their basic rights should not be abused. For effective

reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners, there is need t~ professionalize the Uganda Pri sons

Service staff. TJ1e prison staff needs to be informed of the modern role of prisons. The study

concludes that The modern role of prisons is reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners. This is.

not only a sign of civi I ization but a humane approach which has taken sway of the modern

penological thinking inf1uenced by human rights conceptions. All governments are striving to

control crime from a more humane approach in dealin g with offenders especially those under

custody. This is a move f-i·om the punitive way of dealing with offenders to a reformative and

rehabi litative approach. This has seen enactment of legislations to incorporate the concept of

reformation and rehabil itation of offenders. All agencies concerned with criminal justice are enjoined to have this under consideration.