ANALYSIS OF THE REHABILITATION OF INMATES AT THE NSAWAM MEDIUM SECURITY PRISON

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION, ANALYSIS OF THE REHABILITATION OF INMATES IN THE NSAWAM MEDIUM SECURITY PRISON Crime is on the ascendency in Ghana and prisons are becoming overcrowded. Vocational training is the main method by which Ghanaian prisons seek to reform offenders and put this trend in check, yet recidivism is on the increase in our prisons after inmates have gone through the various rehabilitation programmes. This study seeks to evaluate the rehabilitation programmes in the Nsawam Medium Security Prison and whether any meaningful rehabilitation process has been achieved by interviewing 68 trainee inmates; a sample size collated through the systematic sampling approach. Interview questions were geared towards the aims of this study and required information such as intentions towards training, future plans with regards to the training, performance of supervisors, conditions of tools used, problems faced during the rehabilitation programmes as well as suggested solutions to these problems. The findings of the study confirm the view that with proper direction and supervision, vocational training can serve as a method by which offenders can be reformed. This is supported by the fact that almost all the recidivists interviewed during the study were either unemployed or employed in illegal activities. v Besides almost all of the trainees (92.6%) are satisfied with their training and as much as 70% intend to utilize vocational skills learnt in prison after discharge. Their rehabilitation process is however beleaguered with problems such as lack of tools, lack of instructors and the lack of workshops which need to be addressed if the programme is supposed to yield desirable results.