Across the Wall: the Perception of Rehabilitation, Reformation and Reintegration Programmes in Anambra State Prison Command

The key essence of establishing modern prison system in Nigeria is predicated on the goals of reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders .This is based on the understanding that those who have fallen foul of the collective norms and laws of the society expressed in criminal laws, should be assisted to live a better life. Indeed, most of the previous studies on prison system examine the living condition of prison inmates. However, moving beyond the conventional focus and analysis of prison system in Nigeria, the current study looks at the perception of rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration programmes across the wall of Anambra State Prison Command. The study was anchored on Jean Hampton rehabilitation theory and employed the cross-sectional survey design; using the proportionate stratified sampling technique in the selection of 396 respondents that cut across various levels of prison inmates and prison officials in four prison locations in Anambra State. The structured questionnaire and In-depth Interview (IDI) Guide served as the instruments for data collection. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to code and analyze the quantitative data. Frequency tables and charts were employed to present and describe the data while the qualitative data were analyzed using the theme-based method of content analysis. findings revealed that there is a mixed perception about the functionality of programmes among the members of the prison community. The study recommends the need to set up a committee that would periodically supervise the activities and programmes in the prisons.

Keywords: Perception, Reformation, Rehabilitation, Reintegration, Wall.