Rehabilitation important for inmates

 Nearly all of the men who are incarcerated in the country’s jails are there because of a lack of opportunity and deprivation.  

For them, turning to a life of crime was their only option with society and the ed­ucation system deeming them unproductive and therefore worthless.

It is not hard for a human being who feels neglected, shunned and even ridiculed to rebel against authority in their endeavour to survive.

But the fact that these men and women will eventually return to society after paying their dues without improving their lot or learning anything useful seems a waste.

Granted that the state does expand a significant amount of time, man power and resources to run the jail facilities around Papua New Guinea, an investment in the area of rehabilitative programmes, particularly literacy, could help offenders stay out of trouble and therefore lessen the burden on these government institutions. In that regard, it was refreshing and even heart warming to see a group of inmates from the country’s largest correctional facility graduate with certificates in adult literacy last week.

For these 70 individuals, gaining the ability to read and write will go a long way in improving their self- confidence and perhaps their outlook on the world. 

It will open some doors for them that perhaps were not there before their committed the offences which put them behind bars in the first place. In a sad yet revealing admission by the jail’s commanding officer, Kiddy Keko, during the presentation, he said that a good number of inmates could not read or write or sign their names.

“I was very concerned. I thought that if I am caring for my fellow citizens in correctional service custody then we be given the mandate to provide avenues to change their offending behaviour,” Keko said.

He said teaching the inmates fundamental life skills of reading and writing was a crucial part of their rehabilitation. The illiteracy rate among prisoners is high and for many that deficiency is part of the reason they reoffend because they simply do not know any better or limited options. Illiteracy is not just prohibitive in the sense that it keeps men and women from becoming useful members of their communities, especially in an urban setting, but it makes them less likely to appreciate the rule of law and the effect crime and anti-social behaviour has on communities. The literacy training was carried out by the Bible Society PNG and this in itself speaks of a deficiency in the state system.

If these jails are to be con­sidered centres where law breakers only serve their time then they should not be called correctional facilities or the public service machinery tasked with running them be called the “correctional services”. It is a misnomer.

A sentence is a punitive term for the offender to have his or her freedom taken away for a period of time and for them to be released “rehabilitated” back to society.

Would it not make sense to teach and train them in a controlled environment and equip them with some basic skill so that they can be of use later on? 

If that is the basic cause and effect of the jail system then authorities need to determine empirically if the people, who serve their time for serious crimes and lesser offences, leave the institutions with a mind-set that will see them re-offend. The government should provide jails with a proper corrective programme which includes education and evaluation. 

This would be costly and time consuming, not to mention earning the ire of people who consider prisons to be places of abject misery, occasional violence, intimidation, fear, loneliness and every other negative connotation for breaking the human spirit. 

But if churches and other NGOs can see the advantages in giving inmates a second chance then the state must take that on board.

No one can deny society’s precept that a person who commits a crime and is judged guilty must then serve his or her time for breaking the law but we cannot leave them to wait needlessly while making no effort to improve their chances of being better men and women in some way when they re-enter the community.  

The question here is are jails doing enough to help rehabilitate prisoners or are they just holding pens for the unwanted and downtrodden of society?