Save in advanced nations like the Netherlands, rehabilitation of criminals is fulfilled more by rhetoric than effective programmes.
In Trinidad and Tobago, a purported “bike show” within the prison last week that involved female models has aroused controversy, with critics from within the prison service alleging that it was little more than a sex show while defenders, who include Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart, say that the show was part of rehabilitation. “We are preparing for integration into society and we have to be creative and find innovative ways to treat with their reintegration into the environment,” Mr Stewart told the T&T Guardian. We suspect, however, that no data were adduced to prove that such shows are effective in helping relieve prisoner stress, and we doubt that any follow-up will take place.
By contrast, the Netherlands and other countries in Western Europe take rehabilitation and reform of inmates seriously and, save for the deprivation of freedom, strive to make the convicts’ lives as comfortable as possible for the duration of their sentence. This approach stands in stark contrast to the public attitude here, where the standard phrase “Jail doh eat nice” is both a description and a prescription. The intuitive logic is that, the more unpleasant gaol is, the more unlikely an individual is to commit acts that will get him/her incarcerated again.
Intuition, however, is not borne out by actuality. Whereas in the Netherlands there is jail space because of insufficient criminals, in 2010 in T&T, the recidivism rate was 47 per cent of released prisoners, increasing to 61 per cent in 2011. This is in a context where just under 40 per cent of inmates have been sentenced for less than three months. Overall, 98 per cent of the prison population will eventually be returned to normal society over time and, according to the Central Statistical Office, over 25,000 inmates have been released from prison between 2000 and 2009. Additionally, almost half of the prison population, or almost 2,000 inmates, are simply awaiting trial, many of them because they can’t afford bail.
Moreover, international surveys have consistently failed to demonstrate that jailing more people reduces the rate of crime – indeed, criminologists generally hold that imprisonment should be a last resort, used only when other measures of crime control have failed. T&T is leagues away from that approach but, given our high recidivism rates, rehabilitation must clearly be a key part of the country’s penal system. Thus, unusual or innovative measures should certainly not be dismissed out of hand. Reminding prisoners of outside life may well help maintain discipline within prison walls and make the desire not to return stronger. Or it may have the opposite effect. This is why such a potentially controversial event should have been organised on an experimental basis by which its effects could be measured.
Here’s what is certain, though. At the Port-of-Spain Prison, Golden Grove and Carerra Prison, the number of inmates is more than double the capacity. The United Nations lists the following minimum conditions for humane treatment of inmates: (1) adequate floor space and cubic content of air for each prisoner: (2) adequate sanitary facilities; (3) clothing which is not degrading or humiliating; (4) provision of a separate bed: (5) and provision of food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength. Save perhaps for (5), all these criteria are inadequately met in T&T’s penal system.
Thus, fixing basic problems, such as overcrowding and insufficient toilets and continually delayed trial dates, may help do more to reduce recidivism than providing Christmas entertainment for prisoners.
