Influence of Kenya prison rehabilitation programme on reformation of rape offenders: a case of Kamiti maximum prison, Nairobi Kenya

Abstract

Kenya prison rehabilitation programme is a programme that is used in reforming offenders in prison. The programme consists of designed training activities. Some of these activities include vocational trainings which are mandatory like carpentry, masonry while others are optional like sports, hobbies and motivational activities carried out to reform offenders. The offenders are taken through the activities by prison wardens and counsellors who supervise and record their progress irrespective of the crime one has committed. Despite all the rehabilitation activities, the number of rape recidivists in Kenyan prisons had increased from 12% in 1983 to 25% in 2005. Cases of rape also continue to increase and hardly a day passes without a woman or girl being raped. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Kenya prison rehabilitation programme on the reformation of rape offenders at Kamiti maximum prison in Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. It targeted a sample of 145 respondents who were purposively selected from a total population of 299 rape offenders. Ten prison wardens and four counsellors were conveniently selected from the prison for the study. Data was collected through administration of questionnaires to the selected respondents. The collected data was processed and analysed using frequencies, percentages and chi-square tests at 0.05 significance level, with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 17.0 for windows. The study findings indicated that 31% of rape offenders were above 36 years of age with the youngest being 21 years old. 95.2% of the respondents participated in mandatory activities on a daily basis and 66.2% rated these activities as either very good or excellent. Although optional, participation in motivational activities was also high with majority (78.6%) of the offenders rating these activities as either very good or excellent. The chi-square test indicated significant associations between ratings of both mandatory (Cramer’s V= 0.414, p=0.003) and optional activities (such as self-esteem at Cramer’s V= 0.417, p=0.00) and new skills/knowledge learnt. The study also found that the attitude of rape offenders towards the crime of rape significantly changed as they were going through the rehabilitation programme. Majority of rape offenders (72.4%) perceived the rehabilitation programme as being beneficial to them. 57% of prison wardens and counsellors reported that the rehabilitation programme could be useful in reducing rape recidivism rate. The study concluded that offenders acquired new skills and changed their attitude towards the crime committed. Therefore there is need to provide enough tools and machines; and employ more prison wardens and counsellors.