A sociological study of the rehabilitation programmes for male juveniles in Westville prison.
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Date
1999
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Abstract
The study focuses mainly on the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programmes
offered to male juveniles at Westville prison. The study also tries to uncover how the
rehabilitation programmes improve the quality of life of the juvenile offenders and
how it prepares them for reintegration into the community. A combination of sociological theories has been used interchangeably since they are interrelated. The main theory is symbolic interactionism, including the views of G.H.
Mead (1934), W.I.Thomas (1923) and H.S. Becker (1963). Other theories used were
differential association by Sutherland (1947); anomie by Merton (1956); subculture
by Cohen (1956) and the labeling theory of Schur (1971). Data from prison officials were collected by means of questionnaires and an interview schedule was administered to the juveniles. The results of the findings indicate that rehabilitation programmes offered to male
juveniles are effective. The reason being that the number of second time offenders is
very small compared to the number of first time offenders. Only six respondents out
of 50 were found to be second time offenders. The mam conclusion of the study relates to the effectiveness of rehabilitation
programmes. The recommendations of the study focus on communication between prison staff and
external agencies.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1999.
Keywords
Prisons--KwaZulu-Natal--eThekwini Municipal Area--Westville., Male juvenile delinquents--KwaZulu-Natal--eThekwini Municipal Area--Westville., Theses--Sociology.