Development and stakeholder's validation of prisoners programme in Nigeria.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify some indices of stakeholders’ awareness and readiness for prisoner reintegration, develop and validate the curricular content of proposed prisoner reintegration programme, determine the needed implementation resources and find out some challenges to be faced in working towards effective implementation of the proposed PREP. The theoretical framework of the study was based on Desistance Paradigm theory (DPT) and African Culture Compatible Model (ACCM). Sequential explanatory mixed methods design of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted for the study. Convenient sampling population of 1500 participants for the quantitative study and 15 for the qualitative study responded to the instruments of Stakeholders’ Awareness and Readiness for Prisoner Reintegration Inventory (SARFPRI) and Structured Interview Format (SIF) developed by the researcher from the available literature reviewed. The participants were between the ages of 31 to 70 years from Nigerian States of Lagos, Nasarawa and Anambra. Due ethical clearance was followed and obtained locally from Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), now Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS), Abuja, Nigeria; and from University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA), Multiple Independent Samples t-test and Pearson Chi-Square and thematic content discourse were employed to answer the five research questions raised and nine hypotheses formulated for this study. The result of the findings showed that the proposed prisoner reintegration programme was applauded and approved by 75% of the Nigerian stakeholders who participated in the study. The selected Nigerian stakeholders who participated in the study had sufficient indices for awareness and readiness to embrace the proposed prisoner reintegration programme (PREP) in Nigeria. The proposed objectives and contents of prisoner reintegration programme (PREP) were endorsed and positively validated by the study participants. The result of the findings also revealed some anticipated challenges for effective implementation of PREP in Nigeria. Finally, proposed prisoner reintegration programme was positively embraced and successfully validated by the Nigerian stakeholders studied. The researcher gave fourteen recommendations for policy and practice based on the findings of the study. Recommendations for further studies were also proffered.