CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO STUDY
On the general issue of imprisonment as an aspect of punishment, the retributivists and the deterrent philosophers’ stress that a deviant should be punished in order to pay him back for his actions and to deter him or others from committing crime. Imprisonment is most appropriately conceived as a formal perspective of inflicting pain on the individuals, which has been an aspect of the traditional criminal justice system in various societies in Nigeria[1]. While imprisonment is a rescription, prisonization is the process of living within a confinement known as a prison.
A prison according to Mc Corkle[2] it is a physical structure in a geographical location where a number of people live under highly specialized conditions utilize the resources and adjust to the alternatives presented to them by a unique kind of social environment that is different from the larger society in so many ways. Obviously, there are basic social and cultural characteristic that are present in the prison community and other total institution alike, which do not exist in the larger society. The prison community with its distinct culture and way of life epitomizes a complete design capable of changing the attitudes of individual members for good or bad depending on the personal experience and the social net-work action. The way of life in the prison provides the means and ways for the adjustment processes of inmates. Its culture is a dynamic[3] one, which consists of all sorts of value reorientation and internalizations[4].
[1] Obioha 2002 The Prison Service And Penal Reform in Nigeria: A Synthesis Study For the Safety, Security And Access to Justice Programme of the Department for International Development (DFID),PRAWA: Lagos at page 13
- [2] Mc Corkle Baseline & Impact Assessment of the Prison Decongestion and RE-entry Scheme (PDRS) – A Project funded by Security, Justice and Growth (SJG) Programme/DFID) PRAWA: Enugu at page 4
[3]ibid
[4] Obioha U.R et al (1995) opcit at pages 12-25
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AN APPRAISAL OF THE POWERS OF THE STATE CHIEF JUDGE IN PRISON DECONGESTION IN NIGERIA
