ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of Need-Focused Cognitive Restructuring Intervention Programme (NEFCRIP) on the self-esteem and self-efficacy of recidivist inmates in the zone G of the Nigeria prison service. The design of the study was a post-test only control group design. There were six research questions and six corresponding hypotheses raised to guide the study. The sample of the study was 74 recidivist inmates purposively selected from six prisons out of the 11 medium prisons in zone G with a total population of 105 recidivists. The participants were assigned to experimental and control groups. Inmates in the experimental group received Need-Focused Cognitive Restructuring Intervention Programme (NEFCRIP). The programme emphasized positive thinking and positive values, cognitive restructuring, coping skills and positive self-talk as strategies for building self-esteem and self-efficacy. The control group received a placebo-conventional counselling. Inmate’s Self-esteem (ISES) and Self-efficacy (ISEFS) scales were the instruments used for data collection. Data were analyzed using means and standard deviations while ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses at .05 probability level. Results showed that, NEFCRIP had significant effect on the self-esteem and self-efficacy of recidivist inmates in Nigeria prisons. The interaction between NEFCRIP and gender on self-esteem and self-efficacy of recidivist was not significant. It was concluded among others that Need-focused cognitive restructuring intervention programme (NEFCRIP) significantly is an effective cognitive based intervention programme that can be used to treat low self-esteem and low self-efficacy prevalent among recidivist inmates.Based on the findings, it was recommended that psychological services/counselling that is cognitive based should be set up as a regular programme in the Nigeria prisons. Workshops and seminars should be organized by the Ministry of Interior for the training of welfare officers some of whom are not trained psychologists or counsellors on how to use NEFCRIP in the prisons to improve the low self-esteem and self-efficacy of recidivist inmates. Need-focused cognitive restructuring intervention programme should form part of the counselling programmes for the inmates in Nigeria prison.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Prison is an institution where persons who violate the laws of a society are incarcerated for the offences committed when found guilty in the court of law or as they wait to go to court to determine their guilt. The Prisons are established to serve as corrective as well as reformatory institutions. In Nigeria, the prison is charged with taking custody of those legally detained, identifying causes of their behaviour and retraining them to become useful citizens in the society (Orakwe, 2004). Hence, the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) was founded as an institution that corrects social deviants, punishes and reforms criminals. The NPS operates under the prison Act, number 9 of 1972 and serves to complement the processes of legal adjudicate and law enforcement (FGN, 1990: 3-5).
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There are different categories of prisons and prison related institutions in Nigeria. They include, the convict prisons, satellite prison camps, farm centres, cottage industries, borstal institutions and open prison camps (NPS, 2014). These prisons serve different purposes for the different categories of offenders: the convict prisons consist of medium and maximum security prisons and they are for the remand of both convicted and awaiting trial inmates. According to Orakwe (2004), the maximum security prisons take in all classes of prisoners including condemned convicts, lifers and long term prisoners while the medium security prison takes into custody both remand inmates and convicts on short term. The satellite prisons serve as intermediate prisons camps set up in areas where courts are far from the main prisons. They are usually for the awaiting trial persons (ATPs) whose cases are being tried in court very close to the satellite camps but far from the main prisons. When convicted, they are moved to appropriate convict prisons to service their terms. The farm centres are agricultural prison camps set up to train inmates in agro-based vocations so that on release they must have acquired agro-based skills to start up life anew. Apart from the farm centres that are largely mechanized farms located in the food producing areas in Nigeria, some state prisons establish subsidiary farms and market gardens. The subsidiary farms are made up of vegetable-producing market gardens, poultry and piggery farms. In all, the establishment of the farm centres and subsidiary farms are endeavours to train inmates in vocational skills so they can be functional when they leave the prison on release. The efforts are also expected to yield revenue to the state. Finally, the borstal institutions, are for the remand and treatment of juvenile offenders and there are only three of such in Nigeria.
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Whatever the category, the role of the prisons is to rehabilitate offenders so they can reintegrate into a set standard of behaviour or principles of conduct of the society on release. Rehabilitation is the act of rebuilding something to its former and original state. It is concerned with the inner worth and the dignity of an individual. More so, rehabilitation is committed to the restoration of the inmate to a life that is meaningful and allows the individual to meet with the obligations of the society in which they live. According to Ahire (2004) rehabilitation refers to post release efforts made carefully to make it easier for offenders to resettle in the society. However, Sinclair and Dickson (1998) defined rehabilitation as a process aiming to restore personal autonomy in those aspects of daily living considered most relevant by inmates. The definitions suggest that the individual had deviated from normalcy. When somebody falls short of expected behaviour, the person needs to be restored to a condition or frame of mind to be able to act normally. To rehabilitate, and as stated in the prisoners’ rights and responsibilities information booklet, the inmate on admittance, will determine a suitable area for training as a way of rehabilitation (NPS nd). The process of rehabilitation therefore, is indispensable for the correction of event disposing factor to criminal behaviours. Thus in this study rehabilitation means a process of meeting with the inmates’ criminogenic needs so that they do not show sign or tendency to re-offend in future.
Recidivism is a prisoner’s repetition of a criminal behaviour or act after being sanctioned. It may be for same or new offense. For Schmallenger and Smykla (2005), recidivism means the re-arrest, reconviction, or re-incarceration of former inmates. Tenibiaje (2013) describes it as falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits especially after punishment. The rate of recidivism endangers the social and economic condition of the society as well as the life and property of the citizenry. If recidivism is not checked the society in which recidivists live may become the target of their criminal acts. Tenibiaje (2013) refers a recidivist as a person who repeatedly commits crime or a person who repeats an unwanted behaviour even after experiencing its negative consequences. In this study, a recidivist is an inmate who after serving a jail term for a committed offence is rearrested for a similar or another offence.
There are certain factors that may contribute to recidivism. To Alberts (2000) reasons why inmates get in and go back (recidivism) could be an individual’s character and life experiences. According to Gendreau, Goggin and Little (1996), the factors which cause recidivism are called dynamic factors. The dynamic factors reflect internal states and temporary circumstances of individual such as attitudes and cognition. Gendreau, Goggin and Little emphasized that the strongest predictors of recidivism were dynamic risk factors of attitudes and cognition.
Attitudes and cognition might determine the extent one can cope or tolerate frustrations. According to Knaus (1998), when individuals’ wants, desires, and goals get thwarted, they normally feel frustration, which reflects an attitude about the unwanted condition. Frustration does not get provoked by circumstances but results mainly from mental processes: one’s ideas about people, events, concepts, and feelings. Life after imprisonment might even cause frustrations which may lead to aggression, regression, complacency, or compulsive behaviours. It can also stimulate positive change depending upon how inmates interpret the feelings of frustrations. In spite of this, it is believed that individuals from birth have the basic need to think and feel well about themselves. They have the ability as they grow to seek to understand who they are and also make judgments about whether their behaviour is good or bad. Self judgements are considered to be the basis for self-esteem.
Rosenberg (1965) defines self-esteem as favourable or unfavourable attitude towards the self. According to Gerrig and Zimbardo (2005:459), “self-esteem is a generalized evaluation of the self and can strongly influence thoughts, moods and behaviour”. In the same perspective, Ferkany (2008) defines self-esteem as how individuals feel about their self, good or bad and as manifested in a variety of ways as positive or negative value. More so, Gleitman, Reisberg and Gross (2007), define self-esteem as the relative balance of positive and negative judgments about oneself. Self-esteem sums up the positive and negative forms of feeling about oneself.
Self-esteem impacts significantly on one’s life. This is why Gleitman, Reisberg and Gross (2007) posit that boosting self-esteem could heal a range of individual and social problems from poor grades, depression, and bullying to criminality. Likewise Reasoner (1994), reports that self-esteem is a critical factor as both a source of crime prevention and an essential element of rehabilitation and behavioural change. It is an important cognitive variable that influences and sometimes even determines success in one’s life. That is to say, with healthy self-esteem, one might being capable of meeting life challenges.
There is evidence that the human needs associated with self-esteem are so strong that when personal needs for self-worth and value are not met, individuals will engage in drug or alcohol abuse, or crime and violence to satisfy these needs (Reasoner 1994). For example people may join gangs because they want to belong and to be “somebody” rather than be a “nobody”. Thus there seem to be significant links among\ self-esteem, criminal behaviours and other psychological problems. Adler (1956) theorized that self-esteem needs are at the root of many, if not most, psychological problems. Confirming Adler’s assertion, Dogar, Akhwanzada, Bajwa, Haider and Asmat 2010; Mason, 2001 and Tzeng and Yi, 2002, stated that delinquent behaviours were found to be associated with low self-esteem. Implicitly, to reduce delinquent behaviour is to enhance self-esteem and Kelley (1998) found evidence of a link between increased self-esteem and a reduction of delinquent behaviour in his study. He posits that as programmes were implemented to raise the level of self-esteem, the incidence of delinquent behaviour was reduced.
