Promoting Socio-Economic Development through Alternative Incarceration Systems of Rehabilitation of Offenders in Nsawam Medium-Security Prisons in Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated the contributions of an alternative incarceration system for the rehabilitation of offenders to promote socio-economic development in Nsawam medium-security prisons. An interpretivist worldview was adopted to answer the question regarding the relationship between variables, thus making this an inductive study. A qualitative approach was followed in the study, which is in line with the selected philosophical perspective. Interviews were used to gather data from the prison officers. In the quest to reduce the potential for researcher bias and ensure the exactness of the data gathered during the interview, there was the need to conduct member checking using the sampling ratio proposed by Cochran (1963: p. 75) to arrive at variability p = 0.5 (maximum variability) and with the desire of 95% confidence level and ±5% precision. Hence, this study was based on a sample population of 20 prison officers from the Nsawam medium security prison. A semi-structured interview was used to gather data from the prison officers. The interview ended when the researcher reached the point of saturation. In all, 20 prison officers were successfully interviewed. Data was generated through digital recording and were given serial numbers to enable easy identification for scoring. Having transcribed the data, an inductive approach was used to organize the data into various themes and categories based on the research questions and the objectives of the study. The interviews were conducted in two languages namely English and Twi. All interviews were transcribed personally by the researcher to ensure that no data were lost. In some instances, during the transcribing, the researcher identified some vagueness and gaps. The study concluded that prison officers at the Nsawam Medium Security prison were partially aware of alternate forms of incarceration. The study recommended that the general public be educated extensively about alternative forms of confinement, their different varieties, and the importance of their acceptance. This will go a long way toward educating the public about alternatives to imprisonment.