CHALLENGES FOR REHABILITATION OF SENTENCED OFFENDERS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF UNIT MANAGEMENT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES: BETHAL MANAGEMENT AREA

In 1998 the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) made a paradigm shift from being purely punitive institutions to becoming rehabilitative correctional centres. The paper reports on a mixed method study done at correctional centres in the Bethal Management Area. The goal was to explore and describe how rehabilitation and unit management can be optimised to address the needs of offenders. The study concludes that in order to optimise rehabilitation and unit management, the Department of Correctional Services needs to prioritise the strengthening of human resources, including professionals, provide resources, increase vocational training opportunities for offenders, and improve infrastructure within correctional centres

Report on a review of the 8 Judicial Districts Department of Correctional Services for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2014

Report on a review of the 8 Judicial Districts Department of Correctional Services for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 201

Analysis of post-secondary correctional education: case of Brandvlei Correctional Centre, Cape Town.

Masters Degree, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The main aim of this study is explore the provision of PSCE to reduce recidivism amongst offenders studying through NSFAS. Violence in South Africa justifiably ignites anxiety as well as tension and issues about the government’s reaction to crime and violence have turned out to be exceptionally politically charged. The vision of the Department of Correctional Services is to provide the best correctional services for a safer South Africa and more specific to the study, the vision of their formal education department is to be one of the world’s leading providers of formal educational programmes, delivered with respectability and commitment to perfection, to persons assigned to their care. Literature primarily revealed that accumulation of educational achievements may improve employability and income. Secondly, an increase in the educational accomplishments of parents, may positively impact the educational achievements of their children. This may help to curtail the increase of intergenerational crime amongst the segments of the offender population, who were the most likely to reoffend. Research studies increasingly revealed that training levels of guardians were a solid indicator of the educational accomplishments of their children. The study employed a mixed-method approach, involving both quantitative and qualitative methods, utilising in-depth interviews (six), documentary analysis and survey methods (16 questionnaires) to elicit the views of offenders, Department of Correctional Services officials as well as their formal education management unit about the effectiveness of post-secondary correctional education at their centre. The study revealed that offenders felt that the Department of Correctional Services was not investing in improving ways to attract additional offenders into the post-secondary correctional education space. Consequently, offenders sourced information for themselves and registered for their studies to obtain admission into higher education institutions. This finding, also reported in the literature, emphasised that higher education institutions were moving towards online delivery of courses and fewer universities would offer an education to offenders, since it was deemed to be troublesome and tedious. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Department of Correctional Services have a comprehensive awareness programme to emphasise the importance of post-secondary correctional education, in increasing the chances of offenders finding employment upon release, thereby decreasing recidivism. Furthermore, the Department of Correctional Services should afford offenders with the opportunity to work within correctional centres in areas where their skills and qualifications are required

The role of transformation in the provision and maintenance of personnel in the department of correctional services : Pretoria Central Prison

Before 1994 the Department of Correctional Services was not representative of South African demography in terms of race, gender and disability. The challenge faced by the post-1994 Department of Correctional Services was to bring about change. The Department had to accept this challenge with full awareness of past and continuing discriminatory policies and practices and inadequate service delivery (Department of Correctional Services: Equity Policy, 1999:2). This study investigated the role of transformation in the reform of policies in the provision, maintenance and education, training and development of personnel in the Department of Correctional Services: Pretoria Central Prison. A qualitative research method was used in the study. The study involved survey questionnaires, survey interviews, a review of the relevant literature on the research topic and observation. The study shows that there has been an increase in the representation of blacks (coloureds and Africans) and women in the staff at Pretoria Central Prison. It is recommended that the Prison focus on increasing the representation of Indians and disabled persons to achieve the goals of transformation even further.Dissertation (MAdmin (Public Administration))--University of Pretoria, 2007.School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA)unrestricte

EXPLORING THE PERCEPTIONS OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS AND ELDERLY PAROLEES OF POST-INCARCERATION SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMMES IN ETHEKWINI METROPOLITAN

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of correctional service providers and elderly parolees regarding post-incarceration social work programmes. Primary data were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 (n=15) elderly parolees, three (n=3) social workers and two (n=2) correctional officials from South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services. The findings of this study indicated that correctional social work programmes often did not prioritise the unique needs of elderly parolees; the study findings also revealed the urgent need for developing social work programmes that cater exclusively to the needs of elderly parolees. Moreover, the study found the need for developing ongoing training programmes to strengthen reintegration services offered to the elderly cohort, and finally, the study also revealed that the increase in the number of elderly offenders being released on parole impacted negatively on the responsiveness of social work post-incarceration programmes. This article concludes by offering recommendations to the Department of Correctional Services and social workers working in community correctional centres

Constructing hope: a multi-agency programme model for young sex offenders living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Many young sex offenders in South Africa have HIV/AIDS. This fact both complicates and underlines the importance of delivering effective multi-agency sex offender programmes to these individuals. Reducing reoffending rates is of obvious importance, as stopping these young offenders from offending also means limiting the spread of HIV to new victims. We are proposing an integrative programme that incorporates proven models of sex offender treatment in combination with medical, educational and family support systems to facilitate community reintegration of young sex offenders living with HIV/AIDS. It is our hope to work in partnership with the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa to facilitate such programming in the near future

Language attitudes and language choice within the correctional services with reference to Pretoria Central Prison

The focus of this study is an investigation of the language policy and language policy implementation in the Department of Correctional Services of South Africa. Language usage is a right of all the citizens of South Africa as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) which is the supreme law of the country. It is imperative that language policy makers in the Department of Correctional Services should adhere to the provisions of the constitution. It also aims at establishing whether the Department of Correctional Services’ policy is aligned to the national language policy framework as well as provincial language policy framework that provide for the use of the eleven (11) official languages in general and in particular. In this research study, background information serves to give an overview of how language policy of South Africa since 1994 has been perceived by various scholars and the historical overview of the language policies during the apartheid era. The African languages were given a low status as the language diversity of South Africa was not acknowledged by the government of that day. The evaluation of the contents of language policies that were used previously and currently in the Department of Correctional Services shed light to the issues of language attitude, language choice and language use in this department. During the apartheid era there were working languages set for prisoners as well as staff regarding communication either verbally or in writing in the Department of Correctional Services. The official languages were English and Afrikaans of which the latter was dominant. The question of whose language, for what purpose and how was it received was also investigated.African LanguagesD. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages

Development and Validation of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Prison Classification System

Over the last 45 years, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) has made two substantial changes to its classification system. The first system was created and implemented in the 1970s. In 2005, Patricia Hardyman was contracted to update and modify the classification and reclassification system. Using statistical analyses of available data, a set of prediction models were created to score inmates on items that predicted future infraction behavior. However, the primary issues of the tools were that inmates’ scores were routinely over-classified and that substantial uses of overrides (approximately 40%) were indicated. After a review of the tools’ development methods, several issues were identified, including: a small development sample, a lack of prediction and outcome item specificity, lack of item weighting, a less than optimal feature select strategy, inefficient validation techniques, and the tool’s inability to assess infraction prediction posttransfer. It was therefore determined that this system required major improvements and a research project was outlined and contracted by the University of Nebraska, Omaha

An investigation on the perceptions of officials on their role in the rehabilitation process: the case of the East London Correctional Centre

This report is the result of a literature study and questionnaire which gave insight on the role of officials in the rehabilitation process. Correctional Services has adopted a new approach, where offenders need to change their negative behaviour and be rehabilitated. Corrections have a societal responsibility towards the community to guide the offender on his rehabilitation path. This study was conducted to give a better understanding of rehabilitation to offenders The purpose of this research is to determine if the Department of Correctional Services delivers on its legal and social responsibility towards the rehabilitation of offenders. In this study the researcher gathered information on the department policies, training of officials, the programmes currently available in Correctional Services, and also the involvement of the community in this process. Corrections cannot work alone, and needs the help of the community and leaders in the community to assist it in this process. Correctional Services faces many challenges in order to succeed in the rehabilitation of offenders. Currently there is a shortage of officials in the Department of Correctional Services, and the Department cannot, therefore, fully succeed in its rehabilitative role. Another aspect is that rehabilitation programmes are voluntary, and offenders can decide if they want to become involved or not