The road to develop prisoners’ skills and attitudes: an analytical study of contemporary prison-based rehabilitation programme in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Purpose The place of rehabilitation programmes in the reformation and transformation of prison inmates has continued to be on the front burner of professionals such as educators, counsellors, social workers, psychologists and medical doctors. Analysis has taken something of a top-down approach, and consideration has been placed on how the organizational context of individual prisoners interact with those rehabilitation programmes has been neglected. Drawing on interview data, this study aims to add to our understanding how rehabilitation programme affects inmates’ skills and attitudes in Sri Lankan prisons. Design/methodology/approach This study used an inductive qualitative case study approach as it requires a deep understanding of the effect of rehabilitation programme on inmates’ skills and attitudes and how inmates view rehabilitation programmes. Findings The study identified seven views of inmates regarding rehabilitation programmes conducted and understood that rehabilitation programme facilitates inmates to acquire strong self-assurance of future career options and deal with potentially destructive feeling such as anger, frustration and loneliness. However, inmates who showed a strong propensity to suffer injustice and internalized blame have found no substantial impact on their skills and attitude through the programme. Practical implications It is arguable that operation of meaningful prison-based rehabilitation programme is influenced by comprehensive picture of the profile of the prison population, shortages in resources, the attitudes of prison staffs, inability to meet real world settings and network building with a wide range of private, public or voluntary providers. Originality/value This study represents the first prison-based study to understand the inmates view on the rehabilitation programmes in Sri Lanka.