Attitude to rehabilitative counselling in southwestern Nigerian prisons

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the attitudes of prison inmates and warders (prison staff) to rehabilitative counselling and its relationship to their prison status on one hand and their educational attainment on the other. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a descriptive survey research design. In all 123 prison inmates and 110 warders were selected by stratified random sampling from Osogbo prison headquarters, as well as Ilesa and Ile-Ife prisons in southwestern Nigeria. Data were collected through a self-constructed questionnaire titled “inmate and prison staff attitude to rehabilitation counselling”. Data collected were analysed using percentages and χ2 statistics. Findings – The results showed that the prison inmates and staff possessed positive attitude to rehabilitative counselling. No significant difference was found between the attitudes of prison inmates and staff members or on the basis of their prison statuses. However, the study found a significant relationship between the prison inmates’ attitude to rehabilitative counselling and their educational attainment. Research limitations/implications – Statutory provision needs be made for professional rehabilitative counselling in Nigerian prisons in contrast to the religious instructions currently being allowed prisoners. Educational opportunities should be provided to ensure that the knowledge so obtained complements the rehabilitative counselling. Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified need to study the attitude towards rehabilitative counselling.