Reassessing Conditions of “Prison” in Jamaica

Abstract

Jamaican maximum-security correctional facilities are largely identified by their extremely poor, anachronistic, and inhuman conditions of custody. This overriding identity shelves the positive influence of reforms that have taken place or are currently underway. By drawing on interviews conducted with 55 inmates and nine correctional staff, secondary analyses, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966), this article examines the degree to which recommendations from the “Improving Prison Conditions in the Caribbean” Conference have been implemented in the Jamaican context. The results suggest that since the Conference, noticeable steps have been taken by the Jamaican state to improve the quality of the rehabilitation experience against the backdrop of challenges of size and competing priorities. However, such improvements are not necessarily the direct result of the implementation of the Conference recommendations. Despite the improvements evidenced, it is argued that more meaningful reforms are required if more inmates are to be enabled to lead crime-free and productive lives upon release. This article provides contemporary insights into the improved conditions of imprisonment in Jamaica and makes recommendations on how serious offenders in the care of Jamaica’s correctional service can be better enabled to experience effective (not successful) reintegration.