Recidivists’ perceptions of the effectiveness of correctional programmes at the Baviaanspoort Management Area

Abstract

Correctional programmes have emerged as one of the most preferred ways of combating high rates of recidivism in the criminal justice system in South Africa. Since the drastic increase in crime rates globally, the South African corrections system contributes to the reduction of recidivism by exposing more offenders to correctional programmes. The numbers of recidivist in the South African corrections system have been on the increase since the advent of democracy in South Africa. While there is tangible evidence of the implementation of correctional programmes in South African correctional centres, recidivism rates in South Africa remain high. Rehabilitation efforts to alter offender criminal behaviour are consequently fundamental to curb recidivism. The study intended to capture the perceptions of recidivists on the effectiveness of correctional programmes at the Baviaanspoort Management Area in Gauteng Region. The objectives of the study were to determine the correctional programmes that are used by the Baviaanspoort Management Area to support the preparation of offenders for release; determine the suitability of correctional programmes used by the DCS during the pre-release process; establish offenders’ perceptions of the effectiveness of correctional programmes after release and pinpoint strategies to strengthen correctional programmes that could help offenders avoid reoffending after their release. The study used qualitative method to collect data in the form of two focus group interviews. The focus groups were conducted with recidivists incarcerated at the Baviaanspoort medium correctional centre and the Baviaanspoort maximum correctional centre who were all purposively sampled. A thematic analysis was applied to create categories, sub-themes, and themes. The study findings established that recidivists at the Baviaanspoort Management Area attended and completed the correctional programmes on offer in the correctional centres. The study was able to establish that most of the recidivists participated in and completed the correctional programmes. It was also established that factors such as need-based programmes, use of offender’s home languages and special programme for parole violators are important in making the Baviaanspoort Management Area’s correctional programmes suitable. The study findings further established that the Baviaanspoort Management Area’s correctional centres are challenged by elements such as poor learning support material, poor learning assessment, overcrowding, and use of (unqualified) offenders as facilitators. The study concludes that the correctional programmes are not mandatory and are not prescribed by either psychologists or social workers, there is an absence of well-structured correctional programmes, there is little or no of use Learning and Teaching Materials (LTSM) in the facilitation of correctional programmes and the correctional programmes need to match offenders’ offending behaviour. Recommendations for future research included the review of the current correctional programmes by the DCS. Future research should also cover correctional officials and service providers involved in the facilitation of correctional programmes and their exposure to continuous development programmes. In addition, future research needs to explore the effects of the elements associated with teaching and learning processes in the facilitation of the correctional programmes.