Causes, Consequences and Solutions of Incarceration (Imprisonment) a Study of Maiduguri New Prison

Abstract

Prisons are conventionally institutions which form part of the criminal justice system of a country, such that imprisonment or incarceration is the legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime. A prison system is therefore the organizational arrangement of the provision and operation of prison, and depending on their nature, invokes a corrections system. The main objective of the study is on the Causes, Consequences and Solutions of Incarceration in Developing Countries a Study of Maiduguri New Prison. The specific objectives are to identify the causes, consequences and solutions of incarceration, examine the activities of prisons as an institution of incarceration, assess the relationship between inmates and prison warders, examine the effects of incarceration in developing countries, analyse the observable differences between olden day’s modes of punishment and incarceration. The study reviewed three different theoretical perspectives after which Political Economic Approach Theory was used as theoretical framework for analysis.  The political-economic approach considers the prison as an institution used by the state for perpetuating its dominance, and since it is an instrument of dominance, oppression and coercion, the capitalists or ruling class always leave it in a deplorable condition, for that, is mostly the masses that are kept in prison. The data was obtained from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources derived from the questionnaires and structured interview, while the secondary data were obtained from the review of relevant literature such as books, newsletters, journals and articles. Purposive sampling techniques were used. The study involved 80 respondents which include 30 Prison Warders and 50 Inmates, The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The major findings revealed that majority of the respondents found in the prison are male, and they are of between the ages of 18 to 25 years and have Qur’anic or Secondary School qualification.  Other findings show that most of the inmates that were found in the prison were below 6 months while some stay above 6 month to 1 year, and the majority believe that their offences deserved imprisonment while other do not agreed. And most of the offences committed are illegal offences which includes fighting, family problems, business misunderstanding and property related crime. Majority of the inmates agreed that prison sentence will help in rehabilitating them. Finally, recommendations were suggested for government and community organisations to provide a clear statement of the fact that prisons are meant to rehabilitate rather than punishing prisoners, the specification of basic minimum rights prisoners should enjoy within the prison, the provision of autonomous prison commission in each state to oversee the overall management of the prisons and treatment of prisoners should be adequately provided as this will provide solution to management in Nigeria and Maiduguri New Prison which is the study area.

Keywords: Causes, Consequences, Solutions and Incarceration