Tackling recidivism: Criminal Law Lecturer says post-conviction reintegration mechanisms needed

Researcher and Criminal Law lecturer at the GIMPA Faculty of Law, Dr. Isidore Tuffour says to deal with the problem, authorities need to look to post-conviction reintegration mechanisms.

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News reports have it that recidivism continues to be a major concern. According to the Finder Newspaper report earlier this week, over 7,181 ex-convicts return to prison in five years and that about 1000 cases are recorded each year. 

Researcher and Criminal Law lecturer at the GIMPA Faculty of Law, Dr. Isidore Tuffour says to deal with the problem, authorities need to look to post-conviction reintegration mechanisms. 

“I’m talking about when the person has been discharged from the prisons, there should be a centre to receive those people and help them reintegrate in the society. And it is where they should go and have their needs identified and know what exactly they want to do with their lives,” he explained in an interview with Dennislaw News. 

While Ghana may not have any form of institutionalized post-conviction reintegration initiatives, the prisons provide inmates with rehabilitation programmes, largely focused on formal education, vocational skills training activities, and agricultural activities. 

According to the Ghana Prisons Service, these programmes are to equip the inmates to become self-sustainable after they have served their time in prison.

But Dr, Tuffour says, “what is done in the prison is a good start, but it’s not enough.”

He also proposes that further studies are required to assess the needs of prisoners before social reintegration programmes are implemented. 

“We need to get into the prisons and talk to the prisoners and know exactly what their problems are, and what they need to change from their criminal lives. So we cannot do any arm-chair study and then proffer solutions when we have not heard from the people themselves and know exactly what it is that they need, based on which we can then decide solutions. We also need to think about some core materials in terms of reintegration processes, and social intervention mechanisms for prisoners.”

Generally, the tendency to relapse into criminal behavior is considered high globally, although available statistics on recidivism are difficult to come by. In 2017, a former Minister for Interior, James Agalga, observed that recidivism was on the increase in Ghana due to the feeling of rejection. 

The Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime also holds the assertion by Mr. James Agalga to be true. 

In its 2018 edition, it noted that most offenders face significant social adaptation issues. Some of these include family and community stigmatization and ostracism, as well as their inability to find jobs or housing, return to formal education or build (or rebuild) individual and social capital. 

“Unless they receive help to face these issues, they risk getting caught up in a vicious cycle of failed social integration, reoffending, reconviction and social rejection. The rehabilitation of offenders and their successful social reintegration into society should therefore be among the basic objectives of criminal justice systems,” it said.