TITLE:
Promoting Socio-Economic Development through Alternative Incarceration Systems of Rehabilitation of Offenders in Nsawam Medium-Security Prisons in Ghana
AUTHORS:
Maxwell Acheampong, Daniel Ofori, Kakraba Ben Komla, Millicent Yengkangyi, Daniel Asomaning Odoom, Bright Osei Akoto, Elijah Duah, George Asumadu, Nane Petr Kofi, Francis Kojo Tunu, Bashiru Imoro
KEYWORDS:
Alternative Incarceration, Rehabilitation, Offenders, Prisons Officers, Medium-Security
JOURNAL NAME:
iBusiness,
Vol.14 No.4,
December
23,
2022
ABSTRACT: The study investigated the contributions of an alternative incarceration
system for the rehabilitation of offenders to promote socio-economic
development in Nsawam medium-security prisons. An interpretivist worldview was
adopted to answer the question regarding the relationship between variables,
thus making this an inductive study. A qualitative approach was followed in the
study, which is in line with the selected philosophical perspective. Interviews
were used to gather data from the prison officers. In the quest to reduce the
potential for researcher bias and ensure the exactness of the data gathered
during the interview, there was the need to conduct member checking using the
sampling ratio proposed by Cochran (1963: p. 75) to arrive at variability p = 0.5 (maximum variability) and with
the desire of 95% confidence level and ±5% precision. Hence, this study was
based on a sample population of 20 prison officers from the Nsawam medium
security prison. A semi-structured interview was used to gather data from the
prison officers. The interview ended when the researcher reached the point of
saturation. In all, 20 prison officers were successfully interviewed. Data was
generated through digital recording and were given serial numbers to enable
easy identification for scoring. Having transcribed the data, an inductive
approach was used to organize the data into various themes and categories based
on the research questions and the objectives of the study. The interviews were
conducted in two languages namely English and Twi. All interviews were
transcribed personally by the researcher to ensure that no data were lost. In
some instances, during the transcribing, the researcher identified some
vagueness and gaps. The study concluded that prison officers at the Nsawam
Medium Security prison were partially aware of alternate forms of
incarceration. The study recommended that the general public be educated
extensively about alternative forms of confinement, their different varieties,
and the importance of their acceptance. This will go a long way toward
educating the public about alternatives to imprisonment.