The purpose of this research is to explore offenders’ experiences and social workers’ perceptions of the Standardised Anger Management Programme as facilitated by social workers at the Department of Correctional Services. The offender population in South Africa is diverse in terms of culture, language, religion, education and socio economic status. The Department of Correctional Services is committed to providing needs-based programmes for offenders to address their offending behaviour in ways that are appropriate for each. The research design was based on a case study. Thirteen offenders from St Albans Correctional Centre who had completed the Standardised Anger Management Programme, together with three social workers at the centre, participated in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme. Evaluations were conducted by means of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the thirteen offenders, and a focus group discussion with the three social workers facilitating the programme. Together, these three methods yielded useful and insightful ideas on the areas where the programme’s challenges lie, and led to the formulation of several general and specific recommendations, which are presented in chapter five of this thesis. The thesis bases its critique of the programme on insights gained from the literature; expanding on all aspects of the ecological approach to the individual. A detailed presentation of the ecological approach is given in chapter three. The various individual, micro-, exo- and macrosystems that make up the totality of influences on a person’s life are reviewed, and are referred to again in chapter four, which presents the finding of the study. The findings and discussion thereof are, of course, presented in the context of the Department of Correctional Service’s legislative and legal framework, which takes its direction from the 2005 White Paper on Corrections. This White Paper firmly set the Department of Correctional Services on a path towards rehabilitative, rather than purely punitive, treatment of offenders. Its publication was followed soon after by the introduction of the Standardised Anger Management Programme which, as the name suggests, was an attempt to standardise all the hitherto piecemeal rehabilitative efforts of various centres around the country. The study found that facilitators and the participants of the Standardised Anger Management Programme had areas of commonality regarding their views on the programme. The findings suggest that while participants in the programme gained anger management skills, much needs to be done to revise and improve the programme, so that it better addresses the needs of the unique offender population of South Africa. Among many recommendations made in chapter five, the researcher recommends that social workers are adequately trained and equipped to present the programme. In addition, the issues of course content and cultural assumptions, offender motivation and centre officials’ attitudes also need to be addressed.

Rehabilitating incarcerated individuals has become a focal point within corrections, with a variety of programs being implemented within facilities to assist individuals as they return to society from incarceration. Programs such as prison-based animal programs (PAP) provide incarcerated individuals a number of benefits that range from learning an employable skill to psychosocial benefits, which stem from the human animal interactions. Importantly, the current study aims at expanding knowledge on the current, limited literature that exists on public perceptions and opinions towards PAP programs. The importance in measuring the level of support for programs of this nature lies in the role public opinion plays in criminal justice policymaking, being that the public has been reported as having a level of influence on policymaking. A sample of 230 Florida Atlantic University students were surveyed concerning their perceptions towards PAP programs, focusing on whether these programs are beneficial to incarcerated individuals. The focus of this thesis was to examine whether students support PAP programs within correctional facilities and to analyze the differences in perceptions based on multiple demographic characteristics. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

Thesis. 1975. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Includes bibliographical references. / B.S.

Thesis (MPA) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The study investigated the management of the social reintegration programme in the Department of Correctional Services in Mbombela Municipality, Mpumalanga Province. The role played by the stake holders in the programme and the department in rehabilitating and reintegrating the offenders. The purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme; social acceptance and the application of skills obtained in the correctional facility as a deterrent to committing a further crime. Section 50 of the Correctional Services Act, 1998 (Act No. 111 of 1998); provide the following mandates; the objectives of the study is amongst others to afford sentenced offenders an opportunity to serve their sentences in a non- custodial manner, to enable persons subject to the programme to lead a specially responsible and crime free life during the period of their sentence and in future, to enable offenders to be rehabilitated in a manner that best keeps them as integral part of society and to enable them to be fully reintegrated into society when they have completed their sentences. The investigation is both qualitative and quantitative whereby; it would be descriptive; analytical, interpretive and evaluative. The findings of this study have shown that the majority of offenders do not lead a crime free life after imprisonment. However, Correctional programmes rendered are designed to equip offenders with skills to lead a responsible life on reintegration and also the level at which other stake-holders are involving themselves in the reintegration of offenders in order to reduce reoffending. The recommendations suggest the following as research findings: • Offenders should be equipped with skills that can make them employable and self-sufficient in the outside world. • Offenders should also be monitored even after hours; there must be no specific time of monitoring. • More resources should be channelled to the programme. • Correctional Services should employ the aid of external service providers in order to equip offenders with skills in the community and reduces the chances of reoffending. • External stake-holders should continue rendering programmes to ex-offenders who exited the system.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study investigates the impact of education programmes on the rehabilitation of prisoners. For the purpose of this study, rehabilitation of a prisoner is a stage reached when a person, after admission into prison, undergoes specifically planned programmes that will help him or her to fit well into society (social adjustment), be accepted by family and community and not to re-enter prison after release. This study acknowledges the fact that education on its own is not necessarily rehabilitative, but education helps to equip people with knowledge and skills that they may use in the outside world so that they may not resort to criminal practices as a result of unemployment. Methods of rehabilitation in different countries have been studied with the aim of comparing them with those in the South African context. Theories concerning the causes and treatment of crime and some ways of rehabilitating prisoners have also been examined. Questionnaires with personal, administrative and institutions items were given to programme facilitators, participants in programmes, nonparticipants in programmes and to ex-prisoners. Some questionnaires were given to family members of prisoners. Also, interviews with prison warders were conducted. This study has shown that educational programmes have a positive impact on the rehabilitation of prisoners. Sentenced prisoners and ex-prisoners that participated in educational programmes confirmed this. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, [2007]

The purpose of this baseline study was to determine the effectiveness of a cognitive restructuring program in reducing recidivism of offenders under supervision in a communitybased setting. The study also sought to determine the relationships between three outcomes (no recidivism within one year of release from the community-based supervised setting, violation of Home Detention requirements resulting in incompleteness of court ordered supervision, and recidivism within one year of release from Home Detention) and risk predictor variables including hours of participation in a cognitive restructuring program (Criminal Intervention), gender, race, age, previous criminal history, educational attainment, and history of substance abuse.The population of the study included offenders under sentence of community-based supervision during a two-year period from November, 1992 to October, 1994. One group of 297 offenders participated in the cognitive restructuring intervention program; another group of 346 offenders did not participate. Chi-square analyses based in contingency tables determined statistical significance of the categorical variables, and stepwise discriminant analysis was utilized to create a model that best differentiated between three outcome groups.When using 16 predictor variables, the results of discriminant analyses indicated that outcomes between groups could be differentiated by a function that accounted for 94% of the variability between groups and resulted in no statistically significant residual discriminations. Pearson product-moment correlational analyses indicated only modest correlations between the variables, and chi-square analyses resulted in the rejection of seven out of ten hypotheses concerning outcome and the categorical risk variables.Two important findings relating to the treatment program, Criminal Intervention, were found. Post-release recidivism of offenders was reduced by 7%. However, offenders participating in the treatment program were terminated from supervision due to violations of the conditions for that supervision at an additional rate of 10% over the nonparticipating violators. The review of the literature and research findings confirmed that individual differences were important to successful rehabilitation; therefore, appropriate matching between intervention program and offender risk and need was warranted. Follow up studies, comprehensive offender assessments, and development, utilization, and validation of a comprehensive risk assessment tool was recommended for future research. / Department of Educational Leadership

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of education and training in the rehabilitation of inmates and its probable curbing of recidivism at Rooigrond Management Area. The study determined the impact the community and other stakeholders has in placing back law abiding citizens into the community. Due to the complexity of the research two methods were adopted, viz. qualitative and quantitative methods. The research comprised of two types of respondents, sixty inmates and forty officials all from Rooigrond Management Area. The primary instrument in the study was a structured questionnaire. Instruments such as frequency distribution, cross-tabulation were utilised to analyse the data collected to this study. The chi-square was also employed to assess the statistical significance of the variables. The results of the study revealed that training facilities were inadequate and also the curbing of recidivism through rehabilitation programmes that are offered at the prison were investigated. Maintenance and sustainable policies of rehabilitation programmes as mandated by Department of Correctional Services were seen as a valuable instrument for curbing recidivism and it has also shown that it has what it takes to place back law-abiding citizens when applied correctly. The significant finding of the study is that correctional officials need to change their attitude towards inmates and to have access to the policy on Education and Training. Furthermore, it needs to be realised that rehabilitation is not the sole responsibility of the DCS but the Department of Labour, the community and other stakeholders. Inmates should also be enlightened and oriented with Education and Training programmes. Based on the study in meeting the DCS to be one of the best in the world, every member of the DCS need to know his/her duties and/or responsibilities, core values and to know exactly where the Department is heading. Therefore, every member of the DCS need to align himself or herself with the vision of the DCS that state, "To be the best in the world in delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment to excellence. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003