The following data was collected after a series of interviews from the officials at the Westville Prison. The interviews were directed to both the prison jail staff and the social workers. The staff had more than 20 years experience working at the prison.
Figure: 62The Durban Westville Prison showing the prison complex with the different Mediums of accommodation (Source: Google earth/ Durban Westville [accessed 30 June 2010].
Figure: 61The Durban Westville Prison showing women’s jail and the children’s play area outside the prison cell (Source: Author).
85 This allowed me to get an insight into how the prison functioned under the apartheid government and currently within the new dispensation.
When asked about how the reintegration and rehabilitation processes were administered within the Westville Prison there were mixed reactions. Regarding the issue of rehabilitation, a prisoner upon admission into the prison would voluntarily undergo programmes related to rehabilitation in accordance to the crime committed or in the different programmes being offered in the prison at the time. The programmes offered in the prison included, psychological assessment and treatment, religious interventions from various religious leaders, social and group therapy session to restore social norms amongst the detainees. These are conducted in rooms within the prison in a group of 12 at a time. The social workers monitor the prisoner’s behavior over time to monitor the prisoner’s progress on reform. The reintegration process is administered within separate office of the correctional services. The official would visit the last known address of the inmate’s family and investigate whether they would accept the offender back into the family. The official would further speak to the community leaders to ensure that the offender will be accepted back into the community. In the event that the prisoner last known address of residence is untraceable, the prisoners remain in custody until the end of their sentence. Then on the last day they would be given money for transport and lunch for the day.
The officials who administer the rehabilitation programmes are based at the prisons and are subject to the rules and regulation of the correctional services, including wearing the uniform similar to the prison guards and have offices inside the prison.
The counseling takes place in rooms within the cells. There is little to no difference between the planning of the office and counseling spaces compared to the bigger cells in the prison. When asked about the substance abuse treatment in the prison system (as it was found that drug and alcohol abuse play a huge role in the committing of crimes within the communities). The response from the officials was concerns about the number of treatment wards to accommodate the prisoners going through the drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes. Further that drugs and alcohol were easily accessible within the prisoners and many of the prisons were supporting their families through the selling of drugs in prison thus they recommitted crimes either to stay or back into jail and corrupt other prisoners to further commit crimes in prison.
86 There are major problems with the overcrowding within the prison and the rehabilitation offered to the number of prisoners imprisoned was relatively low. The reason for this was found because the prisoners were able to mix freely, between hardened criminals and those in prison for petty crimes. This often leads to prisoners incarcerated for petty crime graduating to more serious crimes than they had initially committed. When asked if there were separate accommodation for prisoners who have been indentified to show positive attitudes signs of retribution and rehabilitation. The simple answer was there was no other accommodation available and should the other places be available then those cells would eventually be mixed.
The programmes administered within the prison were found to be outdated by the social workers as they did not target the aptitude of the individual prisoner. The programs offered in the prison were basic schooling for the adults, gardening, carpentry which was no longer being used as there was no equipment and computer literacy. The feeling amongst the social workers was that some of the prisoners found the courses being offered in the prison to be a waste of time because they wouldn’t afford them the life they wished to live.
Amongst the causes of overcrowding was found to be the high rate of recidivism largely attributed to the negative influence an inmate receives once in the prison system. It was found that they learn new ways of committing crime to get a higher return for the crimes committed. The lack of rehabilitation in the men’s section was solely attributed to the built forms inability to support the amount of people it accommodated thus the inability of the officials to secure the prisoner.
The lack of space and accommodation for rehabilitation programmes has resulted in the neglect of long term prisoners and focuses instead on the short term prisoners. The education of adults is through correspondence which the inmate has to pay for themselves. The youth centre has a full time school which begins from grades 10, 11, 12.
The question of reintegration programmes resulting in the facilitation of jobs is left to National Institute of Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of the Offender (NICRO) to facilitate between known employers that accept ex- prisoners. This is often difficult because the jobs are basic and wages are low. This often results in the
87 offender not being cooperative. The question of offenders that are destitute as a result of their families not accepting them back into their homes. They were referred to the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) facility where they can live and pay minimal boarding until they are able to afford to get their own places to live.
The final question was one of wellness and treatment for prisoners that are infected with HIV and AIDS and those that are on chronic medication. The staff admitted that the environment was not conducive towards a prisoner that had HIV or on chronic medication. The correctional services carry out tests daily and administer medication to those that have been found to be infected with diseases. The diagnosed prisoners are mixed with prisoners that are undiagnosed. The homosexual behaviour within the prisoners contributes towards the spread of the disease amongst the prisoners.
Recreation and physical wellness is through playing soccer in the corridors between the cells.