Correctional Sentence Plan

Abstract

According to Correctional Services Minister Sbu Ndebele, the South African prison population ranks highest in Africa and ninth in the world with approximately 160,000 inmates (Ndebele, 2013). Approximately 30% of those prisoners await trial (Cruywagen, 2013). The majority of South African prisoners are poor male adults, 18 years and older, whose poverty is often compounded by racial discrimination. Therefore, not surprisingly, they have inadequate schooling (also see Yates & Frolander-Ulf, 2001). The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) mandates all inmates without a qualification equivalent to Grade 9 to complete Adult Education Training Levels 1 to 4, including children 15 years and younger, and all individuals sentenced to imprisonment. In 2013, Mokoele reported that 10,049 members of the total prison population were engaged in some form of education or training. In June 2013, 140 correctional centers had adult education training programs with enrollment headcount of 11,600. The DCS efforts in South Africa indicate that provision for justice and protection of the public are fundamental concerns. Notwithstanding room for improvement, this country's sentencing and corrections policies have been designed with the goals of preventing offenders' continued and future criminal activity. The government's approach to sentencing and corrections leans toward incarceration or rehabilitation, albeit signs of evidence-based strategies that hold offenders accountable, are sensitive to corrections costs, and reduce crime and victimization. Correctional policy makers have identified broad principles whose intended purpose is to provide broad, balanced guidance to corrections applicable to this country. As seen above, the importance of prisoner education is acknowledged. However, missing is official recognition of this or adult-specific components outlining an upper secondary school adult education diploma entitling holders to apply for higher education. Research highlights accessible and relevant offender data, except for criminal records and demographic information, making it difficult or impossible to access data on an inmate's work experience, educational level, health status, or life skills (Lawrence, Mears, Dubin, & Travis, 2002; Mokoele, 2013). This article examines current practices as a potential model for other prison systems in the world. Correctional Sentence Plan and Sentenced Offender Intake Process Offender correctional sentence plans (CSP) in South Africa comprise six key delivery areas, namely, corrections, development, security, care, facilities, and after-care (DCS, 2004). All these areas are intended to ensure quality service to the offender, to effectively manage the correctional official and their respective centers as well as drastically improve the management relations with accredited external stakeholders and oversight authorities. However, this article will focus on only one area, viz. corrections, while other key delivery areas will be explored in the future. The CSP aims to help prisoners and officials understand why people offend and what can be done to stop re-offending. The plan also pre-empts offenders from inflicting harm on themselves or others and devises an intervention to reduce the risk of prisoners, some released prior to the official release date, from committing future crimes. However, only prisoners serving sentences longer than 24 months are eligible to have CSP. The incarceration process forms the basis for the DCS's engagement with a sentenced offender. The CSP determines prisoner rehabilitative and education interventions during their time in custody and in preparation for their release into the community. During this critical CSP phase, offender educational attainment data could assist with proper assessment. Furthermore, such data support assessing effective implementation. Recidivism Versus Benefits of Adult Correctional Education Programs Studies reporting a correlation between greater education and lower recidivism outnumber studies reporting negative conclusions. …