The influence of the immediate environment on parolee rehabilitation

Abstract

In democratic South Africa, there has been a shift from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation approach and a change from prisons to correctional centres. Once someone becomes an offender, the person goes through rehabilitation and not punishment. This paper discusses the influence of the immediate environment on the rehabilitation of paroles in Brits area of North-West Province in South Africa, a poverty-stricken area with limited resources. A qualitative approach and an exploratory descriptive design were utilised to describe the parolees’ experiences of parole in a low-resourced community. One-on-one in-depth interviews were used to collect data which were then analysed thematically and backed by existing literature. The findings of the study showed that environmental factors play a role in offending and rehabilitation of offenders in low-resourced areas. The paper makes critical recommendations for consideration by parole officials and researchers to facilitate the effective rehabilitation of offenders in low-resourced areas.