The Role of Offender Reintegration on Recidivism in Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

The International Centre for Prison Studies estimates that as of August 2016, over 11 million people were held in prison custody throughout the world. In spite of interventions by corrections to enable offenders to live crime-free lives after a period of incarceration, ex-convicts been exposed to the criminal justice system through either being re-arrested, re-convicted or re-incarcerated again and again, suggesting that the treatments and support systems they receive in and out of prison are either ineffective or non-existent. Since the founding of jails, people have faced challenges in transitioning from incarceration in penal facilities to liberty in the streets. The act of offenders encountering the criminal justice system after their release, whether through technical violations or new offences finds expression in the concept of recidivism. This study sought to investigate the role of offender reintegration on recidivism in Kakamega County, Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design in which 384 recidivists were sampled to take part in the study as respondents. Besides the recidivist, 25 Prison Officers,13 Probation Officers, 27 family members of recidivists, and 18 community members from the neighbourhoods of recidivists bringing the target sample to 467 respondents. Out of the 467 targeted respondents, 412 participate in the study by way of adequately responding to items in the data collection instruments. This gives the study a response rate of 88.22 percent. Both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling techniques were used in sample selection. Data from respondents was collected using a questionnaire that was tested for validity and reliability prior to the actual data collection. Factor analysis was used to ascertain validity while Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of reliability was used to ascertain reliability of the questionnaire. Findings revealed a significant relationship between offender reintegration and recidivism among released prisoners in Kakamega County, Kenya (r=0.541; P< 0.01). The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) was 0.682 meaning that post-release treatment, ability to secure a job after release, access and use of certificate of good conduct, residence after release, vocational training while in prison and interaction with hard-core criminals while in prison account for 68.2% of variation in recidivism among released prisoners in Kakamega County, Kenya. In light of the study findings, it is recommended that the government and the various correctional stakeholders should come up with an integrated approach that specifically targets successful reentry of offenders upon release from prison. Keywords: Offender Reintegration, Recidivism DOI: 10.7176/DCS/12-2-04 Publication date: February 28 th 2022