In St. Kitts-Nevis prisoners face many problems upon release from Her Majesty Prison (HMP). Most releases have limited financial resources or none at all.
Many do not have employment, and some do not have homes or families to whom they may return. Most of them receive indifferent or hostile reactions or treatment from the community. Those who have been in prison for long periods of time have the additional problems of catching up on how our contemporary society does things. All encounter emotional problems in reacting to the new environment and many feel depressed, estranged, lonely and rejected.
One official at HMP said, “Some organizations such as the Moravian Church help prepare prisoners for release, but the availability of pre-release programs is limited.”
I am of the view that HMP should offer training programs to assist prisoners in preparing them for release or a gradual re-entry into society. HMP should make some attempts to deal with the two most immediate problems; money and jobs.
I believe that there are a variety of ways to assist prisoners in making this transition. One is to develop pre-release programs. These programs are to be held within the prison environment. The purpose is to train the prisoner or offender in ways of daily living such as how to get a job, how to keep a job, how to relate to family members and others, and how to live in a world that may have changed significantly since the offender began his or her period of incarceration.
I also believe that pre-release programs may include educational and vocational programs, treatment programs or life enrichment programs, in which offenders are taught how to control their emotions, plan for the future and establish goals.
The second problem for ex-prisoner or ex-offender is employment. I was informed by a top prison official in an interview that there are programs at HMP that help prisoners for employment, such as survival skills (carpentry, painting, farming etc), goal setting, stress management, and reintegration into society. During the said interview, the official said that the prisoners are taught how to manage money and they participate in recreational and other leisure activities. I suggested to the official that there should be decision making and problems solving classes as well.
However, from a recent study I have conducted where I interviewed a number of ex-prisoners, I have concluded that the employment picture is very bleak for ex-offenders and that many of them have not had adequate training before or during incarceration at HMP. So, the prison becomes a revolving door for most of them. They come out and go right back in. As a community, we need to try and alleviate this problem. One way to start is by implementing the mentioned programs for the prisoners before they are release from the penal institution.
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