BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - SUPERINTENDENT OF PRISONS, Franklin 'Weatherman' Dorset said that in order for the process of convict rehabilitation to be effective, there has to be public support.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, while giving insights on the day to day activities of the inmates, Dorset said that the prisoners need the public's support and without that support, they are often led to repeat their offences.
"Even with what we are doing with regards to rehabilitation, we still need to improve on it and we have been challenged because we do not have the space to do all that we want. We have the talent, we have the people who are willing to get engaged in the activities but we do not have the space. That is one problem.
"Rehabilitation is a process and the process is not completed when the prisoner leaves the prison. One of the main challenges is that there is no form of support on the outside. When the person is discharged there is no support from the public, so again that is where we are lacking," Dorset explained.
The Superintendent said that the prison does its part in starting the rehabilitation process while the prisoners are on the inside, even though they are not in a position to put in place all measures they would like to due to lack of space, but the public also needs to give their support and give the prisoners the opportunity to redeem themselves once they get back on the outside.
He further said that while in prison, there are a number of initiatives put in place to help sway the inmates from negativity into positivity.
At recreation time, the inmates play football, basketball, cricket, draft, dominoes, chess and card games.
When the Federation has holidays, Dorset said the prison tries to organise "fun days" where the inmates would form teams and have competitions in the various sports and games.
He said they sometimes have folklore including bull and calypso competition. He said they also have reggae competitions, poetry competitions and even spelling bees.
He also revealed that the prison is in the process of forming a band and they are trying to get instruments to upgrade their performances during the Christmas season at the "In the Spirit of Christmas" programme.
"We have to find positive activities for these guys. If you allow them to spend 23 hours in a cell, 99 percent of them will think negatively. So that is why we get something positive for them to do," he said.
The Superintendent said that there are many challenges, even with respect to the public.
He said the public needs to be educated because we live in a society where the public is very hypocritical and unforgiving.
"You do a crime and you should rot forever?… there is no forgiveness, because if you come to prison, automatically you become stigmatised, and the public won't give you the opportunity to make a better life when released back into society," he said.
He said that some members of the public do not forgive so there is this stigma that once a person goes to prison, that is the end of them. He said the stigma needs to be removed "because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we ask God to forgive us but we do not want to forgive someone who offends us and that is the problem and that is why I say they are very unforgiving".
"They are sometimes hypocritical because when they get offended, they want to crucify the people who offend them but when their relatives or children offend the law, they want you to treat them with respect and that is hypocritical.
"I would like to urge the public to have a change in attitude and in their thinking, and support what we are doing here because it is cheaper to rehabilitate people than to incarcerate them," he said.
Dorset gave an example stating that when a crime is committed, the police have to investigate, the offender is arrested, goes to Court and then to prison etc, all of which the taxpayers have to pay for.
He stated that ladies often come to the prison for letters to take to Social Development stating that their child/children's father is incarcerated, so the government has to support the child/children.
He went on to state that when the person serves his/her time and leaves prison, if given the opportunity, s/he becomes employed, pays Social Security, Social Levy and other taxes; they support their children among other things, all of which is contribution being made to society.
He further explained that if the prisoners are not given the public's support or the opportunity to fully rehabilitate themselves, the easiest thing for them to do when they get frustrated is to go back to their bad ways.
When asked about prison concerts or events of that nature, Dorset said that these things and more he would like to implement, but that again, the public support would be needed in order for them to be successful.
He said the public needs to be educated in order for them to give full support to the prison's effort to turn the prisoners from negative to positive people.
Dorset added that he had been to other Caribbean islands at conferences where the prisoners there entertain the guests at intermissions. He said that they entertain in various disciplines including dance, plays, folklore, and singing.
He said the same or similar activities could be implemented here as part of the rehabilitation process but again, the full support of the public is needed for rehabilitation on a whole to be successful.
