Psychological Counselling Services and Inmates’ Rehabilitation of Women Prisoners in Miami Women Prisons

Abstract

Globally, rates of criminal recidivism are estimated at an average of 50% and, unlike recorded crime rates in the general population, rates of recidivism appear to be on the rise. USA’s rates of recidivism are estimated to be about two thirds, which is higher than the global average. As a result of this, crime by past convicts alone account for a significant share of the current and impending crimes.  Studies show that there is a correlation between criminal behaviour and the offender’s mental state, which is important in understanding the high rates of recidivism in USA.  This study seeks to investigate the impact of psychological counselling services for women prisoners on inmates’ rehabilitation. The specific objects of the study are: to identify the need for psychological counselling services for inmates; determine the nature of psychological counseling programs available to the inmates; identify the modes of delivery of psychological counseling services and assess the effectiveness of the psychological counseling services offered to inmates. The study target population comprises 856 inmates and 50 prison officers.  Stratified random sampling will be used to select 55 first time offenders, 41 recidivists, and 50 prison officers.  The study sought to know whether inmates got any counseling therapy during their previous incarceration. The findings in revealed that majority (58%) of the inmates had not got any counseling therapy during their previous incarceration while 42% of the inmates indicated that they had received counseling therapy during their previous incarceration. Majority had not got any counseling therapy an indication   of the power of counseling in rehabilitating inmates. The study sought to understand whether prison officers participated in offering counseling to the inmates. The findings revealed that majority (57%) of prison officers did not participate in offering counseling. Further, the results indicated that 43% of the prison officers participated in offering counseling. This is an indication of the need for more counseling sessions for inmates. For those prison officers who answered “yes” above, they were asked to indicate whether they had formal training to offer counseling to the inmates. The findings in revealed that majority (55%) of the prison officers had no formal training to offer counseling. Further, the results indicated that 45% of the prison officers had formal training in counseling. This is an indication of the need for more training programmes in counseling to equip prison officers with necessary skills in counseling. Study findings reveal that there still exists a big demand for psychological counselling services for inmates in various prisons. This is informed by the fact that the ever growing population of inmates in correctional facilities creates the need for educated counselors who have the knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to work with correctional clients. Findings further confirmed that individual counseling services were preferred than group counselling services and that content coverage adequacy was average in USA. In terms of effectiveness reducing reoffending and focusing on women needs were identified as major strengths of the programs. Key recommendations for this study include: Management of  Prisons to train and deploy qualified staff to address the ever increasing demand for psychological counselling services by inmates; management of Prisons to ensure that all inmates have access to counselling therapy services; there is a great need to develop a clear policy on psychological counselling therapy programs aimed at guiding how various psychological programs are managed starting from the allocation criteria into the program; government policy makers to allocate more funds and resources towards psychological counselling therapy programs; and psychological counselling therapy programs to be customized based on inmates needs so as to address the real underlying problems.

Keywords: Psychological Counselling Services, Inmates’ Rehabilitation, Women Prisoners, Miami Women Prisons