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Rehabilitation of inmates…Prison craft “a sell out” at GuyExpo
By Rabindra Rooplall
Art and craft can play an important role in supporting the rehabilitation process of prisoners, and the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) for the first time this year is playing a part in the GuyExpo 2012.
The annual trade fair opened Thursday evening with lots of pomp and ceremony. A number of features have been added to further enhance the host venue, the Sophia Exhibition Complex.
Principal Officer II Kirk Joseph at the GPS booth where the soap and paper craft is being displayed at GuyExpo 2012
One of the many booths at the event include the GPS: one depicting craft and sculpture made of paper and soap, and another where wood is used for sculpting and furniture-making.
Only prisoners with good behavioral records are given the opportunity to take part in the art-and-craft programme. Some of them are convicts, while others are awaiting trial for various crimes.
According to Principal Officer II Kirk Joseph, the GPS at the expo is displaying furniture and craft made by inmates from various prisons locations. He noted that the soap craft and paper craft are very popular and added that “there is not enough to supply patrons at the expo”.
“From the first night people wanted to buy out the entire booth, but we had to give them brochures and contact information for orders to be placed…the inmates use their time in prison to produce beautiful creations, which has a positive impact on them since they channel their energies into a positive direction,” he explained.
Adding that incarceration is basically seen by society only in a negative light, the officer said presently the GPS has many rehabilitative courses and options for inmates to learn and develop a skill that can benefit them in society.
Officials noted that prison education, or correctional education, is vocational training or academic instruction provided to prisoners while they are incarcerated. These educational programmes can be part of inmate rehabilitation and can help prepare prisoners for their lives upon release.
The educational programmes offered in correctional institutions vary by region and by facility. Educational programmes are extremely popular in prisons.
Some people will always oppose correctional education, but statistics have shown that prison education reduces recidivism rates. Inmates who pursue education and complete programmes while incarcerated are less likely to return to prison.
The result is that less tax money is spent on housing, feeding and rehabilitating a potential repeat offender, because any amount of money spent on prison education saves twice as much money as that applied to re-incarcerating an offender. It also means that former prisoners who have been given the educational tools and marketable skills necessary to become productive members of society are very likely to use them.
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