Recidivism at the Kumasi Central Prison: A look into Guidance and Counselling Services
Recidivism is on the increase as ex-convicts who are expected by the society to be reformed in prison and reintegrated to lead meaningful lives, only return to crime shortly after their release and find themselves back into prison in spite of the harsh punishment and counselling services received while incarcerated. The study aimed to identify the adequacy and effectiveness of the Guidance and counselling services offered prisoners in Kumasi Central Prison, Ghana. Qualitative research method was primarily used to obtain data. The investigation revealed that the major setback in the Guidance and Counselling section of the Ghana Prisons is the lack of competent and adequate professional counsellors in the prison. Further findings indicated that there are no separate offices for the counsellors, neither are there counselling rooms, thus there is no privacy during counselling sessions. Besides, the prison is over-crowded making it very difficult for counsellors to meet counselling demands of inmates. The government should resource the Prison Service to attract qualified youth to reduce the problem of recidivism.