Correctional Education And Post-release Employment

Many inmates who commit crime are incarcerated in Lesotho correctional institutions to serve their sentences.However,the mission of Lesotho Correctional Service is also to rehabilitate inmates so that they can be successfully reintegrated into the society as law-abiding citizens who can lead industrious and productive lives.There is a need for correctional facilities to provide services that will prepare these men and women for successful reentry into society.The services incorporate education and vocational training.Nevertheless,a vast number of these inmates are released from the correctional facilities with very limited options for employment.This qualitative case study explored the experiences of the ex-inmates on vocational training programs while incarcerated and investigated how the programs have affected their employment lives when they got back into the society.Also the study examined which elements of the program the ex-inmates found relevant to their adaptation when they returned.The study is based on Good Lives Model and Labelling theory.The study involved sixteen respondents comprising twelve ex-inmates and four instructors.Data was analyzed using coding procedures to categorize ex-inmates’ experience on vocational training,how the programs have affected their employment lives and which programs they found relevant.The study findings have revealed that vocational training program has helped most of the ex-inmates to attain employment post their release from the institutions.The findings revealed however that not all ex-inmates who participated in vocational training programmes were able to attain employment after their release.The research reveals that ex-inmates have both positives experiences and the challenges that they face when they were participating in vocational training programs.First off,the ex-inmates consider vocational training as one of the most rehabilitating programs for them.Furthermore the study finds that the training has not only helped inmates acquire work skills but also increase their thinking capacity;the training has also helped to reduce their aggressive behaviors and facilitate them to acquire adaption approaches in various situations.However,the study has shown that the correctional education program is faced with a lot of challenges such as insufficient funding,which resulted in insufficient teaching and learning materials and ineffective delivery of education during incarceration period.Other challenges includes lack of training hours,lack of qualified trainers,inmates’ transfers and their level of education prior to incarceration.Both Labeling Theory and the Good Live Model(GLM)have been appropriately used in this study.The Labeling theory helps to reveal how the labels on ex-inmates have acted as a barrier against their employment post their release.GLM has equipped a frame to examine the correctional vocation training program from its resources,knowledge,tools,opportunities,skills,and other rehabilitation endeavors necessary to satisfy the ex-inmates’ life values by using pro-social means.This study is meaningful regarding to shed insight on the benefits of correctional vocational training programmes thereby helping the government to pay more attention to it and enhance the financing of such programmes.Furthermore,the study is highlighting relevant evidence to education leaders,the contribution of education to post-release employment,in such a way that they can use the research to develop evidence-led policy.