Nigerians have a malignant attitude towards offenders, although they have always been very apathetic of their own mental health, the carelessness about the mental heath of offenders is extensive. It is no surprise that in a country with minimal interest in basic human rights concepts, such as good mental health; going to prison may just be a death wish and the equivalent of a suicide mission. Nigeria chooses to forget that even prisoners need their sanity.
While prison seems like a better alternative to jungle justice; which is the very heinous act of a vigilante community taking revenge on a petty criminal, usually by violent physical and verbal assault on the offender, it is merely a longer more gruesome route to bereavement. The basic Nigerian prison cell does not have a bed, blanket or toilet. Prisoners are made to sleep on hard ground, eat and excrete in the same place. These prisoners are forced to live in inhumane conditions and disease riffled environments. Inmates fall ill and often die due to lack of medical assistance. Some inmates are already dead before they even fall ill. This raises a question on whether the Nigerian public want offenders to simply be punished rather than corrected and rehabilitated into society? Fatoye et al., (2006) study into psychological characteristics as correlates of emotional burden on incarnated offenders found that less than half of them reported enjoying good mental health in prison while 3.7% gave a previous history of mental disorder before their imprisonment. Over 80% of the inmates responded highly on the depression sub-scale. Whether Nigerian prisons are effective at rehabilitating prisoners is suspect to me. However I do understand its impact in neglecting mental health amongst prisoners. It is unknown to me if psychological screenings are performed before offenders are put in prison. Previous studies suggest that many offenders who have mental disorders had this prior to being convicted and this state of mental health worsen through the Nigerian prison system. It is important to know a persons history of mental health before being put in prison, this helps with the process of rehabilitation. It is common knowledge that over two thirds of the prisoners in Nigeria have not been convicted and are yet to go to trials. Therefore prisons are overpopulated with ‘suspects’. Overcrowding in prisons not only affects the economic budget but also individual’s mental health and stability. Overcrowding results in a deprivation of appropriate rehabilitation of individuals in prisons with very limited resources and staff. The psychological well being of criminals in prison is highly neglected, especially with an over populated prison. Most offenders display an enhanced level of depression and anxiety in comparison to the rest of the population. This long awaited process before the trial can be very daunting. It often leads to periods of high anxiety and depression. Very little is said about the gross injustice and psychological abuse that takes place in prisons. Going to prison anywhere has an overwhelming distress on mental and emotional wellbeing. It is important to understand how the prison environment can affect psychological health in order t o implement appropriate programmes and delivery. One of the things that diminish when convicted as an offender is self-esteem and self worth. This is because of the dehumanising way that inmates are treated by the community, government and prison system. Apart from internal factors such as feeling of guilt and disappointment, once inside they are stripped of any personal identity and are tortured through interrogation. They are forcibly broken through the system that makes no attempt to build them back up ‘correctly’. There is also a correlation between time in prison and self-esteem, the longer time spent in prison or awaiting trial results in a lower self-esteem as there is a feeling of absolute abandonment and exclusion from the outside world. Guards and prisoners are known to have an interesting power dynamic. This self-esteem tends to be further reduced if there is an abusive relationship between guards and inmates. Guards are likely to try and prove that they are in control and will treat offenders with very little respect. Subsequently, inmates begin to feel less important in society and have no zeal for life. Prisoners also have a fear of leaving prison and bracing the world, most times they are sent back without any proper rehabilitation, education or job and are left to their own devices. Prisoners who were homeless will go back out to the streets and will be left worse off then when imprisoned. Ogbozor and Odoemena (2006) suggest that life becomes worse for ex offenders after leaving prison. The Nigerian public are not considerate of mental health, and are often reluctant to consider psychological health or seek psychiatric treatments for reasons that are largely due to inadequate education on mental health. Mental disorder in Nigeria appears to be a myth until it happens close to home. Nationally, views on mental disorders are unfavourable, and as a result are either disregarded or generally understood as ‘madness’. Often times these mental disorders are credited to traditional or spiritual reason. A society that is afraid of mental disorder and does not deliberate mental health will inevitably omit it when dealing with offenders, a pariah, and the least protected people. Temi.F
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