1.1 Introduction
According to Schallenger and Smykla1, rehabilitation refers to the notion of treatment in the belief that offenders who receive appropriate counselling, psychological treatment, psychiatric intervention, or drug therapy, will be less prone to repeat offending. The rehabilitation of incarcerated offenders is one of the key objectives of punishment. Offenders are said to be incarcerated not only as punishment, but in order to transform their behaviour from law breaking to that of law abiding citizens and ultimately to be reintegrated successfully into the community upon release. The rehabilitation of offenders is not only the responsibility of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) but the community could (and should) also play a significant role.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The term “non-governmental organization” considered in the largest sense means every organization which is not a part of governmental institutional system. It includes all kinds of associations, trade unions, political parties, churches and confessional organizations, private foundations, cooperatives and even private enterprises. The common consensus is limiting the scope of this notion to non-profit organisations. But even so, it can include churches, political parties and trade-unions. In general use, the term of NGO addresses to the non-profit organisations created in view to satisfy, promote or defend some general interests of smaller or bigger community. Even more narrow meaning of this term is used by the European Union which is defining NGO as “a non-profit, private organisation created to participate with the state in public function”.
Rehabilitation, as a theory of punishment, gained increasing popularity during the last century due to the increasing criticism against individual deterrence and the detrimental consequences of short term imprisonment (Rabie and Strauss, 1981). This theory of punishment is more concerned with offenders’ reform, than using punishment to deter criminals. According to Rabie and Strauss4, theory of punishment rests upon the belief that human behaviour is the product of certain causes, that these causes can be identified, and that therapeutic measures can be employed to effect positive changes in the behaviour of the person subjected to such treatment.
The legal foundations for NGO’s in Poland are given by the Constitution of the Republic adopted the 2nd April 1997. Present Polish Constitution can be characterised as normative and individualistic (Jędrośka, 1999), voluntarily in opposition to the former, communist one from 1952, which was declarative and containing rather ideological principles then directly applicable rules of law. The new Constitution underlines individual rights and freedoms and avoids developing collective ones. Probably for these reasons, it doesn’t use the term “non-governmental organizations” and in opposition to the old one, is not mentioning any general obligation of government to consult civic society. However it contains two fundamental principles for NGOs creation and activities: freedom of association and subsidiarity.
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is applied to many kinds of organization ranging from large Northern-based charities to local self-help organizations in the South, both with an aim to improve the quality of life of the people. They are many private initiatives involved in development issues on a non-profit basis. The term „NGO‟ is comprehended to refer to that autonomous, non-membership, relatively permanent or institutionalized intermediary organizations, which work with grass-roots organizations in a supportive capacity. Therefore, NGOs have become an important and vocal platform for the involvement of civil society in public affairs for community development and are referred to as the third sector (Ehigiamusoe, 1998).
Northern NGOs respond to emergencies, short-term relief and long-term rehabilitation, such as victims of war and of natural or man-made disasters. They raise money in the North, from the general public, the private sector and governments, to pay for their work and to share as much as possible with their Southern counterparts, to help in building the capacity of Southern NGOs and to educate their own constituencies in the North about the underlying causes of poverty, as well as drawing people into active lobbying and campaigning for change.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Duty of Non Governmental Organisations in the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals the problem of Duty of Non Governmental Organisations in the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders research work which are as a result of prison overcrowding, crime rate increase, juvenile delinquency, increase in recidivists due to lack of support on the part of the family and friends of prisoners including neglect of prison system and prisoners by the government is a problem that has contributed to return of ex-offenders back to prisons in Nigeria.
The rate at which criminal activities take place in the Nigeria society is enormous. Most criminals that went to the prison as a result of minor offences came back more notorious. This is as a result of improper rehabilitation and reformation during and after incarceration. According to the CIA World Fact book (2009), in 1984, 32% of prisoners admitted in the Nigerian prisons were convicted, whereas the rest were on remand or awaiting trial. Among those convicted, about three-fourths served terms of less than two years, while 59 percent were first-time offenders and 41% percent were recidivists. Adelola (1994) further describes the status quo as a lack of support needed from the government, non-governmental organization and the community in general to make possible proper rehabilitation and reformation are not forthcoming.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to ascertain the Duty of Non Governmental Organisations in the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the relationship between Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Non Governmental Organisations.
- To explore the role and place of NGOs in administrative reform and modernization of public management system.
- To investigate the factors instigating the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Non Governmental Organisations
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Is there any relationship between Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Non Governmental Organisations?
- What are the role and place of NGOs in administrative reform and modernization of public management system?
- What are the factors instigating the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Non Governmental Organisations?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
- H0: There is no significant relationship between Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Non Governmental Organisations
- H1: There is a significant relationship between Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Non Governmental Organisations
1.7 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Duty of Non Governmental Organisations in the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Societal Offenders in Nigeria.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
