An appraisal of punitive total institution

Abstract

The justification of punishment by means of imprisonment is a phenomenon that raises concern about the structure, administration and objectives of the confinement programme. The reasons behind imprisonment as a form of confinement rest on legal function of custodial, coercive and punishment. However, the modern prison system emerged as its function changed from being primarily custodial; coercive to punitive. This paper attempts to appraise critically, the punitive ideology in total institution under the framework of Nigerian prison system, justifying its un-intentional goal of punishing offenders by means of prisons deprivation and possibly with careful examination, contribute to policy recommendations on prisons reform.

African Journal for Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol. 8(1) 2005: 102-113