Stigmatising prisoners and the need for renewal of mindset
One of the tags that continues to suffer severe stigma and rejection is that which prisoners bear in Ghana. The noun, ‘prisoner’ echoes negative meanings to a good number of the populace which in turn affects persons in prison custody badly. And this is not without implications for the larger society.
Advertisement
The perception that prisoners are a strayed breed of misfits who deserve interminable separation from society needs to be corrected. There is no doubt that deliberate acts of wickedness against fellow humans should not be tolerated.
But what ought to be realised is that stigmatising prisoners and ex-convicts is not a solution to crime reduction. In any case, current developments have given credence to the fact that not all the people in Ghanaian prisons are criminals. A story in 2015 which revealed that the Enquirer’s court reporter was framed up and wrongfully sentenced underpins this claim.
Prisoners need our compassion
The continuous branding of prisoners offers society nothing but egoism as against offering encouragement and support to these inmates who need to get back on their feet after serving their terms of imprisonment. It also keeps us on the fence instead of awakening us to the urgent need to eliminate the structural violence that pushes our people into crime.
The worst of all is how we are blindfolded from realising that each citizen is equally vulnerable to the fate of these inmates.
The call for cessation of stigma against prisoners and ex-convicts is not without the grasp of the fact that some of the crimes are self-inflicted. But the reality is that there exists misfortunes and accidental law-breaking which can pin any citizen to the prison walls. The representation of various professionals and persons of all walks of life in our prisons confirms this - not a single citizen is immune to imprisonment.
Prison as accident ward
The popular likening of the prisons to accident wards is food for thought. Just as accident wards are no respecter of persons, so are life situations that impose imprisonment on victims.
A typical instance that reflected this reality was the case of a man in his late 60’s who got remanded in Sekondi Central Prison on February 4 , 2015.
The old man stood as surety for his son who later absconded. This exposed him to the harsh truth of the law. He could not believe he was in lockup and would be passing the night in a cell. In fact, he trembled and sobbed in complete shock as he waited to be assigned a cell. His thoughts could almost be imagined - what he never wished for himself embraced him at mid-day.
Records of high profile personalities who have been to prisons in Ghana and elsewhere are enough proof that imprisonment is a possibility for all persons. Indeed, if the human shadow were to be a crime tracking device, all persons would have probably passed a night in the prisons one time or the other.
The fact that the police are not in every closet; not all crimes get reported and the open secret, that the powerful in our part of the world often swerve the law with impunity should purge us of condemning attitudes towards prisoners.
Change of attitude towards prisoners
The consequence for denigrating prisoners with stigma and rejection transcends these prisoners. It does not only jeopardise inmates’ recovery and reintegration into society but also has implications for the larger society. Reoffending obviously impacts on the comfort of individuals in society: the better citizens prisoners become, the lesser society is harmed.
Individual and collective support towards the improvement of prison conditions and reformation of inmates is the way to go if there is any substance in our pride as humane and loving people.
This can only be achieved through a renewal of our attitudes towards prisoners and the prison system in the country. Crime must not be abhorred in isolation without giving heed to factors that cause it. Stigma is one of such factors that directly mend the circle of reoffending among ex-convicts and we need to stop it.
Mandela’s authoritative view on key indicators of a society’s advancement is a great reminder that cannot go unnoticed. According to him, the development of a society is reflected in the state of its prisons: whether prison facilities are structured and equipped to better the lives of citizens committed to lawful custody or are deserted with less impact on offenders. The former shows that a society is forward thinking.
Ghana cannot, therefore, continue to hold itself high in the sphere of human rights and respect for all citizens when its prison population which constitutes a major vulnerable section of society is the least in the priority list of what matters in national development.
Hiplife artiste Kwaw Kese has taken a giant step by launching a 20-year life-changing project that aims to establish 15 different industries in Ghana’s prisons. The objective is to engage the thousands of idle hands in the prisons and equip them with employable skills. This is the orientation that we need as individuals and as a society towards our brothers and sisters in prison custody. Stigma against prisoners must be a thing of the past as we join hands to combat the social and economic problems that face our society.
