Criminal Rehabilitation in Kenya: Opportunities and Pitfalls

Abstract

Kenya is a developing country, which is characterized by the rapidity of change in the normative structure, low levels of bureaucratization of the public space, poverty and rapid population growth. This social and demographic context creates a risk for crime and incarceration significantly greater than other East African countries. The key challenges include overcrowding. Historically, containment involved brutal force, so prison officer recruitment had a bias towards muscularity than rehabilitation skills. While there are reforms, their impact can only be expected in the long term. Moreover, overcrowding, mixing pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners, poor food quality and health care and institutional and community stigma do not inspire much hope in the rehabilitation programme. The dominant approach to criminal rehabilitation is through aggregate programmes such as academic and vocational training, whereas individualized strategies such as drug use treatment are lacking. The key recommendations are for professional assessments to establish the psychosocial needs of new entrants followed by appropriate allocation to rehabilitation programmes, and post-rehabilitation assessments to confirm positive change in the individual—especially to potential employers—rather than the often negative valuation of the police-issued certificate of good conduct.