TABLE OF CONTENTS
Approval
page……………………………………………………………………………..i
Certification
page………………………………………………………………………….ii
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………….iii
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………iv
Table
of contents……………………………………………………………………………v
List
of tables………………………………………………………………………………..viii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..ix
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
Background to
the study……………………………………………………………..1
Statement of
Problem………………………………………………………… ……. 9
Purpose of the
study…………………………………………………………..………9
Significance of
the Study……………………………………………………………10
Scope of the
Study…………………………………………………………………..12
Research
Questions………………………………………………………………….12
Hypotheses…………………………………………………………………………..12
CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual framework…………………………………………………………………….14
Concepts of information and information needs…………………………………….14
Who are prisoners?…………………………………………………………………………………………18
Information
needs of prisoners……………………………………………………….20
Role of Prison Libraries (in providing resources to prisoners)…………….23
Facilities and
resources required to meet information needs of the prisoners……….28
Services needed
by the prisoners…………………………………………………….39
Problems that
hinder resources provision for the prisoners………………………….40
Strategies for
overcoming the problems ……………………………………………53
Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………………………60
Review of Related Empirical Studies……………………………………………………..64
Summary of the Literature Review…………………………………….75
CHAPTER THREE – RESEARCH METHOD………………………………………….77
Research Design……………………………………………………………………..77
Area of the
Study…………………………………………………………………….77
Population of
the study……………………………………………………………….78
Sample and sample
technique………………………………………………………..78
Instrument for
data collection………………………………………………………..79
Validation of instrument and pilot study………………………….81 Reliability of instrument……………………………………………………………. 81
Method of data
collection……….…………………………………………………….82
Method of data
analysis………………………………………………………………83
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS…………………………………………………………….84
CHAPTER
FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS, CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY……………………………………………………….106
Discussion of
Findings………………………………………………………………106
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………..118
Summary of the
study………………………………………………………………..118
Implication of
Study…………………………………………………………………120
Recommendations…………….………………………………………………………121
Limitations …………………………………………………………………………..122
Suggestions for
Further Research……………………………………………………122
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..…123
APPENDICES
Appendix A –Information
Needs of Prisoners and Resources Provision
Questionnaire
(INPRPQ)
……………………………………………………………………..131
Appendix B – Information Needs of Prisoners and Resources Provision
Focus
Group
Discussion Guide (INPRPFGD)…………………………………………………136
Appendix C – Observation Schedule – Library and Information Resources for Prisoners Observation Schedule (LIRPOS)…………………………….139
Appendix D – Validation of Instructions and Pilot Study………………140
Appendix E – Reliability of Instrument………………………………..142
Appendix F – Formulas for Calculating the Calculated, Criterion Means and Calculated Value of the Chi-Square Testing of Hypothesis…………………150
Appendix
G – Prisoner Population in the South-East Prisons Sampled for the Study…………152
Appendix
H– Pictures Showing the Structures and Activities in some of the Prisons Studied…153
LIST OF TABLES
TABLES PAGES
1. Responses of Welfare/Library Workers on Areas where the Prisoners Need Information……………………………………………….………………………….84
2. The Library and Information Resources
Available for the Prisoners…………………88
3. Subject Coverage of the Non-Fiction
Books in the Prison Library Collections………92
4. Responses of the Welfare/Library Workers on the Extent to Which The Prisoners’Information Needs are Being Met………………………………….96
5. Problems that Militate Against the Provision of Library and Information Resources to Meet the Prisoners’ Information Needs……………..98
6. Strategies that Could be Used to Enhance the Provision of Library and Information Resources to Meet the Prisoners’ Information Needs………..100
7. Chi-Square Analysis
of Significant Difference Between the Mean Ratings of the Prison Workers of the Different States on the Areas of Information Needs of the Prisoners……………………………………………………………………..102
8. Chi-Square X² Analysis of Significant Difference on the Mean Responses of The Prison Workers of the Different States on the Extent of Satisfaction of the Prisoners’ Information Needs………………………………………………….103
9. Result of the Chi-Square X² Analysis of Significant Difference on the Mean Responses of the Prison Workers of the Different States on the Problems that Militate Against Meeting the Information Needs of the Prisoners………………………………….104
ABSTRACT
The purpose of
this work was to examine the information needs of prisoners and resources
provision through the prison library in South-east Nigeria.
Six research questions and three (3) null hypotheses were formulated to guide
the study. The research design adopted for the study was a descriptive surveys.
The population of the study comprised all the prisoners in South-East
Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to get the prisons that have
libraries in the South-East zone and seven prisons were used for the study.
Seven hundred and eight (708) prisoners and fourteen (14) welfare/library
workers from the seven prisons that have libraries in South-east geopolitical
zone were used as prisoners sample and staff sample for the study. While all
the female prisoners were sampled due to their small number (141), simple
random sampling was used to get the male prisoners (567). A structured
questionnaire was used to get data from prison workers while Focus Group Discussion
guide was used to elicit data from the prisoners. Observation guide was used to
get data on the library and information resources and services available for
the prisoners and documentary sources from the Nigerian prison service were
also used to get data about the prisoners. The instruments were face-validated
by three senior lecturers in the Department of Library and Information Science
and Faculty of Education. Pilot study was carried out using five (5) prison
workers in Aba
prison and to test the reliability of the questionnaire, Internal Consistency
reliability using the Cronbach’s Alpha method was used. Frequency and mean
scores were used to analyze data from the questionnaire while recorded Focus
Group Discussion data was analyzed qualitatively. Data from the observation
schedule was analyzed quantitatively using a standard benchmark for prison
libraries and the hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square (X²)test. Major findings showed that the
prisoners are very highly in need of educational information; information for
spiritual growth and better life style; on health; on legal issues, vocational,
recreational and financial information and for emotional growth. Findings from
observation showed that the varieties of library and information materials that
are provided are grossly inadequate considering the population of
prisoners. Further findings showed that
it is only legal and spiritual information needs that are being met to some
extent; all the other information needs – educational, vocational,
recreational, health and financial information needs are not being met
adequately. Poor funding, uncomfortable nature of prisons, prison policies,
censorship, staffing problems, inadequate reading accommodation, lack of
standard library building are all found to cause setbacks in the provision of
information resources and services to meet the prisoners’ information needs. A
number of strategies could be used to enhance the provision of library and
information resources and services to meet the prisoners’ information needs.
These include liaising with public libraries, NGOS and others like religious
bodies and legal practitioners, liaising with professional bodies like library
associations and stakeholders, granting the prisoners more access to information
(even use of the internet) and developing new and using existing guidelines to enhance
prison library service. Based on the
above findings some recommendations were made: that provision should be made
for improved funding of the prisons and their libraries, improving general well
being of the prisoners, reducing of censorship and other restrictions to give
prisoners better access to information.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The
flow of information has made the world today a global village and we are said
to be in the information age. This new age is a revolutionary period whose
impact is far surpassing that of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions
(Anyakoha, 2005). Information, according to International
Federation of Library Association and Institutions, (IFLA) (2001), is very
important in the development of an individual and of the society. Information
is seen as a major resource in human development as access to it could improve
knowledge.
Iloeje
(2001) stressed that information is the heart of the world’s development.
Likewise, information is indispensable in the development and advancement of
all aspects of human endeavour. Information is an important tool used in the
realization of any objective set by individuals (Igbeka and Atinmo, 2002).
Thus, acquiring and using information are both important activities.
Information has become a primary strategic resource that is transforming the
lives of many in the world today. The prisoners are not left out as they too
need information for day to day living; thus, information is one thing that no
one in any society can do without (Anyakoha, 2005).
Information could be
described as man’s accumulated knowledge in all subjects, all forms and all sources
which could aid its users to make rational decisions. Losee (1998) further
defined information in what was called a common way as one or more statements
or facts that are received by a human and that have some form of worth to the
recipient. People have a fundamental human right to information and as such
need library and information services to exercise this right (Dike 2002;
Lehmann, 2000).
Information
needs could be described as an individual or group’s desire to locate and
obtain information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. Information need
is also seen by LisWiki (2008) as a recognition that one’s knowledge is inadequate
to satisfy a goal. This leads to seeking for the information from required
sources so as to satisfy the need.
Generally, Hjorland (2007) saw people’s information needs as needs
relating to people’s educational activities (educational needs), research
activities, professional and vocational activities (vocational needs), cultural
activities and personal development – spiritually (religious needs) and
physically. Both free people in regular society and incarcerated ones have the
same information needs (Shirley 2006). These needs range from basic information
for survival, for educational purposes, healthy living and recreation to
spiritual growth.
Prisoners
are people who are incarcerated in prisons and denied freedom of movement due
to crimes they have committed. In most countries around the world, the majority
of individuals who make up the prison and jail population have limited
education and life skills and do not come from a background where reading is
carried out (IFLA, 2005). The study further took note of other characteristics
of prisoners just like Amnesty International (2008). According to them,
prisoners are more of male than female. In most prisons, the male population is
many times above the female population. Secondly these prisoners are mainly
youth and middle-aged people with very few elderly ones, who may have attained
that age while already in prison (Amnesty International Report, 2008). In the
Nigerian context, prison inmates are made up of convicted persons who are
sentenced to serve various terms for crimes committed, and often a larger
number of Awaiting Trial Persons (ATP), who may spend many years in this
condition (Amnesty International 2008). The fact that the prisoners are
incarcerated restricts them from free movement and a full social life. Most
importantly, they are restricted in getting information from the outside world.
Prisoners,
like free people, need information for different purposes. According to Dike
(2002), often the offenders’ disadvantaged educational and socio-economic
status may lead them into a life of crime. Subsequently, the prisoners need
literacy training, educational and vocational programmes to better equip them
for a productive life. Prisoners have been seen to have the same reading
interests and information needs as other people; but with a good number of them
having low educational skills, they often experience difficulties in meeting
their information needs (Shirley 2006). Prisoners are regarded as disadvantaged
people because they lack free access to many things in life, including
libraries (Lehmann 2000). Ajogwu (2005) enumerated prisoners’ information needs
as ranging from legal needs, religious, health, educational, vocational, and
recreational to financial needs. Most importantly, prisoners need to acquire
further education as well as occupational and vocational skills to help them
re-adapt into the society. Greenway (2007) stated that information on health,
what is happening – current affairs and information on parenting are the three
basic needs of today’s prisoners due to their incarcerated state. Even after
incarceration, prisoners also require information for the period after their
release including information on getting a job, career opportunities, housing,
addresses of places, identifying funds for businesses and re-establishing
family relationships (Shirley 2004).
Most of the prisoners have low educational
attainment (Dike 2002) and poor employability skills, as revealed by IFLA
(2005), so they have need for further education and vocational training
programmes and informative materials to help them find useful occupations after
release. Due to their incarcerated state and the boredom of the prison
environment, prisoners need recreation. The poor hygienic nature of many
prisons, especially in countries like Nigeria, give rise to the need for
health information to survive health hazards.
For the fact that most of the prisoners are spiritually and emotionally
impoverished, they have need for religious/spiritual information. By the nature
of their incarceration, the prisoners also have need for legal information that
may help in their release in due course, their survival and their being law
abiding citizens in future. The prisons and prison authority have the main
responsibility of providing for these needs by formulating required objectives
and making available information resources and services through the prison
library and other related sources.
Prisons
originally were established to confine and keep custody of the offenders as
well as punishing the offenders for the crimes they have committed. Reading by the prisoners
then was confined to the Bible and similar religious materials aimed at
inculcating morality (Shirley 2006). The main objective of imprisonment was to
punish the offender in confinement. This objective is changing from not only
punishment of the offender, but also rehabilitation and re-socialization of the
prisoners through educational, library and related programmes for the prisoners
to be re-integrated back into the society after serving. Over time, the Western
world, according to Lehmann (2000), has recognized the concept of restorative
justice (making the prisoner whole) as the philosophy behind incarceration.
Prisons are contemporarily being seen as total institutions aimed at
rehabilitation, custody, punishment and re-socialization of the inmates
(Shirley, 2003).
Emphasis
on custodial functions of prisons coupled with rising prison population led to
consideration of establishing educative and informative programmes and services
to help in the reformation and rehabilitation of both the ATPs and convicted
ones (Ewavoma-Enuku 2001). According to the report, a close study of colonial
and post colonial laws in Nigeria
seemed to emphasize the custodial functions of the prisons while being silent
on correctional functions. According to the Nigerian Congress of Catholic
Prisons Pastoral Care (NCCPPC) (2005) report on Nigerian prisons as well as
Agomoh and Ogbozor (2006), the functions/objectives of the Nigerian prison
include:
- To keep safe custody of such persons legally
detained,
- To identify the causes of their anti-social
behaviour during the course of their detention,
- To treat and reform them to become law abiding
citizens of a free society and
- To train them towards their rehabilitation on
discharge; at the same time generating revenue for the government through
prison farms and industries thereby inculcating into them the dignity of
labour.
The Nigerian Prisons Service has laudable
objectives in place: the question is how practicable achievement of these
objectives is. The prisoners’ information needs and the modern objectives of
imprisonment could be adequately met through the use and provision of prison
library services and resources coupled with educational programmes (Ewavoma-Enuku,
2001), vocational training programmes, religious outreach programmes and
services (Shirley, 2006; IFLA, 2005; Lehmann, 2000). Information services could
also be rendered to the prisoners by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
legal practitioners (who provide legal information to the prisoners in the
course of preparing for their release or court hearings). To be able to adapt
back into the society, the prisoners need to be rehabilitated and
re-socialized. This will enable them to become useful to themselves and keep
away from crime, thereby avoiding recidivism.
The rehabilitation, reformation, education and re-socialization of the
prisoners can only be achieved through making adequate resource provisions to
meet their information needs. Working towards meeting the information needs of
the prisoners means working towards achieving the objectives of imprisonment.
Considering
the various ways of providing information to the prisoners, the prison library
takes the lead in providing services and materials through which the prisoners
can meet their various information needs. Dike (2002) emphasized that the
prisoners cannot do without the library in meeting their information needs. As
Lehmann (2000) puts it, “one can safely say that incarcerated persons have a
large number of unmet needs, which translate into a high demand for information
and learning materials, and self-improvement resources. The library in
cooperation with other bodies that organize programmes in the prison can play a
vital role in meeting these needs through its resources and services”.
Library and information resources and
materials are needed for the information needs of the prisoners to be met.
These will further help the prison authority to handle the custody of the
prisoners successfully. Achebe (2008) defined a library as an organized
collection of books and other materials (both printed and non-printed) used for
study, research and recreation usually in a building or virtual organization. A
prison library could be seen as a library built and organized usually within
the prison for the use of the prisoners. A prison library according to IFLA
(2005), provides resources for prison education, rehabilitation programs and
specific requirements like legal collections. The prison library also provides
the inmates the opportunity to develop literacy skills, pursue personal and
cultural interests and life-long learning.
Library
and information resources encompass all the facilities and materials at the
disposal of a library through which it can provide needed services to its
users. These resources according to Eze (2008) are made up of human (staff) and
material resources. While the human resources are the working staff who provide
the services to the users, the material resources could be classified into
print, non-print and electronic resources. Print include: textbooks, novels,
journals, newspapers, magazines and other serial publications, and reference
works like encyclopedias and dictionaries. The non-print resources include materials
like microfilm, microfiche, audio card, audio materials while the electronic
resources CD-ROM, computers and other related accessories. IFLA (2005) stated
that the prison library collection should include materials in print and other
formats to meet the informational, educational, cultural, recreational, and
rehabilitative needs of the prison population. The collection should include a
wide variety of current print and non-print materials, audio and video
recordings and gadgets to play them similar to those found in a public or
school library. These reading resources, according to Dike (2002), should
include a wide range of materials – fiction and other literature; general
non-fiction; magazines and textbooks. Effective library service according to Shirley
(2003), is reflected in programmes, services and collections. When the
prisoners are provided with certain services and materials, they will find ways
of keeping themselves busy, even while still in custody.
The
recognition of the place of the prison library in providing for the prisoners’
information needs contributed to the development of prison libraries. The first prison library was established by
Alexander Macconochie in the early nineteenth Century in Australia (Wilhemus, 1999). The
development of prison libraries continued even up to the present 21st
Century. The recognition of the prisoners’ right to information is contained in
the United Nations (Rule 40) Standard Minimal Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners of 1955 (IFLA 2005). This states that every institution shall have an
adequately stocked library for use of all categories of prisoners and the
prisoners shall be encouraged to use it. The International Book Committee and
UNESCO (1994) in their Charter for the Reader assert that “all including
prisoners are entitled to have access to information and libraries to provide
this access should be located within the prison premises”. The prison library
is a substitute for the library at home (Kaiser, 1992), a good reason why it
should be developed into one of the best libraries; hence, the development of
notable standards to guide its operations.
The
IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners – Kaiser (1995), IFLA (2005), the American
Library Association (ALA) Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions
(2003) amongst others, are notable standards and guidelines which were
developed to cover areas of access, services and library materials, staffing
and administration of prison library services in support of prisoners’ right to
read. They specified the material resources to be provided for the prisoners
and their quantity and quality, as well as the suitable human resources (staff)
to provide services required for the prisoners to have access to the reading
resources. These standards were developed under the assumption that library
services shall encompass the inmates’ right to read and their free access to
information as specified by the Library Bill of Rights (1980), ‘Resolution on
Prisoners’ Right to Read’ (1982) and ‘Freedom to Read Statement”(1991).
Prison library services developed in
coordination with educational programmes can provide for the information needs
of the prisoners and so foster their rehabilitation. According to Ikuteyijo and
Agunbiade (2008), amongst the reforms that have taken place in the Nigerian
criminal justice, the latest of these reforms was in line with the global trend
to shift from a punitive and retributive penal system, to a reformatory and
rehabilitative system, thus advocating prisoners’ welfare. The South-east zone
is one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. According to Nigerian
Prison Service (2009), the south-east zone, made up of five states – Anambra,
Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu,
and Imo has up to fourteen prisons and farm centres with a very high population
of prisoners. This is an indication of high crime rate. Moreover, in spite of
the efforts made by non-governmental organizations, educational institutions,
public libraries and other related stakeholders towards providing for the
prisoners’ information needs, little effort is being made by the prison
authority towards achieving the rehabilitation of the prisoners through meeting
their information needs. This calls for the need to carry out a study of this
kind in the zone to find out the information needs of these prisoners and how
the prison library through its resources and services can provide for these
needs, thereby helping to rehabilitate and reintegrate the prisoners into the
society and avoiding recidivism.
INFORMATION NEEDS OF PRISONERS AND RESOURCES PROVISION THROUGH THE PRISON LIBRARY IN SOUTH EAST ZONE OF NIGERIA
