From correction to education : an educational programme for correctional officers

Abstract

The prison of Malta has since a few years back been renamed Corradino Correctional Facility. The implication of the name is that it is not any more an institution where prisoners are segregated from the rest of society, but a site where people are 'corrected'. In our dissertation we propose to try to understand what this 'correction' means. We understand, at this stage, that the idea is mainly to rehabilitate the offender, or prison inmate as prisoners are now referred to. We plan to understand what this involves, and who are the agents that are meant to bring about this change in the offender. Moreover, we understand that right now there is an educational unit in the main section of the prison which aims to 'educate' prison inmates. Further more, we believe that the prison guards, now known as Correctional Officers have a major role in the rehabilitation of the young offender. Thus we plan to interview all the correctional officers assigned at the youth section in order to identify their educational background, and how they perceive their role working within such an environment. By means of interviews we hope to come to some understanding of the vision they have of themselves as 'guards' and/or 'correctional officers'. Finally, we intend to come up with the kind of course a correctional officer should receive in order to "educate", "correct" or "rehabilitate" the young offender.