There exists a pressing demand for an increased presence of psychologists and psychiatrists within the local prison system.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Prisons Julian Clarke, the evaluation of inmates by these experts has the potential to mitigate recidivism by addressing the underlying factors that initially led to their incarceration.
“Suppose an individual is incarcerated due to substance misuse or involvement in gang-related endeavors. Upon their incarceration, there appears to be a certain degree of neglect in addressing the underlying cause or trigger that led to their imprisonment”.
“We would impart a certain skill to them, but our focus would not primarily be on instructing them in areas such as overcoming substance misuse. The current implementation of our activities is limited in scope, lacking the potential for significant impact”.
“Indeed, there exists a pressing requirement for an increased presence of psychologists and psychiatrists within the prison system to effectively address these crucial areas that demand immediate attention”.
Clarke said the current approach of rehabilitation, which involves imparting skills to incarcerated individuals and subsequently releasing them into environments that initially led to their incarceration, necessitates urgent intervention.
“There remains a significant amount of work to be accomplished in relation to the reformation of incarcerated individuals within the correctional facilities of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”, Clarke said.
Clarke spoke to the issue on WE FM’s Activated Morning program last week.
