No abstract

Recidivists are chronic, multiple or prolific offenders. They continue to commit crimes regardless of punishment. Recidivism is a worldwide problem which has persisted over the years. A University of Nairobi study conducted in Nairobi County, Kenya on the linkage between punishment and recidivism which involved recidivist prisoners at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison and Langata Prison; male and female institutions respectively, sought to, among others, analyse the broad characteristics of recidivists in the two institutions. The study purposively selected a sample of 167 participants, and collected data by use of questionnaires, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were utilised in data analysis. The study established that the majority of the recidivists are males, and young adults or individuals in middle age who are either illiterate or semiliterate. They are also not in marital relationships, and are members of the lower social classes among other characteristics. This paper presents a literature review on challenges facing prison institutions in Kenya, causes and control strategies of recidivism among prisoners, general socio-demographic and personality characteristics of recidivists, and the study findings on the profile of the recidivists in Kenya.

This study attempts to analyze the capacity of prisons security structures in Nakuru main prison to prevent inmate’s escapes in the perspective of junior officers working in the institution who formed 80 % of the sample respondents in the study. This research adopted descriptive research design which involved the use of observation, case study approach and survey technique.  Data was collected majorly using questionnaires as data collection instruments and was self-administered to 142 junior prison officers who were directly involved in the facilitation of safe custody to prisoners in Nakuru main prisons. The observation checklist was also used to ascertain the state of the physical security infrastructure used to prevent escapes in Nakuru main prison. Data obtained was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and presented using frequencies, pie charts and tables. The findings from the majority of the respondents showed a lack of permanent perimeter fence at 47.4 %, old dilapidated buildings at 28.9%, lack of the use of technology e.g CCTV at 19.7%, inadequate lighting system at14.5%.  The study recommendsconstruction of a modern security wall in the institution as a strategy to effectively prevent escapes, use of new technology e.g CCTV erection of a proper and adequate watchtowers/Sentries and provision of adequate lighting system at Nakuru main prisons. In addition, there is a need to escalate a similar study to all prison institutions in order to enrich the findings and recommendations for Policymakers in the criminal justice system.

Strain at work in any profession negatively affects the people working and overall performance of employees. This in turn has a negative impact on production or quality of services being offered. This applies to police officers especially those working in major towns in Kenya where crime rate is too high and cost of living is unimaginably high. According to GOK crime report of 2014, Murang'a town being one of the Kenyan major towns has been rated as having highest crime levels culminated by illegal groupings like Mungiki and Gaza boys. Among the major crimes recorded in Murang'a include violent robberies, theft of motor vehicles, house breakings and burglary, kidnapping, bank robberies, homicides and gender violence among others. Reasons behind high crime rate in Murang'a town have not been clearly established so far. Many scholars have tried to establish causes of crime in Murang'a town and among the listed causes include poverty levels, population growth and proximity to Kenyan capital Nairobi among others but none has considered effects of occupational strain among police officers in the course of performance of their duties. Occupational strain among police officers could be having adverse effects on performance by police officers and in turn negatively affect services they render to the public and this may lead to high crime rate and general insecurity. Failure to address causes of occupational strain among police undermines effort to curb insecurity in our major towns in Kenya. Strained officers are poorly motivated and generally demoralized hence poor service delivery. The focus of this paper, therefore, is to build greater understanding of the causes of occupational strain among police officers in Murang'a town, effects of such strain to general security of Murang'a town and possible measures that can be undertaken to address the problem of occupational strain among police officers working in Murang'a town. The paper briefly presents findings of research conducted in Murang'a town over the same topic and recommendations thereto, in order to address the problem of occupational strain among police officers and improve their welfare and wellbeing. All this is aimed at motivating them to provide good services and to make them more effective which in turn will improve security of Murang'a town.