“When I Take Drugs, I Don’t Care”: Insights into the Operational Dynamics of Male Violent Offenders in a Correctional Centre

Abstract

This study investigated the operational dynamics of male violent offenders incarcerated in Abakaliki custodial center, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted and purposive technique used to recruit 260 inmates charged with violent offenses. The data generated from structured questionnaire were analyzed using Predictive Analytic Software (PAS), with ordinary least regression, descriptive statistics and spearman rank order correlation techniques, employed in testing the variables explored. Findings revealed that this population use drugs to enhance criminal performance through being brutal; instilling fear in victims to secure their total compliance and submission; and suppressing regret for their criminal acts. Heroin, followed by, cocaine, cannabis, tramadol, and multiple drug use, were commonly used drugs in the population surveyed, with their offenses ranging from cultism, armed robbery, murder and burglary to kidnapping and assault and battery. Gaining insights into the changing operational knowledge, procedures and dynamics of violent offenders will (re)direct policy approach and action that are capable of increasing public and custodial safety. It will also orient and direct practical prison reforms for successful rehabilitation and reintegration of released inmates into the free world.

Beyond evidence and reality: the politics, political economy and fallout of hawkish regulatory policy on prescription drugs in Nigeria

“…Effectiveness and efficiency are completely separate issues of limited importance in a non-competitive environment. For example, some studies show that governments across the globe continue to engage in prohibitive and punitive drug policy, in spite of a relatively well-known body of research which suggests that the approach is not technically efficient or effective in reducing drug problems (Chilton, 2001; Nadelmann, 1998; Otu, 2011; Nnam, 2017; Nnam et al , 2021b).…”