CASA CompletesInmate Life-Management Training
With the completion of a course which taughtthem life management skills, male and female inmates will nowbe better-able to manage their lives upon re-integration intosociety.
The 54 inmates of HM Prisons Northward andFairbanks will graduate this week from the three-month course,which was hosted by Cayman Against Substance Abuse (CASA). Mrs.Suzanne Smith, wife of His Excellency the Governor, will presentthe graduation certificates.
The five main areas of concentration werespecific life management skills which support a positive changein lifestyle; personal responsibilities for choices made; drugand alcohol dependency and addiction; the impact of drugs andalcohol on personal and family life and society; and alternativeswhich can enhance personal well-being and relationships with family,especially spouses and children.
Mrs. Linda McField, CASA's Programme Director,facilitated the training. Commenting that there is a high incidenceof inmate substance abuse, she said, "To simply return thesepeople to their communities without encouraging them to addresssubstance abuse and violent behaviour is placing them at an incrediblyhigh risk for re-offending."
She added that inmates discussed individualresponsibility for actions and the resulting consequences, aswell as the importance of positive activities and informationwhich will enhance their individual development.
Commending both the inmates and CASA, PrisonDirector John Forster said that rehabilitation is the intendedside affect of incarceration, and that prison is about more thanpunishment. "If inmates take advantage of programs such asthose offered by CASA, our own education unit, and other positiveefforts, they can make a significant positive impact on theirown lives, and hopefully reduce recidivism."