Cayman's StrategyInfluences Caribbean Prison Rehab
Messrs DudleyRoach and Cleviston Hunte
The efforts of Messrs. Dudley Roach andCleviston Hunte could be influencing attitudes to prisoner rehabilitationin the Caribbean.
Both men have been working for some time with people involvedin criminal behaviour in Cayman and, together, they have developeda paper entitled: "A Group Programme Within a Carib-beanSetting."
The paper will be presented at the 5th Caribbeanand International Social Work Educators Conference to take placein Nassau, Bahamas in August.
Their approach examined traditional theoriesand evaluated their effectiveness in the Caribbean, and acknowledgedthat norms in the region differ substantially from the areas wheretraditional theories evolved.
As a result, the paper outlines a more practicalapproach to rehabilitation in the Caribbean.
The paper has already been presented atthe International Criminology Conference held at University ofthe West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, where it won acclaim and theinvitation for both gentlemen to present at the August conference.
Project Officer, Dudley Roach, who is heavilyinvolved in the development of the new juvenile remand centresaid: "We can definitely reduce the number of repeat offendersand change their behaviour by changing the way they think. Thisis why it is necessary for theories of recidivism to be revisedto suit the needs of the Caribbean."
Probation Officer, Cleviston Hunte, explainedthe programme's ap-proach: "Our strategy is to provide socialwork intervention in the lives of group members.
Group work was the method chosen becauseof its effectiveness in working with similar groups in the prisonsetting.
Moreover, this method has the advantage of being able to provideintervention for an optimal number of persons, while producinga common goal among the group and reducing costs at the same time.