Imprisonment in the 21st Century as a means of crime Control in Zambia,is it Effective

People are sent to prison as a symbol of the community's disapproval of their conduct, to deter others from crime, to protect the public, as well as to reform the offender. Whereas deterrence seeks to reduce crime rates and recidivism, rehabilitation seeks to help the ex-offender function effectively and productively once he returns to society. These two principles are neither mutually exclusive nor mutually inclusive. If we have accepted that a cardinal purpose of punishment is the reformation of the offender, why then are crime rates still on the high? This paper provides an answer to this question. The high crime rates and levels of recidivism indicate that so far, imprisonment has not been an effective tool of crime control. Chapter one begins with an introduction to the concept of punishment. The importance of punishment is acknowledged and reference is made to some theories justifying punishment. A general history of the evolution of imprisonment as a form of punishment is given, in view of the fact that imprisonment was initially used merely as a form of detention of those who breached the laws while they awaited the actual punishment. Imprisonment in itself was not a punishment. Chapter two examines provisions of the Prisons Act and other national statutes, as well as international instruments that confer certain rights on prisoners. From the analysis, the conclusion is drawn that Zambia is in breach of most of her international obligations relating to the treatment of prisoners. Although imprisonment necessarily entails deprivation of certain rights such as liberty, urgent steps need to be taken to avail prisoners of the minimum standards of treatment, financial constraints notwithstanding. An insight on how prisons currently operate is given in chapter three. An overview of the current state of prisons in terms of population, food, medical care, treatment by officials, education and training, etc reveals that prisons are overcrowded, lacking in basic nutritional, medical, sanitation and rehabilitative facilitites. The result is that as things stand, imprisonment is not an effective means of crime-control because most of those who are sent to prison do not reform because they are not offered rehabilitative programs, nor taught skills that can assist them earn a living through lawful and legitimate means (for those who commit crimes to sustain themselves due to the prevailing unfavourable economic conditions), rather than relapsing into a life of crime. Following the case study in chapter four of how other countries have dealt with the problem of crime, it can be seen that countries such as Sweden and Canada have reduced their use of short prison sentences in preference of non-custodial sentences. Consequently, chapter five recognizes the need for the Zambian penal system to reduce its reliance on imprisonment as it has the tendency to make prisoners more dangerous and anti-social. As a method of crime control, imprisonment is wrought with many challenges and is often ineffective. There is need to improve…