8th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture
Ex-prisoners' Views on Imprisonment and Re-Entry: Research Report
In the past 15 years much research has been conducted on the prison system in South Africa focusing on governance, law reform and human rights. It is, however, of particular concern that the voices of prisoners and ex-prisoners had not been heard in the current discourse, one that has been dominated by the Department of Correctional Services, Parliament, service delivery organisations, academics and human rights activists. In essence, there has been a lot of talk about prisoners and ex-prisoners but there has been little listening to prisoners and ex-prisoners taking place.
This research project gathered information from ex-prisoners about their experiences during and after imprisonment. Knowing what prison system users think and say about the system is important because they are ultimately the individuals who should benefit from the prison system. Moreover, listening to them deepens our understanding of what is being done correctly and should be built upon, but also where improvements are required. Although this study involved only a limited number of participants, several important findings can already be made, based on what the customers of the DCS are saying.