INFORMATION NEEDS OF PRISONERS AND RESOURCES PROVISION THROUGH THE PRISON LIBRARY IN SOUTH EAST ZONE OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this work was to examine the information needs of prisoners and resources provision through the prison library in South-east Nigeria. Six research questions and three (3) null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The research design adopted for the study was a descriptive surveys. The population of the study comprised all the prisoners in South-East Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to get the prisons that have libraries in the South-East zone and seven prisons were used for the study. Seven hundred and eight (708) prisoners and fourteen (14) welfare/library workers from the seven prisons that have libraries in South-east geopolitical zone were used as prisoners sample and staff sample for the study. While all the female prisoners were sampled due to their small number (141), simple random sampling was used to get the male prisoners (567). A structured questionnaire was used to get data from prison workers  while  Focus  Group  Discussion guide  was  used  to  elicit  data  from the  prisoners. Observation guide was used to get data on the library and information resources and services available for the prisoners and documentary sources from the Nigerian prison service were also used to  get  data  about  the  prisoners. The  instruments were  face-validated  by three  senior lecturers in the Department of Library and Information Science and Faculty of Education. Pilot study was carried out using five (5) prison workers in Aba prison and to test the reliability of the questionnaire, Internal Consistency reliability using the Cronbach’s Alpha method was used. Frequency and mean scores were used to analyze data from the questionnaire while recorded Focus Group Discussion data was analyzed qualitatively. Data from the observation schedule was analyzed quantitatively using a standard benchmark for prison libraries and the hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square (X²) test. Major findings showed that the prisoners are very highly in need of educational information; information for spiritual growth and better life style; on health; on legal issues, vocational, recreational and financial information and for emotional growth. Findings from observation showed that the varieties of library and information materials that  are  provided  are  grossly  inadequate  considering the  population of prisoners.    Further findings showed that it is only legal and spiritual information needs that are being met to some extent;  all  the  other  information  needs  –  educational,  vocational,  recreational,  health  and financial information needs are not being met adequately. Poor funding, uncomfortable nature of prisons, prison policies, censorship, staffing problems, inadequate reading accommodation, lack of standard library building are all found to cause setbacks in the provision of information resources and services to meet the prisoners’ information needs. A number of strategies could be used to enhance the provision of library and information resources and services to meet the prisoners’ information needs. These include liaising with public libraries, NGOS and others like religious bodies and legal practitioners, liaising with professional bodies like library associations and stakeholders, granting the prisoners more access to information (even use of the internet) and developing new and using existing guidelines to enhance prison library service.  Based on the above findings some recommendations were made: that provision should be made for improved funding of the prisons and their libraries, improving general well being of the prisoners, reducing of censorship and other restrictions to give prisoners better access to information.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The flow of information has made the world today a global village and we are said to be in the information age. This new age is a revolutionary period whose impact is far surpassing that of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions (Anyakoha, 2005). Information, according to International Federation of Library Association and Institutions, (IFLA) (2001), is very important in the development of an individual and of the society. Information is seen as a major resource in human development as access to it could improve knowledge.

Iloeje (2001) stressed that information is the heart of the world’s development. Likewise, information is indispensable in the development and advancement of all aspects of human endeavour. Information is an important tool used in the realization of any objective set by individuals (Igbeka and Atinmo, 2002). Thus, acquiring and using information are both important activities. Information has become a primary strategic resource that is transforming the lives of many in the world today. The prisoners are not left out as they too need information for day to day living; thus, information is one thing that no one in any society can do without (Anyakoha, 2005).

Information could be described as man’s accumulated knowledge in all subjects, all forms and all sources which could aid its users to make rational decisions. Losee (1998) further defined information in what was called a common way as one or more statements or facts that are received by a human and that have some form of worth to the recipient. People have a fundamental human right to information and as such need library and information services to exercise this right (Dike 2002; Lehmann, 2000).

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Information needs could be described as an individual or group’s desire to locate and obtain information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. Information need is also seen by LisWiki (2008) as a recognition that one’s knowledge is inadequate to satisfy a goal. This leads to seeking for the information from required sources so as to satisfy the need.  Generally, Hjorland (2007) saw people’s information needs as needs relating to people’s educational activities (educational needs), research activities, professional and vocational activities (vocational needs), cultural activities and personal development –  spiritually  (religious needs)  and physically.  Both  free  people  in  regular  society  and incarcerated  ones  have  the  same information needs  (Shirley  2006).  These  needs  range  from  basic information for survival, for educational purposes, healthy living and recreation to spiritual growth.

Prisoners are people who are incarcerated in prisons and denied freedom of movement due to crimes they have committed. In most countries around the world, the majority of individuals who make up the prison and jail population have limited education and life skills and do not come from a background  where  reading  is  carried  out  (IFLA,  2005).  The  study  further  took  note  of  other characteristics of prisoners just like Amnesty International (2008). According to them, prisoners are more of male than female. In most prisons, the male population is many times above the female population. Secondly these prisoners are mainly youth and middle-aged people with very few elderly ones, who may have attained that age while already in prison (Amnesty International Report, 2008). In the Nigerian context, prison inmates are made up of convicted persons who are sentenced to serve various terms for crimes committed, and often a larger number of Awaiting Trial Persons (ATP), who may spend many years in this condition (Amnesty International 2008). The fact that the prisoners are incarcerated  restricts  them  from  free  movement  and a  full  social  life.  Most importantly, they  are restricted in getting information from the outside world.

Prisoners, like free people, need information for different purposes. According to Dike (2002), often the offenders’ disadvantaged educational and socio-economic status may lead them into a life of crime. Subsequently, the prisoners need literacy training, educational and vocational programmes to better equip them for a productive life. Prisoners have been seen to have the same reading interests and information needs as other people; but with a good number of them having low educational skills, they often experience difficulties in meeting their information needs (Shirley 2006). Prisoners are regarded as disadvantaged people because they lack free access to many things in life, including libraries (Lehmann 2000). Ajogwu (2005) enumerated prisoners’ information needs as ranging from legal needs, religious,  health,  educational,  vocational,  and  recreational  to  financial  needs.  Most  importantly, prisoners need to acquire further education as well as occupational and vocational skills to help them re- adapt into the society. Greenway (2007) stated that information on health, what is happening – current affairs and information on parenting are the three basic needs of today’s prisoners due to their incarcerated state. Even after incarceration, prisoners also require information for the period after their release  including  information  on getting  a  job,  career  opportunities,  housing,  addresses  of  places, identifying funds for businesses and re-establishing family relationships (Shirley 2004).

Most of the prisoners have low educational attainment (Dike 2002) and poor employability skills, as revealed by IFLA (2005), so they have need for further education and vocational training programmes and informative materials to help them find useful occupations after release. Due to their incarcerated state and the boredom of the prison environment, prisoners need recreation. The poor hygienic nature of many prisons, especially in countries like Nigeria, give rise to the need for health information to  survive health  hazards.    For the fact that most of the  prisoners  are  spiritually  and emotionally impoverished, they have need for religious/spiritual information. By the nature of their incarceration, the prisoners also have need for legal information that may help in their release in due course, their survival and their being law abiding citizens in future. The prisons and prison authority

have the main responsibility of providing for these needs by formulating required objectives and making available information resources and services through the prison library and other related sources.

Prisons originally were established to confine and keep custody of the offenders as well as punishing  the  offenders  for  the  crimes  they  have  committed.  Reading  by  the  prisoners  then  was confined to the Bible and similar religious materials aimed at inculcating morality (Shirley 2006). The main objective of imprisonment was to punish the offender in confinement. This objective is changing from not only punishment of the offender, but also rehabilitation and re-socialization of the prisoners through educational, library and related programmes for the prisoners to be re-integrated back into the society after serving. Over time, the Western world, according to Lehmann (2000), has recognized the concept of restorative  justice  (making  the  prisoner whole)  as the  philosophy behind incarceration. Prisons are contemporarily being seen as total institutions aimed at rehabilitation, custody, punishment and re-socialization of the inmates (Shirley, 2003).

Emphasis on custodial functions of prisons coupled with rising prison population led to consideration of establishing educative and informative programmes and services to help in the reformation and rehabilitation of both the ATPs and convicted ones (Ewavoma-Enuku 2001). According to the report, a close study of colonial and post colonial laws in Nigeria seemed to emphasize the custodial functions of the prisons while being silent on correctional functions. According to the Nigerian Congress  of Catholic  Prisons Pastoral  Care  (NCCPPC)  (2005)  report  on  Nigerian  prisons  as  well  as Agomoh and Ogbozor (2006), the functions/objectives of the Nigerian prison include:

      To keep safe custody of such persons legally detained,

      To identify the causes of their anti-social behaviour during the course of their detention,

      To treat and reform them to become law abiding citizens of a free society and

         To train them towards their rehabilitation on discharge; at the same time generating revenue for the government through prison farms and industries thereby inculcating into them the dignity of labour.

The Nigerian Prisons Service has laudable objectives in place: the question is how practicable achievement of these objectives is. The prisoners’ information needs and the modern objectives of imprisonment could be adequately met through the use and provision of prison library services and resources coupled with educational programmes (Ewavoma-Enuku, 2001), vocational training programmes, religious outreach programmes and services (Shirley, 2006; IFLA, 2005; Lehmann, 2000). Information services could also be rendered to the prisoners by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and legal practitioners (who provide legal information to the prisoners in the course of preparing for their release or court hearings). To be able to adapt back into the society, the prisoners need to be rehabilitated and re-socialized. This will enable them to become useful to themselves and keep away from crime, thereby avoiding recidivism.  The rehabilitation, reformation, education and re-socialization of the prisoners can only be achieved through making adequate resource provisions to meet their information needs. Working towards meeting the information needs of the prisoners means working towards achieving the objectives of imprisonment.

Considering the various ways of providing information to the prisoners, the prison library takes the lead in providing services and materials through which the prisoners can meet their various information needs. Dike (2002) emphasized that the prisoners cannot do without the library in meeting their information needs. As Lehmann (2000) puts it, “one can safely say that incarcerated persons have a large  number  of  unmet  needs,  which  translate  into  a  high  demand  for  information  and  learning materials, and self-improvement resources. The library in cooperation with other bodies that organize programmes  in  the  prison can  play  a  vital  role  in meeting  these needs  through  its  resources  and services”.

Library and information resources and materials are needed for the information needs of the prisoners to be met. These will further help the prison authority to handle the custody of the prisoners successfully. Achebe (2008) defined a library as an organized collection of books and other materials (both printed and non-printed) used for study, research and recreation usually in a building or virtual organization. A prison library could be seen as a library built and organized usually within the prison for the use of the prisoners. A prison library according to IFLA (2005), provides resources for prison education, rehabilitation programs and specific requirements like legal collections. The prison library also  provides  the  inmates  the  opportunity  to  develop  literacy  skills,  pursue  personal  and  cultural interests and life-long learning.

Library and information resources encompass all the facilities and materials at the disposal of a library through which it can provide needed services to its users. These resources according to Eze (2008)  are  made  up  of  human  (staff)  and material resources.  While the  human  resources  are  the working staff who provide the services to the users, the material resources could be classified into print, non-print and electronic resources. Print include: textbooks, novels, journals, newspapers, magazines and other serial publications, and reference works like encyclopedias and dictionaries. The non-print resources include materials like microfilm, microfiche, audio card, audio materials while the electronic resources CD-ROM, computers and other related accessories. IFLA (2005) stated that the prison library collection should include materials in print and other formats to meet the informational, educational, cultural, recreational, and rehabilitative needs of the prison population. The collection should include a wide variety of current print and non-print materials, audio and video recordings and gadgets to play them similar to those found in a public or school library. These reading resources, according to Dike (2002), should include a wide range of materials – fiction and other literature; general non-fiction; magazines  and  textbooks.  Effective  library  service  according   to  Shirley  (2003),  is  reflected  in

programmes,  services  and  collections.  When  the  prisoners  are  provided  with  certain  services  and materials, they will find ways of keeping themselves busy, even while still in custody.

The recognition of the place of the prison library in providing for the prisoners’ information needs contributed to the development of prison libraries.   The first prison library was established by Alexander   Macconochie   in   the   early   nineteenth   Century   in   Australia   (Wilhemus,   1999).   The development of prison libraries continued even up to the present 21st  Century. The recognition of the prisoners’ right to information is contained in the United Nations (Rule 40) Standard Minimal Rules for the  Treatment  of  Prisoners  of  1955  (IFLA  2005).  This  states  that  every  institution  shall  have  an adequately stocked library for use of all categories of prisoners and the prisoners shall be encouraged to use it. The International Book Committee and UNESCO (1994) in their Charter for the Reader assert that “all including prisoners are entitled to have access to information and libraries to provide this access should be located within the prison premises”. The prison library is a substitute for the library at home (Kaiser, 1992), a good reason why it should be developed into one of the best libraries; hence, the development of notable standards to guide its operations.

The IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners  – Kaiser (1995), IFLA (2005), the American Library Association (ALA) Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions (2003) amongst others, are notable standards and guidelines which were developed to cover areas of access, services and library materials, staffing and administration of prison library services in support of prisoners’ right to read. They specified the material resources to be provided for the prisoners and their quantity and quality, as well as the suitable human resources (staff) to provide services required for the prisoners to have access to the reading resources. These standards were developed under the assumption that library services shall encompass the inmates’ right to read and their free access to information as

specified  by  the  Library  Bill  of  Rights  (1980),  ‘Resolution  on  Prisoners’  Right  to  Read’  (1982)  and

‘Freedom to Read Statement”(1991).

Prison library services developed in coordination with educational programmes can provide for the information needs of the prisoners and so foster their rehabilitation. According to Ikuteyijo and Agunbiade (2008), amongst the reforms that have taken place in the Nigerian criminal justice, the latest of these reforms was in line with the global trend to shift from a punitive and retributive penal system, to a reformatory and rehabilitative system, thus advocating prisoners’ welfare. The South-east zone is one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. According to Nigerian Prison Service (2009), the south-east zone, made up of five states – Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo has up to fourteen prisons and farm centres with a very high population of prisoners. This is an indication of high crime rate. Moreover, in spite of the efforts made by non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, public libraries and other related stakeholders towards providing for the prisoners’ information needs, little effort is being  made  by  the  prison  authority  towards  achieving  the  rehabilitation  of the  prisoners  through meeting their information needs. This calls for the need to carry out a study of this kind in the zone to find out the information needs of these prisoners and how the prison library through its resources and services can provide for these needs, thereby helping to rehabilitate and reintegrate the prisoners into the society and avoiding recidivism.

Statement of the Problem

Prisoners have basic information needs for survival in prison and in preparation for successful life after release. However, it has been observed that prisoners in Nigeria often times do not receive the library  and  information  services  they  require.  Lack  of  provision  for  the  information  needs  of  the prisoners may result in lack of rehabilitation, re-socialization, re-adaptation and overall transformation of the prisoners to become better citizens of the society. The ex-prisoner who cannot fit usefully into the society will likely go back to a life of crime and return to prison (recidivism).

Moreover, little is known about Nigerian prison libraries. Womboh (1991) published an article on the Nigeria prison library services as of 1990 using only three prisons.  Lehmann (2000) and (2003) confirmed in an international survey of prison libraries that very little research has been published on the nature and extent of prison libraries in Africa as a whole. There have been a few scattered and inconclusive   references   to   prison   libraries   in   reports   by   government   and   non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with prison conditions (Civil Liberties Organizations) and on individual prison cases in Nsukka and Awka (Dike and Ajogwu, 2007). Additional information is required on the information needs of Nigerian prisoners, especially in South- East zone, which has a very high population of prisoners. The study is therefore set to examine the information needs of these prisoners and how the prison library can provide for these needs through library and information resources and services.

Purpose of the Study

This study generally aims to ascertain the information needs of prisoners in South-Eastern Nigeria and how these needs could be met through the prison library and information services. The study specifically intends to:

1.   find out the various information needs of prisoners in South-East Nigeria.

2.   find out the library and information resources and services available for these prisoners.

3.   find out the extent to which the prisoners make use of the library and information resources and services.

4.   examine the extent to which the prisoners’ information needs are being met.

5.   find out the problems that may militate against the provision of library and information resources to meet the prisoners’ information needs.

6.   examine the strategies that could be used to enhance the provision of library and information resources to meet the prisoners’ information needs.

Research Questions

The study is guided by the following research questions -:

1.   What are the various information needs of these prisoners in South-east Nigeria?

2.   What are the library and information resources and services available for these prisoners?

3.   To what extent do the prisoners make use of the library and information resources and services?

4.   To what extent are the prisoners’ information needs being met?

5.   What are the problems that may militate against the provision of library and information resources to meet the prisoners’ information needs?

6.   What are the strategies that could be used to enhance the provision of library and information resources and services to meet the prisoners’ information needs?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study

Ho1: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the prison workers of the different states on the areas of information needs of the prisoners.

Ho2: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of the prison workers of the different prisons on the extent of satisfaction of the information needs of the prisoners in the different states.

Ho3: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of the prison workers from the different states on the problems that militate against meeting the information needs of the prisoners.

The hypotheses are to be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Significance of the Study

Prisoners may have a good number of varying information needs, yet prison libraries, which take the lead in providing for these needs, are yet to be developed in this part of the world. The result of this study will therefore be beneficial to the Nigerian Prisons Service, the prisoners, public libraries, non- governmental organizations, religious bodies, professional associations, the library schools, other researchers in this field and other related agencies and stakeholders in the provision of effective library services for Nigerian prisons.

The results of this study will sensitize both the government and the Nigerian Prisons Service on what the educational and other information needs of the prisoners are. It will also inform them on the link between providing for these needs and achieving the objectives of imprisonment. This will thereby

encourage them to make adequate provisions for the satisfaction of these needs through the establishment of prison libraries and maintenance of already established ones. This will also encourage those responsible to provide other resources, services and programmes that will help the prisoners meet their information needs.

The prisoners will from the result of this study come to realize the relevance of prison library services and also other educative and informative programmes available in the prison. This knowledge will enable them develop more interest in using the library and participating in other rehabilitative programmes, both when in prison and afterwards, so as to satisfy their information needs.

The result of this study will also provide useful information to public libraries, non-governmental organizations, religious bodies, professional associations and other related agencies and stakeholders. Through this, they will come to know the supportive roles they are supposed to play in providing services and resources towards meeting the information needs of the prisoners. This will in turn spur them into action, thereby providing necessary assistance to prison libraries and prisoners so as to satisfy their information needs (such assistance could be through interlibrary loan from libraries outreach services, providing  special  services  and materials  for  the  handicapped prisoners, staff  training  and motivation). The professional associations like the Nigeria Library Association (NLA) for instance will see the need to create a section for prison librarianship as is obtainable in advanced countries.

Also, the library schools will see the need to include prison librarianship in their curriculum just like medical and law librarianship. All these will motivate librarians to develop interest in working in prisons and with prisoners so as to enhance the satisfaction of these prisoners’ information needs through their services. Furthermore, the study will be of immense help to other researchers. It will provide information, facts and ideas which they will need when carrying out researches in prison library, information and literacy services to prisoners and other related issues.

The findings of this study will have implications for the postulations of Wilson’s stress/coping theory of information behaviour and need. The prisoners value and need information to overcome boredom and stress associated with the prison environment as well as cope with the outside world after release.

Scope of the Study

This study covered prisoners in the prisons with libraries located in the five states of South-East Nigeria.  These  states  include  –  Abia,  Anambra,  Ebonyi,  Enugu,  and  Imo  states.  The  educational, vocational, health and other information needs of these prisoners and how far the prison libraries can go in providing for these needs were covered.

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