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Final report to:Young in Prison Netherlands
15 November 2016
YOUNG IN PRISONINTERNATIONALPrepared by:
Evaluation of the “Ending impunity in torture and cruel,
inhumane and degrading treatment of children in
prison in South Africa and Malawi” project
1
Acknow
ledgements
This report would not have been
possible without the assistance
of YiP NL, YiP SA and M
usic Crossroads M
alawi (M
CM) staff
and partners, com
munity in-
formants and key donor inform
-ants, w
ho actively participated in this study. Particular thanks to the young program
me partici-
pants in Malaw
i, Johannesburg and Cape Tow
n, and to Sabrina G
erhlein and Raoul Nolen w
ho have guided this evaluation. Particular thanks also to the young m
en who shared their
stories with us in m
ore depth for the case studies.
Report produced by Impact
Consulting (w
ww
.impactconsulting.co.za)
All rights reserved. No part of
this report may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, m
echanical, or other means,
including photocopying and recording, or in any inform
ation storage or retrieval system
, with-
out permission in w
riting from
Young in Prison Netherlands and
Impact Consulting.
Report to: Young in Prison (YiP)W
ritten by: Jerushah Rangasam
i, Anja Mulder
Field research: Jerushah Rangasam
i, Maria Stacey, Anja
Mulder, Lindy D
lamini
Design: Jennifer G
eib
This project is funded by the EU,
Diorapthe, Cordaid and ICCO
.
CONTENTS1. CO
NTEXT .........................................................................................................................................................7
1.1 Youth in conflict w
ith the law in South Africa and M
alawi ..............................................................................7
1.2 U
sing creative therapy and lifeskills education to mitigate the eff
ects of CIDTP on prisoners ..................8
1.2.1 Docum
ented outcomes of arts program
mes in prison
8
1.2.2 Effects of arts therapy on prison quality of life
9
1.2.3 Examples of prison arts program
mes im
plemented in South Africa and Colum
bia 10
1.3 Im
plementation of successful arts program
mes w
ith YICWTL .....................................................................10
2. PROJECT A
ND
ORG
AN
ISATIO
NA
L OVERVIEW
S ...........................................................................................12
2.1 Project overview
.................................................................................................................................................12
2.2 Project partner organisations ...........................................................................................................................12
2.3 Project content ....................................................................................................................................................12
3. EVALU
ATIO
N O
VERVIEW &
METH
OD
OLO
GY ..............................................................................................14
3.1 Evaluation purpose, objectives and approach ................................................................................................14
3.2 Evaluation questions ..........................................................................................................................................14
3.3 Evaluation m
ethods and participants ..............................................................................................................15
3.4 Study Lim
itations ................................................................................................................................................15
4. FIND
ING
S .......................................................................................................................................................17
4.1 Em
erging theory of change ...............................................................................................................................17
4.2 Program
me im
plementation and activities .....................................................................................................18
4.2.1 Activities and strategies 18
4.2.2 Implem
entation processes 19
4.2.3 Achievement against grant targets
20
4.2.4 Key implem
entation success factors for achieving outcomes
20
4.2.5 Key implem
entation challenges 23
4.3 O
utcomes and im
pact ........................................................................................................................................24
4.3.1 For YICWTL ........
24
4.3.2 For warders and the prison policies and system
s 29
4.3.3 Reduction in CIDTP
30
5. RECOM
MEN
DA
TION
S ...................................................................................................................................34
5.1 M
ore structured engagement w
ith the prison staff .......................................................................................34
5.2 Further post-release support for yicw
tl participants .....................................................................................34
5.2.1 Vocational skills 34
5.2.2 Linkage to art and music opportunities
35
5.2.3 Partnership with a safe house for post-release
35
5.3 Project m
anagement and im
plementation .....................................................................................................35
5.3.1 Project implem
entation within prisons
35
5.3.2 Refine the YIP SA implem
entation model and processes
36
5.3.3 Project staff developm
ent and wellness
36
6. CON
CLUSIO
N ................................................................................................................................................36
TABLES
GLOSSARYCorrectional Facilities: Prison centres w
here youth are incarceratedFacilitator/ Im
plementing staff
: People providing workshops to youth
in conflict with the law
as part of the Young in Prison programm
eParticipants: Incarcerated youth betw
een the ages of 18 and 25 who
participate on the Young in Prison programm
eYouth in Confl
ict with the Law
: Anyone under the age of 25 who com
es into contact w
ith the justice system as a result of being suspected or
accused of comm
itting an offence.
ACRONYMS
CIDTP
Cruel, Inhum
ane or Degrading Treatm
ent or Punishment
COPO
SO
Contributing Positively to SocietyEID
HR
European Instrum
ent for Dem
ocracy and Hum
an RightsEU
European Union
MCM
Music Crossroads M
alawi
MSC
M
ost Significant ChangeToC
Theory of Change
YICWTL
Youth in Conflict with the Law
YiP
Young in PrisonYiP N
L
Young in Prison Netherlands
YiP SA
Young in Prison South Africa
Table 1.Evaluation m
ethods and participants……
……
……
21
FIGURESFigure 1.
Draft program
me theory of change…
……
……
……
22
32
EXECUTIVE SUMM
ARY
Children and youth make up a relatively large portion of the general prison
population throughout Africa, and many spend their form
ative years in prison centres. Ill-treatm
ent between youths in conflict w
ith the law
(YICWTL) and by prison staff
, as well as poor prison conditions, culm
inate in hum
an rights violations for these young prisoners. Regularly, YICWTL are
denied access to clean water and sanitation, m
edication, adequate space and food, and appropriate treatm
ent. Research shows that cruel, inhum
ane, degrading treatm
ent and punishment (CID
TP) can have lasting physical, cognitive, psychological and em
otional consequences, and can lead to Post-Traum
atic Stress Disorder in young off
enders. A hostile prison environment
and negative experiences of CIDTP have been found to contribute to high
rates of recidivism.
Young in Prison in the Netherlands (YiP N
L) developed a workshop-based
programm
e using the arts to focus on improved life skills and self-devel-
opment for YICW
TL. The programm
e attempts to help YICW
TL to develop coping skills for the harsh conditions of their daily experiences in prison, as w
ell as to prepare them for the real-life – often diffi
cult – contexts to which
they will return post-release. The program
me also hopes to instil long-term
life-skills in YICW
TL in an attempt to reduce the rate of recidivism
.
This report is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the “Ending im
punity in torture and cruel, inhum
ane and degrading treatment of children in prison
in South Africa and Malaw
i” project. The European Union (EU
)’s European Instrum
ent for Dem
ocracy and Hum
an Rights (EIDH
R) programm
e funded the project’s im
plementation in South Africa and M
alawi betw
een January 2014 and June 2016 (extended to D
ecember 2016). Im
plementing partners
are Young in Prison South Africa (YiP SA) and Music Crossroads M
alawi
(MCM
). In both Malaw
i and South Africa, the programm
e is based on the CO
POSO
methodology, w
hich has a core focus of enabling participants to contribute positively to society. In South Africa, activities focused around m
usic, visual art and creative writing. In M
alawi, activities revolved around
training in various instruments, dance and drum
ming, painting, tailoring
and fish-net making. All activities w
ere used to explore topics around identity, violence, and coping and w
ere aimed at developing and im
proving 13 core life-skills (self-esteem
, empathy, eff
ective comm
unication, managing
social relationships, positive cooperation, critical thinking, emotion regula-
tion, self-reflection, stress managem
ent, coping with conflict, decision-m
ak-ing, goal-setting, being a positive contributor to society).
This report contributes to the knowledge base of prison program
mes; not
many prison arts program
mes have been evaluated for their eff
ectiveness, and particularly not program
mes from
the Global South. The evaluation w
as conducted to assess to w
hat extent it has met contractual agreem
ents, and to im
prove the programm
e going forward. Evaluation objectives included:
54
the stress of prison life, improves the w
ay that they relate to and interact w
ith others, gives them hope for the future, and instils a desire to becom
e positive role m
odels for others. Such shifts in behaviour should logically result in less perpetration of CID
TP (and there is some evidence of this from
the research).
It is hoped that skills and positive changes in YICWTL w
ould likely continue once individuals are released from
prison, which should reduce recidivism
.
Outcom
es can be greater and more sustained if w
ork is done with the
prison staff at the sam
e time, as w
ith YICWL. W
here prison staff have been
trained, it has resulted in improved com
munication and conflict m
anage-m
ent skills for staff too, as w
ell as increased their understanding of par-ticipants’ rights and im
proved their levels of empathy. This, in turn, results
in prison staff behaving in a m
ore pro-social manner tow
ards YICWTL,
which reduces the incidence of CID
TP. Finally, building this understanding of rights and em
pathy, alongside advocacy efforts tow
ards realising the rights of prisoners and reducing CID
TP, can result in better prison systems
and policies that reduce the incidence of CIDTP and could contribute to a
reduction in recidivism too. M
ore evidence is needed with regards to this
once the project is implem
enting more system
atic work w
ith prisons and prison staff
.
To maxim
ise the positive impact of the program
me, it is recom
mended that
there is:
• M
ore structured engagement w
ith more prison staff
, possibly by institutionalising the training off
ered within prison training centres
• Further vocational skills off
ered, linkage to art and music
opportunities and assistance to access safe houses post-release•
Revisions to project managem
ent and implem
entation processes, both w
ithin prisons and particularly with YiP SA’s current m
odel•
Investment in project staff
development and w
ellbeing.
On the w
hole, the programm
e is successful, and, with som
e design adjust-m
ents, has the potential to realise good impact. A particular focus is needed
on a tighter and more cohesive m
anagement system
in South Africa.
• assessing im
pact and outcomes achieved by the program
me on
YICWTL w
ho experience CIDTP in South African and M
alawian prisons
• assessing im
pact and outcomes on the capacity of prison centres to
prevent CIDTP
• assessing the im
pact and outcomes of the program
me on policym
ak-er’s decisions to ban torture, CID
TP and impunity.
The evaluation was initially designed to use m
ixed methods consisting of a
survey for YICWTL and w
arders about the frequency of CIDTP incidents, as
well as in-depth interview
s and focus groups. How
ever, the administration
of the survey was not perm
itted in most of the prisons due to the nature of
the questions. Instead, the qualitative aspect of the study was expanded to
understand outcomes and reasons for them
.
The evaluation was conducted in a participatory and inclusive m
anner. Program
me records and program
me data from
Malaw
i and South Africa w
ere used for desktop review. A total of 60 YICW
TL took part in focus groups of betw
een four and 15 participants, conducted at two prisons in
Malaw
i and six prisons in South Africa. The Most Significant Change (M
SC) m
ethodology was used to engage w
ith YICWTL participants, and interview
s w
ere held with a four m
ember team
of implem
enting staff, prison staff
and key inform
ants in Malaw
i, and 12 mem
bers in South Africa. In addition, three in depth case studies w
ere collected from sites in M
alawi, Cape Tow
n and Johannesburg. A total of 178 participants w
ere engaged in the evalua-tion, w
hen including those who com
pleted questionnaires.
There were som
e delays in implem
entation due to the prisons’ own sched-
ule of activities and priorities. With the project extension of six m
onths, both countries exceeded the targets in the grant agreem
ent.
Evaluation findings show that the program
me im
plementation success
factors have been:
• providing YICW
TL with safe spaces in order for them
to build trust•
working closely and sensitively w
ith the prisons•
using art and music therapy to build life skills and learn about hum
an rights; developing art, m
usic and some craft/m
anual skills; being flexible and em
ergent in terms of im
plementing the program
me
• training prison staff
in human rights (M
alawi)
• m
aking submissions to parliam
ent regarding prison conditions in M
alawi.
Implem
entation of the programm
e in this way has enabled the follow
ing outcom
es: The use of creative therapy medium
s and skills development
with YICW
TL in a setting and space which is safe, allow
s them to becom
e m
ore self-aware and self-accepting, grow
s their confidence to express them
selves and to trust others, equips them w
ith better comm
unication and conflict m
anagement skills, helps them
understand both their own
and others’ rights, and fosters their sense of empathy. These shifts in their
attitudes towards them
selves and others helps YICWTL to cope better w
ith
76
STRATEGIES & OUTCOM
ES
LEARNINGS FOR SUCCESS
YOUNG IN PRISONINTERNATIONAL
The “Ending Impunity in Torture and Cruel, Inhum
an and Degrading Treatm
ent of Children in Prisons in South Africa and Malaw
i” Project
“In one of the sessions w
e had to ask ourselves
“Do you love yourself? “I
thought I loved m
yself but the question m
akes m
e realise that if I loved m
yself I w
ould not be here –I w
ould not have m
ade the wrong
choices I made
that landed me in
prison.”- participant
Implem
enting PartnersYoung in Prison (YiP) South Africa and M
usic Crossroads in M
alawi im
-plem
ented the EU-funded
project in their respective countries, m
anaged by YIP International.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
GeographyThe project w
as im
plemented in
South Africa and M
alawi betw
een January 2014 and D
ecember 2016.
“When I draw
, I stop thinking bad things.”
- participant
Improved
self-esteem
and self-aw
areness and
connection w
ith em
otions
Improved
ability to cope w
ith stress
Hope for
the future
Improved
pro-social interactions w
ith others
Desire
to be a positive
role model
Ability to
express oneself
Better com
munication
and conflict m
anagement
skills
Understanding
of own rights
and the rights of others
Higher
levels of em
pathy
Ability to
trust others
Short-term
outcomes
Programm
e Strategies
Reduction in CID
TP in prisons
Long-term
outcomes
Better prison policies and
systems
Medium
-term
outcomes
The programm
e used the following
strategies to contribute towards the
intended outcomes:
Safe space for inm
ates
Art/music
therapy for
inmates
Development
of skills for inm
ates
Human
rights training
for prison staff
Advocacy for hum
an rights
Close w
orking relationships
with the
prisons
Reduction in
recidivism
ContextResearch show
s that cruel, inhum
an and degrading treatm
ent of children in prisons can have lasting physical, psychological and em
otional consequences (U
NICEF, 2013).
The programm
e evaluation highlighted several areas for potential program
me
improvem
ent
Improved project
managem
ent and im
plementation,
particularly in South Africa
Further post-release
support
More structured
engagement w
ith m
ore prison staff
Investment in
staff development
and wellbeing
ResultsIn both M
alawi
and South Africa, the
programm
e exceeded its
grant targets, including total
number of
participants.
953
416
1369
South A
frica
Total
Malaw
i
Project Model
Three parallel trainings are run in prisons: the Inside O
ut programm
e with YICW
TL participants (18-21 in M
alawi
and 18-25 in South Africa), hum
an rights training with
prison staff, and advocacy
with policy m
akers.
98
1.2 USING CREATIVE THERAPY AND LIFESKILLS EDUCATION TO M
ITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF CIDTP ON PRISONERS
The use of arts for therapy and education purposes has been well docu-
mented in the U
nited States and the United Kingdom
7; however, there is
very limited evidence regarding these program
mes in developing countries
and the African continent. More context-rich fram
eworks for Southern
African countries are required8. Som
e documented benefits follow
.
1.2.1 DOCUMENTED OUTCOM
ES OF ARTS PROGRAMM
ES IN PRISON
Arts programm
es in correctional facilities, in which a non-verbal form
of therapy is provided to YICW
TL using the medium
s of music, art, dram
a and m
ovement 9 have been show
n to promote healing, ‘reform
’, connection, col-laboration, to im
prove self-esteem and em
otional literacy10, and to im
prove socialisation to enable the expression of em
otions and to help reconnect YICW
TL to their humanness
11.
Arts therapies should ideally be delivered in a safe, positive and construc-tive m
anner and, when this is set up correctly, they can result in several key
therapeutic benefits12, including the follow
ing:
• Provides an alternative form
of comm
unication for YICWTL w
ith poor literacy and w
ho feel too vulnerable to express themselves verbally
13
• Connects im
plementing staff
and YICWTL in prison, and YICW
TL and their fam
ily outside of the prison environment 14
• Facilitates self-expression and self-exploration
• Provides an appropriate m
edium through w
hich to express and process anger and aggression
• Produces a finished product that can be used to initiate conversation and discussion
• Encourages active involvem
ent by YICWTL
• Prom
otes creativity and recreation•
Helps YICW
TL to acknowledge that others have been hurt by their
actions15
• Allow
s YICWTL to take responsibility for their crim
es16
• Breaks the cycle of fear and violence
17
• Aids in developing strategies against re-off
ending18.
In addition, collaboration and working together as a group using dram
a and m
usic can facilitate personal transformation in YICW
TL:
7 E
dgar, 20128
Edgar, 2012
9 Johnson, 2008
10 M
eekums &
Daniel, 2011
11 http://w
ww
.younginprison.org.za12
Liebmann, 1994 as cited in Johnson, 2008
13 G
ussak, 200714
Johnson, 200815
Johnson, 200816
Johnson, 200817
Koch et al, 2015
18 G
race, 1993
1. CONTEXT
1.1 YOUTH IN CONFLICT W
ITH THE LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA AND M
ALAWI
Children and youth make up betw
een 0.5 and 2.5% of the general prison
population in Africa. Youth in Conflict with the Law
(YICWTL) m
ust often endure lengthy w
aiting periods before they get put on trial and, in many cases,
youth who are incarcerated spend form
ative developmental years in prison
1. Research show
s that, in both South Africa and Malaw
i, human rights are not
upheld for juveniles. There is documented evidence of juveniles in a prison in
Cape Town occupying cells in groups far exceeding the space available, and
Malaw
ian prison conditions are inhumane and fundam
entally breach human
rights2, w
ith documented instances of prisoners spending 14 hours each day
in a cell with up to 160 other m
en, packed on the concrete floor, and unable to m
ove, with no clean w
ater or adequate sanitation, and diseases running rife3.
“At 4
pm
, they a
re h
erd
ed
into
a d
ozen
co
ncrete
cells
. Fo
urte
en
ho
urs la
ter, a
t 6a
m,
they a
re le
t ou
t aga
in” 4.
Some of the challenges that prisons in South Africa and M
alawi face, that exac-
erbate cruel, inhumane and degrading treatm
ent and punishment (CID
TP) of prisoners, include issues of staffi
ng, inadequate training and other resources, m
eagre food supplies, poor healthcare, and insufficient transport facilities
5, 6.
Research on the effects of ill-treatm
ent on young offenders in prison show
s that CID
TP can have lasting physical, psychological and emotional consequenc-
es (UN
ICEF, 2013). Beatings – a comm
on form of m
altreatment in prisons – can
lead to internal injuries and cognitive problems. Em
otional abuse, leading to increased anxiety and depression, com
pounds the physical ill-treatment and
has been reported to lead to individuals developing Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, w
ith young offenders exhibiting sym
ptoms such as im
pulsiveness, non-com
munication, diffi
culties in trusting people, poor concentration, aggression, and fatigue (U
NICEF, 2013). Additionally, psychological torture can
cause weakened social relations, thereby m
aking social exclusion of individuals m
ore likely. Furthermore, young off
enders often spend many of their critical
developmental years in prison. Interruptions in their social and educational
development can have negative long-term
effects as it can lead to lim
ited em-
ployment opportunities once individuals are released, and therefore increase
the risk of further unlawful activities (Becker, 1968). The D
anish Institute against Torture (2013) found that a hostile prison environm
ent and negative experiences of CID
TP consequently contribute to high rates of recidivism.
1 Jerem
y Sarkin; P
risons in Africa: A
n evaluation from a hum
an rights perspective; International Journal on H
uman R
ights. 20092
IrishRuleofLaw
Malaw
i(http://irishruleoflaw.ie/our-projects/m
alawi)
3MichaelW
ines:TheforgottenofAfrica,w
astingawayinjailsw
ithouttrial;New
YorkTimes;
Novem
ber6,20054
MichaelW
ines:TheforgottenofAfrica,w
astingawayinjailsw
ithouttrial;New
YorkTimes;
Novem
ber6,20055
MichaelW
ines:TheforgottenofAfrica,w
astingawayinjailsw
ithouttrial;New
YorkTimes;
Novem
ber6,20056
Jeremy S
arkin; Prisons in A
frica: An evaluation from
a human rights perspective; International
Journal on Hum
an Rights. 2009
1110
“Th
e e
xp
erie
nce o
f wo
rkin
g a
s p
art o
f a te
am
, reco
gn
isin
g a
nd
fulfilling your responsibilities, being valued for your contribution, and depending on and valuing the contribution of others,
are part of the experience required to become a responsible
citiz
en
.” 19
Reported educational benefits of art therapy with YICW
TL include20:
• Learning to view
the world in new
and different w
ays•
Developing m
ulticultural awareness am
ongst YICWTL
• D
iscovering inner potential and different interests
• Im
proving comm
unication•
Raising awareness of others’ ideas, and lifestyles
21.
Well-im
plemented program
mes addressing academ
ic needs, social skills, em
otion regulation, and artistic education are most strongly associated
with reduced recidivism
22. Research on more than 4,000 state prisoners in
California by Burdon, Messina and Prendergast (2004) indicates that in-
creased time spent in rehabilitative treatm
ent programm
es in prison leads to increased participation in after-care program
mes, as w
ell as a reduced recidivism
rate over a 12-month period post-release.
1.2.2 EFFECTS OF ARTS THERAPY ON PRISON QUALITY OF LIFE
Arts therapy programm
es in prisons contribute to an improved sense of
quality of life23. Such program
mes aid in m
eeting “the need for constructive, creative, and purposeful activities to offset the deleterious and dehum
anising effects of prison life” and prom
ote “personal development, self-esteem
, and a sm
all d
egree o
f au
ton
om
y.” 24
Reported improvem
ents relate to25:
• Building cooperative relationships am
ongst YICWTL, and betw
een YICW
TL and staff•
Temporarily escaping from
the harsh and controlling life in prison•
Becoming involved in recreational activity
• D
eveloping the skills to produce items for sale
• U
sing alternative methods to process frustrations
26.
19 Aylott, 2002 as cited in Johnson, 2008
20 Johnson, 2008
21 C
lements, 2004
22 Vacca, 2004
23 C
lements, 2004
24 R
iches, 1994 as cited in Johnson, 200825
Johnson, 200826
Clem
ents, 2004
1312
1.2.3 EXAMPLES OF PRISON ARTS PROGRAM
MES IM
PLEMENTED IN SOUTH
AFRICA AND COLUMBIA
Programm
es implem
ented by La Familia Ayara in Colum
bia in 2012, which
involved hip hop workshops and m
entorship sessions with youth pre- and
post-release, focused on improving expression through rap, break-dancing
and graffiti. The YiP SA ‘Inside-O
ut’ programm
e was also evaluated in 2012,
assessing its use of art, music and dram
a to develop various life-skills, and m
entoring youth pre- and post-release to provide guidance around reinte-grating into society and w
ork environments.
Findings for both case studies reported successfully contributing to im-
provements in
2728:
• positive personal transform
ation•
improved inter-personal relationships
• increased support and em
ployment opportunities
• im
proved sense of worth and belonging
29
• im
proved self-esteem, self-confidence and self-belief
• better em
otion regulation•
goal-setting•
skills development
• ability to engage in constructive group w
ork•
improved attitude
• a sense of belonging
• a sense of tem
porary autonomy.
1.3 IM
PLEMENTATION OF SUCCESSFUL ARTS PROGRAM
MES W
ITH YICWTL
The implem
entation of a successful arts programm
e is a complex synergy
between the art service provider, learners, teachers, and fam
ily, whilst
recognising the context in which YICW
TL reside.
Programm
es that have been reported as being most successful are
30:
• Experiential
• Active
• H
ands-on•
Real world focused
• Ideally consisting of a collaborative sm
all group where social and
cognitive learning are combined
• Sustained over a period of tim
e.
27 G
ast, 201228
Gast, 2012
29 G
ast, 201230
Wolf, 2003
Finally, important characteristics of successful arts program
mes are that
they31:
• R
each YICWTL in w
ays that they are not otherwise being reached
• C
onnect YICWTL to them
selves and each other.
The literature shows that correctional program
mes are m
ore successful w
hen implem
ented in such a way that cooperation is obtained from
every-one w
orking in the correctional facilities32 and w
hen trained arts profession-als are em
ployed33.
31 S
tiegelbauer, 200832
Johnson, 200833
Schoonover, 1986
1514
2. PROJECT AND ORGANISATIONAL OVERVIEW
S
The “Ending impunity in torture and cruel, inhum
ane and degrading treat-m
ent of children in prison” project is led by Young in Prison Netherlands,
and implem
ented by Young in Prison South Africa (YiP SA) and Music
Crossroads Malaw
i (MCM
).
2.1 PROJECT OVERVIEW
The European Union (EU
)’s European Instrument for D
emocracy and
Hum
an Rights (EIDH
R) programm
e has funded the project, which is entitled
“Ending impunity in torture and cruel, inhum
ane and degrading treatment
of children in prison in South Africa and Malaw
i” (reference number
EuropeAid/ 132762/C/ACT/Multi). The project w
as initially funded to run betw
een January 2014 until June 2016, and an extension was granted until
Decem
ber 2016.
2.2 PROJECT PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
• Young in Prison N
etherlands34: a w
orldwide initiative that uses
creative medium
s to give children in prison a voice and a chance to m
ake a sustainable change in their lives and to become positively
contributing mem
bers of society. YiP is currently active in Colombia,
Malaw
i and South Africa.•
Young in Prison South Africa (YiP SA
) 35: a non-profit organisation that prepares children and youth in conflict w
ith the law to m
ake the transition from
incarceration back into society through imparting
life skills for behaviour change, and offering skills developm
ent for eff
ective reintegration and reductions in reoffending. YiP SA teaches
life skills through creative and performing arts, sports and literacy in
Cape Town and Johannesburg.
• M
usic Crossroads Malaw
i: a non-profit organisation that uses the pow
er of music education, professional training, live perform
ance and prom
otion of young talents to support the development of the
music education sector and the m
usic industry in the southern African region, and to em
power people in Africa through m
usic.
2.3 PROJECT CONTENT
The COPO
SO m
ethodology is implem
ented through this project. Its primary
focus is ensuring that participants are ultimately able to contribute posi-
tively to society, through aiming to achieve the 13 core objectives. These
include developing and improving the follow
ing life skills:
1. Self-esteem
, self-confidence, and self-development
2. Em
pathy, in order to be able to see situations from another’s perspec-
tive and understand how others m
ight be feeling3.
Effective verbal and non-verbal com
munication
4. Appropriate behaviour, in order to better m
anage social relationships5.
Positive cooperation, and to learn to share and be generous6.
Creative and critical thinking7.
YICWTL’s understanding, m
anagement and regulation of em
otions in order to better cope w
ith emotions
8. Self-reflection in order to better understand personal com
petencies and beliefs
9. Coping skills to better m
anage stress and frustration10.
Understanding the source of conflict and to react m
ore positively in these circum
stances in order to better cope with the conflict
11. Independent action and decision-m
aking12.
Goal setting and eff
ective planning to be able to meet short-term
, m
edium-term
and longer-term goals
13. Ability to be a positive actor in society post-release, w
ith participants contributing to their com
munities, taking responsibility for their
futures, and managing their ow
n health.
34 A
dapted from w
ww
.younginprison.nl35
Adapted from
ww
w.younginprison.org.za
1716
3. EVALUATION OVERVIEW &
M
ETHODOLOGY
3.1 EVALUATION PURPOSE, OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH
The evaluation’s primary purposes are to dem
onstrate accountability tow
ards meeting the contractual agreem
ents, and to aid learning going forw
ard. The study aimed to evaluate:
• the im
pact/outcomes
36 of the programm
e on children and youth w
ho suffer from
torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatm
ent or punishm
ent (examples of CID
TP are attached in appendix A) – in term
s of their levels of psychosocial and physical wellbeing, w
ith a focus on trying to understand the stated objective to “low
er the num
ber of children in prison that suffer from
torture and cruel, inhum
ane or degrading treatment or punishm
ent (CITDP) in M
alawi
and South Africa”•
the impact/outcom
es of the programm
e on the capacity of prison institutions and related associations to prevent torture and CID
TP from
happening•
the impact/outcom
es of the programm
e on the understanding of policym
akers in terms of how
to ban torture and CIDTP and im
punity.
The evaluation was carried out in a participatory and inclusive m
anner, with
a focus on understanding the context and processes that lead to outcomes,
and the logical progression of outcomes tow
ards the desired impact.
3.2 EVALUATION QUESTIONS
Evaluation questions were finalised w
ith YiP during evaluation planning. The key overarching evaluation questions w
ere:
• W
hat have been the most significant changes in the lives of children
and youths in prison because of the programm
e?•
What changes have the children and youth in prison experienced in term
s of torture or C
IDTP because of the program
me?
• H
ow have levels of psychosocial w
ellbeing and physical wellbeing
changed because of the programm
e?•
How
has the capacity of prison institutions and related associations changed to prevent torture and C
IDTP from
happening?•
What changes have occurred for policym
akers in terms of their under-
standing of how to ban torture and C
IDTP and im
punity?•
What are the key hindering factors and how
does context affect
these?
36 A
lthough the call for proposals states that the evaluation is an “impact” evaluation, som
e of the effects that are to be evaluated w
ill be on an outcomes level.
1918
• W
hat are the key enabling/success factors and how does context
affect these?
• W
hat changes should the programm
e make in the future to have
more im
pact (be more eff
ective), whilst rem
aining efficient?
3.3 EVALUATION M
ETHODS AND PARTICIPANTS
The evaluation was initially designed to use m
ixed methods consisting of a
survey about CIDTP for YICW
TL and warders, as w
ell as in-depth interviews
and focus groups. How
ever, permission to adm
inister the survey was
denied due to the suspicions of prison staff w
ith regards to the use of the data. The qualitative aspect of the study w
as then expanded to try to better understand the program
me in this w
ay. The study used the following
methods:
• Analysis of program
me records and data in M
alawi and South Africa
• O
ne participant focus group per prison in Malaw
i and South Africa, using the M
ost Significant Change (MSC) storytelling m
ethodology – a dialogical, story-based technique
37
• Interview
s with im
plementing staff
, prison staff and key inform
ants•
Three case studies (one each from Johannesburg, Cape Tow
n and M
alawi) for m
ore in-depth investigation of outcomes.
One cohort of participants from
Malaw
i and one cohort from South Africa
were selected to take part in the evaluation. These cohorts participated in
each of the country’s programm
es in 2016 (using the most recent project
methodologies), a few
months prior to the collection of data for the
evaluation.
A total of 178 participants were involved in the evaluation, as show
n in the table on the follow
ing page.
3.4 STUDY LIM
ITATIONS
The study was designed to m
easure the impact of the project, ie w
hether the levels of CID
TP had been reduced through the programm
e. YICWTL and
prison staff w
ere to complete the surveys prior to starting the program
me,
again imm
ediately after the programm
e ended, and then six months
after they had graduated to test sustainability of the outcomes. In M
alawi,
permission w
as granted to administer the pre-test; how
ever, the prison staff
would not allow
the data to be collected again. In South Africa, despite m
any attempts, the survey w
as not allowed to be adm
inistered in the prisons. Therefore, the study has relied on qualitative m
ethods only, and is therefore an outcom
es evaluation rather than an impact evaluation.
37DartandD
avies(2003)
Participant groupParticipants
Research methods
Num
ber TO
TAL
MA
LAW
IIm
plementing staff
Music Crossroads M
alawi Staff
Interview1
1
Prison staffKachere w
arderInterview
157
Bzyanzi warder
Interview1
Prison staff: M
alawi
Questionnaire
55
Informants
Key Informant: (CELA)
Interview1
1
YICTWL participants
Prison 1 YICWTL
Focus group15
73
Case study participant: Prison 1Case study interview
1
Prison 2 YICWTL
Focus group14
Case study participant: Prison 2Case study interview
1
Prison 1 and 2 YICWTL
Questionnaire (adm
inis-tration only perm
itted at program
me start, but not
at the end)
42
Total Malaw
i132
SOU
TH A
FRICAIm
plementing staff
YiP staffInterview
37
Art facilitatorInterview
3
Music facilitator
Interview1
Prison staffInform
antsCape Tow
n Prison 1 warder
Interview1
6
Cape Town Prison 2 social w
orkerInterview
1
Cape Town Prison 3 case offi
cerInterview
1
Cape Town Prison 4 Centre
coordinatorInterview
1
Johannesburg Prison post-release facilitator
Interview1
Volunteer PsychologistInterview
1
YICWTL participants
Cape Town Prison 1 YICW
TLFocus group
633
Cape Town Prison 2 YICW
TLFocus group
4
Cape Town Prison 3 YICW
TLFocus group
7
Cape Town Prison 4 YICW
TLFocus group
9
Johannesburg Prison YICWTL
Focus group5
Case study participant: Cape Town
Case study interview1
Case study participant: Johannesburg Case study interview
1
Total South Africa
46TO
TAL
178
Table 1. Evaluation methods and participants21
20
4. FINDINGS
4.1 EM
ERGING THEORY OF CHANGE
Using the program
me’s intended goals (see Appendix 2), and the data
gathered during the evaluation from both M
alawi and South Africa, a draft
theory of change was developed as part of the evaluation process. This
diagramm
atically outlines the outcomes of the program
me, and how
these outcom
es link to one another.
Figure 1: Draft program
me theory of change
To summ
arise the diagram: The use of creative therapy m
ediums and skills
development w
ith YICWTL in a setting and space w
hich is safe, allows them
to becom
e more self-aw
are and self-accepting, grows their confidence to
express themselves and to trust others, equips them
with better com
mu-
nication and conflict managem
ent skills, helps them understand both their
own and others’ rights, and fosters their sense of em
pathy. These shifts in their attitudes tow
ards themselves and others helps YICW
TL to cope better w
ith the stress of prison life, improves the w
ay that they relate to and interact w
ith others, gives them hope for the future, and instils a desire
to become positive role m
odels for others. Such shifts in behaviour would
logically result in less perpetration of CIDTP (and there is som
e evidence of this). Skills and positive changes in YICW
TL would likely continue once
individuals are released from prison, w
hich could reduce recidivism (th
is is
a
theoretical link at the mom
ent, there is no evidence of this link as yet).
Outcom
es can be greater and more sustained if w
ork is done with the
prison staff at the sam
e time. Training prison staff
assists to improve
comm
unication and conflict managem
ent skills for staff too, increases
their understanding of participants’ rights and improves levels of em
pathy. This, in turn, results in prison staff
behaving in a more pro-social m
anner tow
ards YICWTL, w
hich reduces the incidence of CIDTP. Finally, building this
understanding of rights and empathy, alongside advocacy eff
orts towards
realising the rights of prisoners and reducing CIDTP, can result in better
prison systems and policies that reduce the incidence of CID
TP and could contribute to a reduction in recidivism
too (aga
in, a
t this
po
int th
ere is
no
t yet
evidence from the project for this link).
4.2 PROGRAM
ME IM
PLEMENTATION AND ACTIVITIES
4.2.1 ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES
As illustrated in the diagram, the follow
ing programm
e strategies/activities w
ere identified as successful towards achieving outcom
es:
• Providing YICW
TL with a safe space: ie a space that is non-judgem
en-tal, w
here they are able to have enough trust to allow the intended
processes and outcomes to unfold
• U
sing creative life skills programm
e for YICWTL to learn about
human rights and obtain life skills (called the “H
uman Rights Training
Programm
e” in Malaw
i and the “Inside Out Program
me” in South
Africa)•
Developm
ent of skills (art and music skills, as w
ell as some craft
skills in Malaw
i)•
During the period w
hich was under review
, there were three H
uman
Rights training sessions conducted with prison staff
in Malaw
i. In South Africa, sim
ilar engagement w
ith prison staff did not occur
between July 2015 and Septem
ber 2016. This training was done in
Malaw
i “usin
g a
pa
rtic
ipa
tory a
pp
ro
ach
with
rea
l exa
mp
les, c
ase s
tud
ies,
dis
cu
ssio
ns a
nd
exercis
es” (Im
plementing staff
).•
In Malaw
i, the following advocacy eff
orts took place:
2322
»M
CM led three subm
issions/presentations to parliament about
conditions in prisons. Referencing international declarations (U
N, SAD
C) on prison conditions to which M
alawi is a signatory
and using data gathered from a baseline study, M
CM highlight-
ed a need for change in the following areas: a) Lack of adequate
education and vocational training in prison, b) serious lack of regular and adequately nutritious m
eals in prisons, c) conges-tion of prison cells w
hich results in physical and mental health
challenges, as well as interpersonal conflict.
»Their partner organisation, CELA, also takes up cases of hum
an rights violations against YICWTL, such as ensuring that
prisoners have access to HIV m
edication (interview w
ith MCM
im
plementing staff
).
4.2.2 IMPLEM
ENTATION PROCESSES
4.2.2.1 SELECTION CRITERIA
The YiP SA criteria for selection in South Africa (though these are not always
met, as prisons have their ow
n selection processes) are that participants should be:
• boys betw
een the ages of 18 – 25•
must be in for short to m
edium sentences
• m
ust be in the last 6 - 12 months of their sentence.
The selection criteria in Malaw
i are that participants should be:
• boys betw
een the ages of 18 – 21•
boys serving a sentence of 4 months – 5 years.
Prison staff select participants after an assessm
ent by a case officer. Their
criteria include that they select:
• those in need of psychological and em
otional support (eg, if they are aggressive, “m
entally challenged” or mentally ill)
• those w
ho are struggling with the confined spaces.
In one Cape Town prison, the w
arders only allow YICW
TL to join Inside Out
if they believe that the individual does not belong to a gang. The YiP SA staff report that this is based on a perception from
the staff that those gang
mem
bers who need to keep up their rank in a gang w
ill not express emo-
tions and therefore will not benefit from
the programm
e and may hinder
others. This was not the case in other prisons.
4.2.2.2 PROJECT CYCLE
After an orientation/induction for prison staff in the first w
eek, a cohort of young m
en will participate in an 8 to 12-w
eek process. At the end of the cycle, participants are aw
arded with certificates at an appreciation day,
2524
where their fam
ilies are invited to witness this m
ilestone and to watch the
young men show
case their music/art w
ork and key life lessons.
YiP SA provides monthly and quarterly schedules and class content sheets
to be approved before the programm
e can be delivered. At the end of a program
me, a full program
me report is produced.
4.2.3 ACHIEVEMENT AGAINST GRANT TARGETS
The table below outlines the key outputs achieved in South Africa and
Malaw
i according to the grant targets*. All targets were exceeded in both
countries (although South Africa ran slightly fewer hum
an rights training sessions for staff
than planned, but still exceeded the target amount of
participants).
4.2.4 KEY IMPLEM
ENTATION SUCCESS FACTORS FOR ACHIEVING OUTCOMES.
The evaluation found that the following factors have allow
ed the pro-gram
me to be a success.
4.2.4.1 USING A CREATIVE MEDIUM
Art, drama and m
usic are appealing medium
s that are interesting, accessi-ble, relatable and draw
YICWTL in: “It’s
ha
pp
en
ing in
a m
ed
ium
tha
t do
esn
’t
req
uir
e h
ard
wo
rk” (facilitator). Prison staff
noted that, with the art, “th
e
colour is something that the boys w
ant to hold onto…So w
hen they are in the m
eeting room w
here they do their art (pink walls) and they w
ork with colours in
their art, they are reluctant to leave.”
The medium
is also active, and lends itself to working together, for exam
ple w
ith the music therapy: “it can be done together, there is an experience of
co
nn
ectio
n to
geth
er. T
here a
re s
o m
an
y th
ings th
at h
ap
pen
inh
eren
tly in
the
music that alm
ost takes the talking processing out of it” (facilitator). Because of the experiential nature of the process, YICW
TL are able to connect to mind-
fuln
ess, a
nd
“bring awareness to their m
ind and emotions and body – they are
connecting with it all” (facilitator).
“And bringing awareness from
mom
ent to mom
ent and as often as possible so that they can identify w
ith where they are
positioned instead of automatic, habitual responses that they
have been used to for so long – with lots of anger and not really
understanding conflict managem
ent and not being able to com
municate effectively” (facilitator)
“When I draw
I stop thinking bad things.” (YICWTL)
4.2.4.2 BEING FLEXIBLE AND EMERGENT
While there is a set of psychosocial goals w
hich implem
enting staff aim
s to achieve, and a rough guideline for the sessions, facilitators recognised that it is also im
portant to allow issues to em
erge and to address them as they
do (YiP implem
enting staff).
4.2.4.3 CREATING A SAFE SPACE
It is vital for the programm
e’s effectiveness that participants feel safe, that
they trust the process and those who are involved in the process, and that
they are able to be honest during the sessions. In addition to the fact that the physical space needs to be one that is separate from
the cells, facilita-tors noted the follow
ing important qualities for the sessions:
• N
on-judgemental stance w
ith no expectations of participants: “Let’s see w
hat happens and what w
e can create together. We are not there
to fix someone…
Other program
mes have an expectation of partici-
pants needing to be ‘better” (facilitator).•
Making YICW
TL feel that they belong and are accepted and are equal: “W
e cannot wait to go to the program
me because w
e feel so loved there. W
e did not want the program
me to end” (YICW
TL).•
Being witnessed by others: YICW
TL build a meaningful relationship
with them
selves by having an experience with art/m
usic and having it w
itnessed by others; it allows them
to engage and to experience them
selves differently: “standing in the front and having your story or
experience reflected back to you by the group” (facilitator).•
Experimental, experiential space: providing an opportunity and a safe
space to try things out around leadership, around comm
unication, around frustrations and stress, around com
municating feelings and
seeing how these w
ere responded to… “so the value lies in actualising
things differently and being exposed to new ideas and ideas that chal-
lenge old perceptions…using art to show
them that there are different
ways of thinking and seeing and that it isn’t all either w
rong or right. And
to respect that someone else’s w
ay of seeing something is equally valid.
That there are symbolic and visual w
ays of seeing things and that these can help and be relevant at different tim
es”.•
A place of encouragement: building resilience and boosting m
orale by encouraging boys to keep trying and affi
rming them
.
*Please note that these numbers have been provided by the program
me and have not been
verified
SA
targetSA
actual
Malaw
i target
Malaw
i actual
# participants805
953276
416
# workshops
660857
108420
# staff participants
180208
7599
# human rights
training for staff12
93
6
# social dialogues12
412
12
2726
Evan was born and grew
up in G
auteng. He is the
youngest of four children, w
ith three older sisters. H
is father passed away
when he w
as seven years old (a loss w
hich he was not able to really understand
until later in his life), and his home life w
as lonely with
no male figures. H
e could not relate to the wom
en in his household and felt that he had no one to talk to. Evan has alw
ays had a passion for fixing cars, possibly because his father had ow
ned a panel beating shop.
Evan was expelled from
school when he did not w
rite his exam
s. He began a repeat year of G
rade 9 at another school, but soon lost interest and dropped out of school. Being at hom
e all day, Evan was bored
and started experimenting w
ith drugs (crystal meth).
He soon lost interest in w
orking with cars. H
e was
still getting money from
his mother w
hen he started taking drugs, but w
hen his family realised he w
as using the m
oney for drugs they cut off this support.
To support his habit, Evan started stealing, and quickly got caught in the high and the chase – living like he w
as “in a movie”. H
e did not consider that he might
get caught. “I thought I could bring stolen money hom
e and it w
ould make up for the bad things I w
as doing, but it did not.”
As his drug addiction became m
ore serious, he be-gan stealing larger item
s. He began to rob in broad
daylight, not caring if anyone saw. H
owever, even
on drugs, he was not violent – the closest he cam
e to hurting his victim
was kicking a m
an who he saw
from
a distance counting notes while speaking on his
phone. As the man bent to tie his shoe, W
ade kicked him
and pulled out a knife on him, scaring the m
an into handing over everything he had.
“When I first cam
e to prison, I thought once you were
here, there was only one w
ay to be – and that was gang-
ste
r. In
ste
ad
, this
pla
ce s
ho
wed
me w
ha
t I wa
s la
ckin
g
(patience), what I still needed to learn.
It wa
s e
asy to
sig
n u
p fo
r th
e p
ro
gra
mm
e w
hen
it wa
s
introduced, but afterwards I w
as not sure because I knew
I ca
nn
ot d
ra
w. E
xp
ressin
g m
yself th
ro
ugh
pa
intin
g m
ad
e m
e feel better. Your heart and mind gets engaged – I
lose myself in it. Before the program
me I never cared
about others – I was self-centred and selfish. Through
the programm
e I have learnt to work w
ith others – this is im
portant because to be part of a comm
unity, to get along w
ith others – there are rules and regulations.
I learnt that the programm
e is not just about Art. – Self-co
ntr
ol is
imp
orta
nt. In
on
e o
f the s
essio
ns w
e h
ad
to
ask ourselves “Do you love yourself? “I thought I loved
myself but the question m
ade me realize that if I loved
myself I w
ould not be here – I would not have m
ade the w
ro
ng c
ho
ices I m
ad
e th
at la
nd
ed
me in
pris
on
.
Prison is hostile, everybody is watching them
selves, there is
no
co
mm
un
ica
tion
, no
on
e tr
usts
an
yo
ne, a
nd
it is
easy to get into a conflict. When w
e have a problem
with another, w
e do not solve it peacefully, often we are
influenced or pushed by our friends to get into fights. I rem
ember [another inm
ate] and I did not speak – we
had actually quarrelled over something trivial before.
Being in the programm
e is like being in a comm
unity – we
get along, we could be focused on our art, one person
will start hum
ming a song and the rest w
ill join in. I am
tha
nkfu
l to th
e a
rt th
era
pis
t, for ta
kin
g h
is tim
e a
nd
patience to teach me. Being in the program
me m
ade m
e fe
el lik
e a
perso
n, n
ot a
n in
ma
te.
When m
y mother visits m
e, I share my experiences, the
stuff I learn in the programm
e. She said to me as m
uch as she w
ants me back hom
e, I must not rush to get out,
maybe there is a reason w
hy God still w
ants me here.
Maybe there is still a lot I m
ust still learn.
My nam
e was called to the parole board before I joined
YIP – and although it went w
ell and a release date was
given, there were alw
ays obstacles, administrative issues
that seemed to be popping up. I rem
embered w
hat my
mother said about m
aybe there was still som
ething to learn before I am
released back to the comm
unity. Because of these delays on m
y release, I was able to
complete the program
me and be part of the graduation
before my release. Clearly it w
as God’s plan that I w
ait and com
plete this before my release.”
The facilitators note that Evan was very reserved w
hen he started on the program
me, and he had very low
self-esteem
and lacked confidence. He did not interact
with anyone. H
e even said to them that he did not
think he deserved to be on the programm
e and was
embarrased to show
his first work. The facilitators
encouraged him that the program
me w
as not about draw
ing, but a space to discover himself. As his confi-
dence increased, he began to try out on other forms
of material and w
anted to stay longer during sessions. H
is relationship with other participants im
proved, he now
has close friends and he interacts with them
very w
ell. They were proud of Evan’s insight and m
ature attitude, for exam
ple his profound explanation for his release date being delayed: that he w
as not done learning w
hat he needed to learn before he left prison. W
hen asked about his best artwork, Evan selected
a piece which he noted w
as not the best art he had done, but that w
as special because it was done w
hen he w
as in a very good place emotionally and feeling
positive about himself.
EVAN JOHANNESBURG PRISON
4.2.4.4 WORKING CLOSELY AND SENSITIVELY W
ITH THE PRISONS
In both Malaw
i and South Africa, close relationships and trust have had to be carefully developed w
ith prison staff. Firstly, program
me staff
have had to ensure that prison staff
do not feel threatened in any way. In both countries, the use of any language relating to
CIDTP has led to suspicion and a risk of the program
me not being allow
ed to be run in the prisons. In M
alawi, the program
me is called the “H
uman Rights Project” to avoid any threat.
In Malaw
i, staff and partners explained that they are alw
ays careful to show support and
empathy for the w
arders during warder training, and to listen to their challenges. D
espite this, at one of the prisons in M
alawi, an offi
cer in charge became angry w
hen the project w
as introduced and whipped the participating boys in response. H
e is reported to have becom
e more supportive since that tim
e. (MCM
staff)
It is also helpful to plan activities well in advance (e.g. graduation events) and to com
-m
unicate with the prison staff
regularly. Facilitators need to be resilient because prison rules, procedures and regulation, and unpredictability can be frustrating; yet, relationships w
ith the staff m
ust be maintained because having supportive staff
at the prison is a key enabling factor for im
plementation. “W
e show up every tim
e on time, not know
ing if a session w
ill take place or not” (facilitator).
4.2.4.5 USING VERNACULAR LANGUAGE WHERE POSSIBLE
While it is not vital, it is preferable if the sessions are conducted in the YICW
TL’s own
language/s.
4.2.5 KEY IMPLEM
ENTATION CHALLENGES
In both Malaw
i and South Africa, working w
ith the prisons’ schedules and regulations is the m
ost challenging aspect. The sessions have to be adapted to fit into what each of the
prisons will allow
. This presents a challenge with regards to ensuring any consistency in
terms of dosage, or even to build a curriculum
that can be compared. In addition, there
are sometim
es prison activities that have to take place during planned sessions, and som
etimes m
aterials are not able to be accessed due to locked rooms and prison staff
not being available. The venue for the sessions can also be a problem
, for example in one
prison the space was freezing cold and not conducive to w
orking in for a few hours, and
in other prisons the sessions sometim
es get moved to a boardroom
type setting which is
not suitable for art and music w
ork, and that has “traffic of people m
oving in and out, and therefore creating a barrier to the safe container w
e want to create” (facilitator).
Ideally, this kind of a programm
e would be a longer-term
intervention so that the attitude and behaviour shifts can be entrenched. At the least, it w
ould be good if there was som
e ongoing activity post-program
me so that the benefits could be sustained.
In some prisons, there are language barriers betw
een the facilitator and the YICWTL, w
hich lim
its the ability of the YICWTL to gain m
aximum
learning. In one prison, a high proportion of YICW
TL had some intellectual challenges (possibly due to Foetal Alcohol Syndrom
e) w
hich limited their capacity to understand the content, and to be in a session and concen-
trate for three hours (facilitator).
In South Africa, there are comm
unication and project managem
ent challenges which
need attention. Project staff need to be better integrated into the project cycle and m
ore m
onitoring and contact amongst the team
is necessary.
2928
4.3 OUTCOM
ES AND IMPACT
4.3.1 FOR YICWTL
4.3.1.1 SHORT TERM OUTCOM
ES
The programm
es in both Malaw
i and South Africa have had reported outcom
es in the following areas:
• U
nderstanding of own rights and rights of others
• Im
proved self-esteem and self-aw
areness and connection with
emotions
• Ability to trust others
• Ability to express oneself
• Better com
munication and conflict m
anagement skills
• H
igher levels of empathy.
◊UNDERSTANDINGOFHUMANRIGHTS
YICWTL in M
alawi reported that they have learned about their rights and
the rights of others, and “tha
t I mu
st n
ot in
frin
ge o
n th
e r
igh
ts o
f oth
ers”
(YICWTL). They realise that they have rights, even if they are prisoners (for
example, the right to food and w
ater, and to their religion).
◊SELF-ESTEEM,SELF-AWARENESSANDCONNECTIONWITHEMOTIONS
YICWTL have been able to connect w
ith their emotions and them
selves because of the program
me. “The program
me has offered them
a positive space to discover and acknow
ledge their positives – they also learnt and saw
that the negatives in their lives does not make them
bad people” (facilitator). Prison staff
and facilitators and the YICWTL them
selves noted that they have gained confidence.
“I have always been very quiet, kept to m
yself, I let people walk
over me and did not speak for m
yself. I instead would harbour
negative and hostile feelings about the person, wish them
ill. I s
tru
ggle
d w
ith m
y e
mo
tion
s, a
nd
wo
uld
take m
y a
nger o
ut
on others. In the programm
e, I learnt that every action has a reaction, and one has to learn to stop and think before they
react.” (YICWTL)
“I learnt self-love and self-trust. To have silent time w
ith yourself. To think – about w
here in life I’ve gone wrong.”
Facilitators explained how they have w
itnessed the YICWTL start to “c
rea
te
a new perception of them
selves, not just identify as a criminal.” By finding a
talent that they did not know existed (e.g. being able to draw
, or writing a
song), they have started to realise that there is more to them
. When they
are given the opportunity to give attention and energy to these positive realisations, this starts to shift the w
ay they think about themselves.
“The programm
e has given me tim
e to know m
yself more. This
has changed my experience”. (YICW
TL)
“In one of the sessions we had to ask ourselves “D
o you love yourself? “I thought I loved m
yself but the question makes m
e realise that if I loved m
yself I would not be here –I w
ould not have m
ade the wrong choices I m
ade that landed me in prison.”
(YICWTL)
Warders related how
proud the youth are of their art works and w
orkbooks, and how
excited they are to show these to their fam
ilies during the pro-gram
me’ graduation cerem
ony.
◊ABILITYTOTRUSTOTHERS
YICWTL in South Africa w
ere very grateful for the facilitators’ respect and care for them
. They noted that, before the programm
e, they felt that they had no one to talk to, no one to share problem
s with. They reported that
they now not only have the facilitators to speak to, but also their fellow
participants – as they have built a great deal of trust am
ongst themselves.
This outcome w
as reported by YICWTL, facilitators and prison staff
, and was
also witnessed during the evaluation focus groups during w
hich the YICWTL
spoke openly and honestly about their lives and their feelings in front of one another.
◊ABILITYTOEXPRESSONESELF
YICWTL reported that they have learnt to express
their feelings using art and music, and are now
able to com
municate and share these feelings w
ith others. The prison staff
and facilitators have also seen this change in the YICW
TL.
“But now they are learning that it’s not just
for fun – they can also gain something out of it
an
d u
se it fo
r its
hea
ling c
ap
acity
. Th
ey k
no
w
tha
t mu
sic
ca
n h
ea
l an
d m
ake c
ha
nge. M
usic
and art are very therapeutic. Through the art and pictures – they are able to analyse how
they feel and telling a lot about them
selves” (correctional offi
cer).
“I no
w ta
ke m
y a
nger o
ut o
n p
en
an
d p
ap
er. I
write poetry, and draw
.” (YICWTL)
One facilitator explained how
she has seen the YICWTL use the process of
making art or m
usic to connect to their emotions, “com
e to their self-identity”. Because they are in a safe space, they can then take risks to “be seen…
to bring feelings to w
ords and start to separate internal processes and make them
external and for others to w
itness that and to be re-integrated”.
During the evaluation
focus group, one boy shared his favourite draw
ing – of himself w
ith his father dying on his lap.
“I was a very quiet boy till m
y fa
ther d
ied
wh
en
I wa
s 1
1.
He d
ied
in m
y a
rm
s, th
ey h
ad
been drinking and he was
stabbed to death while they
were fighting.”
3130
The programm
e also allows YICW
TL to realise that their life experiences are valuable and im
portant. Many have com
e from backgrounds w
here “they have been m
inimised or disregarded and so by allow
ing their pers onal truths to exist in a space I think they could take them
selves more seriously and acknow
l-edge that it is ok not to feel ok about som
ething and feel the need to speak up” (facilitator).
◊BETTERCOMMUNICATIONANDCONFLICTMANAGEMENTSKILLS
The music facilitator related how
disconnected YICWTL w
ere initially, they could not even share a beat w
hen they started drumm
ing. But they now
support other people’s ideas in a group and take advice from others, and
they listen to each other:
“Comm
unication is important because som
etimes m
y ideas are not the best. So I m
ust learn from other people” (YICW
TL)
“I have always been good at leading but I have learnt that
sometim
es it is good to be a follower, to take other people’s
opinions, because at times they have better ideas” (YICW
TL)
“Before I was a law
unto myself” (YICW
TL).
◊EMPATHY
Levels of empathy have grow
n amongst the YICW
TL, even in mem
bers from
different gangs:
“Before the programm
e, I did not have friends because we w
ere from
different camps (gangs), but w
e learnt how to respect each
other and respect the chief (warder)” (YICW
TL)
We have learnt to bond, and are able to reprim
and each other w
hen we are out of line – because w
e believe what one does
reflects on all of us”. (YICWTL)
“We also share w
hat we have because som
e of us do not have fam
ily that brings them stuff; “W
e have learnt to understand each other – w
hen one is not in a good space, we accom
modate
them and if w
e can we com
fort them”. (YICW
TL)
Empathy is very im
portant as it helps the YICWTL to understand w
hat being on the receiving end of their crim
es is like, and will hopefully help to
discourage them from
perpetrating again.
4.3.1.2 MEDIUM
TERM OUTCOM
ES
The shorter term outcom
es and changes in attitude described above have been show
n to result in behaviour change for YICWTL in both countries, in
Peter completed his schooling in 2008. In that sam
e year his mother died.
He found a job as a security guard to try and earn a living, but soon fell prey
to peer pressure and joined some “bad groups”. Peter started stealing w
hile he w
as working as a security guard. H
e was caught stealing a laptop, and
sent to prison where he stayed for 10 m
onths.
“Th
e p
ris
on
wa
s s
o c
on
geste
d, w
e w
ou
ld s
tay 1
5 p
eo
ple
in a
cell th
e s
ize o
f a
small car. W
e would sleep sitting up, leaning on the back of the friend in front
of us. The guards would beat us. O
nce we w
ere all beaten because one prisoner esca
ped
, yet w
e d
idn
’t kn
ow
an
yth
ing. W
e a
ll were m
ad
e to
lie d
ow
n o
n o
ur
sto
ma
ch
s w
ith o
ur a
rm
s s
tretc
hed
ou
t in fr
on
t of u
s, a
nd
the g
ua
rd
s s
tam
ped
on our hands with their boots. They also insulted and m
ocked us, saying that w
e chose to be in prison, it wasn’t their fault w
e were there and that they can’t
treat us as people. They are supposed to ill-treat us. I felt bad. But while I w
as in prison I m
et Music Crossroads, w
hich helped me to learn m
ore about music.
Music Crossroads inspired m
e through music, because w
hen I was in prison, I
actually thought I was going to die and never get out of prison.
No
w th
at I a
m o
ut o
f pris
on
, I sin
g a
nd
co
mp
ose m
usic
, an
d I k
no
w th
at m
y life
will be brighter. I also sang a song w
ith (a popular local musician). They have
pla
yed
the s
on
g o
n th
e r
ad
io a
nd
on
TV
. My w
ish
for th
e fu
ture is
a w
ife, m
y o
wn
ho
use, a
nd
my o
wn
ca
r s
o it c
an
ma
ke m
on
ey fo
r m
e. A
nd
my o
wn
orga
nis
atio
ns
for young people who just got released from
prison and who have now
here to go, and are rejected by the com
munity. W
e call it “vagabonding”. They vagabond around tow
n, and they steal to survive. I want to help them
to have a better life. M
y organisation will be called O
OPS (O
ut of Prison Services). Now
I live in a rented house; I have a girlfriend w
ho is in school in [another town], w
e have know
n each other for a long time. So I am
on track.”
PETERM
ALAWI PRISON (1)
3332
terms of them
being able to cope better with stress and has im
proved their pro-social interactions w
ith others.
In addition, it has an effect on how
YICWTL view
themselves in the long
term, and their post-release perceptions and expectations: they have found
hope for their futures, and they desire to be positive role models for others.
◊COPINGBETTERWITHSTRESSANDIMPROVEDPROSOCIALINTERACTIONSWITHOTHERS
“Th
e o
ther d
ay o
ne o
f the g
uys c
am
e in
an
d h
e w
as lim
pin
g
and it turned out that he’d been hit with a belt-buckle by one
of h
is c
ellm
ate
s. A
nd
on
e o
f the g
uys w
ho
is a
lso
in th
e g
ro
up
an
d s
ha
res th
e s
am
e c
ell a
ctu
ally
pro
tecte
d h
im. H
e h
elp
ed
to
contain this guy to prevent him from
hurting anyone. And they did som
e breathing together and then this guy just went aw
ay and sulked by him
self. But it could have turned into a massive
cell-fight. So it’s big to hear that feedback about how they w
ere handling the conflict differently. And taking on the possibility of
doing things differently.”
Improvem
ents in behaviour in both countries include:
• N
o longer stealing and bullying•
Dealing w
ith conflict better, less aggression, fighting and violence: “I have learnt to live peacefully w
ith my friends” (YICW
TL); “It gets them
out of that gang mind-set…
we actually see the im
pact of this programm
e in the stats. There has been a decrease in assaults, and a decrease in in
cid
en
ts o
f so
do
my, a
s a
resu
lt of th
ese p
ro
gra
mm
es” (w
arder).•
Apologising to those whom
they have wronged
• Better anger m
anagement and better im
pulse control, “self-control”•
More patience
• H
elping others in the prison•
More respectful to each other and w
arders (including using better language), w
hich the YICWTL and w
arders relate has helped to im
prove the relationship between them
: “I ca
me in
to p
ris
on
with
an
attitude towards the w
arders. I blamed the w
arders for prohibiting my
freed
om
. MC
M h
elp
ed
me to
ch
an
ge th
at p
ercep
tion
, wh
ich
ma
de m
e e
arn
resp
ect fr
om
the w
ard
ers.”
• Ability to share and w
ork together: “At some point, w
e gave them
homew
ork – to continue doing in their cells for a week. W
e gave them
one box of crayons to share. Through this they were able to share,
without conflict and w
ork together to complete their individual art
pieces.”•
Making new
friends and forming bonds: “I feel like I have a new
family
in p
ris
on
no
w” (YICW
TL).
An interesting and important finding is that the program
me has m
anaged to shift interactions even betw
een mem
bers of different gangs, w
hich was a
big source of prison violence:
“Here in
pris
on
yo
u m
eet y
ou
r e
nem
ies fr
om
ou
tsid
e. I h
ad
a
grudge towards them
. Here I’m
sitting with [nam
e omitted] from
and [nam
e omitted], from
three different gangs, we could never
have sat together and spoke like this before. Now
we see each
other as human beings. I started to express m
y feelings through painting and talking. I also learnt about respecting the next
person’s boundaries. Respect what the next person is feeling, as
you would w
ant to be respected.” (YICWTL)
Participants encourage new YICW
TL to join the programm
e so that they can begin to relate to them
better: “Also if there is a new offender w
ho hasn’t been part of the program
me – they com
e and say that this one needs to come to the
programm
e – so they identify prisoners who could benefit from
being part of the program
me. They realise that their learnings have even m
ore of an impact if
oth
ers a
lso
are o
n th
e p
ro
gra
mm
e” (prison staff
).
Some prisoners have found that their relationships w
ith their families have
also improved due to their changes in attitude and w
hen they reveal their artistic w
ork. “Wh
en
we p
erfo
rm
ed
the s
on
g w
e h
ad
co
mp
osed
as in
ma
tes to
ou
r fa
milie
s, it fe
lt go
od
to s
ee h
ow
pro
ud
my fa
mily
wa
s o
f me” (YICW
TL). A w
arder relayed that some prisoners w
ho never received visits from fam
ilies now
do: “I have received reports from fam
ilies on how they have forgiven and
reconnected with their children because of the change they see in them
.”
◊HOPEFORTHEFUTURE
“Th
e m
om
en
t tha
t stic
ks in
my m
ind
as a
turn
ing p
oin
t is th
e
one day we played this gam
e called the Hyena and the G
oat. O
ne person stands on one side and is the hyena, another person is
the g
oa
t. Th
e h
yen
a h
as to
try to
ca
tch
the g
oa
t. All th
e o
ther
people have to try whatever they can to protect the goat and to
sto
p th
e h
yen
a fr
om
killin
g it. I r
ea
lised
tha
t I ca
n a
ctu
ally
do
so
meth
ing im
po
rta
nt w
ith m
y life
, an
d p
ro
tect th
ose th
at c
an
’t
protect themselves.” (YICW
TL)
Some have enrolled in school since they joined the program
me so that they
can further themselves and have a better chance at an honest life w
hen they are released. M
any mentioned that they w
anted to be “a better person”, better children to their parents, and better parents to their children. They felt that the skills they had learnt from
the programm
e would help them
to behave diff
erently on the outside, and not make the sam
e mistakes again.
“This is the first time I w
as arrested. When I got here I thought
my life is over. But w
ith the programm
e I started to feel like I could dream
again. Hope for the future. The biggest lesson has
been that coming here is not the end of life.” (YICW
TL)
A warder related how
one of the ex-participants of the programm
e has gone on to do Art at tertiary level even though he does not have a m
atricu-lation pass. “H
e actually cried when he got his first bank card” (prison w
arder).
3534
◊DESIRETOBEAPOSITIVEROLEMODEL
In addition to having a better life for themselves, m
any of the YICWTL in
both countries have a strong desire to become positive role m
odels for those around them
– their children, their family, their peers, their com
muni-
ties and even other YICWTL.
“Now
I encourage other people, like my little brother. I used to
en
co
ura
ge th
em
to d
o w
ro
ng th
ings, n
ow
I en
co
ura
ge th
em
to d
o
the r
igh
t thin
gs.”
“I want to break the pattern that because ‘your father spent tim
e in prison, then you m
ust also spend time in prison to prove your-
self’. I want to teach m
y children differently, when I talk to m
y children about and discourage them
from crim
e, drugs, prison it w
ill be from experience. I have alw
ays been a stubborn bossy person, but I have becom
e the softest person here, it got me
thinking – so what’s to stop m
e from being this cheerful person
on the outside?”
“I want to help others not to m
ake the same bad choices that I
did
.”
“Some m
embers of m
y family have been in prison and I w
ant th
is to
sto
p w
ith m
e. A
nd
als
o to
do
it for fu
ture g
en
era
tion
s. I
want m
y children to look at me and say that’s m
y father – he w
ent to prison and has learnt from it and is a better person.”
4.3.2 OUTCOMES FOR W
ARDERS AND THE PRISON POLICIES AND SYSTEMS
4.3.2.1 UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND EM
PATHY
In Malaw
i, where w
arders have been given Hum
an Rights training, the w
arders report that gaining knowledge about hum
an rights changed their perception about YICW
TL, and has led to a great change in perception of w
arders towards YICW
TL: “We realised that they (inm
ates) are people, they are hum
an beings. We learnt new
things. We w
elcomed it.” They report that they
have changed the way they treat YICW
TL (i.e. less inhumane behaviour)
because of this shift in their perception. This has improved relationships
between w
arders and YICWTL.
“By treating someone like a hum
an you are combating the
inhumanity. Treating som
eone like they matter” (facilitator).
In Malaw
i, the warders reported that they get frustrated w
ith rude YICWTL,
but that their relationships with YICW
TL had improved since the training: “I
must adm
it I did have a negative attitude before. Now
I realise the inmates are
very young, they need to learn.” (Malaw
i warder)
3736
◊BETTERPRISONPOLICIESANDSYSTEMS
In Malaw
i, the prisons introduced their own paralegal offi
cers to give legal and hum
an rights advice to both the prisoners and the warders. Legal clin-
ics are now held w
ith YICWTL. Although this is a step in the right direction,
it is difficult for paralegals em
ployed by the prison to perform a w
atchdog function on them
selves. Ideally this function should be performed by an
independent external authority. There are also informal reports about inci-
dents which are taken up by legal aid partners, but this is not system
atised.
In Malaw
i, the advocacy efforts by M
CM have resulted in a parliam
entary com
mittee conducting an inspection to one of the prisons to address the
human rights violations reported in a baseline study.
4.3.2.2 IMPACT/LONG-TERM
OUTCOMES
◊REDUCTIONINRECIDIVISM
Although this is not a stated goal for the EU grant, this is a key aim
for pris-on staff
, implem
enting partners and for YICWTL them
selves. A social worker
in the prison noted that recidivism is very high, and that m
ost YICWTL in
prison are re-offenders:
“Sometim
es 8, 9, 10 times re-offenders. The system
is failing us. Inm
ate’s physical needs are not being attended to. What m
ust they do w
hen they get out of prison? They have children and fam
ilies to feed. I don’t know w
hat’s happening here in South Africa…
when you are part of a gang, you are never allow
ed to leave. So w
hen you are released you are expected to go back to being a gang m
ember. It’s a gang m
entality: ‘Once a m
ember,
always a m
ember.’”
The programm
e has the potential to contribute to this outcome:
“I thin
k if s
om
eo
ne h
as h
ad
tha
t go
od
exp
erie
nce o
f co
nn
ectio
n
then
it’s q
uite
na
tura
l to s
eek th
ose m
om
en
ts a
ga
in. Y
ou
kn
ow
what it is like to respect som
eone else and you are probably m
ore lik
ely
to w
an
t to e
nga
ge in
exp
erie
nces lik
e th
at a
ga
in. I
know the guys are careful about w
ho they keep company w
ith. M
aking sure they are spending time w
ith people who also have a
dream for them
selves, seeking out relationships that are health-ier. It has the knock-on effect of seeking healthier relationships
that aren’t so destructive.” (Facilitator)
Post-release programm
es, such as those offered by YiP, are im
portant to allow
the programm
e outcomes to be sustained outside the prison.
4.3.3 REDUCTION IN CIDTP
Due to the lim
itations with adm
inistering the survey, only anecdotal evidence exists w
ith regard to whether CID
TP has been reduced. The evaluation found that the participants them
selves treat each other better, w
hich will result in som
e reduction in CIDTP. W
hen prison staff are trained,
they are less likely to treat YICWTL badly. Though YICW
TL and facilitators still report CID
TP taking place, there are some reports of better treatm
ent, w
hich is encouraging (mostly from
Malaw
i):
“The severe beatings from the w
arders stopped. We have better
access to food now. W
e used to be only given food once a day. W
e work in the fields and w
e harvest the food and cook the food for ourselves and the w
arders. We decided as a group that w
e needed m
ore food. We approached the offi
cer, and asked if we
could use some of the food w
e harvest to make food for us to
eat. They agreed. So now w
e eat twice per day.” (M
alawi YICW
TL)
“Some tim
e back the guards used to beat us to make us w
ork faster, but since M
CM cam
e, they are no longer beating us for that.” (M
alawi YICW
TL)
“There are no more beatings or bad treatm
ent in the prison since the training. Before there w
ere beatings or chainings, especially if an inm
ate tried to escape. (MCM
staff)
“When w
e did something w
rong, we w
ould be forced to sit down
and bow our heads “to think about w
hat we have done w
rong”. W
hile we sat, the guards w
ould whip us on our backs. It is better
now.” (M
alawi YICW
TL).
3938
James is an 18 year old boy
from the Cape Flats in Cape
Town, South Africa. H
e has been in prison since the age
of 16, and is serving out his 19 year sentence for m
urder in a Maxim
um Security prison.
James and his younger brother, w
ho is now 13 years
old, were raised by his grandparents. H
e has another brother and tw
o sisters, but they did not live with him
. H
is mother and father never lived together. H
is father has been in jail since Jam
es was in G
rade 3, serving a 28 year sentence. Jam
es and his father wrote som
e letters to each other, but they have never really had a relationship. H
is mother, w
ho lived in an informal
settlement, died tw
o weeks prior to the interview
.
James reports that his grandfather w
as often drunk, and sm
oked marijuana regularly. H
e says he was a
quiet child. His grandm
other took him to church and
Sunday school. He enjoyed singing and w
as a worship
singer in his church. When Jam
es was younger his
dream w
as to be a detective. His grandm
other also had dream
s for him, and he reports that she tells
him that she still does w
hen she visits him.
His grandparents discouraged him
from playing out-
side, because the neighbourhood was gang-infested,
and they didn’t want him
falling into bad company.
He started sm
oking cigarettes at school, and would
carry breath freshener in his bag to hide the smell
when he got hom
e. Then he started smoking dagga
(marijuana), okka pipe, and getting drunk. H
is grand-father used to shout at him
about his behaviour, but he w
as rebellious and did not want anyone telling
him w
hat to do.
When Jam
es was in G
rade 8, he joined a small gang.
He and his friends started shoplifting. They w
ould steal things like iPods, but also “dog stuff
” like dog sham
poo and dog accessories, and sell this to the Rastafarians, w
ho have lots of dogs. They would use
the money to buy drugs and have parties, to w
hich they invited girls.
One day, gangsters from
a big local gang gave him a
gun, and they told him to take it to school to give to
another boy. He did this, but that boy w
as arrested, and the gun w
as confiscated. The gangsters blamed
James and told him
they would kill him
unless he replaced the gun, or he could join the gang and w
ork for them
. He didn’t have m
oney to buy another gun, so he joined the gang. The gangsters took him
to a field to test his shooting ability and w
hen they found that he could shoot, they sent him
on paid jobs. With
the money, Jam
es purchased nice material things
and his status improved. H
e was enjoying it. H
e felt accepted. H
e got respect.
The jobs involved shooting people, and he couldn’t do this sober. So he started using drugs, m
ainly buttons (m
andrax), tik (a cheap and impure m
etampetam
ine) and ecstacy. As he becam
e better known in his gang-
ster role, he became a target for other gangs. O
nce, he w
as sitting with four friends, and gangsters from
a rival gang started shooting at him
. He escaped, but
his friends were injured.
His fam
ily threw him
out of the house. He w
ent to live w
ith the head gangster from the gang he belonged
to. He started dealing drugs.
The gangsters then told him to kill his uncle, his
father’s brother, who w
as in a rival gang. He m
et his uncle on N
ew Year’s Eve. H
is uncle also had a gun. W
hen they spoke, his uncle told him that he could
not shoot James, as he w
as his brother’s child. His
uncle turned and walked aw
ay and James shot and
killed him.
After this killing, James had to go into hiding. H
e heard that there w
as a rumour circulating that he
was a double agent, and w
as feeding information to
a rival gang. On a m
ission to shoot someone w
ith one of his fellow
gang mem
bers, a girl who lived
in the target’s house told him that he w
as actually being set up, and that his fellow
gang mem
ber was
going to shoot him. So he w
ent on the mission, but
he shot the other gang mem
ber first.
James spoke about w
hy he did these things. He
reflected that he was m
otivated by reputation: “Yo
u’ll
do anything for reputation. You knows it’s w
rong. But you w
ant people to talk about you and look up to you. G
angsters have power. W
hen you carry a gun, you have p
ow
er”. Jam
es acknowledges that this w
as motivat-
ing because he didn’t get any respect when he w
as younger. Adults alw
ays told him that he w
as wrong,
even when he w
asn’t. He relates how
they said, “D
o as I say, don’t do as I do”. His grandm
other and grandfather did m
any things which w
ere ‘wrong’, but
they used the fact that they were older and in charge
to suppress his desires and choices. He relates that
he felt that he never had a say, they never listened to him
, and that he would never share a problem
with
them because he w
as scared of how they w
ould react.
After he evaded the hit on himself, he w
ent to the inform
al settlement w
here his mother stayed, and
joined the local gang in that area. He lived w
ith and supported his drug addict m
other for a year. He
was then asked to go and kill the leader of the other
JAMES
CAPE TOWN
major gang in the area. The leader w
as a “king pin” w
ho owned shebeens and taxis. H
e felt like a hero to be chosen to kill her because everyone else w
as too scared of her. H
e killed her at a party. Afterwards
he went to a drug house to sm
oke buttons, and w
as arrested there about three hours later after som
eone tipped off the police. Jam
es was 16 years
old at the time.
After his arrest, the rival gang shot his mother as
revenge. She was badly injured and died due to
complications from
those injuries. James has had no
one to talk to about his loss. He related how
terrible he felt about losing her, “even if she w
as not a good m
oth
er, s
he w
as m
y m
oth
er”.
James’ take on prison is that you need to join one
of the Num
bers gangs1 if you w
ant to survive in prison. W
hen he arrived in prison, his reputation preceded him
and he was a bit of a hero to the
other prisoners. There were lots of people w
ho knew
about him and w
hat he had done. The gang w
ith the most pow
er in prison wanted to recruit
him. H
is reputation has also helped him to receive
privileges from the other prisoners, for exam
ple sm
oking the smuggled cigarettes first, and people
agreeing with him
regardless of whether or not he
is correct. The guards in the prison keep the gang m
embers separate from
the other inmates – in a
separate room and even exercising separately. Jam
es used to take drugs in prison (they are fairly readily available), and his m
other used to sumggle them
in for him
. How
ever, he went through the prison drug
rehabilitation programm
e and is now clean.
“I came out of a background w
here everything is violence. There’s peer pressure. I just w
anted to be “seen” amongst
peo
ple
, I wa
s s
tayin
g w
ith th
e g
an
gste
rs. I d
idn
’t wo
rry
about other people, I just worried about m
yself, as long a
s I’m
ha
pp
y, I w
as th
e o
nly
on
e th
at m
atte
red
.
Here I le
arn
t so
mu
ch
. Th
ere’s
so
ma
ny th
ings. I le
arn
t
to respect others. I learnt self-love and self-trust. To solve problem
s without violence, to have silent tim
e with
yourself. To think – about where in life I’ve gone w
rong.
Now
I encourage other people, like my little brother.
I used
to e
nco
ura
ge th
em
to d
o w
ro
ng th
ings, n
ow
I
en
co
ura
ge th
em
to d
o th
e r
igh
t thin
gs. I d
on
’t wa
nt to
have that grudge. Before, if I saw people I w
as fighting w
ith outside, I would have a grudge w
hen I saw them
h
ere.
With [the facilitator], it doesn’t m
atter what I tell her,
1 O
ne of South A
frica’s most prom
inent gangs
sh
e r
esp
ects
it. Here th
ere’s
no
on
e to
talk
to. If y
ou
have a problem you have to keep it to yourself. I w
ould even tell her m
y dream. W
ith her I didn’t have to worry
about confidentiality. I couldn’t wait for next W
ednesday. O
utside I don’t have someone to talk to about m
y private stuff – not even m
y mother. There’s som
eone who cares
about me. She’s like a m
other. Because of that, there’s still hope for you. [The facilitator] understood m
e better than anyone ever had. I had never had that experience o
f so
meo
ne lis
ten
ing to
me a
nd
feelin
g w
ha
t I’m fe
elin
g
before. When I cried, she cried. W
hen I laughed, she la
ugh
ed
. I co
uld
sh
are a
nyth
ing w
ith h
er. I d
idn
’t need
to be scared that she would reject m
e.
And the group helped me to be friends w
ith the rival gangs. In here w
e are friends, because we have no
choice, we have to live together. But out there w
e will
still be enemies. If w
e get out of here we w
ill still fight ea
ch
oth
er.”
Though the Inside Out program
me has helped Jam
es w
ith his anger, he feels that it rears up now and then,
especially when he thinks about the rival gang killing
his mother. H
e manages to control it by rem
inding him
self that being angry is of no benefit and that he has to deal w
ith his real emotions.
James is grateful that his fam
ily have begun to accept him
recently, athough he does not feel safe enough to be honest w
ith them about all the things he has done.
James recently feels like he relates to the story of the
prodigal son in the Bible (which he has started to read
in prison). He plans to continue his schooling next
year, and then eventually get his matric. H
e believes he w
ill have more options w
hen he is transferred to the M
edium Security Prison in tw
o year’s time. H
e w
ants to join a band.
James’ m
ottos are: “Wh
en
da
ys a
re d
ark, fr
ien
ds a
re
few
”, which he has experienced firsthand since
being left alone in prison by all his so-called friends on the outside, and “th
e c
ho
ice y
ou
ma
ke to
da
y w
ill
dete
rm
ine w
here y
ou
go
tom
orro
w”. Jam
es wants to
have children one day, and feels that he would do
anything to prevent them from
going through what
he went through, and becom
ing what he becam
e. He
would help his children to avoid the gangs that are all
around by allowing them
to speak and be listened to, being accepted and respected, not being criticised. H
e believes adults need to set a good example,
not saying one thing and doing another. James has
another 17 years to serve in prison.
4140
5. RECOMM
ENDATIONS
5.1 M
ORE STRUCTURED ENGAGEMENT W
ITH THE PRISON STAFF
To reach impact w
ith this project, it is vital to engage prison staff, and as
many as possible. To counteract the current challenges of prison staff
not being available to participate in training w
orkshops during normal w
orking hours, it is suggested that project staff
engage with the prison training
centres to institutionalise their content. By designing the programm
e within
the prison’s own training schedules, the project could reach all staff
, and w
ould assist with stream
lining logistics. A programm
e training manual has
already been developed by Malaw
i, which should be used in roll-out. It is
recomm
ended that prison staff participants receive som
e certification after the course.
Similar life skills content and perhaps m
ethodology could be employed w
ith prison staff
training, as staff m
entioned that the 2014 training that they received w
as highly effective:
“…that addresses personal needs. W
here we are able to express
selves as well and reduce our stress. That sort of training is
needed more. It’s very im
portant to have a calm m
ind and be collected. W
e are working w
ith children. It helped us to be better able to find ourselves and get an understanding of how
yo
un
gste
rs’ m
ind
s w
orks. T
he tr
ain
ing w
as h
elp
ful in
ha
nd
ling
an
d c
om
mu
nic
atin
g w
ith th
em
”
Prison staff involvem
ent will assist them
to know w
hat happens at the sessions, and w
hat is being taught so that they can better monitor the
YICWTL outside the sessions…
“kn
ow
wh
at to
exp
ect a
nd
ho
w to
su
pp
ort th
em
.
Warders hope to have an open session w
here prison staff that are interested w
ould be welcom
e. This will still keep the other sessions safe and contained for
the p
artic
ipa
nts
.” (facilitator).
5.2 FURTHER POST-RELEASE SUPPORT FOR YICW
TL PARTICIPANTS
5.2.1 VOCATIONAL SKILLS
The Malaw
i team noted that the 12 w
eek programm
e that they run to equip YICW
TL with skills that can enable them
to find a job is not long enough. Participants and w
arders in both countries felt that this was im
portant for post-release and reducing recidivism
: “… And often w
hen they can’t find em
ployment they resort back to crim
e.” (SA warder).
5.2.2 LINKAGE TO ART AND MUSIC OPPORTUNITIES
Some participants found a great passion for m
usic and art through the program
me, and it w
ould be good for the project to develop a referral list so that the young m
en could continue to pursue these constructive activi-ties once they are released.
5.2.3 PARTNERSHIP WITH A SAFE HOUSE FOR POST-RELEASE
Many of the participants do not have a safe place w
here they could go once they are released from
prison. This was an issue that w
as identified by all stakeholder groups. It is recom
mended that the project identify and m
ake further links w
ith any state- or NG
O- run safe houses in M
alawi and South
Africa that could absorb project alumni if they are in need.
5.3 PROJECT M
ANAGEMENT AND IM
PLEMENTATION
5.3.1 PROJECT IMPLEM
ENTATION WITHIN PRISONS
Aside from continuous attem
pts to work on clear com
munication and
logistics with the prison, the follow
ing should be arranged if possible:
• For the best program
me eff
ect, groups should not include more than
10-12 participants, and the staff in M
alawi m
ay need to renegotiate w
ith the prisons to ensure this.•
Vocational training programm
es in South Africa should be extended to better equip the participants w
ith adequate skills to find a job post-release.
• The program
me is not being im
plemented consistently across sites
and it would benefit from
this. This would require m
ore coordination betw
een all implem
enters across the sites.•
There should be a plan with the prisons for a w
ay to sustain pro-gram
me activities after the offi
cial sessions are over (for example,
drumm
ing groups that run regularly throughout the year, or time
being set aside where prisoners can m
ake art on an ongoing basis, or just having m
aterials available that can be shared).•
YiP could advocate for a policy change so that “the family group” can
become offi
cial: “it would be great if fellow
inmates w
ho also did the program
me are allow
ed to come and visit us as fam
ily after they go out [ie after they have been released] because som
e of us have lost touch with
ou
r fa
milie
s a
nd
we a
re n
ot fr
om
aro
un
d h
ere.” (SA YICW
TL)•
During program
me participant selection, attem
pts to saturate a cell/unit – ie m
ake sure that every YICWTL in that cell participates on the
programm
e, so that “eventually more and m
ore inmates w
ill know and
un
dersta
nd
co
mp
assio
n a
nd
mu
tua
l resp
ect a
nd
I thin
k th
at w
ill help
with
the w
ay th
ey d
ea
l with
an
d tr
ea
t ea
ch
oth
er” (facilitator).
4342
5.3.2 REFINE THE YIP SA IMPLEM
ENTATION MODEL AND PROCESSES
YiP SA should employ a w
ell qualified project manager (m
ay not need to be fulltim
e) who w
ill coordinate the ‘Inside Out’ program
me and facilitators,
and the post-release programm
e. Using expert associates to deliver the
programm
e works w
ell in terms of outcom
es and resource efficiency;
however, these facilitators need to be em
ployed on a project/contract basis w
ith clear deliverables, and must be paid to be involved in m
ore coordina-tion/m
anagement activities, for exam
ple:
• Strategic planning and proposal developm
ent•
Meetings before sessions/program
me cycle to agree on focus points
• Regular check-ins and reflections to learn and share and im
prove the program
me w
here possible.
Comm
unication channels should also be clear and made clear. System
atic m
onitoring, evaluation and learning would also benefit the project, and
assist with better reporting and accountability, w
hich is needed.
5.3.3 PROJECT STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND W
ELLNESS
In both countries, there is a need for more com
mitted project staff
devel-opm
ent and wellness activities. There is a need for training on how
to deal w
ith and protect oneself in terms of safety and disease due to the terrible
conditions of many of the prisons. Additionally, psychological support is
necessary, perhaps through a regular and structured debriefing and well-
ness programm
e. New
staff need to be properly orientated w
hen they join the project.
6. CONCLUSION
The “Ending impunity in torture and cruel, inhum
ane and degrading treatm
ent of children in prison” project has been very effective in term
s of positively changing the attitudes and behaviour of participants, enabling them
to be more constructive in term
s of their own feelings and their ability
to manage these and interact w
ith others. Relationships between prisoners
and prison staff and other prisoners has im
proved because of these life skills, w
hich has led to some decrease in how
the YICWTL are treated in pris-
on. The project enjoys many eff
ective methodologies and im
plementation
strategies. How
ever, it is not possible to truly realise the impact unless there
is more institutional roll-out of the program
me w
ith prison staff. Aside from
investigating how
to realise this, the project would benefit from
investing in its staff
development and w
ellness more, and revising m
anagement m
odels and processes to be m
ore efficient and eff
ective.
REFERENCESBecker, G
. 1968. Crime and punishm
ent: An economic approach. Jo
urn
al o
f
Po
litica
l Eco
no
my, 7
6, 169 – 217.
Clements, P. (2004). The rehabilitative role of arts education in prison:
Accomm
odation or enlightenment?. International Journal of Art &
Design
Ed
uca
tion, 2
3(2), 169-178.
Danish Institute Against Torture. (2013). Children and juveniles in detention: A
study on compliance w
ith international standards in Sierra Leone. Retrievable from
https://dignityinstitute.org/media/2065757/pubseries_no4_chil-
dren-and-juveniles-in-detention.pdf
Edgar, L. (2012). How
do the benefits of Arts education manifest and
develop? A case study of teachers who have com
pleted the ACE: Arts and Culture course at the U
niversity of the Witw
atersrand’s School of Education. U
niversity of the Witw
atersrand.
Grace, N
. (1993). Arts-related activities in prisons. Convergence, 26(3), 65.
Gast, L. (2012). External Evaluation for Young in Prison.
Gussak, D
. (2007). The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in Reducing D
epression in Prison Populations. International Journal of O
ffender Therapy &
Comparative Crim
inology, 51(4), 444 – 460.
Johnson, L. M. (2008). A place for art in prison: Art as a tool for rehabilitation
and managem
ent. Southwest Journal of Crim
inal Justice, 5(2), 100-120.
Koch, S. C., Osterm
ann, T., Steinhage, A., Kende, P., Haller, K., &
Chyle, F. (2015). Breaking barriers: Evaluating an arts-based em
otion regulation training in prison. A
rts
in P
sych
oth
era
py, 4241 – 49.
Meekum
s, B., & D
aniel, J. (2011). Arts with off
enders: A literature synthesis. Th
e A
rts
in P
sych
oth
era
py, 38(4), 229-238.
Ruppert, S. (2006). Critical Evidence: How
the Arts Benefit Student Engagem
ent.
National Assem
bly of State Arts Agencies.
Schoonover, B. (1986). The captive audience. Art Education 39(3), 33-35.
Stiegelbauer, S. (2008). The Arts and Afterschool Programs: A Research
Synthesis. US D
epartment of Education.
UN
ICEF. (2013). Torture and ill-treatment in the context of juve-
nile justice: The final report of research in Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of M
oldova, Tajikistan, and U
kraine. Retrievable from https://w
ww
.unicef.org/ceecis/Torture_and_ill-treatm
ent_in_the_Context_of_Juvenile_EN.pdf
Vacca, J. S. (2004). Educated prisoners are less likely to return to prison. Jo
urn
al o
f Co
rrectio
na
l Ed
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tion, 297-305.
Wolf, D
.P. & ArtsPartners (2003). Arts and Cultural Learning: Changing
Achievement and Expectation, Interim
report of three-year longitudinal study. ArtsPartners: D
allas
Young in Prison (2016). What w
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ww
.younginprison.org.za
4544
APPENDIX A: EXAMPLES OF CIDTP
• H
aving food taken away
• H
aving drink taken away
• N
ot being allowed to sleep
• N
ot being given necessary medicine or healthcare
• H
aving visitation rights taken away
• Being threatened if unw
illing to do favours for prison staff or other
YICWTL
• Being raped (penetration, w
ith an object)•
Not being protected from
a threatening situation•
Being beaten (with an object, w
ith fists)•
Being held or forced down
• Being subjected to electric shocks
• Being suff
ocated/ strangled•
Being burnt (cigarettes, other instruments)
• Being shaken violently
• Being sexually m
olested•
Being subjected to other physical violence (kicked etc.)•
Being hurt with a w
eapon (stabbed)•
Being drugged•
Being placed into solitary confinement for a day or for a few
weeks
• Being covered w
ith water and beaten
• Being forced to w
atch others get hurt•
Being threatened with violence or harm
to family
APPENDIX B: COPOSO PROGRAMM
E GOALS
• Increased self-esteem
and self-confidence•
Increased awareness of self and others
• Increased autonom
y (the idea that my actions have an im
pact on the w
orld around me)
• Increased ability to articulate and express diffi
cult emotions
• Im
proved comm
unication skills•
Opportunities to develop and harness individual creativity and critical
thinking•
Providing a safe space in which individuals can explore their em
otions and how
they deal with these em
otions•
Connecting each young person to internal and external resources that w
ill help them in the future
• Im
proved ability to self-reflect•
Improved stress m
anagement and increased aw
areness of frustration and skills.
4746
YOUNG IN PRISONINTERNATIONAL
De Kempenaerstraat 11 B 1051 CJ Amsterdam
Landline: +31-(0)20-7371061
Mobile: +31-(0)6 14734471
Skype: younginprison.nl
Email: [email protected]