Assessing Current Programs and Reentry Needs in Trinidad and Tobago: Insights from Offenders – An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Much literature in the United States explores how offenders' perceive current programs and reentry challenges. However, little is known about such needs in the Trinidad and Tobago Prison System (TTPS). This research was designed to determine what are the perceived reentry needs of the sampled offenders? As such, fifty offenders in the TTPS were asked about how they perceive current services provided by TTPS, what programs they believe are necessary for success on release, and their anxiety level about (release) returning to the community in order to gauge their perceptions about anticipated reentry needs. Over all, respondents' identified employment, life skills, and access to educational programs as major reentry needs.