Re-Imprisonment Rates In South Africa

The re-imprisonment rates in South Africa are exceeding high due to various socio-economic and psychological factors as well as the lack on effective programs in place to aid in rehabilitating prisoners into society once they have completed their sentence in order to prevent their re-imprisonment for the same or different crime. This paper will serve to outline the reasons for these high rates and how Industrial-Organizational psychologists (I/O psychologists) can get involved to lower them and hopefully eradicate them completely in the near future using their psychologically based techniques and expertise. For the sake of this paper we will be focusing on the particular area of expertise that involves ergonomics (the scientific field that

However, this is seldom the way events turn out. According to Muntingh (2008) ex-convicts are thirteen times more likely to be unemployed than the general population as a result of 80% of prisoners possessing writing skills, 65% possessing numeracy skills, and 50% having literacy skills that are equivalent to or below that of an 11-year old child. This increase their chances of reoffending and being sent back to prison as they cannot financially support themselves or their families ( those who are welcomed back into their families) so they tend to look for currency elsewhere which often involves illegal activities such as the selling of drugs or stolen goods. Others prefer to return to prison where they are guaranteed shelter and meals which they cannot provide for themselves in the “real

An I/O psychologist systematically studies the place of work using techniques of psychology and relating them to issues of significant relevance to business, talent management, evaluation, training, recruitment and work-family relationship balance (Kriek, 2012). However, the definition that is of relevance in the context of this paper is that of, I/O psychology being a practical part of psychology which is equally an academic and a pragmatic discipline that focuses on the study of human behavior in relation to work, organizations and efficiency in a certain kind of location ( Schreuder & Coetzee, 2010).

I/O psychology highlights how an organization influences individuals in a particular organization and how the social aspect of the organization affects the people involved thus guaranteeing that people stay motivated, that there are work arrangements in place to improve human productivity, that skills training and development are provided in order to allow individuals to progress and thrive in organizations and