Problématique de la réinsertion socio-économique post-pénale au Cameroun (1976-2010) : Cas des prisons de la région du Centre

Abstract

The aim of this work is to show that preparatory activities for social reintegration, as implemented in prisons in the Centre region between 1973-2010, have contributed to the socioeconomic integration of those released. On the basis of a varied and relatively recent documentation made up of books, newspaper articles and oral testimonies, the synthesis of the information collected is based on a constructivist epistemological posture in which interdisciplinarity occupies an important place, and a hypothetico-deductive approach (analyzing the particular from the general). As part of our study, we have focused on the following main hypothesis: the penitentiary centers of the Centre region have been places where a number of preparatory activities for resocialization are practised, enabling those released to reintegrate validly on a dual socio-economic level. Moreover, this work is based on the theory of re-education, the aim of which is to transform inmates into honest and useful members of society. The issue of what happens to those leaving our penitentiaries is undoubtedly linked to the political evolution of Cameroon. Indeed, as an instrument of punishment and reformation, the prison was introduced into Africa in general and Cameroon in particular by forceps of colonization, first German, then British and French. However, to satisfy their interests, colonial administrators set up veritable entities for retribution, repression and the dehumanization of populations through harsh prison conditions. After Cameroon gained independence in 1960, decision-makers embarked on a project to reinvent its own prison system. It was with this in mind that Cameroon's first post-independence penitentiary reform law was drafted. Although inherited from the colonial era, it broke with the methods observed and applied during the colonial period. From 1973 to 2010, the implementation of social reintegration policy has been marked by both continuity and discontinuity. The missions assigned to prisons are economic, social and security-related. The sentence now has a resocializing meaning, thanks to work and vocational training, and a structuring meaning, thanks to the ability of inmates to take charge of their own life project, and a restorative meaning for society as a whole and for victims. In this way, throughout the repressive process, lawbreakers acquired life skills and know-how which, once they were free, facilitated their socio-economic reintegration. Despite the progress made, prisons in the Central Region have made enormous strides in terms of resocialization. However, this post-prison reintegration, in all its proportions, is strewn with a number of difficulties, not only endogenous, due to a chronic lack of training, a blatant lack of aptitude, the use of drugs and the absence of family support, but also exogenous, such as difficulties accessing a job in the civil service or in the private sector, a stigmatizing and degrading social viewpoint, problems with the completion of their projects... which can lead to recidivism.