Built Environment for Rehabilitation: Case Studies of Selected Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres in Nigeria

Abstract

The character of the built environment of juvenile rehabilitation centers directly impacts on the outcome of the rehabilitation process. The design of such centers should ensure that young offenders who pass through them do not come out more disoriented and hardened. The built environment of juvenile rehabilitation centers should therefore portray rehabilitation rather than retribution. Juvenile rehabilitation centers in Nigeria are in poor conditions and have been described as decaying, and places of punishment. This study was therefore conducted to evaluate the built environment of selected juvenile rehabilitation centers in Nigeria through visual survey, and Likert scale questionnaires containing nine attitude statements. The data was analyzed using descriptive account, descriptive statistics, and ANOVA. The result shows that the centers were largely positively perceived with respect to the provision of basic amenities, while aspects relating to the image and visual character of the centers were perceived negatively by majority of the respondents. This suggests a deficit in their design. The result of ANOVA shows that there is no significant difference between respondents of the three juvenile rehabilitation centers (BTIK, BTII and KHRCJ) on four attitude statement while significant differences were obtained on five statements. The character and image of the built environment of these centers needs to be improved in order to give them a more positive outlook which will in turn culminate in more positive outcomes for the young offenders.