Abstract
M.A.
The institutionalisation and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents has always been a
contentious issue, generating much research and differences in opinions. What to
do with youngsters who are too young to be criminals and too violent to be youth,
remains a complex dilemma in a society where the incidence of juvenile delinquency
is increasing by the day. The South African phenomenon of a marginalised
generation who readily takes part in criminal behaviour, necessitated the
development of a co-ordinated strategy involving formal and informal support groups
in the training and development of this group. The establishment of e ,e first Youth
Development Centre in Newcastle, named Ekuseni, was initiat ,* by President
Nelson Mandela, in response to his concern that the conditions in South African jails
are not conducive to transforming and developing young prisoners. The Ekuseni
project was aimed at providing young convicted persons with appropriate life skills,
education and training, to enable them to pa cipate fully in society.
The aim of this study was to develop a psycho-educational programme to facilitate
leadership competencies in young prisoners. The leadership programme constitutes
one of the development programmes in the holistic rehabilitation model, developed
specifically for the Ekuseni project by the Rand Afrikaans University. The leadership
programme is aimed at developing various leadership competencies, grounded in
leadership competency theory. The competencies included in this study were more
specifically based on the research and the development of a unique leadership
model for the South African organisational context by Charlton (1993). These
concepts were adapted and integrated with theory on juvenile delinquency to develop
a leadership program= suitable for South African youth in prison.
The first step in the programme was to help students to create a vision for
themselves and for the Ekuseni Youth Development Centre, and to take responsibility for attaining that vision. This included a shift from an external to an
internal locus of control. Through learned communication skills, e competency to
communicate this vision to other prisoners, to enlist them in dedicated action towards
a constructive future, was facilitated. The development of conflict management skills
as an essential competency for leaders in a youth prison, were facilitated in order for
leaders to constructively resolve conflict between prisoners and staff, as well as
between prisoners themselves. This is especially necessary in conflict between
youth gangs in prison. Trust, earned by leaders through reliable and consistent
behaviour is a fourth competency facilitated through IP is programme. Students were
taught the art of interpersonal trust, which in turn enabled them to help others and
empower themselves.
The evaluation of the effectiveness of this programme did not fall nV in the
parameters of this study. It is therefore recommended that this study be evaluated in
future, before it is implemented in other youth prisons in South Africa.