Special types of prison in Kenya

a. Youth detention facilities

Prisons for juveniles are known by a variety of names, including "youth detention facilities", "juvenile detention centers", and "reformatories". The idea of separately treating youthful and adult offenders is a relatively modern idea owing to psychosocial differences and different developmental needs requiring children to be protected. Besides prisons, many other types of residential placement exist within juvenile justice systems, including youth homes, community-based programs, training schools and boot camps, all helping in psychosocial rehabilitation of children.

Juvenile prisons are questioned for their overall effectiveness in rehabilitating youth. Many critics note high juvenile recidivism rates, and the fact that the most of the youths that are incarcerated are those from lower socio-economic classes (who often suffer from broken families, lack of educational/job opportunities, and violence in their communities) who would require specialized help such as educational services and counselling.

b. Women's prisons

Female prisoners had different needs than male prisoners hence need to establish prison for women. The objective of the facilities is to create a homelike atmosphere for female inmates and to teach them the skills necessary to lead a decent life once their sentence expired. The facilities protect women from sexual harassment from male counterparts and prison officers. In that some give birth while in prisons and some are imprisoned with very young children the facility offers a chance for mothers to meet their obligation to the children. Most inmates are women from low socioeconomic backgrounds and therefore experience health problems that may result from living in poverty including chronic conditions, HIV/AIDS, infectious disease and reproductive issues. The facility helps in meeting these special psycho-social needs.

c. Political prisons and administrative detention

Administrative detention is a classification of prisons or detention centers where people are held without trial. Political prisoners are people who have been imprisoned because of their political beliefs, activities and affiliations. There is much debate about who qualifies as a "political prisoner". The category of "political prisoner" is often contested, and many regimes that incarcerate political prisoners often claim that they are merely "criminals". Others who are sometimes classified as "political prisoners" include prisoners who were politicized in prison, and are subsequently punished for their involvement with political causes.

Many countries maintain or have in the past had a system of prisons specifically intended for political prisoners. In some countries, dissidents can be detained, tortured, executed, and/or "disappeared" without trial. This can happen either legally or extra legally (sometimes by falsely accusing people and fabricating evidence against them). Detainees may require a lot of psychological support there after due to trauma experiences in detention facilities.

d. Psychiatric facilities

Some psychiatric facilities have characteristics of prisons, particularly when confining patients who have committed a crime and are considered dangerous. In addition, in developed world many prisons have psychiatric units dedicated to housing offenders diagnosed with a wide variety of mental disorders.

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Titany answered the question on December 7, 2021 at 10:02