The Bermuda Prison Service will soon have a set of rehabilitation programmes in place that rival others around the world.

The news came from the Prison Service's Dr. Christopher Snyder who arrived in September to man the post of senior psychologist.

He will also chair the Inmate Programme Committee which is the programme component of the correctional system.

Dr. Snyder said: "Bermuda, once all of these programmes are up and running, will have a very comprehensive package of risk reduction correctional programmes that, in my experience, are as good as any that are available in any jurisdiction.'' And with over 12 years experience in various US institutions, he should know.

His last post was with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections where he was the supervising psychologist responsible for sex offender programming, violent offender programming and other correctional programmes.

Dr. Snyder said one of the reasons why he was asked to come to Bermuda was to establish a sex offenders' programme which he understood had been needed for a while.

But he was quick to point out that this was not all he was up to.

"What I'm putting forward is a package of very progressive correctional programmes all designed to reduce the recidivism rate here.

"Aside from the sexual offender programme, there's also a violent offender's programme, a cognitive interventions programme which works to alter patterns of criminal thinking, attitudes and behaviour and an anger management programme.'' He added that he was investigating a domestic abuse programme while a comprehensive substance abuse programme was already in place.

Dr. Snyder said these correctional programmes would be running at facilities at both ends of the Island which was a real plus.

"Unlike other very large jurisdictions where only a fraction of the offenders who need these programmes can actually be involved because of cost factors, available resources and so forth, in Bermuda we will be able to impact every offender in the system with the type of programming that they require.'' In addition, he continued, the department was working with outside agencies in an effort to increase the programmes' effectiveness.

"We are also working with a number of community providers so when we release inmates from the department they can be followed up in the community with maintenance programming and supervision.

"This is where the real risk of re-offence occurs, not when they are in custody at corrections but when they are released into the community. Even the best programmes need community involvement or else you get higher recidivism rates.'' Returning to the programmes, Dr. Snyder said inmates were reviewed by the prisons' service providers and became part of the service's case management system.

A case plan was devised for each inmate to maximise the effectiveness of the available programmes by matching them and their components to the offenders' needs.

"All the programmes mentioned would not be appropriate for all inmates,'' he explained.

The main programmes for sex offenders include a psycho-educational component where an offender's deviant sexual cycle is identified as are the precursors to the sexually offensive behaviour.

There is also relapse prevention training where offenders learn ways to intervene in high-risk situations and learn alternative responses to them.

This helps them manage the urge to re-offend and prevents the relapse, said Dr. Snyder.

Other components include social skills training, anger management training and there is also a component which is geared at decreasing deviant sexual arousal and increasing appropriate sexual arousal using cognitive behavioural techniques.

But the cornerstone of each programme, he continued, "involved creating and increasing victim empathy'' to decrease the likelihood of re-offence.

This emphasises the harm the offender has done to a victim which often causes life-long effects and this sensitises the offender to these issues.

"It causes the offender to engage on an emotional level in his own treatment programme so it's not just like a classroom exercise. Then they can be more motivated to correct themselves before they hurt other people.

"Many offenders are very ignorant of the damage that they have done. They have what we call cognitive distortions that allow them to engage in criminal sexual behaviour without feeling remorse.

"Once these cognitive distortions are eliminated they realise the reality of what they have done to their victims and this motivates them to discontinue from those kind of violent behaviours.'' But the public had to realise, said Dr. Snyder, that the prison could only supply the inmates with the tools they needed to resolve their problems.

"We can not force offenders to pick up those tools. There's a matter of individual responsibility here. We try to instil offenders with responsibility for their actions.

And he painted a bleak but realistic picture.

"These are tried and true correctional programmes that have been offered in many other jurisdictions and research has been conducted which indicate they effectively reduce recidivism in inmates who successfully complete the programmes.

"So we can be assured of a reduction in the rate of recidivism overall but we can't look to reduce that rate to zero -- we never talk about risk elimination, only risk reduction.

"This is not a magic bullet. These programmes are not cures. That's why we use the word programming not treatment.

"Treatment implies the recipient is a passive recipient of some sort of treatment done to him and if he re-offends it's not his responsibility but the treatment provider's or correction's responsibility.'' But the prison does provide inducements like early release to inmates in an attempt to encourage them to take the programmes. This in turn acts in the prison's favour as Dr. Snyder explained.

"The best way we can achieve control of offenders who have gone through institution based programming is to release them before their sentence expires so we can continue to have authority to supervise and control their behaviour.

"If you let an individual's sentence expire, when he is released then they go into the community with no conditions of supervision.'' He added that offenders being released earlier also meant more offenders being able to take the programme.

"If there were no incentive for them to be involved then we would have fewer participants and more risk at the other end when their sentences ended and they were released.'' But on a more positive note, Dr. Snyder said: "Inmates are surprisingly receptive here.'' He put this down to the men recognising they had problems and now had opportunities to address them.

Some inmates due to be released before the programmes were initiated were willing to return to prison as day visitors to take part in the programmes.

However, while "the majority of offenders will be amenable to treatment'' -- on the other side, he continued, were the inmates who were not going to cooperate with the programmes being offered.

"There's always going to be some you can't reach and these men have to be identified and closely monitored if and when they return to the community.

"Identify them and then manage them -- but they are in a minority.'' If these offenders were not sentenced to life imprisonment and were released, said Dr. Snyder, then: "We also alert the Police department as to their status and whereabouts and perhaps notify the people who are around them.

But other jurisdictions have different ways of handling these offenders using indeterminate sentencing which means the inmates are only released after experts are convinced they no longer pose a risk.

In closing, Dr. Snyder said: "I feel optimistic about the direction the department has taken. It is becoming aggressive in delivering the appropriate programmes and services and I look forward to seeing the eventual outcome in terms of a safer Bermuda.

Dr. Christopher Snyder