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Socio-Economic Vulnerability of Young Prison Inmates in Nairobi City County, Kenya

David Kariuki, Daniel Muia, Henry Rono
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21013/jems.v21.n3.p6
Abstract

Young prison inmates (YPI) are also young adulthood offenders (YAO) in transition to added and/or new responsibilities, roles, and occupational careers. The transition typically encompasses a progression from varied forms of basic education to varied forms of employment or occupational careers. The transition is also a phase of life characterized by intense socio-economic vulnerability and the risk of disruption of lawful occupations. This study, therefore, assessed the socio-economic vulnerability of young prison inmates and the risk of contributing to the disruption of their lawful careers. The socio-economic vulnerability was assessed in terms of 1) the family type and structure, 2) the socio-economic indicators consisting of the location, religion, education and employment, and 3) more importantly, the livelihood security scale across several critical indicators including food, income, farming, employment, security to continue education and security in healthcare among others. The study concluded that a greater proportion of the young prison inmates had experienced extensive socio-economic vulnerability and risk of disruption of their lawful careers.

Keywords
Youth vulnerabilities, socioeconomic vulnerabilities, young adult inmates, career development, youth imprisonment, and Kenyan prisons
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