The yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and minute by
minute changing reports on corruption are
overwhelming.
The perpetrators’ minds and bodies that energize
corruption crimes are certainly overbearing for
an emerging society like Nigeria.
The amount of public money misappropriated by
many of these individuals for their own personal
use is always so huge that in their respective
lifetime they will not be able to use it up.
So could their misconducts be solely corruptly
and mentally driven, if so what could be done to
reduce their dangerousness to society.
For the first time in modern Nigerian history
has a President, as in the case of President
Goodluck Jonathan, publicly admitted that
corruption is presently retarding the nation’s
“growth” and “development”.
While the Chief Prosecutor of the nation, Mrs.
Farida Waziri has also publicly admitted that
acts of corruption are scaring off foreign
investment from the nation. As part of the
Wazirian theory on corruption reduction, she has
recently called for the legal endorsement of
death penalty for convicted corruption
offenders.
In the same vein, the Oshodi theory on this
national predicament as previously written by
this author in various news outlets, is for the
legislature to pass very harsh anti-corruption
laws with the Sharia type punishment meted on
corruption convicts.
Now the nation is clearly under national and
international threat as a result of endless
number of cases of corruption spanning from
those currently on prolonged bail,
long-drawn-out trials, on mounting appeals as
well as those on runaway status or in local
prisons.
Therefore, it is time to start managing these
persons in a whole different way. Nothing seems
to be working on their minds!
Also, is it time for a corruption offender
registry? The answer is a resounding yes, and it
must be a public registry.
Is it time for a Forensic Hospital and
Confinement Center for Corruption Offenders (FHCCCO),
of course yes, and it could become operational
as soon as possible in form of private
therapeutic wards or as correctional treatment
ventures.
As the above institutional name indicates it
could be a two-tie system, with the first for
those with active cases in court but need a form
of treatment and confinement as they remain
dangerous to witnesses and informants.
The second phase of hospitalization and
confinement is strictly for the already
convicted corruption offenders in need of
rehabilitative and punitive environment.
He or she should have been diagnostically
assumed to suffer from what could be called “Corruptomania”,
an apparent impulsive and anti-social
personality like syndrome that calls for ongoing
study for the sake of objectivity and proper
classification.
For the purpose of definition, a battery of
psychological testing should be conducted on the
individual to determine if he or she meets the
criteria of being classified with one or more
mental diseases in the areas of impulsive and
social personality related ailments.
That is, psychological disturbances in the likes
of the anti-moral personality, authoritarian
personality, impulse control disorder and other
related mental diseases with a clear and
revealing picture of a criminal corruption
offender.
Possible diagnosis like “Corruptomania” could be
reached on the individual and the offender could
be characterized as a “Corruptomanic”; however
these are presumptive classifications by this
author.
The battery of test must be carried out by
qualified doctoral level Psychologists given
their lengthy training and extensive practicum
and experience in intellectual, projective,
affective, personality and neuro-psychological
evaluations.
Clinicians with training mainly in Psychiatry, a
specialty that is related to the application of
medicine to mental illness should be fully
involved with the committed or confined offender
only for the purpose of psychotropic medication
assessment and maintenance.
For the sake of efficiency, it is emphasized
that private ventures should be authorized to
open and manage the forensic Mental Health
Hospital-Confinement structures.
But mean while existing university teaching
hospitals with some of them almost sitting empty
or lacking adequate clients and clinical
students should be used by the supervising
private companies on contractual bases.
The atmosphere must be that of maximum security
environment. This will reduce the chance of
these corruptomanics threatening informants,
witnesses or prejudicing their case by flying to
overseas.
The goal of their being hospitalized is : 1.To
keep the public safe as many or some of these
offenders are known to put fear and danger in
those who try to bear witness against them; 2.
To stop their continued impulsive spending with
all of the monies, in billions of naira or
millions of dollars that they reportedly
pilfered; 3. Under involuntary hospitalization,
they are more likely to become out-of-pocket,
and prone to freely engage in confessional and
penitent-related behaviors; 4. For the convicted
corruptomanic ,instead of becoming a bearer of
State Execution, long-term detention would help
provide the development of guilt, responsibility
and controllability.
The Forensic Hospital and Confinement Center for
Corruption Offenders must be expanded into a
full blown phase for convicted corruptmanics
where they will face both punitive consequences
and therapeutic applications, all pointing to
moralistic restoration.
The benefit of the this proposed system of
dealing with corruption suspects or convicted
corruption offenders is the allowance of not
putting them in regular jails or prisons where
they could face fatal and deadly acts from the
general inmate population because of their
crimes against the public treasury.
They need to be placed in special environments
like the FHCCCO because they are corruption
crime offenders and nothing else. As we all know
they are highly malevolence in their advances to
the public order.
While in the first or second phase of placement
their seductiveness to shady or crooked money
must be therapeutically addressed, so as to
assist them develop an understanding of the
societal, financial, and other destructive harms
they have caused to the general population.
The most essential goal of corruption offender
restoration is that he or she refrains from
committing corruption offences in the future.
This goal is more important than feelings of
recovered self esteem and well-being when they
return back to the society.
To reduce their temptations and recidivism rate
or future reconviction, long term probation is
recommended as well as the need to deny them
entry into any job that calls for financial
contact.
The treatment and penal direction of this
proposed system of justice could help reduce the
dreadful nature and consequences of
corruptomanics and help them develop humane
behaviors and caring ways to their nation.
John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D , DABPS, FACFE, is a
Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and the Interim
Associate Dean of Behavioral Science, North
Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida.
joshodi@broward.edu
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