Demographic Variations in Achievement Goal Orienations Among Prisoners on Formal and Vocational Training in Uganda

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating why, despite the introduction of free prison education, prisoners in Uganda have lower formal and vocational skills compared to the general population. The study was basically quantitative and a cross sectional survey design was used. The study population comprised eight hundred convicted adult male and female prisoners. Purposive sampling was used. Data were analyzed using descrip¬tive, parametric and non-parametric statistics. The study found statistically non-significant differences in achievement goal orientations across all the demographics. The main conclusions include the need to: deepen prisoners’ knowledge on setting various achievement goal orientations to help them in information acquisition and engagement in learning; support goal orientations equally regardless of age, gender, religion and level of education; and achievement goal orientations that allow academic social comparison among learners, which results into richer academic engagement. It is recommended that teachers/ instructors in prison education can use achievement goal orientations to improve prison education programme through measurement and evalu¬ation of learning outcomes, choosing appropriate methods of instruction and instructional materials, and in helping learners to choose achievable and realistic goals. Therefore, achievement goal orientations greatly determine the extent to which education as rehabilitative strategy can be successful