Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the suitability or otherwise of art
education as a catalyst in empowering inmates with art skills and discipline.
Specifically, the study determined prisoners’ achievement in learning art
and the difficulties inmates encounter in learning art. Experimental design
was used for the study along with participant observer technique. 40
inmates were selected randomly from the 122 convicted inmates. Mean and
t-test analyzed the quantitative data while descriptive statistics analyzed
qualitative data. The findings reveal among others factors that there was a
significant difference in learning art among the inmates. Low literacy level
and anxiety to get discharged from some inmates hindered their
performance. The study strongly recommended art in particular and
education in general to be included as a major penal treatment of inmates in
Makurdi prison for empowerment in skill acquisition and handicraft.