New
penology and modern prison:
The utility of prison as an institution for rehabilitation of
offenders and preparing them for normal life has always been a controversial
issue .stressing on the needs for retaining the institutions of prison Dr,verma observed that ‘A prison
symbolizes evil and therefore evil doers find themselves in perfect harmony
inside the house of evils”. this assertion however seems to be an over
simplification of facts as this does not hold good for all categories of
criminals . There are a quite large number of offender who are otherwise well
behaved and are persons of respectable class of society but they fall a prey to
criminality on account of momentary impulsiveness, provocation or due to
situational circumstances there is yet another class of prisoners who are
otherwise innocent but have to bear
the rigors of prison life due miscarriage of justice. Obviously such person’s
find it difficult adjusts themselves to the prison surroundings and finds life
inside the prison most pain full and disgusting
.
The real purpose of sending criminals to prison is to
transform them in to honest , law obliating citizens by inculcating in
them a distaste for crime and
criminality . but in actual practice prison authorities try to bring out the formation inmates by use of force and compulsive methods
consequently change in the inmates is
momentry and lasts only till the period they are in prison and as soon as they
are released they return to the criminal world .it is for this reason that the
modern trend is to lay greater emphasis on psychiatric condition of the
prisoners so that they can be rehabilitated to normal life in the community .
the objective can successfully achived through the techniques of and probation Parole .the sincerity , devotion and tect fullness of the prison
officials also helps conciderably in the process of offender’s rehabilitation .
PRISON
DICIPLINE
The problem of prison discipline has always been engaging the
attention of penologists throughout the world. The main objective of
prisonisation is undoubtedly negative insofar as it aims at generating a
feeling of dislike for prison among the members of society, the object being to
dissuade people from doing acts which may land them in to prison. Expressing
his view about prison, DONALD TAFT commented
that “prison is deliberately so planed as to provide unpleasant compulsory
isolation from general society”. Prison according to him characterizes rigid
discipline, provision of bare necessities, sticks security arrangements and
monotonous routine life. Life inside the prison necessarily pre-supposes
certain restriction on the liberty of inmates against their free will. This
consciousness of subjection to compulsive forces for the state thorough the
agency of prison often leads to scuffle between prison officials and the
inmates. The custody of prisoners would therefore insure their safity and also
minimize the chance of conflict with prison administrators.
Another problem often faces by the prison authorities are to
guard against the possibility of prison
–riot which is essentially an outcome of the combined venture of inmates.
Today the difference between the prison
life and free life is reduced to
such an extent that even the prisoners have become conscious of their rights
and obligation of prison authorities toward the. Their free intermingling with
the outside world provides them opportunities to unite and rise a common
front against the prison administrators and slightest provocation in sufficient
to stimulate unrest.
SELF
GOVERNAMENT IN PRISON
Experiments of self government in prisons have recently been
carried out in America and elsewhere. The under laying purpose is to ensure
complete freedom to prisoners from external control .under this system the
inmates are to elect some off their colleagues as their representative and the
entire prison management is run by this elected body of inmates. With this
control they look the interests and welfare of their fellow prisons. The self
government of prisoners in Osborne(USA) jail indicated that the system proved
quite successful and the nimber of escapes were reduced to negligible. The
inmate generally behaved well and never tried to misuse the liberty extended to
them. The system will not be successful in Pakistan
as the condition of our jails is unsatisfactory due to lack of general
moral discipline among the criminals who are often illiterate persons form the
lower strata of society. It is for this reason that in Pakistan we a system of
partial self government in our prisons .prisoners with good reason record are
attached to the work with wardens and
guards of the institution and thus act as a common link between prison
authorities and inmates. They are
extended certain facilities and even allowed to move out of prison occasionally
during the course their work. This proves helpful in many ways. It develops a
sense of duty, honestly trust and loyalty among prisoners, and secondly it has
a psychological effect on other inmates as they are convicted that a
disciplined behavior in prison would entail some facilities and deduction in
their term of sentence like their fellow prisoners.
PRISON
LABOUR
Utilization of prisoners in productive work has been accepted
as one of the best method about rehabilitation of offenders. Work is the best
alternative for channelizing the potential of prisoners for a useful purpose.
It will also be helpful for their physical and mental fitness. It will infuse
self confidence among them and they can think of returning to the society as
law abiding citizens. The biggest advantage of putting inmates to work can be
utilized for supporting their family and dependents. In short work would be
beneficial to inmates and at the same time remunerative to the state. The
system of parole and probation and other treatment methods have helped
considerably in the rehabilitation of prisoners.
The Prison
community
Talking about the prison community Prof: Sutherland Observed that “an offender entering a prison for
the first time is introduced to the culture in such the same way as a child is
introduced to the ways of having with his elders”. According to him the general
process by which a child is taught the behaviors of this group is called
“socialization” and the compare able process among inmates is name d
“Prisonization”. Every new prisoner has to learn the technical rules of the
prison in which he Is lodged. Gradually he adopts him self to the condition of
prison life .
PROCESS OF
INDIVIDUALIZED METHOD IN PRISON
Despite modern techniques of treating the offenders through
the process of individualized method in prison there are certain problems that
still remain unresolved. The four most difficulties arises in treating
recidivists or habitual offenders who do not respond favorably to any of the
reformative methods of treatment. They accept prisonization as a normal way of
life and criminality as a regular profession.
When recidivists are placed in the correction institution
they treat it as a place comfort. Do the treatment methods hardly serve any
useful purpose in the case recidivists? Therefore such criminals have got to be
confined to for walls of the prison and made to live strictly regulated life.
Harden criminals and recidivists are an unnecessary Burdon on the state but
they have to tolerated at any rate for the sake of respect for human life and
social security. Commenting on the policies to in followed in the cease of
recidivists .SIR LIONEL FOX observed
“certain people are worth less form social standpoint and are in fact physical
mentally an morally a burden to society and their exist no rational reason to
provide care for them”.
It should not be forgotten that crimes are essentially
conditioned by social, economic and political situations of a particular place.
The advancement of knowledge, technology and citizens has brought about radical
changes in our social structure, economy, political strategy and thinking.
Consequently many new crimes which were hitherto unknown have sprung up, for example the offences of fraud,
embezzlement, forgery , theft of auto mobiles ,gang style crime, terrorist
activities, tax erosion, infringement of copy right, trademarks and patents and
many other. Corrupt practices are relatively of a recent origin. Many old
crimes are now repeated with new techniques and methods and which minimal
chances of detection. The problem of increase in population, economic
depression and criminalization of politics has also contributed to stimulate
crime rate .it erroneous to think that rise in criminality is exclusively due
to the failure of our penal policies. Far from being so it is infect and
indication that we have yet to enlarge the scope of our penal programe to suit
the needs of modern times.
The general policy which seems expedient in present context
is the institutionalized treatment with provisions of minimum security for
adults and greater security for juveniles. The sole contention behind the
entire scheme should be to preserve respect for human life at any cost. The
ultimate object of prison institution should be to reform the offender rather
than to torture and antagonize him. The prison should be moral hospitals or
place of reeducation but they should not be so comfortable as to be attractive.
An ideal prison must provide for adequate work, vocational training, and basic
education, medical and recreational facilities for inmates. The prison
management should be made functional, effective and goal-oriented so as to
prove itself as an efficient agency of the criminal justice administration.
Modern prisons
It need not be stressed that efforts for rehabilitation of
an offender begins from the time he enters the prison. A comprehensive prison
programme is therefore essential to cater the needs of different categories of
inmates. The prison life should be so regulated that the prisoner is able to
overcome all his psychological strains and adopt himself as a law abiding
citizen after his release from jail. it is always preferable to place the
released prisoners under the supervision and guidance of a probation officer
for his aftercare and rehabilitation in the free community. Welfare officers
appointed in prisons can also play an important role in providing adequate
counseling, legal help and financial assistance to the prisoners at the time of
their release so that they are properly rehabilitated in society.
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