NCJ Number
145505
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This is a summary of activities of various organizations dealing with crime prevention and alternatives to imprisonment of offenders.
Abstract
In 1986, the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council requested the Secretary-General to prepare a report on alternatives to imprisonment and the reduction of the prison population as well as preparations for a global survey to be initiated in 1988. The Secretary-General, assisted by the UN regional and interregional institutes for the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders, was to formulate basic principles as well as minimum safeguards for persons subject to alternatives to imprisonment. Progress on these efforts were to be presented at the Tenth Session meeting. The updated report was to be presented at the Eighth Congress in 1990. Requests from the Secretary- General for updated information from member states emphasized the need for a description of the various measures adopted and the programs planned and implemented by member states, including an assessment of the current situation with data on offenders and prisoners, an evaluation of the costs of those programs, and a summary of the difficulties encountered with those programs. Several organizations and institutes focused on the formulation of draft standard minimum rules for the non-institutional treatment of offenders. These organizations and institutes include the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the UN Office at Vienna; the UN Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders; the Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control; the UN Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders; the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation; the Alliance of Non- Governmental Organizations on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Vienna and New York Branches; and the Committee of Cooperation of Prison Affairs of the Council of Europe. The International Conference on Research in Crime Prevention was convened in January 1988 to review various existing alternatives to imprisonment and the extent to which desirable rehabilitative and humanitarian goals were being achieved. The Conference proposed a number of organizational and substantive recommendations to be used at the Research Workshop to be held at the Eighth Congress.