NCJ Number
75156
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The organization of the Japanese parole system and the duties of probation officers are discussed.
Abstract
The Rehabilitation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice in Japan has the responsibility for the overall administration of the country's rehabilitation services which are provided through eight regional parole boards. Each has 3 to 12 full-time commissioners who make decisions concerning release on parole, the revocation of parole, the termination of treatment, and the extension of the parole period. Probation officers are responsible for probationary supervision and for rehabilitation efforts. When a parole board receives an application for parole from the head of an institution or when a parole examination is deemed necessary, probation officers investigate the offender's character, behavior in the institution, vocational knowledge, lifestyle before commitment, family relationships, and other relevant matters. Before the hearing, which is required by law, the oficer conducts an interview with the offender in order to gather information and give advice. Officers at one regional board take charge of three or four institutions and visit each five to seven times a month. Six to 8 inmates are interviewed per day in 50-minute sessions, so that about 40 to 50 are interviewed in 1 month. Some interviews are conducted as part of a preparole service program, initiated in 1966, in which officers discuss cases with inmates and institution personnel before applications for parole are filed. However, because of a shortage of officers, the program is not conducted at all institutions.