NCJ Number
79674
Date Published
1978
Length
23 pages
Annotation
The nature of interaction between Belgian prison administration and scientific research, as well as proposals for more effective collaboration are outlined.
Abstract
Basic norms for collaboration between prison administrations and universities have existed since 1970. The arrangement allows trained university staff to enter prisons and to establish what the concrete problems of prisons are. The prison administration receives the benefit of assistance in diagnosis and problemsolving from researchers. Unfortunately, correctional administrations have never officially acknowledged that they benefit from the research. The areas of research are usually determined by universities. Correctional administrations generally do not thoroughly analyze the findings because they lack training in scientific method and because of the gap between the abstract theories of the researchers and the pragmatic bent of administrators. The research demands of the administration are concrete and immediate, determined by need arising from a lack of specialized personnel. University research teams working in prisons have never really found their place in the prison hierarchy and may at times even interfere with the functioning of personnel and inmates. Successful collaboration in prison research required structural reform of the research system. Creation of a central coordination office of trained social science researchers in the Department of Justice is necessary. The usefulness of research as presently conducted must be carefully weighed. Research can only be undertaken with success in institutions of reduced size run on an experimental basis or in prisons with viable small living units. In general, the nature of the prison-university relationship depends on the organization and character of research on the level of general criminal policy.