NCJ Number
101309
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 1 Dated: (1986) Pages: 25-34
Date Published
1986
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Questionnaires administered to 11 guards and 10 inmate participants in 1982 found that both groups have reacted positively to the sociotherapeutic workshop (STW) in Geneva's (Switzerland) remand prison Champ-Dollon.
Abstract
In following a paradigm of a therapeutic community, STW has been directly inspired by England's Grendon Prison and the Netherlands' Van der Hoeven Kliniek. Within a structure of democratic decisionmaking, STW promotes responsible inmate behavior. Workshop activities occur during regular prison working hours and include discussion groups, creative work, and social skills training. Guards and inmates agree that STW helps inmates to cope better with imprisonment and control violent impulses, but neither group believes the workshop prepares inmates for release or diminishes the recidivism risk. Inmates prefer the activities which enhance their current well-being; guards focus more on socialization activities. Guards and inmates agree that STW should promote outspokenness and mutual respect among guards and inmates as well as prepare inmates for release. STW apparently offers a satisfactory treatment setting for inmates with severe personality disorders, but this study does not provide data on STW's long-term effects. Tabular and graphic data and 7 references.