NCJ Number
90695
Date Published
1981
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Consideration of prison reform in India focuses on penological objectives, treatment in prisons, overcrowding and heterogeneity in prisons, prison buildings and environment, staffing, inmate classifications, inmate programs and services, and prerelease preparation and aftercare.
Abstract
Penal reform should be based in a commitment to the rehabilitation and resocialization of the offender. The environment, procedures, treatment processes, and staff of a correctional institution should be devoted to this end. The principal factor that prevents the shaping of the prison community as an effective instrument of treatment is the overcrowding in prisons and the concomitant heterogeneity of its population. Reform can begin with the prison infrastructure. Buildings and their surroundings should be spacious and reasonably comfortable with attractive and functional grounds. Considering the responsibility of prison personnel to provide treatment and effective custody, the existing staff are scarcely adequate in quality and number to do the job. Training geared to job responsibilities and inservice training are needed. There is also a need to diversify institutions to meet the varied needs of inmates based upon the scientific classification of inmates. The prison educational system is based on the adult education pattern and is operated in three grades: one for beginners, a second for primary level pupils, and the third for higher elementary or upper primary level students. The level of education should be upgraded and modern technology used in teaching methods. Reform is also needed in the provision of work therapy, the expanded use of open prisons and halfway houses, the provision of essential services to meet inmate physical needs, and prerelease preparation and aftercare.