NCJ Number
70589
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: (1980) Pages: 67-80
Date Published
1980
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Following historical precedents of banishment, exile, and transportation, today's penal reform should look to the formation of humanitarian penal colonies for dangerous offenders.
Abstract
Banishment in ancient Greece ranged from complete exile to avoid retaliation to a 10-year exile for political prisoners. While transportation in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries was practiced by many countries, they were characterized by inhumane conditions and exploitation of the prisoners as slaves. Penal reform today seeks to move away from rehabilitation and treatment models and towards stricter enforcement of prison sentences. A system built on the principle of incapacitation, however, is not cost-effective unless restitution is incorporated. Guaranteed job programs for convicted felons could be used for nondangerous offenders in the context of community corrections programs. For dangerous felons (rapists, murderers, kidnappers), banishment is a reasonable alternative. Banishment as developed in England, France, and Russia was a disaster because no attempt was made to protect the well-being of the convicts. What is needed is a series of island or wilderness colonies for long-term prisoners, with custody graded according to the degree of viciousness of the prisoners. All colonies would be heterosexual; i.e., male and female prisoners would be sent there, and the wives and husbands or girlfriends and boyfriends of prisoners could accompany them. Subsistence agriculture, simple handicraft industries, and some technically advanced industries would operate. To avoid overcrowding which can lead to violence, the colonies would allow each prisoner plenty of space, and all dangerous prisoners with severe mental illness would receive psychological treatment at secure facilities. Military police would serve 1 year as custodial guards, and those with the highest job performance would serve 1 additional year as lieutenants--thus, guards would never become prisonized and they would be better trained and have higher ideals for their performance on the job. Finally, adequate funding would assure humane and competent job performance by all staff. Examples from Mexico, India, the Philippines, and Finland show that such a model is not completely impossible. Forty-one references are provided.