NCJ Number
94939
Editor(s)
K Hobe
Date Published
1984
Length
131 pages
Annotation
The colloquium focused on new perspectives on justice in the criminal justice system, new and current problems in execution of imprisonment sentences, and transfer and treatment of foreign prisoners. Reports on each topic were followed by brief responding statements.
Abstract
The first report examines principles of the 'new crime policy' in Scandinavia. The new policy is not based on the beliefs that the criminal justice system can abolish criminality or that punishment can 'cure' an offender of criminality; the medical model is no longer used. However, prisons remain part of the criminal justice system to dramatize society's condemnation of criminality. New alternatives to imprisonment, such as economic sanctions and new variations on probation, are designed to be punitive. The Scandinavian approach, emphasizing the importance of written law, seeks a clear and uncomplicated sanction system. The punishments are listed in the law, along with their maximum and minimum limits. Unified and predictable sentencing practice is favored, based on the idea of proportionality between the intensity of the offender's guilt and the severity of the sentence. Also mentioned are the rationale for improving prison conditions, disputes about the parole system, decriminalization, and differences in Scandinavian and American thinking about fairness of sentencing and of the law. Statements following this report discuss criminal policy in the United States, Latin American, France, Italy, and Spain. The second paper, exploring the limitations of contemporary penal theory as a guide to action for prison administrators, suggests using a theory of prison rather than of imprisonment as an alternative approach. It urges prison administrators to adopt a 'new pragmatism,' based on the efficient management of resources and a moral framework emphasizing the civilized treatment of prisoners as individuals. Subsequent remarks discuss corrections in Italy and Belgium, crime trends and prevention activities in Japan, and latest trends in crime policy and their effect on sentencing. A review of the transfer and treatment of foreign prisoners gives a statistical panorama of the current situation. Typical problems and solutions tried in different countries are noted. However, the best solution to the problem of foreign prisoners is to transfer them to their home country under terms of treaties reached between the countries involved. Supplemental statements give data of France, Austria, Spain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Israel. A general report of the entire colloquium concludes the document. Footnotes and a list of participants are provided.