ANALYSIS OF LITERATURE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION BULLETIN CONCERNING PENITENTIARY TREATMENT FROM 1947-1976 (FROM NOTES ON CRIMINOLOGY AND SOCIAL PATHOLOGY, 1977, N 14)

• NCJ Number: 55237
• Author(s): N DENEUTER-STRIJCKMAN
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 17 pages
• Corporate Author: Universite Catholique de Louvain
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: French
• Country: Belgium

Annotation

CHANGES IN THE ATTITUDES TOWARD TREATMENT OF PRISONERS IN BELGIAN PENITENTIARIES ARE ANALYZED ON THE BASIS OF LITERATURE IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE BULLETIN FROM 1947 TO 1976.

Abstract

IN THIS PERIOD A CONCERN BOTH FOR PROTECTING THE BASIC RIGHTS OF PRISONERS AND FOR ENCOURAGING REHABILITATIVE TREATMENT FOR INMATES AND THE AWARENESS OF THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND APPLICATION OF TREATMENT HAVE EVOLVED. THE CONCEPT OF TREATMENT IS OUTLINED SPECIFICALLY BY COMPARING TWO SETS OF MINIMUM RULES. ANALYSIS OF THE WORDING OF TEXTS INDICATES A SHIFT OF EMPHASIS FROM EDUCATION TO PREVENT CONFLICTS WITH THE LAW (1954) TO A CONCEPT OF SOCIAL REHABILITATIVE TREATMENT FOR PAROLEES INVOLVING THERAPISTS ACTING AS LIAISONS BETWEEN DELINQUENTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES (1967). BY THE EARLY SEVENTIES SOCIOTHERAPEUTIC ACTIVITIES WITH BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS EXTENDED TO INMATES THEMSELVES, WITH ATTENTION TO INDIVIDUAL NORMS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIETY; GRADUALLY THE CONCEPTS OF TREATMENT AND PRISON MERGED. NEW CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO ALTER THE REPRESSIVE TERMS PREVIOUSLY USED, FOR EXAMPLE, 'SOCIAL REACTION' FOR 'TREATMENT,' OR 'THERAPEUTIC LIBERTY,' WHICH MAKES THE INMATE APPEAR TO BE AN INVALID UNDER TREATMENT. WHILE THE NUMBER OF MEANINGS FOR TREATMENT EXPANDS, THE PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE TERM ARE RARELY DEFINED: ONLY TWO ARTICLES IN THE BULLETIN DURING THE POSTWAR PERIOD BEFORE 1974 CONSIDER THE ROLE OR THE EDUCATION REQUIRED OF GUARDS FOR TREATMENT. AROUND 1974 THE COMMITTEE OF JUSTICE MINISTERS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE RECOMMENDED MODIFICATION OF THE PERSONNEL'S ROLE AND OF RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN PRISONS, STRESSING THE NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE PERSONNEL'S WORKING CONDITIONS, SAFEGUARDS FOR THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL INTEGRITY OF PERSONNEL, AND DEMOCRATIZATION OF PRISON STRUCTURE, BUT THE GUARDS' ROLE HAS REMAINED AMBIGUOUS. IT IS EMPHASIZED THAT DEFINITION OF PRISON AND GUARD FUNCTIONS MUST PRECEDE RECRUITMENT AND EDUCATION OF PERSONNEL. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS FURNISHED. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)