Correctional Treatment Programmes for Prisoners, Workshop 4, Summary of the Rapporteur (From Report for 1982 and Resource Material Series Number 23, P 131-137, 1983 - See NCJ-94439)

• NCJ Number: 94447
• Author(s): F Kwan-yuet
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Workshop papers presented by correctional officials from Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan concentrated on prison industries, vocational training programs, and Japan's organized crime group known as the Yakuza.

Abstract

The overview of Hong Kong's prison industries program noted that it brings in industrial managers and other professionals to develop industries that parallel outside enterprises as closely as possible. This strategy also has saved the government money by placing prisoners in gainful employment. A speaker from the Republic of Korea described that country's correctional training efforts which emphasize academic training, living guidance, and vocational training. He also commented on prisoners' poor responses to these programs, the lack of staff training, and difficulties stemming from religious programs in prisons. Another paper outlined Singapore's institutional rehabilitation program operated by the Prisons Department and coordinated with an individualized program conducted by the Prison Welfare Service. The author cited large caseloads and high turnover among prison welfare officers as problems in the system. The description of Thailand's prison vocational training programs covered types of training, selection criteria, and problems, notably prison work bearing on relation to job markets in some localities. The final presentation surveyed the organization of Japan's Yakuza society and emphasized that Yakuza members, who comprised about 26 percent of the 1983 prison population, have little incentive for rehabilitation.