NCJ Number
89945
Date Published
1977
Length
47 pages
Annotation
This paper considers the state of long-term imprisonment in Canada and the problems for inmates and correctional programs resulting from long-term imprisonment.
Abstract
According to the Council of Europe, long-term incarceration is a court sentence of 5 years or more regardless of the length of time actually served. This time limit was chosen as the period beyond which the problems attendant to long-term incarceration become clearly manifest. In 1974, 691 people were admitted to Canadian penitentiaries for a sentence of more than 5 years. In this same year, 117 prisoners were released from a penitentiary after having served more than 5 years. A committee of experts of the United Nations, realizing that long-term imprisonment is the alternative to the death penalty most often used (the case in Canada), has recommended that the period of imprisonment not be so long that it leaves the inmate no hope of one day successfully reentering the community. The expectation that the long-term prisoner will some day reenter the community requires an identification of the negative effects of long-term imprisonment and the establishment of prison programs designed to counteract them. Attention should be given to prison architecture, the effect of the prison environment on the inmate's personality, programs designed to meet inmate needs and interests, inmate security, and inmate rights. Seventy bibliographic entries are provided.