NCJ Number
221163
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 12 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2007 Pages: 628-643
Date Published
November 2007
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper develops the principle that practitioners acting as therapeutic agents in corrections should apply the concept of human rights in structuring and guiding the assessment, treatment, and monitoring of offenders.
Abstract
A "human right" is a "claim right" that stems from being a human being with the potential to develop behaviors and self-expressions that are distinctive characteristics of the highest manifestation of what it means to be human. Human rights are not reserved for particular social classes, professional groups, cultural collectives, races, gender, or intelligence range. Individuals hold title to human rights simply because they are members of the human race; and as such, they are moral agents capable of pursuing their own personal projects and seeking ways of realizing them in their daily lives. A number of rights generally associated with being human are curtailed for offenders such as rights to privacy and association; however, offenders still are entitled to the well-being and the freedom necessary for functioning as necessary to pursue a purposive life that enables them to continue developing as responsible moral agents. This encompasses access to basic educational resources, medical care, self-esteem, adequate nutrition, access to leisure activities, healthy living conditions, the opportunity to work, access to good psychological and psychiatric services, and choice in rehabilitation options and activities. Human rights must not only be ensured within the restrictive limits of incarceration and other correctional settings, correctional clinical practice must focus on enabling offenders to pursue their human rights constructively and with maximum positive effect both during and after they leave the correctional setting. 63 references