Institutional Treatment of Adult Offenders

• NCJ Number: 76024
• Author(s): S Rahman
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: Bangladesh
• Note: Discussion paper presented at the 55th International Training Course on the subject of Treatment of Adult Offenders.

Annotation

The institutional treatment of adult offenders in Bangladesh is described, with attention to the nature of crimes committed, inmate training programs, early release programs, and disciplinary measures.

Abstract

The major causes of crime in Bangladesh are poverty and unemployment, the unequal distribution of wealth, the desire for land and property, and disillusionment among the young because of the unfulfilled promises of independence. The major crimes committed are theft, robbery, dacoity (organized crime), murder, dispossession from landed-property and home, rape, adultery, kidnapping, hoarding, exporting of currency, counterfeiting, and misappropriation of money. Although correctional policy advocates the humane treatment of inmates and the provision of institutional programs to help them change criminal habits, prison overcrowding makes these goals difficult if not impossible to achieve (there is registered accommodation for 16,381 inmates, while the prison population averaged 24,505 in 1979). Alternatives to incarceration are currently under government consideration. In every jail, there is a school up to the primary standard, where inmates are taught to read for 30 minutes daily. Inmates are assigned work on the basis of their abilities and vocational preferences. The industrial processes used in the prisons are outdated, such that inmates are not prepared to obtain employment in modernized industries on the outside. Moreover, there is no open institution in the country, although plans for an experimental open institution are being considered. A parole system exists but is applied in a restricted way. Inmate rights include visits and correspondence, participation in religious activities, access to information, grievance procedures, and medical care. Custodial staff are recruited from among those with poor academic backgrounds, and they receive no training for assisting in inmate rehabilitation. A training institute for staff is expected to be established soon. No references are cited.