NCJ Number
72499
Journal
Indian Journal of Criminology Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (July 1980) Pages: 106-109
Date Published
1980
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Over the centuries, the Indian prison has been moving steadily toward the idea of the open prison, an idea which should be carried its fullest realization.
Abstract
Every prisoner should pass through an open prison before earning release, so that each can have the opportunity to react to 'normal' circumstances and learn what constitutes appropriate behavior. An open prison is open with respect to architecture, management, administration, and information. Material or physical precautions against escape are absent, and the system is built on self-discipline and the inmates' sense of responsibility towards the group with which they live. Inmates must be won over by love, affect, trust, information, and education if they are to cooperate in the plans and programs of the institution. The inmates of an open institution should be organized as a collection of citizens gathered to form a new institution, where each trusts another fully and plays his part to his best capacity. Moreover, the allocation of various functions and duties should be arranged by mutual consent. Administration of the prison must be built on tolerance, where inmates can express their needs and then be taught to express what they have to say in proper language, at proper times, and to the right persons. The camp rules, regulations, prisoners' wages, earnings, accounts, proceedings, and decisions should be open to inmates for inspection and reference. The quality of the staff is of fundamental importance in such a setting. The staff must have knowledge of and living faith in the social sciences; in modern methods of motivating and redirecting human behavior; and in being a guide, philosopher, teacher, friend, psychologist, economist, and protector all combined in one. Such open camps offer cost-effectiveness, humaneness, and real and lasting security to society, as the inmates nurtured within them may expect greater chances for rehabilitation. No references are provided.