NCJ Number
199439
Journal
Innovation Exchange Issue: 10 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 50-52
Date Published
2003
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes ways in which prison inmates and community members in Israel interact both within prison and in the community to facilitate inmate rehabilitation and adjustment in the community after release.
Abstract
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) operates a range of prison-community projects. These are intended to strengthen the rehabilitation efforts within the prison by gradually exposing the inmate to community influences through volunteer or work projects. These projects also involve community members in volunteer work within the prisons, particularly in assisting in the preparation of inmates for re-entry into the community. Municipalities work with the IPS to help rehabilitate inmates from their own towns. A representative from a municipality meets with IPS managers to determine how best to facilitate inmate rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. The municipality then establishes a steering committee headed by the mayor or his/her deputy to oversee the work of four executive subcommittees. One committee devises individual rehabilitation plans for each inmate due for release. Another committee works to persuade employers to offer job opportunities to released inmates. A third committee increases the municipality's orders for the products of IPS workshops, so that more inmates can be employed while in prison and return to the community with some savings and improved job skills. The fourth committee offers released inmates and their families positive leisure-time activities. IPS projects in schools include courses on criminology and police provided by IPS lecturers and study materials. The IPS also arranges student visits to correctional facilities for young offenders. While serving prison terms, selected inmates do volunteer work in the community. Further, the IPS works with inmates' families to provide guidance and opportunities for them to assist in the rehabilitation of the imprisoned family member. In another project that involves community-member and inmate interaction, inmates and community theater students participate in mutual study and dramatize their insights into one another and themselves.