SriLanka (From Management of Corrections in Asia and the Pacific - Proceedings, P 259-271, 1983, W Clifford, ed. - See NCJ-93720)

• NCJ Number: 93729
• Author(s): J P Delgado
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This review of elements of corrections management in Sri Lanka considers staff development, release under supervision, vocational training, and classification and categorization.

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, a systematic training program with a separate institution for training was established in 1975 with the opening of the Centre for Research and Training in Corrections. The major task of the center is the training of new recruits. This training includes a few days of practical training in prisons as well as instruction in law, human relations, rehabilitation techniques, and the aims and objectives of the department of corrections. Supplementary training includes drill, unarmed combat, firearms, and first aid. Staff officers participate in seminars designed to upgrade their skills and knowledge in areas pertaining to their job responsibilities, and senior officers have been able to obtain overseas training under technical assistance schemes. Schemes of release under supervision are intended not only to reduce the prison population but also to rehabilitate the offender. Traditional probation is used both for juvenile and adult offenders. The license scheme of release provides for long-term offenders to be released from prison prior to completion of their full sentence subject to certain conditions under the supervision of a welfare officer. Work release and home leave are also provided. Courts may also order a period of police supervision after release for recidivist offenders. Regarding inmate vocational training, open institutions emphasize training in animal husbandry and agriculture, while closed institutions focus on training in industries. Every inmate is required to work 8 hours a day. Inmate classification is according to age, sex, and degree of criminality determined by the number of previous convictions. The absence of sophisticated equipment and qualified psychologists in the prison service prevents the kind of classification assessment that would permit treatment-offender matching. Classification has the objective of preventing youthful and first offenders from being further criminalized by the recidivist offender. One table is included.