PENOLOGY & VICTIMOLOGY

MID TERM PROJECT

"THE ROLE OF PRISON IN CRIME PREVENTION

Submitted By: KAMENDRA RAY Submitted To: Mrs.J. S.Pasari

Semester: VIIth Faculty, Criminal Law (H)

Section: B NUSRL, Ranchi.

Roll No.: 328

National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi

 ABSTRACT

In India, the prison is considered as a place like that of a living hell. Study of groups,
committees and commissions, initiated from time to time, have rendered a holistic approaches
of the prison authorities and administrators towards bringing out changes in prison system. The
reports submitted by different authorities from time to time draws public and legislative
attention towards the situation, issues and problems confronting prisons in the country. This is
abundantly exemplified by the deliberations of the All India Committee on Jail Reforms, that
prisons administration and living conditions of prisoners need to be paid a pointed and
systematic attention. The Committees appointed from time to time has made a large number of
recommendations.

There is special significance in the title of this paper: The Prison's Role in Crime Prevention;
not repression, but prevention. It is valid that wrongdoing is avoided not the only one by the
changed organizations and not alone by the police forces that try to stop the criminal before he
commits his crime, but also by the three services that together constitute what we call the
correctional process: probation, institutions and parole.

Prisons have now been considered as a community, reflecting the multifaceted sociocultural,
socio-economic and socio-political scenario of the society as a whole. Prisoners of all sections
of society are confined in prisons and conscious efforts are being made to provide such
conditions to the prisoners in prisons as are conducive to their physical as well as mental
treatment and care, and to maintain their human dignity, as also visualized by our father of the
Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi had visualized crime and prisons in therapeutical
context and observed that Crime is the outcome of a disease mind and jail must have an
environment of hospital for their treatment and care. This principle has become a State
Policy in India and efforts have all along been made to protect all basic rights of prisoners to
maintain their human dignity during the period of their incarceration.

The main objective of the prison administration is to make prison a safe place by maintaining
the required level of security and discipline and to make the best use of prison stay period for
reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners by providing them basic minimum facilities in
consistent with their human dignity. In India, prison is State subject. Thus, States have the
primary role, responsibility and authority.

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INTRODUCTION

The role of Prison is very important in crime prevention. According to Mahatma Gandhi, he
visualized crime and prisons in therapeutical context and observed that Crime is the outcome
of a disease mind and Prison must have an environment of hospital for their treatment
and care A definition of the term "prison" is necessary in any discussion of the prison's role,
for during the past eighty years our correctional institutions have been adapted to a changing
role in a changing society. Prisons by design are places where offenders are sent down as
punishment. They are meant to epitomize both the retributive and deterrence principles of
sentencing. The architecture and social aloofness further reinforces this feeling of punishment.
Also prisons are places where hardships are inevitably occasioned whether by design,
deliberate or otherwise. The deprivation of personal liberties, the denials of the basic choices
in life, the withholding and withdrawal of basic privileges. All the basic issues that find
expression in ordinary life are controlled and sparingly provided.1

If it thinks of the prison as a preventive agency, the public means that it is expected to deter
potential offenders through fear of punishment. But, as a matter of fact, the primary function of
the prison, as of probation and parole, is to reduce crime by preventing its repetition. Prisons
have four major purposes. These purposes are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and
rehabilitation. Retribution means punishment for crimes against society. Depriving criminals
of their freedom is a way of making them pay a debt to society for their crimes.

Punishing the offenders is a primary function of all civil societies. The drama of wrong doing
and its retribution has indeed been an unending fascination for human mind. However, during
the last two hundred years, the practice of punishment and public opinion concerning it has
been profoundly modified due to the rapidly changing social values and sentiments of the
people2. Thus, punishment can be used as a method of reducing the incidence of criminal
behaviour either by deterring the potential offenders or by incapacitating and preventing them
from repeating the offence or by reforming them into law-abiding citizens. And the objective
of punishment can only be achieved by the prison institution.

1
http://www.ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/PSI/Prison2012/Full/PSI-2012.pdf last assessed at 10:30 pm on 15th
Nov 2016
2
http://law.jrank.org/pages/9576/Punishment-THEORIES-PUNISHMENT.html last assessed at 9:00 pm on 15th
Nov 2016

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 The existence of prisons can be traced back to the ancient period. Initially there was a belief
that rigorous isolation and custodial measures would reform the offenders. In due course it is
being substituted by the modern concept of social defence.

FUNCTION OF THE PRISON

The primary function of the prison is Parole and Probation which reduce crime by preventing its
repetition.

Parole: The parole system is an excellent way to allow prisoners to rehabilitate and get in touch
with the outside world. Parole is a legal sanction that lets a prisoner leave the prison for a short
duration, on the condition that she/he behaves appropriately after release and reports back to
the prison on termination of the parole period. It must be noted that a parole is different from
a furlough. While parole is granted to a prisoner detained for any offence irrespective of the
duration of imprisonment, a furlough is only granted to prisoners facing long sentences, five
years or more. Furlough is matter of right, but parole is not. However, an abuse of the system
is a drag on the country. The urgent need of the hour is for police officials to acknowledge that
the parole system is being misused and find ways to ensure that parole laws are properly
enforced in prisons across the country.
Probation: Probation seeks to socialize the criminal, by training him to take up an earning
activity and thus enables him to pick up those life-habits, which are necessary for a law-abiding
member of the community. This inculcates a sense of self-sufficiency, self-control and self-
confidence in him, which are undoubtedly the essential attributes of a free-life. The Probation
Officer would guide the offender to rehabilitate himself and also try and wean him away from
such criminal tendencies.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
Why prisons are correctional institution rather than some other systems?
What is the central role of confining the "accused" party?
Whether the Prisons in contemporary form and functioning, may seem like an isolated
invention that appeared and their origin should be traced to a much more profound social
change.
Whether the Prison should "cure" or "readapt" the criminal. It is-or should be, we say-more
"therapeutic" than punitive.
How can the prison best prevent the repetition of crime by its charges?

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 Whether the prison can best protect society by serving as an instrument of custodial
segregation, or of punishment, or of rehabilitation.
What purpose could give validity to the use of the prison as an instrument of punishment?
Whether Prisoners maintain the same positive characters after their sentences are over is
another issue.
PURPOSE OF PRISONS

What are the purposes of Prison?

Prisons have four major purposes3. These purposes are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence
and rehabilitation. Retribution means punishment for crimes against society. Depriving
criminals of their freedom is a way of making them pay a debt to society for their crimes.

Retribution: Retribution is at the heart of just about all judicial systems that deal with law and
order. To the extent that punishment is supposed to fit the crime, retributive justice can be
distinguished from revenge in the sense that defendants are expected to give up something in
return for the offenses they committed. Retribution can be considered a susceptible principle
insofar as ranging in doctrines from an eye for an eye to the Golden Rule.4
Deterrence: Deterrence is the use of punishment to stop potential criminals from committing
crimes. The criminals would choose to break the law only after considering the risks and
rewards of their actions. When the punishment for committing a certain crime outweighs the
reward, then the criminal will not commit the crime. When the punishment is viewed as less
severe than the possible rewards, offenders will be more likely to take the risk and commit a
crime. If offenders really do engage in this rational thought process prior to committing a crime,
then it may be possible to use harsh punishments as a method of preventing future crimes.5

The effectiveness of deterrence is dependent upon the particular society in question. A specific
penalty may be quite efficacious as a deterrent measure in one society, yet have little
effectiveness in another. The effectiveness of specific deterrent measures is not only dependent
upon the society designated, but, more precisely, upon the particular social system and value

3
http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3752&context=jclc last assessed at
7:12 AM on 16th Nov 2016
4
http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/national-crime-records-bureau-data-2015-slight-dip-in-rape-crime-
against-women-3004980/ last assessed at 7:23 AM on 16th Nov 2016
5
http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/12/17/specials/foucault-prisons.html last assessed at 7:23 AM on 16th Nov
2016

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system in that society. This qualification is necessary when referring to modem western nations
since each contains numerous social systems.

The influence of value systems upon deterrence and criminality is a subject that has received
scant scholarly attention. This historical observation indicates that the people's respect for the
legal ideology and its administration may determine the effectiveness of deterrent punishments.
Specific deterrence means that the punishment will stop an offender from reoffending and
General Deterrence is the effect of the punishment has on the entire population.

Incapacitation: Incapacitation is considered by some to be a subset of specific deterrence.

Incapacitation aims to prevent future crimes not by rehabilitating the individual but rather from
taking away his ability to commit such acts. Under this theory, criminals are put in jail not so
that they will learn the consequence of their actions but rather so that while there they will be
unable to engage in crime.

Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation is the re-integration into society of a convicted person and the
main objective of modern penal policy, to counter habitual offending, also known as
criminal recidivism The basic idea of rehabilitation through imprisonment is that a person who
has been incarcerated will never want to be sent back to prison after they have been set free 6.
It is hoped that an inmates experiences while locked up will leave such a lasting impression
that a former prisoner will do whatever it takes to avoid a second term. In an effort to offer
better rehabilitative services to the inmates, many prisons have begun providing psychiatrists
to help deal with prisoners mental disorders and psychological issues. Prisons also offer
classroom settings in which inmates can learn to read and educate themselves. These methods
are proven to have a positive effect on the prisoners and have helped many to overcome a
background with little or no education. Upon their release, prisoners who have stuck with these
programs are given a better opportunity to succeed and to become law abiding citizens.
Rehabilitation of prisoners is an extremely difficult process, but the horrors of prison life and
the lessons they learn there are enough to deter them from committing crimes again in the
future.

It is obvious that the prison provides society some protection from crime by merely keeping
offenders in custodial segregation for varying periods up to life imprisonment. It is equally
obvious that this may solve the problem caused by specific criminals without solving the

6
http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Mousdell_Retribution_is_no_Solution_IJC_July_2012.pdf last
assessed at 10:10 PM on 16th Nov 2016

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problem of crime in general, just as the segregation of lepers may or may not promote the
prevention and cure of leprosy. Even with specific offenders, imprisonment has limited value
as a protective device unless they are confined for life.
Programmes to boost the reformation tendencies in prisoners:
There are some programmes as initiated by various State governments for the reforms of the
prisoners as follows:
Prisons Training Activities: Our prisons are known for producing top class products. Training
on pen manufacturing, book binding, manure making, screen printing, envelope making,
tailoring and cutting, shoe-making etc. are regularly provided to the inmates. These training
programmes have not only resulted in learning of different trades but also provided monetary
gains to the prisoners. For the post-release rehabilitation of the prisoners, the Social Welfare
Department of State Govt. provides loans for setting up self-employed units.

Prisons Spiritual Guidance and Counselling: Prisons spiritual guidance and counselling
services are now recognised as having positive inputs. The concept of introducing Yoga and
meditation in the jail has created history and has received wide accreditation by various
national and international human rights organization. For cleansing and disciplining mind,
yoga and meditation classes are conducted in a big way with the help of various voluntary
organizations. In the year 1994 Tihar Jail created a history by organizing a Vipassana
Meditation camp for more than one thousand prisoners.

Prisons Welfare Service: The Prisons welfare services were established to create a linkage
between the prisoner and the outside world. The welfare officers are meant to keep bridges
between the prisoners and their families or any other relations. Hence the welfare services is
staged and run by civilian staff. The scope, effectiveness and efficiency of welfare units in
prisons are doubtful. Often times, the greatest problem is lack of funds to sustain welfare
activities that are meaningful and of benefit to the prisoners.

Educational Facilities: The prison administration has provided facilities for education of
inmates by getting affiliated with the Indira Gandhi National Open University and the National
Open School. There are also computer-training centres for the inmates. The most important
aspect of the education system in Jail is that educated prisoners voluntarily teach less educated
prisoners. An illiterate prisoner can look forward to being literate if his stay is more than a
week. Library facility has been provided with the support of non-governmental organizations.

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Vocational classes in English/ Hindi typing and Commercial Arts are conducted by Directorate
of Training & Technical Education and certificates are issued to successful students.
Prisoners' Panchayats: Prisoners bodies called Panchayats are constituted to help prison
administration in the field of education, vocational education, legal counselling, kitchen, public
works etc. Co-operative canteens at many prisons have been running successfully and the
profits made are used for the recreation and welfare of prisoners. Prisoners are encouraged to
participate in the management of their welfare activities. Sense of responsibility is inculcated
in the prisoners to prepare them for social integration after release.7
Facility for Psychological Treatment: The prison authorities have started special
psychological treatments for prisoners. Creative Art Therapy, which is psychotherapeutic in
nature, is used in several settings. In respect to prison setting, the therapy serves as a
reformatory process. In several ways. Firstly and most importantly, it helps the inmates to
express, channelize and ventilate their anger, grievances and feelings. One has to keep in mind
that anyone convicted or otherwise exiled from the rest of the world is initially bound to have
tremendous anger, aggression, and sense of helplessness, hopelessness and emotional
problems. Therefore, by practicing Creative Art, the individual is able to release his pent up
emotions and realise his worth.
Prisoners' Grievance Cell: A prisoner grievance cell is working effectively under the charge
of Petition Officer and immediate remedial steps are taken on the complaints/ grievances of the
prisoners. Prisoners have been provided facilities to write complaints and send them to senior
officers either through fixed complaint boxes located at convenient places or through the
mobile petition box meant for petitions addressed to D.G. / Addl. I.G. (Prisons), which is taken
to all the enclosures everyday. Jail Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent and even senior
officers have frequent meetings with the prisoners openly where prisoners' grievances are
listened carefully and solutions provided.8
Community Participation: As a part of community participation in the reformation and social
integration of prisoners after release, a large number of respectable members of non-
governmental organisations, retired Major Generals, Eminent Psychiatrists, Psychologists,
Principals and Teachers of various educational institutions have been conducting various
activities in the jail. These programmes have very sobering and positive impact on the psyche
of the prisoners, who have been shown the positive and constructive approach to life after

7
http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/12/17/specials/foucault-prisons.html
8
http://www.unafei.or.jp/english/pdf/PDF_rms/no57/57-23.pdf last assessed at 11:08 PM on 17th NOV 2016

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interaction with them. NGOs' participation is mainly concentrated in the field of education,
vocation and counselling. Apart from the formal education with the NGO support, the classes
in various languages like Urdu, Punjabi, German, French etc. are also held. Some of the NGOs
have trained selected prisoners on various trades and have been bringing job for them against
payment of remuneration. They also rehabilitate these prisoners after their release.
Periodical Visit of Medical Officers: The reform initiatives taken up in Jail shows that force
is always not necessary to control and correct the prison inmates. The manner in which the
prison administration has taken up the system of rehabilitation, it becomes important for other
prisons of the nation to follow suit. The central as well as state governments must also take the
initiatives to take actions so that this system of rehabilitation is encouraged, promoted and
practiced.

REFORMATION OF PRISONER FOR PREVENTION OF CRIME

What are the prevention of crime?
Crime Prevention is the anticipation, recognition, and appraisal of a crime risk, and the
initiation of action to remove or reduce it. Crime Prevention is an active approach utilizing
public awareness and preventive measures to reduce crime.
It is also true that by tradition and due to absence of effective and extensive noncustodial
sanctions, imprisonment as a custodial sentence has been extensively utilised by the courts.
Unlike any other sentence, custody has a high public profile relative to other sentences. With a
relatively young population, it is predictable that potential for more people being sentenced to
prison in future is high - very high indeed given the population.
Reformation of Women Prisoners: The women prisoners should be treated more generously
and allowed to meet their children frequently. This will keep tem mentally fit and respond
favourably to the treatment methods. A liberal correctional and educational programme seems
necessary in case of women delinquents. Particularly, the women, who fall prey to sex offences,
should be treated with sympathy and their illegitimate children should be assured an upright
life in the society. The idea of setting up separate jails for women provides the free environment
for providing special treatment to them. The first women jail was established in Maharashtra
at Yarwada.
Reformation of Juveniles Offenders: For the reformation of juveniles, correctional
institutions, like Special homes (under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000), certified schools and
borstals are constituted for providing the special treatment, medical care, education,
accommodation and vocational training to juveniles. Particularly, the States of Gujarat,

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 Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have done a commendable work in direction of encouraging
Borstal system through a well-planned strategy. The young offenders in these States are
released on license or parole after they have served at least two-thirds of commitment in a
certified correctional school. These States have also established After-care Associations and
Children Aid Societies to rehabilitate and reform the juvenile offenders.

CORRECTIONAL POLICY TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT

1. Sentencing and corrections policies should embody fairness, consistency, proportionality and
opportunity.
2. Legislatures should convey a clear and purposeful sentencing and corrections rationale. The
criminal code should articulate the purpose of sentencing, and related policies and practices
should be logical, understandable, and transparent to stakeholders and the public.
3. A continuum of sentencing and corrections options should be available, with prison space for
the most serious offenders and adequate community programs for diversion and supervision of
others.
4. Sentencing and corrections policies should be resource-sensitive as they affect cost,
correctional populations and public safety. States should be able to effectively measure costs
and benefits.
5. Sentencing and corrections policies should reflect current circumstances and needs.
6. Justice information should be a foundation for effective, data-driven state sentencing and
corrections policies.
7. Strategies to reduce crime and victimization should involve prevention, treatment, health,
labour and other state policies; they also should tap federal, academic and private resources
and expertise.

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 CONCLUSION
If the prison is not expected to perform the task of serving as an instrument of retribution, when
it holds offenders in custodial segregation only as a measure of safety, not as punishment. its
primary aim is the rehabilitation, reclamation, reform-call it what you will-of those committed
to it, and when it makes through research its full contribution to scientific knowledge of crime
causation and treatment, then and then only will the prison fulfil its true function and protect
the society. It should be realized that if jail services in respect of reformative schemes are
improved and facilities given, they can do a very important constructive job of rehabilitation.
Developmental activities of the prison department, particularly in respect of welfare and
production, should be incorporated in the five year plans.
The theory that the prison can most effectively reduce crime and thus promote the protection
of society by serving as an instrument of punishment cannot be discussed without reference to
the theory of rehabilitation, for in practice the two theories run counter to each other at so many
points. Prisons could play a role of great significance if they were organized and staffed not
only to provide training and treatment with a view to rehabilitation but also to serve as research
centres. It is true that the addition of professionally trained personnel to the staff of many
institutions has resulted in the assembling of considerable information of scientific value.

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 REFERENCES

1. 1. National Policy on Prison Reforms and Correctional Administration, Bureau of

Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New
Delhi, 2007.
2. 2. Paranjape NV. Criminology & Penology with Victimology, Central Law
Publications; Sixteenth Edition; 2014, p-479.
3. 3. Prisons in India: An overview of reforms and current situation, pp.31-53; available
at www.rajprisons.nic.in.
4. 4. Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.
Implementation of the Recommendations of All-India Committee on Jail Reform
(1980-83); Volume I; 2003;
5. Bennett, James V., "Research Resources and Opportunities" in Reckless, Walter C., the
Etiology of Delinquent and Criminal Behavior, Social Science Research Council, New
York, 1943.
6. RETRIBUTION IS NO SOLUTION: Is Community Justice a Viable Alternative? By
Anthony Thomas Mousdell, 2012
7. Becker, G.S. (1968) 'Crime and punishment: an economic approach', Journal of
Political Economy. Vol 76, Issue 2: 169-217.
8. CRIME PREVENTION: CURRENT ISSUES IN CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT
AND EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES By Muhoro Peterson Kamunyu*
9. Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders Seventh United Nations Congress in
Milan, Italy 26 August to 6 September, 1985.
10. Society Against Crime - Penal Theory now edited by Howard Jones - Penguin Books

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