PUNITIVE AND REFORMATIVE

TREATMENT OF CRIMINALS
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Of the various theories of punishment the following three are the most
important and typical:
• Retributive
• Preventive, and
• reformative.
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Retributive Theory:
• According to the retributive theory the purpose of punishment is to
seek revenge. It is the theory described in the Old Testament as an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
• In Islamic jurisprudence, the concept of “qasas” also falls within the
same category.
• According to the German philosopher Kant, the offender should not
be punished for the reason that it is the means to his or another’s
benefit but for the simple reason that he has committed a crime.
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Retributive Theory:
• A court of law repays to one only that which he has acquired. He has
done crime and it is logical that the reward of his crime, the equivalent
of his destructive value, be given to him.
• The punishment which the society confers upon him does not deprive
him of his right but gives to him that which he has earned and
deserves. According to Hegel and Aristotle, punishment is the negative
reward of the criminal, who acquires it by infringing the moral law. It is
his award which he must receive.
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Preventive Theory:
• According to this theory, the aim behind punishment is to set an
example to others and to prevent them from criminal tendencies. In
this way, the object of punishment is prevention.
• This theory is expressed by the judge’s formula, “You are not punished
for stealing sheep, but in order that sheep may not be stolen.” This
theory does not invalidate even capital punishment because though
there is no question of improvement of the criminal, the other people
derive a lesson not to indulge in homicide.
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Reformative Theory:
• According to this theory, the aim of punishment is the improvement of
the offender himself. The modem age seems generally to favor and
apply this theory.
• In this theory, the behavior directed at the criminal shows him the
consideration due to an individual and not conduct analogous to
treatment of object and means. An offender is punishment for his own
benefit. This theory concurs with the modern humanitarian trend in
thought. This theory has been supported from many viewpoints. Some
of the major ones are the following:
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Reformative Theory:
• Criminal Anthropology: The modern criminal anthropology
propounds that crime is a disease a pathological state or the state of
inherited by acquired degeneration. Thus, it is necessary to treat a
criminal instead of punishing him.
• Hospitals, lunatic asylums, and welfare homes are better adapted to the
execution of projects to decrease crime than prisons. Crime is not the
result of a willful violation of moral law. The most usual causes of crime
are mental or physical defects. For example, kleptomania forces the
patient to steal.
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Reformative Theory:
• Criminal Sociology: Criminal sociology emphasizes the responsibility
of social circumstances for crime. Thus it is more efficacious to induce
improvements in social and economic conditions, to remove
inequalities and immoralities, than to punish the criminal.
• Crimes can be stopped not by punishment but by the organization of
human society cm the basis of justice and equality.
 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Reformative Theory:
• Psychoanalysis: Psychoanalysis joins hands with criminal
anthropology and sociology in supporting the reformative theory
according to Freud and his followers, crimes are caused by repressed
complexes, and tendencies of sex and jealousy caused by desires and
frustrated sexual passions.
• Thus, education and psychoanalytic treatment is needed for
preventing crimes instead of punishment. Crime is mental or neural
disease which can be eliminated by searching out repressed
unconscious complexes and transporting them, to the conscious level,
finding their causes and effecting their sublimation through means
acceptable to society.
RECIDIVISM
 INTRODUCTION
• Recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal
justice. It refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after
the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous
crime.
• Recidivism is an important feature when considering the core criminal
justice topics of incapacitation, specific deterrence and rehabilitation.
 INTRODUCTION
• Incapacitation refers to the effect of a sanction to stop people from
committing crime by removing the offender from the community.
• Specific deterrence is the terminology used to denote whether a sanction
stops people from committing further crime, once the sanction has been
imposed or completed.
• Rehabilitation refers to the extent to which a program is implicated in the
reduction of crime by "repairing" the individual in some way by addressing
his or her needs or deficits.
• Desistance refers to the process by which a person arrives at a permanent
state of non-offending. In effect, an offender released from prison will either
recidivate or desist. To the extent that interventions and sanctions affect the
process of desistance, the research overlaps.
 MODERN INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE
RESTORATION AND REINTEGRATION OF CRIMINALS
IN SOCIETY:
• Successful crime prevention strategies must address factors
contributing to the large number of crimes that are committed by
individuals who have served a term of incarceration and failed, upon
their release, to integrate the community as law-abiding citizens.
• In the absence of material, psychological, and social support at the
time of their release, offenders may have a very difficult time breaking
the cycle of release and re-arrest.
• Short-term prison terms and extended terms of remand in custody
provide limited opportunities for successful treatment and
interventions to prevent future recidivism.
 MODERN INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE
RESTORATION AND REINTEGRATION OF CRIMINALS
IN SOCIETY:
• Community safety makes it imperative that governments and communities
develop effective interventions that will assist ex-prisoners to successfully
reintegrate into the community and avoid further criminality.
• Managed offender reentry processes and programs are gaining
acceptance and may offer a cost effective way of preventing crime. There is
therefore an increasing focus among policy-makers and practitioners on
identifying programs and strategies that will help prisoners successfully
reintegrate back into their communities without re-offending.
• Positive reintegration outcomes are attained when factors predisposing a
person to criminal behavior are addressed in a holistic fashion and when the
physical and social needs of offenders are supported both within the prison
and after the offenders' release.
 MODERN INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE
RESTORATION AND REINTEGRATION OF CRIMINALS
IN SOCIETY:
• WHAT IS SOCIAL REINTEGRATION?
Social reintegration is often understood as the support given to offenders during their
reentry into society following imprisonment. A broader definition, however,
encompasses a number of interventions undertaken following an arrest to divert
offenders away from the criminal justice system to an alternative measure, including a
restorative justice process or suitable treatment.
It includes imposing community-based sanctions rather than imprisonment in an
attempt to facilitate the social reintegration of offenders within the community, rather
than subjecting them to the marginalizing and harmful effects of imprisonment.
For those who are sentenced to imprisonment, it includes correctional programs in
prison, and aftercare interventions. The post-release, community-based component of
these interventions has been variously referred to as "aftercare", "transitional care",
"reentry" or "reentry support", reintegration, or resettlement.
 MODERN INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE
RESTORATION AND REINTEGRATION OF CRIMINALS
IN SOCIETY:
• WHAT IS SOCIAL REINTEGRATION?
Social reintegration interventions can take place at various stages of the
criminal justice process and even outside of that process when offenders
are diverted to alternative services and programs.
They cover a wide array of services and initiatives implemented or
sponsored by the criminal justice system, often complemented by
collaborative schemes with community agencies and NGOs.
 GOALS AND ATTRIBUTES OF OFFENDERS
REENTRY PROGRAMS
• Reentry programs are often based on a case-management approach and
cover a range of interventions.
• These interventions are designed to assist offenders in preparing for
their release from confinement by helping them acquire the skill sets
required to succeed in the community, addressing personal challenges
and the factors associated with their criminal behavior, and
establishing the necessary contacts and relationships in the
community. Many, if not most, of these programs include some of form
of supervision.
 GOALS AND ATTRIBUTES OF OFFENDERS
REENTRY PROGRAMS
• Programs are typically developed on the basis of
i. the current understanding of the dynamic risk factors associated with recidivism,
ii. the typical needs of offenders, and
iii. the challenges they encounter upon their release from prison.
• Programs vary according to the recidivism risk factors and the type of social
integration challenges they are designed to address. Traditionally, one could identify
three main types of offender reintegration programs:
i. institution-based programs (some of them offered by community-based agencies);
ii. surveillance-based transition programs, and
iii. assistance based transition programs.
 GOALS AND ATTRIBUTES OF OFFENDERS
REENTRY PROGRAMS
• Institutional Programs
Institutional programs designed to prepare offenders to reenter society
can include education, mental health care, substance abuse treatment,
job training, counseling, and mentoring.
These programs are more effective when they are centered on a full
diagnostic and assessment of offenders.
Some of these programs are offered prior to the release by community-
based agencies which are equipped to provide after-care and follow-up
with the offenders following their release from confinement.
 GOALS AND ATTRIBUTES OF OFFENDERS
REENTRY PROGRAMS
• Surveillance-Based Programs
Surveillance-based programs are centered on supervision of offenders in the community following
release from confinement. There are four models of parole supervision:
a. Risk-based strategies operate on the premise that offenders are dangerous and need to be
controlled and closely monitored
b. Needs-based supervision strategies focus on offenders' criminogenic needs, which mean parole
supervisors help offenders get appropriate treatment in programs such as cognitive skills training
and addictions counseling.
c. The 'middle-ground' position is a combination of the two deficit models. The amalgamation is
supposed to appease supporters of both models. However, the problem with this dual approach is
that parole officers tend to experience uncertainty about which model should be used and when.
d. The final (and least-researched) supervision strategy is the 'strengths-based' model which views
offenders as "assets to be managed rather than merely liabilities to be supervised".
 GOALS AND ATTRIBUTES OF OFFENDERS
REENTRY PROGRAMS
• Programs designed to offer support and assistance
a. Mentally Ill Offenders
b. Employment and Job market reentry programs
c. Lodging and Financial Assistance
d. Family Support
e. Substance Abuse Intervention
UNODC HANDBOOK OM
PREVENTING RECIDIVISM
• Preventing recidivism requires effective interventions based on an
understanding of the factors that place offenders at risk and make it
difficult for them to successfully reintegrate into society.
Some risk factors are dynamic—meaning that they are amenable to
change—whereas other (static) risk factors are not.
❑Static risk factors do not change over time; they include aspects such
as, inter alia, an offender’s gender, criminal history, age at the time of
arrest or prior mental health problems.
❑Dynamic risk factors, on the other hand, can be addressed through
interventions within or outside the criminal justice system.