Prison Labour: Salvation or Slavery? by Dirk van Zyl Smit Frieder Dünkel

Author:Dirk van Zyl Smit, Frieder Dünkel [Dirk van Zyl Smit, Frieder Dünkel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138386303
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2020-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

6 Conclusion

The traditional rationale of regular work inside prison, namely that it is in the interest of order, rest and discipline, is again current since the introduction of a more restrictive standard regime for all prisoners. Furthermore, the extension of the number of working hours is meant to serve commercial purposes to a greater extent than was previously the case.

In general, the regular work in houses of detention is very simple, but also for prisons it is not easy to acquire interesting work that may improve the vocational skills of the prisoners. In some long-term prisons the work situation is more favourable.

A new development is the concept of ‘work preparation’ for certain groups of prisoners. This means that serious efforts are being made to bring about the type of resocialization that is most effective and fundamental for the prisoners: getting a job in society after release. It is clear that during detention a basis for this aim has to be laid by vocational training and other measures. In the future the so-called ‘penitentiary programme’ outside the prison will give the prisoner the opportunity to prepare himself effectively for acquiring such a job. It is understandable that in this respect the prison system is aimed in the first instance at the category of long-term prisoners who show themselves to be motivated. Nevertheless, one should strive for the gradual enlargement of this category, because generally not many people in prison are highly motivated to achieve social goals. As a result they often miss out on any significant training or the opportunity to build a labour record. Only time will tell whether the new policies will create prisoners who after release will carry on with the type of work they started inside the prison walls.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.