Country Presentation(INDIA)
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Countryprojectexample1.pptxIndia
Mahinur Tafader
History of the Corrections System
In India during the Vedic period administration of justice was not part of the state’s duties as a result there was no judge or king who had the power to prosecute and convict offences also there were no prisons.
The correctional system in India developed in three phases, the first phase lasted until the 16th century whereby prison institution was mainly a cell of detention room in safe and secure parts of the cities or villages in which prisoner whose trial was pending or whose sentence is executed was kept. The second phase was prisons being used as a form of punishment especially for juvenile offenders. The third phase was the universal adaptation of imprisonment as a substitute for all forms of capital punishment.
Correctional Statistics
Statistics on correctional centers in India is collected by the National Crime Records Bureau. The reports filed contain information on the prisoners, prison and prison infrastructure. The information is usually represented in form of charts, graphs or tables.
The importance of having detailed information is to help in the management of the prisons for example information on prison infrastructure helps in reformation of the structures, knowing the total number of prisoners it could accommodate. The records on prison officials helps in training and hiring more officials. Information on the prisoners is useful in assessing the trend in commission of crimes and how to regulate the crimes by rehabilitating the offenders. Also, the statistics enable the government to be aware of who are the most prone to commit crimes i.e., minors or adults, men or women etc.
Correctional Management/Organization
The state government of India is in charge of the administration of prisons. The law that postulates on how the management should be handled is the Prison Act of India. Comparatively most states around the world have a prison Act or a specific legislation that governs correctional centers. However, the government is like the overall manager of the prisons while at each prison there is a hierarchy of who maintains order in the prison.
The Inspector General of prisons is the overall in charge of all the jails in the state. Therefore, he works for the government and through him the government is still in control. His assistant is the Deputy Inspector general of prisons.
A central jail is in the charge of an officer of superintendent rank and a district jail of deputy superintendent rank. Each jail has jailors and wardens. In central jails, some inmates are promoted as convict officers (COs).
There are so many types of offenders which include, women offenders, juvenile offenders, domestic violence offenders, child abuse offenders, sexual offenders, gang offenders , male offenders. This classification is as a result of evaluating crimes and getting to critic who are the most involved in that particular offense.
From the type of offender’s study establishes that there exist persistent offenders, these are offenders who often commit crime. We could also have first-time offenders whom by definition it is their first time that they are getting involved in crimes. The categories of offenders also enable the state to e able to know how to handle the different types of offenders.
Types of Offenders
Women Offenders
Male and female offenders are not treated equally in India. In India there is bias against women offenders and judges exercise discretionary powers while sentencing female offenders. This is due to the historical injustices that are managed by men who often convict men on commission of crimes. If a woman commits a crime the court tends to observe some of the mitigating factors that would have motivated such commission of a crime.
Women are treated less culpable of being able to commit a crime as compared to men. Though for crimes such as child abandonment women would be sentenced harshly compared to male counterparts while in crimes like murder committed by women ,such women would be considered masculine. Most judges still apply the gender stereotype which should change with the evolving world.
Prison Environment and Design
Prisons in India are bad and unhealthy and often do not meet the requisite standard for human survival. There are less facilitates to accommodate the needs of women in prison. There should be improvement in the providence of medical facilities in the prisons because most prisoners do not access medical attention when needed.
There should be vocational training to enable the prisoners become better people when they leave the prisons. The old prisons should also be repaired and renovated for the security of prisoners and to be in good condition for human existence. Prison security should also be enhanced by training more prison officers and improving the structures.
Prison Violence
Lack of access to conjugal rights has resulted to increase in rape and sexual violence in prisons. However, this is often in male prisons whereby the men considered weak are sexually abused by stronger men in the prisons. In female prisons there are less cases of sexual violence though sexual violence still does exist.
Staff violence with prisoners often happen. When staff members and prisoner get into a fight injuries are sustained by both parties or even death may occur in the worst cases. Prison violence may also happen among the inmates themselves fighting among each other. This is a problem that must be addressed progressively.
Prison gangs are not only in Indian prisons but also in prisons in other countries. The gangs in prisons often have different purposes however each gang has its leader. The most powerful gang is feared and rules over the other inmates.
Some gangs are formed for drug cartels in the prisons which ordinarily the prison wardens may not be aware of the gangs because of the strategies in how they operate.
The gangs are always made from criminals of a particular genre.
Gangs
Prisoner Rights
Prisoners are entitled to right to life, and it should not be limited at any cost. They are also entitled to freedom from inhumane treatment.
They enjoy the right of prohibition against double jeopardy, human dignity, freedom from custodial violence, right to interview and meet friends, all these rights are encompassed in the constitution of India.
Some rights of prisoners may be limited to the extent that they cannot happen i.e., prisoners cannot move around everywhere except within the confinements of the prison. The international community also accords prisoners rights which should not be interfered with which the Indian constitution must have adopted in part.
Programs
Programs in the prisons of India are aimed at transforming the lives of the prisoners.
The art of living program teaches skills that reduce stress, heal trauma, and provides practical knowledge of how to handle negative emotions.
It further enables a person to think of other ways of living and abandon crime after going through the process of healing.
Also, there are educational programs for prisoners which help improve the educational capacity of the prisoners. This is helpful because after receiving this education program they can utilize it in their lives after the prisons.
Probation/Parole
Probation is approved by the judge as an alternative of the detention, whereas parole is nothing but an arrangement of restrictive release from the jail.
Delving deeper probation will be required to be served out of jail under the directions of a probation officer.
For parole, the prisoner is released on condition that he or she will be under a respective authority which if he does adhere, they shall be taken back to prison.
Probation is usually awarded before imprisonment and often to people who have no previous criminal record.
Death Penalty
The most common methods of death penalty in India are hanging and shooting. Hanging is used in civil cases while shooting is provided in the army though the army can either shoot or hang.
Crimes punishable by death penalty include espionage, military offenses, aggravated murder, rape not resulting to death, acts of terrorism and all other crimes resulting to death.
The international community has since amended the laws to substitute death penalty with life imprisonment of which some states have adopted the same.
For India there has been no other execution of death penalty since 2015. China does practice death penalty for corruption cases while states like Kenya give life imprisonment as a substitute for death penalty.
References
Ghosh, S. (2008). Probation and Parole as Methods of Mainstreaming Criminals: A Socio-Legal Analysis from Indian Perspective. Available at SSRN 1151026.
Mohanty, A., & Hazar, N. (1990). Indian prison systems. APH publishing.
Ahuja, R. (1969). Female offenders in India. Meerut: Meenakshi Prakashan.
Johnson, D. T. (2013). The death penalty in India. Crime and justice in India, 365-389.
Gupta, N., & Gupta, R. K. (2018). Prison reform and work programs in India: a case study. International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 6(2), 150-166.
Lessing, B. (2016). Inside out: The challenge of prison-based criminal organizations. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
