Putting Ex-Prisnoers on Road to Reintegration

The Tribune     7th November 2020     Save    
QEP Pocket Notes

Context: While investment in new prison buildings and hi-tech security gadgets may conjure a feeling of security, there are many other complex dimensions that need to be addressed.

Issues with the current prison system of India:

  • Costly Penal Sanction: Almost 95% of the prisoners get released back into society, therefore merely locking them up is a costly affair.
  • Neglects rehabilitation and reintegration: While the idea of rehabilitation was first mooted when the all-India Jail Committee 1919-20 was setup, there is no follow up of released prisoner or their needs.
      • For, E.g. Despite India having a low recidivism rate, out of 1,84,962 convicts released last year, only 1,827 were rehabilitated.
      • Lack of rehabilitation renders the prisoners vulnerable to the social stigma and discrimination they face after their release.
  • Minimal support provided: A static prison system focuses on security alone, and since 53.5% of convicts were given life imprisonment in 2019, lack of support during their tenure have the following consequences:
      • Render the prisoners vulnerable to social stigma and discrimination: they face after their release.
        • For, E.g. The release of prisoners during COVID-19 lockdown has led to peculiar challenges which include rejection by villagers, lack of accommodation and transport and means of sustenance.
  • Lack of halfway homes or rehabilitation grants: has led to reluctance on the part of families in accepting the offenders as another dependent person
    • Costly Penal Sanction: Almost 95% of the prisoners get released back into society, therefore merely locking them up is a costly affair.

    Significance of Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Prisoners:

    • Rehabilitation has many layers: and is not a linear process, since it begins from the time of imprisonment and continues after the release and has to be psychological, social, moral and legal.
      • The Nordic penal system, described as the most humane, is based on legal rehabilitation.
      • Delancey Street Project in the US is a successful social project of rehabilitation which provides skills to the prisoners, helping them in getting jobs and join the mainstream.
      • The open prisons based on ‘trust’ and ‘freedom’, like in Sanganer, promote autonomy and solidify new identities, with opportunities to exercise personal responsibility.
    • Reintegration is a two-way street: involves changes in the part of the returning prisoner as well as the society.
      • For, E.g. In Singapore, the Yellow Ribbon Project (2004), has raised public awareness and changed society’s mindset in giving former offenders a second chance.
      • Victim-offender dialogue, surrogate victims and designing restorative prisons create a climate of reflection, empathy and desire to change for the better, instead of bitterness and revenge.

    Conclusion: While the road to reintegration will have many bends and bumps, It can surely be made smoother from the beginning to the end as the journey of redemption continues.

    QEP Pocket Notes