NCJ Number
133824
Editor(s)
D Van Zyl Smit,
F Dunkel
Date Published
1991
Length
760 pages
Annotation
These 24 papers examine corrections policies, the role of imprisonment, and the structure and operations of prison systems in Western and Eastern European countries, South Africa, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Texas; the role of the United Nations in corrections policymaking is also discussed.
Abstract
Most of the papers were presented at a 1989 seminar that aimed to describe empirically the purposes of incarceration in various societies as shown by the actual uses and conditions of detention. The individual papers describe the philosophical approach and legal framework for the country's prison system as well as grievance procedures, the judicial control of corrections management, the political control of the prison system, the medical treatment of prisoners, inmate visits, prison labor, inmate discipline, early release, and correctional reforms. The role of the United Nations in improving prison conditions and extending prisoners' rights is also described. A concluding analysis focuses on the importance of incarceration in the general system of social control, similarities and differences among different systems, and trends in correctional reform. Tables, figures, footnotes, chapter reference lists, and author biographies