U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Role of the Prison in Hong Kong (From UNAFEI-Resource Material Series, Number 17, 1980, P 134-139, Yoshio Suzuki, ed. - See NCJ-74759)

NCJ Number
74769
Author(s)
T G Garner
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The history and current corrections policies of the prisons, drug addiction treatment centers, training centers, and detention centers of the Hong Kong Prison Service are described.
Abstract
Basic statistics on the current inmate population, a brief background history of the development of the Hong Kong prison system and a sketch of the number and types of present correctional facilities are provided. The important role played by classification and categorization procedures in assigning inmates to appropriate security levels and training programs is emphasized. Rehabilitation programs are more fully implemented at medium and minimum security prisons. However, large numbers of inmates who have been transferred out of maximum security prisons to lower prison security levels to facilitate their participation in rehabilitation programs. The unique role played by the Hong Kong Prison Service in directly administering four drug addiction centers is described and traced to the high percentage of prison admissions addicted to dangerous drugs in the early 1960's. The important role played by training centers in rehabilitating young offenders, particularly unruly youths who have failed probation and have a history of involvement in organized crime is also discussed. A detention center program initiated in 1972 serves both juveniles and young adults. It is primarily deterrent in nature and administers work training to detainees. Statistics are provided on success rates of major Hong Kong correctional programs.