Citation

Noll T. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2015; 59(4): 335-336.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X15573246

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In civilized nations, offenders are sent to prison as a punishment, but nor for punish- ment (Paterson, 1951). Correctional staff is not allowed to make life more difficult for prisoners by "punishing them a little more." As Karin Beijersbergen et al. correctly point out in this issue of the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (IJOTCC) in their article "Procedural Justice in Prison: The importance of Staff Characteristics," a fair treatment of prisoners is not only a value of its own, but it also reduces prisoners' emotional distress and misconduct in prison as well as rates of recidivism after release from prison. Life in prison should resemble "normal life" outside prison walls as much as possible. That way, prisoners are thought to become less estranged from the outside world during their imprisonment. In fact, the harder it is for the ex-prisoners to get on with their lives once the sentence is over, the higher the risk of recidivism. An additional effect of "normalizing" life behind bars by approximating it to an extramural setting is the opportunity to observe prisoners in a habitat as close to real life as possible. Antisocial and offence-related behavior can better be identified and professionally treated.

Language: en