Participation of the Public and Victims for More Effective Administration in the Treatment of Offenders

Source: (2000) Tokyo, Japan: United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders

This paper on the participation of the public and victims in the treatment of offenders addresses the participation of the public in institutional and community-based treatment, as well as the involvement of victims in the treatment of offenders, with attention to the situations in the countries represented in the work group in which this paper was presented (Kenya, Japan, Thailand, Fiji, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, and the Republic of Korea).

The section of the paper on participation of the public in the institutional treatment of offenders addresses prison labor and rehabilitation programs. The latter programs include vocational and education training, life guidance, and work release. For each of these types of programs, the actual situation in various countries is reviewed, along with obstacles to their implementation and effectiveness, as well as recommendations for countermeasures. A section on the participation of the public in community-based treatment first considers the benefits of such treatment and then considers the following community-based program categories: probation and parole, halfway houses and probation hostels, community work programs, aftercare services, mediation, and fine payment. For each of these types of programs, the paper considers the situation in various countries, obstacles to their implementation and effectiveness, and recommendations for improvement. The involvement of victims in the treatment of offenders is discussed in a section that addresses restorative justice programs and problems and challenges in using restorative justice programs in various countries. A table shows the involvement of victims in the treatment of offenders in the countries represented in the work group.