IMPRISONMENT AS REHABILITATION - OFFENDERS ASSESSMENT OF WHY IT DOES NOT WORK

The imprisonment of offenders is compared with hospitalization of psyc hiatric patients as confinement total institutions. Although the numbe r of patients in hospitals has decreased in all western countries in r ecent years because institutionalization is contraindicated as a means of rehabilitation, the number of offenders in prison has increased. T he consequences of putting people in prison are discussed. Thirty-six prisoners were asked about punishment and prison as a place for rehabi litation and for the prevention of reoffending. They were interviewed and they completed a questionnaire. Eighteen offenders sewing communit y work (CW) completed an abridged version of the questionnaire. Offend ers sewing their sentence in prison seem to become more hostile and cr itical toward ordinary society than offenders sewing community work. T he feeling of being a deviant in the society was reinforced in prison. Two-thirds of the prisoners did not believe that imprisonment would h ave any deterrent effect. Nine out of Ten respondents agreed that pris ons are ''criminal universities.'' The offenders accepted that their o ffenses were, and should be, illegal and were ready to be punished The prisoners, however, did not think that long-term passive imprisonment made sense. A great majority proposed ''community work'' as the most appropriate and effective punishment with regard to rehabilitation. Th e prisoners are probably right. Imprisonment does not lead to rehabili tation or a law-abiding life outside prison, Confinement is a pseudoso lution to the criminal problem. The necessary steps in a rehabilitatio n program for offenders are outlined.