(Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice) 1st Edition
by Frieder Dünkel (Editor), Ineke Pruin (Editor), Anette Storgaard (Editor), Jonas Weber (Editor)
Questions regarding how to improve
the transitional phase from prison to life in society after release
have gained major importance in the last decade in criminal policy. All
over the world release preparation and resettlement practice are
discussed with the aim to reduce negative effects of imprisonment and
re-offending rates. Small and large reforms aiming at the improvement of
release processes and reintegration strategies have taken place in many
European states.
This book describes the current European
landscape of prisoner resettlement and brings together the results and
ideas of leading European academic experts with the ambition of
furthering national, European and international reform debates. This
book presents national reports about resettlement processes and
structures in 20 European countries: written by national scholars, these
reports reveal important actors in resettlement processes as well as
political decisions about the role of the communities in "taking the
prisoners back", or the use of early release as a strategy to motivate
the released prisoner to enter into a future without crime. Thematic
chapters then concentrate on several aspects of prisoner resettlement
that are of importance across borders: ethical, legal and practical
challenges are discussed with a view on European developments, and
theoretical frameworks of prisoner resettlement are used to develop
comprehensive perspectives for future reform debates.
The book
serves as a fundamental source for researchers, politicians and
practitioners in the field of prison and probation reform and practice.
It is also useful in the field of social work, in so far that the
analyses confirm that prisoner resettlement is not just a problem of
criminal, but also of social justice. Sustainable reforms need the will
of and good cooperation between all responsible actors and organizations
from the justice, social, health and welfare sectors, as well as
from society as a whole in the consent for taking released prisoners
back.
