Background report: Policies on drugs in Bulgarian prisons

Author(s): Dimitar Markov,Maria Doichinova,Lyubomira Derelieva / Language(s): English

This report provides a snapshot of the situation of drug users in Bulgaria. As it is aimed to serve as a basis for comparative study on policies and practice towards drug users, particularly in prisons, in Bulgaria and Norway, it presents the country’s context – general information on the country and its criminal justice system, policy and legislation on drugs explaining what are the perimeters of drug restriction and what are the national policies towards drug use. This information is illustrated with statistics on crime rates and drug crime in particular. The report also investigates how court looks upon the fact that the accused are using or addicted to narcotic substances within the criminal proceedings and specifically on the type and the term of the sentence. Finally, it looks upon the sanctions available for drug users and their situation once sentenced to imprisonment – what treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction programmes are available in different prisons.

Badania nad kuratelą sądową w Polsce po wprowadzeniu ustawy o kuratorach sądowych

Author(s): Katarzyna Okólska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2019

Celem tego artykułu jest próba ukazania dominujących tendencji w problematyce, metodach oraz organizacji badań naukowych nad kuratelą sądową w Polsce po wejściu w życie ustawy z dnia 27 lipca 2001 o kuratorach sądowych. Analizie została poddana zawartość rodzimych opracowań naukowych o charakterze empirycznym z udziałem kuratorów sądowych oraz ich podopiecznych. Pozwoliła ona ustalić, że problematyka omawianych badań empirycznych dotyczy głównie trudności i ograniczeń w pracy kuratora sądowego, a także efektywności jego oddziaływań resocjali¬zacyjnych. Natomiast dominującymi metodami w badaniach nad kuratelą sądową w Polsce są metody zorientowane ilościowo. // The purpose of this work is to show the dominant tendencies in the issues, methods, and organization of scientific research on the probation system in Poland after the Act of 27 July 2001 on probation officers entered into force. The analysis includes domestic empirical research works with the participation of probation officers and their charges. It shows that the issue of the discussed empirical research concerns mainly difficulties and limitations in the work of probation officers and the effectiveness of their work for resocialization. Quantitative methods dominate in research on the probation system in Poland.

Badania osobopoznawcze w penitencjarystyce

Author(s): Robert Poklek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

Badania osobopoznawcze są podstawą podejmowanych względem osadzonego decyzji administracyjnych oraz oddziaływań penitencjarnych i terapeutycznych. Poprawnie przeprowadzona diagnoza umożliwia zindywidualizowanie procesu resocjalizacji penitencjarnej, prognozowanie penitencjarne i kryminologiczno-społeczne, zapobieganie wzajemnej demoralizacji więźniów oraz zapewnienie porządku i bezpieczeństwa w jednostce penitencjarnej.W artykule podjęto próbę szczegółowego omówienia badań osobopoznawczych osób pozbawionych wolności realizowanych w zakładach karnych i aresztach śledczych w kontekście prawno-kryminologicznym i psychopedagogicznym. Omówiono źródła informacji osobopoznawczych o skazanym oraz procedury podejmowane przez personel więzienny w celu przeprowadzenia i udokumentowania diagnozy penitencjarnej W podsumowaniu wskazano na kompetencje personelu więziennego niezbędne do prowadzenia badań osobopoznawczych.

Beyens, K., Christiaens, J., Claes, B., De Ridder, S. Tournel, H. and Tubex, H. (Eds.), The Pains of Doing Criminological Research

Author(s): Finola Farrant / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2013

Review of: Finola Farrant - Beyens, K., Christiaens, J., Claes, B., De Ridder, S. Tournel, H. and Tubex, H. (Eds.) (2013) The Pains of Doing Criminological Research. Brussels: Brussels University Press.

Beyond compliance: Participation, co-production and change in justice sanctions

Author(s): Trish McCulloch / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

This article explores the place and potential of a more participatory and co-productive justice practice, using the particular lens of compliance. In recent years, compliance has come to be associated with new managerial and correctional forms of justice. Yet, emerging theoretical and empirical analyses attest that individual compliance is a complex and multi-dimensional dynamic. It is not particularly responsive to mechanisms of enforcement and control, and where enforced compliance is achieved it does not emerge as a particularly valuable justice outcome. These findings, and others, suggest the relevance of a more co-productive justice pursuit – one that recognises and supports the participation, potential and progression of those required to comply.

Bezpieczeństwo skazanych kobiet w jednostkach penitencjarnych

Author(s): Barbara Toroń-Fórmanek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2020

bezpieczeństwo jest jedną z najważniejszych potrzeb jakie człowiek musi sobie zapewnić. Zostało to dobrze ujęte w teorii hierarchii potrzeb A. Maslowa. Sam termin bezpieczeństwa jest definiowany na gruncie nauk o bezpieczeństwie. Pojęcie Human Security dotyczy poziomu bezpieczeństwa każdej osoby. Właśnie pod tym względem może być rozpatrywany w naukach społecznych, w tym również na płaszczyźnie resocjalizacji. Z tego względu bezpieczeństwo dotyczy takich kwestii, jak: socjalizacja, kontrola społeczna, które to bezpośrednio wpływają na proces zmian dokonywanych w okresie odbywania kary pozbawienia wolności.Badania własne dotyczące poczucia stopnia bezpieczeństwa wśród kobiet przebywających w zakładzie karnym łamią powszechnie występujący stereotyp, że w placówkach penitencjarnych często dochodzi do aktów przemocy. W przypadku wielu kobiet takie uczucie zachodzi po raz pierwszy, co wiąże się z deprywacją tej potrzeby w codziennym życiu. Wzmocnienie poczucia bezpieczeństwa w placówkach poprzez edukację oraz motywowanie i kontrolowanie funkcjonariuszy straży więziennej powoduje, że przeprowadzony proces resocjalizacji(w niektórych przypadkach socjalizacji), prowadzi do wytworzenia się potrzeby bezpieczeństwa wśród kobiet odbywających karę pozbawienia wolności. Przedstawione ujęcie poruszanych kwestii odbywa się na polu nauk o resocjalizacji, chociaż w licznych przypadkach posługuje się terminami wywodzącymi się z nauk o bezpieczeństwie.

Bezpieczeństwo sportowych imprez masowych w działaniach policji

Author(s): Marek Zawartka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2011

The article presents the duties and responsibilities of the Police in the area of security of mass events resulting from the Police Act of 6 April 1990, as well as other laws and international agreements. Presented procedures for the evaluation of the safety of sports facilities and give an opinion as well as the tasks carried out by the Focal Point for mass events and launched in April 2006, police registry of mass events. Discusses how to monitor the fans as well as a penal measure to prohibit the entrance to mass events, coupled with the obligation to appear in person at the police unit

Bhui, H.S. (ed): Race and Criminal Justice

Author(s): Keith Davies / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2010

Review of: Keith Davies - Bhui, H.S. (ed) (2009) Race and Criminal Justice. London: Sage

Biblically Inspired Tattoos in Forensic Examinations Made on Inmates' Bodies in Prisons Territorially Assigned to the Forensic Institute of Medicine Cluj

Author(s): Dan Perju-Dumbravă,Daniel Ureche,Cristian Gherman,Ovidiu Chiroban,Laurian Ștefan Bonea,Carmen Corina Radu / Language(s): English Issue: 45/2016

Since ancient times, tattoos were a form of expressing spiritual trends or a life style. Our country does not have a very complex culture regarding tattoos or persons who practice this kind of art and thus for their bearers the majority of existing tattoos lack a special meaning. In forensic science, by conducting physical, traumatic expertise or by postponing the punishment, we find, a lot of times, persons in detention for different criminal acts, and the examination of these is necessary. According to this retrospective study, we noticed an increased frequency of biblical tattoos in the case of convicts from the prisons that belong to Forensic Institute of Medicine from Cluj. We will try to find explanations in the forensic literature for the marks they have and if these have a special meaning for them, and also for the circumstances in which these were made. We will also present the church’s point of view regarding these practices.

Biografie skazanych mężczyzn i kobiet przykładem kryzysu w rozwoju tożsamości człowieka

Author(s): Barbara Toroń-Fórmanek / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The aim of rehabilitation activities is to lead a person to a condition of adequate adaptation to standards of social life, develop skills which enable socialization and participation in culture and as a result to develop their own identity. Unfortunately, the theory does not coincide with practice which is shown in the author’s research. The article presents the connection between the human’s identity and his life before his imprisonment. The author associates the process of developing the identity with the lifestyle according to Walter’s conception and then, basing on her own studies, the author shows that the rehabilitation in the Polish prison system does not have a good influence on the convict’s reshaping process. It is believed that the cause of that is the biography. The author can see the connection between the developing of the criminal identity with the influence of school, peer group and criminal group. Moreover, the author pays special attention to the need to use creative methods of rehabilitation which support the development of the proper identity.

Body as a Project: The Relationship Czech Prisoners Have to Their Bodies

Author(s): Lukáš Dirga / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2017

The text focuses on the relationship inmates have to their bodies during imprisonment. The data presented in this study are based on ethnographic research carried out in Czech men's high security prisons. The data set consists of interviews with partakers from the “world of prisoners”, observations from prisons and analysis of documents relating to Czech prison service. The analysis shows there is a strong relationship between the physical body and the process of constructing manhood/masculinity in the population of inmates. The physical body is one of crucial components of the masculine/macho prison code/culture. The attitude inmates have to their bodies seems to be altering, depending on the stage of imprisonment in which they currently are. For the description of this alteration I use the concept of the body as a project, which may serve as one of the possible ways of understanding the importance of the physical body to inmates during their imprisonment and changing motivations to its further development.

Book Review

Author(s): Anne Worrall / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

Review of: Professionalism in Probation: Making Sense of Marketisation. By Matt Tidmarsh. Abingdon: Routledge, 2022. 222 pp. ISBN: 978-0-367-62193-3. Reviewed by: Anne Worrall.

Boone, M. & Moerings, M. (eds): Dutch Prisons

Author(s): Samantha Booth / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2009

Review of: Samantha Booth - Boone, M. & Moerings, M. (eds) (2007), Dutch Prisons, BJu Legal Publishers: The Hague. ISBN 978-90-5454-904-8

Britisth Experiences of Polygraph Testing Sexual Offenders an Update

Author(s): Daniel T. Wilcox,Marguerite L. Donathy / Language(s): English Issue: 1 (27)/2014

C Behan, Citizen Convicts: Prisoners, Politics and the Vote

Author(s): Pablo Marshall / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

Review of: Pablo Marshall - C Behan, Citizen Convicts: Prisoners, Politics and the Vote, Manchester University Press: Manchester, 2014; ISBN 9780719088384, £70.00 (hbk)

C Knight, Emotional Literacy in Criminal Justice: Professional Practice with Offenders

Author(s): Chloe Rogers / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2014

Review of: Chloe Rogers - C Knight, Emotional Literacy in Criminal Justice: Professional Practice with Offenders, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, 2014; ISBN 9781137273192, £24.99 (pbk)

CANNABIS POLICY REFORM IN GERMANY: CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL DISCOURSES ON DECRIMINALIZATION AND REGULATION STRATEGIES

Author(s): Stefanie KEMME,Kristin PFEFFER,Luise von RODBERTUS / Language(s): English Issue: 5-6/2018

There is relentless discussion in Germany about the right manner to deal with cannabis and its users. In 1994 and 2004, the Federal Constitutional Court reaffirmed the legal appropriateness of prohibition. However, since then, data about the dangers and effects of cannabis use have quieted alarm, and Europe, alongside the once-prohibitive United States, has had its initial experiences with liberalized use of cannabis. Since the founding of the Schildower Kreis, a network of experts from science and practice, 122 criminal law professors have petitioned the Bundestag for an Enquête Commission. The basis of the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision no longer exists. The Narcotics Act and constitutional discourse on cannabis prohibition need to be reviewed, as do political arguments about wasted resources and high costs, led by empirical examinations from Hamburg University of Applied Police Sciences. This study surveys police officers for their thoughts about drug policy and dealing with cannabis-related offenses. Results show that the attitudes of criminal detectives (contrary to the officers of the security police) have changed since the 1990s and that prohibition is not considered effective. Indications of a paradigm shift in drug policy, as required by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, are appearing in Germany.

Canton, R.; Probation: Working With Offenders

Author(s): Anna Fake / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2012

Review of: Anna Fake - Canton, R. (2011). Probation: Working With Offenders. Routledge, 263pp, ISBN: 978 1 84392 373

Capital punishment: a theoretical and cooperative analysis

Author(s): Tainá Corrêa Barbosa Ramos / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2016

Among all the different types of penalties that exist in the various juridical systems around the world, capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is one of the most controversial ones. The discussion about its legitimacy and legality crosses social, philosophical, cultural, religious and historical fields. The present article aims to first analyze how capital punishment is treated in different parts of the world, whether it is present or not, and to later on focus on the attempts to justify such a harsh punishment, by both the retributive and utilitarian theories of punishment.

Cavadino, M and Dignan, J: Penal Systems: a comparative approach

Author(s): John Harding / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2009

Review of: John Harding - Cavadino, M and Dignan, J (2008) Penal Systems: a comparative approach, London: Sage. ISBN -- 978 -- 0 -- 7619 -- 5203 -- 9. Price -- not listed.