German prison system PDF

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Information about the German penal system ...

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The prisons in Germany are run solely by the federal states, although governed by a federal law. The aim of prison confinement in Germany is twofold: emphasis is placed on enabling prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility free of crime" upon release, on the other hand: society is also to be protected from further acts of crime by the guilty. - The regime type of German prison system is conservative corporatism and the dominant penal ideology is rehabilitation and Resocialisation. - And this is different form England and Wales being the regime type is new-liberal and the dominant penal ideology is Law and order. Confinement: - As a rule, pretrial confinement is conducted at a facility close to the public prosecutor’s office that is prosecuting the case. Criminals who have never been imprisoned (or were imprisoned for a maximum of three months) are generally assigned to prisons for first-time offenders. Recidivists are assigned to so-called regular imprisonment. People who receive long sentences are imprisoned at a maximum security prison. Special institutions are also provided for female and juvenile prisoners and for those with special health or psychiatric needs. There is also something called Social-therapeutic prisons which are special departments for prisoners that have been punished for sexual crimes. In these prisons, groups of 10-15 prisoners live together and each group is supported by assigned social workers, correction officers and psychologists. The goal of these sections is to give the prisoners a chance to refurbish socialisation deficits. Looking at World Prison Brief’s website, adults make up the largest percentage of people in prison currently in Germany. According to Prison Studies in 2018, adults make up 97.2% of all prisoners with 2.8% being juveniles/minors/young prisoners).

Prison Population; - In 2019, all states of Germany reported an increase in the share of foreign and stateless inmates in the Prisons in Germany in the preceding 3-5 year period.[1] - The number of foreigners were also increasing in prisons situated in the new states of Germany. The authorities of Saxony reported that the number of foreign prisoners increased 482 (March 2016), 601 (2018) and 981 (February 2019). The largest foreign groups were from Poland, Tunisia, Libya, Chechnya and Georgia.

Overcrowded: Researchers have urged authorities to rethink who ends up in prison in a bid to lessen the burden on the prison system. But instead of exploring alternatives, German states have vowed to create space for more prisoners....