Penal system of Japan
The
Japanese penal system (including
prisons) is part of its
criminal justice system. It is intended to
resocialize,
reform, and
rehabilitate offenders.
On confinement, prisoners are first
classified according to
gender,
nationality, type of
penalty, length of
sentence, degree of
criminality, and state of
physical and
mental health. They are then placed in special programs designed to treat individual needs.
Vocational and formal education are emphasized, as is instruction in social values. Most convicts engage in labor, for which a small stipend is set aside for use on release. Under a system stressing incentives, prisoners are initially assigned to community cells, then earn better quarters and additional privileges based on their good behavior.
The Correctional Bureau of the
Ministry of Justice administers the adult
prison system as well as the juvenile correctional system and three women's guidance homes (to rehabilitate
prostitutes). The ministry's Rehabilitation Bureau operates the
probation and
parole systems. Prison personnel are trained at an institute in Tokyo and in branch training institutes in each of the eight regional correctional headquarters under the Correctional Bureau. Professional probation officers study at the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Ministry of Justice.
In
1990 Japan's prison
population stood at somewhat less than 47,000; nearly 7,000 were in short-term
detention centers, and the remaining 40,000 were in prisons. Approximately 46 percent were repeat offenders. Japanese
recidivism was attributed mainly to the discretionary powers of police, prosecutors, and courts and to the tendency to seek alternative sentences for first offenders.
Although a few
juvenile offenders are handled under the general penal system, most are treated in separate juvenile training schools. More lenient than the penal institutions, these facilities provide correctional education and regular schooling for delinquents under the age of twenty.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the government's responsibility for social order does not end with imprisoning an offender, but also extends to aftercare treatment and to noninstitutional treatment to substitute for or supplement prison terms.
A large number of those given suspended sentences are released to the supervision of
volunteer officers under the guidance of professional probation officers. Adults are usually placed on
probation for a fixed period, and juveniles are placed on probation until they reach the age of twenty.
Volunteers are also used in supervising parolees, although professional probation officers generally supervise offenders considered to have a high risk of recidivism. Volunteers hail from all walks of life and handle no more than five cases at one time. They are responsible for overseeing the offenders' conduct to prevent the occurrence of further offenses. Volunteer probation officers also offer guidance and assistance to the ex-convict in assuming a law-abiding place in the community.
Although volunteers are sometimes criticized for being too old compared with their charges (more than 70 percent are retired and are age fifty-five or over) and thus unable to understand the problems their charges faced, most authorities believe that the volunteers are critically important in the nation's criminal justice system.
* -
Japan
