Penal system of Japan

The Penal system of Japan (including prisons) is part of the criminal justice system of Japan. It is intended to resocialize, reform, and rehabilitate offenders.

Procedure

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.

Administration

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.

American soldiers in Japanese prisons

The few American soldiers who are serving time in Japanese prisons are fed Western style food like hamburgers, spice cake, Breakfast cereal, coffee, and steak. This has caused an uproar in the Japanese community.

Prison population

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.Fact|date=July 2008

Juvenile 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.

Aftercare treatment

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.

Use of volunteers

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.

Inmate rights abuses

Amnesty international has cited Japan for abuse of inmates by guards for infractions of prison rules. This abuse is in the form of beatings, solitary confinement, overcrowding in small cells, "Minor solitary confinement" ("keiheikin") which forces inmates to be interned in tiny cells kneeling or crossed legged, often for months, and restrainment with handcuffs for prolonged periods of time. [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA22/004/1998/en/dom-ASA220041998en.html] ,"

References

* - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html Japan]

Video

* [http://www.documen.tv/asset/Japan_form_inside_film.html Documentary: Japan from inside / Le Japon à double tour]