PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS

THE PAROLE AND PROBATION SUPERVISION PROGRAMMES ON
REHABILITATION AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION OF RELEASEDINMATES/OFFENDERS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Conrad Mate Patuve*I. INTRODUCTION
In order to build a safe and inclusive society, it is vital to prevent reoffending and to effectively facilitate
offenders’ rehabilitation and reintegration as responsible citizens. To stay up to date with the best international
practices and policies, PNG promotes gender equality in terms of providing rehabilitation and reintegration
programmes to both male and female offenders. With the increase in crime rate and exploited correctional
facilities, the alternative to imprisonment is to provide rehabilitation and positive reintegration of offenders
in the community, and these are practical measures towards transforming offenders’ attitudes and reducing
recidivism.
This paper specifically focuses on the programmes that the Parole and Probation Officers implemented
towards rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders in PNG. I will firstly give a brief background on theassessment and transition of inmates into the community. Secondly, I will highlight the community-based
rehabilitation and reintegration programmes offered to the offenders. Also, I will highlight the issues andchallenges encountered during the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders and, finally, willnote the possible solutions.

II. ASSESSMENT AND TRANSITION OF INMATES INTO THE COMMUNITYThe Correctional Institutions in PNG have rehabilitation programmes where they provide counselling,spiritual programmes, education and specialized training to assist inmates to positively reintegrate into thesociety as reformed citizens. These institutional programmes are effective and were designed to prepare
offenders to successfully reintegrate into their own communities. The majority of these programmes areoffered by churches and have produced positive outcomes for smooth transition of inmates from prison tothe community. The inmates’ rehabilitation and reintegration process starts from the prison when they arethoroughly assessed by the Prison Classification Committee. The Probation and Parole Officers then conductprisoner/offender investigations and interviews by assessing the prisoner’s possibility of successful
reintegration into the community and further recommend through pre-parole reports and pre-sentence
reports whether or not the prisoner or offender is a low-risk and is a suitable candidate to be further
rehabilitated in the community. The victim’s view also plays a major role in the process of offender
rehabilitation. This process works effectively between the Correctional Institutions and the JusticeDepartment including churches and community participation. Furthermore, with the good working
relationship with churches, the Probation and Parole Officers design specific rehabilitation programmes,
many of which are based on spiritual activities and general counselling, supervision, guidance and face-to-faceinterviews. Upon release into the community, 20 per cent of offenders find it difficult to reunite with theirfamilies, causing difficulty in the smooth transition from prison into the community. However, the Probation
and Parole Officers with the support from the Volunteer Probation/Parole officers continue to provide
community rehabilitation programmes throughout the offenders’ lives.

* Parole Officer, Southern and Highlands Region, Department of Justice and Attorney General / Parole Services, National
Government, Papua New Guinea.

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III. COMMUNITY-BASED REHABILITATION AND REINTEGRATIONPROGRAMMESIn Papua New Guinea, we believe every offender has a potential to live a crime-free life and to be acontributing member of society through rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. Community Corrections
creates a conducive environment for the reintegration of parolees and probationers through supervision,monitoring and rehabilitation and ensures the parolees and probationers comply with conditions of paroleand probation orders. The Probation and Parole Officers conduct assessment on every offender placed on
probation and on parole through the Risk Level Supervision Plan and Supervision Plan Summary Form.
Based on the assessment outcome, the officers then initiate rehabilitation programmes including the Action
Plan Goals for each parolee and probationer to ensure they have positively changed and have successfully
reintegrated into their own communities. These Action Plan Goals are reviewed every three months. TheProbation and Parole Officers also designed rehabilitation programmes based on the offenders’ needs andlevel of specialization and on the skills that they attained. The offenders who have skills sewing clothes orbaking bread have their rehabilitation programmes structured according to their level of skill, and they
engage in this programme during their parole and probation period.
A. Volunteer Probation and Parole Officers’ Tasks
In PNG there are few Volunteer Probation and Parole Officers (VPOs). Many people refuse to become
volunteers due to higher expectations from them of being paid by the government. Despite this barrier, afew volunteers were appointed and were engaged mainly in providing released inmates and offenders withsupervision and general counselling, community activities and providing spiritual programmes like Bible
studies.
B. The Role of Churches and Other Stakeholders in Rehabilitation of Offenders
Churches in collaboration with the Justice Department play a commanding role in providing rehabilitation
programmes to offenders. Some churches provide accommodation and counselling programmes to selected
released inmates whom they had been in contact within the prison. Some churches also provide basic
necessities like food and clothing to the released inmates on a short-term period. Churches are also involved
with the offenders in conducting anti-crime campaigns, and sometimes they take up the leadership roles in
the church. Moreover, the majority of the released inmates have secured employment with security companies
and work as security guards. Few of the offenders who have qualifications in various fields have secured
employment with companies; however, many of them do not get employed due to their criminal conviction
records. Also, a few of them have engaged in Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) like marketing of goods
and other similar ways. Additionally, a few of the released inmates, with the knowledge they possess, havestarted their own registered companies like security firms and cleaning garbage services and have employedother released inmates to earn money and live a prosperous life.
C. Accommodation and Health Services
Many of the released inmates are welcomed by their families and are provided with accommodation andother basic necessities upon their release; however, it does not last long as some of them are then removed
from the house to find their own accommodation. With the mercy from churches, few were accommodated
by the churches and by their distant relatives. Similarly, many of the released inmates do not have easy
access to health services as they have no financial support to have access to the health facilities. On thecontrary, PNG has no aftercare system established. Also, PNG has no specific treatment and rehabilitation
institutions to care for the offenders. The Probation and Parole Officers only offer offenders with individual
counselling approaches, face-to-face interviews and community service programmes like general cleaning at
the public places.
D. A Case Study – Parolees Undergo Life Skills Training
Parole is a significant aspect of the criminal justice system, and the Department of Justice & Attorney
General (DJAG) has been at the front line, making sure parole administration is carried out effectively, rightfrom the prison and into the communities. The Parole Intervention Programme in 2019 saw 14 parolees fromthe National Capital District & Central province undergo a week-long Life Skills Training run by theFoundation of Women in Agriculture Development (FOWIAD). The training included making of coconut oil,coconut biscuits, stock feed and Sepik soap, which can be sold for income apart from family consumption and26

PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERSusage. The training and life skills have taught them to help improve their living and will help each of themto reintegrate back into their communities.

All participants (parolees & staff) who attended the week-long training posing with their certificates at the Community Based
Corrections office at Boroko, Port Moresby, PNG.

IV. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
The rehabilitation and reintegration programmes that are currently offered by the Probation and ParoleServices in PNG are fragmented and unsustainable. The stakeholders are called in on an ad hoc basis andstakeholder support is not accessible in all provinces in the country and the officers only work on what they
have to provide rehabilitation programmes to the offenders. The absence of resources and the lack ofcoordination between agencies in the criminal justice and social service systems results in the released
inmates leaving the prison without any connection to support services and assistance from government
agencies and community organizations. Offenders returned to their communities with many barriers
hindering their reintegration process. They needed adequate housing, transportation, a reliable source ofincome, family support and a dependable communication source to converse with employers and otherresourceful individuals. Similarly, more of the released inmates are unable to find stable employment after
being released resulting in some of them being rearrested for breaching their probation and parole conditions.
Some of the offenders experienced mental disabilities and health issues but were not supported due to no
Rehabilitation Institutions and poor coordination between the Parole and Probation Services and otherstakeholders. PNG has no proper referral pathways for the offenders to relevant organizations for treatment
and other rehabilitation programmes.

V. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
The remedy to the above-mentioned challenges, the Probation and Parole Services Management needs toprovide and facilitate support systems for the reintegration of offenders into society and establish andstrengthen partnership with all relevant stakeholders to provide rehabilitation and reintegration programmes
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to the released inmates, and to fully involve the community in the reintegration of parolees and probationers.
Additionally, new reforms are needed to help released inmates’ access services related to housing, employment,
health, mental health and addiction, and social reintegration. The Parole and Probation Officers should befully trained in skills such as service coordination, motivational interviewing and counselling. In addition, thegovernment through DJAG should form a robust partnership stakeholder to promote a multi-stakeholder
approach in preventing reoffending and facilitating offender rehabilitation at the community level and toconduct awareness-raising activities. Furthermore, it is crucial to sensitize the general public and community
members to understand that the rehabilitation of offenders and their social inclusion is good to prevent
reoffending and to establish a safe and inclusive society. Furthermore, PNG needs to have an aftercare
system established to fully achieve the goal of successful rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
Similarly, there is a need to create legislation or regulation to navigate the proper referral pathways foroffenders to have easy access to services offered by the relevant stakeholders, including counselling, special
treatment, health, education, housing and many others. The Parole and Probation Services should be also
fully capacitated with enough resources and funding to fully implement the offender rehabilitation andreintegration programmes in the community. Lastly, there is need to establish the Rehabilitation Institutionsin the country together with establishment of a National and Provincial Rehabilitation Working Committees.

VI. CONCLUSION
There have been a lot of efforts and initiatives made by the Probation and Parole Officers on implementing
offender rehabilitation and reintegration programmes; however, they have not met the international standards.
PNG still faces a lot of challenges in implementing and administering the successful rehabilitation andreintegration of released inmates due to lack of coordination with the relevant stakeholders, diverse culturaland traditional norms, and poor consultation with the whole community including the victims of crimes. TheParole and Probation Services has a legal framework that addresses offender rehabilitation and reintegration;
however, more needs to be done. Conclusively, despite the limited resources and funding, the Parole andProbation Officers continue to deliver successful and effective rehabilitation and reintegration programmes
to the released inmates in Papua New Guinea.

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