GROUP 2
MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN ‘COMMUNITY REINTEGRATIONFACTORS’ OF OFFENDERS WITH ADDICTION OR
DIFFICULT PERSONALITY PROBLEMS
Chairperson
Co-Chairperson
Rapporteur
Co-Rapporteur
Members

Advisers

Mr. Renaux Ricardo Enrique Cook
Mr. Akira Onodera
Ms. Christine Achieng’ Okoth Obondi
Mr. Kanji Tomita
Ms. Cynara Figuêiredo da Rocha
Mr. Ahmed Kamal Al-Azzawi
Mr. Durga Prasad Dhungel
Ms. Yun Young Lee1
Mr. Tomonori Ishii
Mr. Shinji Todoriki
Prof. Yuichiro Wakimoto
Prof. Ayako Sakonji
Prof. Naoyuki HaradaProf. Fumihiko Yanaka(El Salvador)(Japan)(Kenya)(Japan)(Brazil)(Iraq)(Nepal)(Korea)(Japan)(Japan)(UNAFEI)(UNAFEI)(UNAFEI)(UNAFEI)

I. INTRODUCTION
The effective resettlement of offenders remains a general concern for all participating countries, withparticular reference to strengthening community reintegration factors, because the community remains akey factor in the entire criminal justice process.
The fundamental goals for each criminal justice system, despite the diversities in each country, are interalia, to achieve public safety and reduce recidivism.
Though discussions herein are governed by evidence-proven factors for effective community reintegration,
which include accommodation, employment, education, drug and alcohol addiction treatment, adequatefinances, family relationships, and addressing personality problems, our focus is mainly on offenders withaddiction or personality problems.
The agenda of our discussions included:• Challenges affecting measures to strengthen community reintegration factors of offenders withaddiction or difficult personality;• Existing measures or good practices that should be strengthened; and• Suggested measures.

II. CHALLENGES AFFECTING MEASURES TO STRENGTHENCOMMUNITY REINTEGRATION FACTORS OF OFFENDERS WITH
ADDICTION OR DIFFICULT PERSONALITY PROBLEMS
It was acknowledged that the flow of the criminal justice system of participating countries is diverse.
However a consensus was reached to group procedures into the following five stages:
•••
•
•

1

Investigation
Prosecution
Adjudication
Institutional corrections/prisonsCommunity corrections, which include probation, parole and aftercare services.

Ms. Lee left UNAFEI for official reasons on 9 June; she did not participate in the discussions after that date.

79RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No.82

A. Investigation StageIt was agreed that in most countries, reintegration is not a priority at this stage. However, investigation
facts form a basis for assessment and further rehabilitation and effective reintegration of offenders.
Therefore, fact finding should be solid in the investigation stage.
The offender at this stage is vulnerable as no particular attention is provided for difficult personality oraddiction.

B. Prosecution Stage
Public prosecutors are not legally empowered to apply non-custodial measures in some of therepresented states.
It was noted that in some countries the police undertake both the arresting and prosecution roles, whilein others they play a complimentary role to prosecution.
This lack of clear legal mandate and undefined linkage does not allow for specific consideration of
offenders with addiction or personality problems.

C. Adjudication Stage
There was a general agreement that there were several non-custodial dispositions available to facilitate
reintegration at this stage. These include: verbal sanctions, conditional discharge, economic sanctions,confiscation, restitution, suspended sentence, probation and judicial supervision, and community service
orders.
However some countries lack the legal provisions to apply all non-custodial measures, so opportunities
to consider community reintegration for offenders with personality problems are insufficient.
In some of the participating countries there is a lack of clear guiding sentencing policy and the judge has
the discretion to determine the sentence with or without the need for a pre-sentence report. This therefore
does not guarantee that offenders with addiction or personality problems would be appropriately identified orgiven any consideration.

D. Institutional Corrections Stage
This stage includes the programmes provided in prisons, juvenile reformatory centres and treatment
centres.
There is a general lack of effective assessment tools at intake that would adequately identify offenders
with addiction or personality problems and classify them accordingly.
It was also noted that pre-release assessment is not undertaken thus creating a gap in through-care andcommunity reintegration. This hampers proper professional follow-up on the treatment process and effective
supervision.
Other barriers to community reintegration include:
•••••

80

Lack of evidence-based treatment programmes that would adequately address the criminogenic
needs and risks of an offender with addiction or personality problems;Continued gang loyalty among offenders in prisons interferes with their acceptance of and attitude
towards programmes offered. As a result the offenders are not motivated to fully engage in theprogrammes as provided;
Overcrowding, resulting in lack of individualized attention, especially for addicts and sex offenders.
This leads to contamination of lower risk offenders and sometimes even abuse;
Drug abuse continues within the prisons of some states and the cycle of addiction persists/continues;
Lack of adequate resources and skilled personnel to deliver the programmes.

145TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEREPORTS OF THE COURSE

E. Community Corrections Stage including Probation, Parole and Aftercare Service•••••

Some of the member states lack legal backing for community corrections measures, and hence haveno provisions for community reintegration;
It was observed that information sharing amongst partners within the criminal justice system
is limited and this hampers appropriate intervention or treatment when an offender is released.
Consequently there is overlap in treatment and difficulties in supervision. This is detrimental for
effective reintegration of the offender, particularly those with personality problems;
High risk offenders may not always secure accommodation and are thus not easy to supervise whenreleased and are therefore prone to recidivism;
Lack of appropriate professional skills among service providers within the criminal justice system;
Halfway houses are few and where they exist, they offer accommodation for a relatively small
percentage of selected offenders. The offenders are offered accommodation for a limited period
which may not be sufficient for offenders with personality problems or addiction. Some halfway
houses are run solely by the government while others are run by the private sector thoughsupported by government.

F. Partnership or Collaboration with other Agencies within or outside the Criminal Justice System
In most of the participating countries the private sector is yet to be encouraged into co-operation orpartnership. This, accompanied with the general punitive community, is a great challenge to community
reintegration resulting in stigma and discrimination.
G. Regulatory Framework Systems and Human Resources
It was observed that the concept of offender treatment and consequent community reintegration
is not statutory in some of the participating countries and where it is, clear policy guidelines and theirimplementation are lacking.
Financial and skilled human resources constraints remain a challenge.

H. Corruption
In some countries offenders buy their release and can access drugs and other substances, etc. regardlessof the gravity of the offence, risk of recidivism and community perception.
This has injured public confidence in the benefits of community reintegration of offenders.

III. EXISTING MEASURES AND GOOD PRACTICESTHAT SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED
It was observed that there are existing good practices and measures in some states that should beinstitutionalized and strengthened. Some of these are:
••
•
••
•
•

Diversion: in one of the participating countries the prosecution service is legally mandated to suspend
prosecution if appropriate and thus promote early reintegration through diversion. The decision tosuspend prosecution must be taken with consideration for the facts of the offence, the circumstancesof the offender, such as repeat offence, family support and personal history, including the risk ofrecidivism. Besides this, diversion also covers the application of proper trial procedure which includes
powers to choose full, summary or instant trial;
Medical prisons that accommodate drug addicts presenting with personality and mental disorders;Established units for family overnight visits;
The concept of voluntary probation officers who live in the same community as offenders and thus
have more contacts with them and can offer intensive/closer supervision;
Victim attention to restore or enhance relationships between the offender and the community.
Involvement of the victim is important because the offender has an opportunity to understand thevictim’s feelings and take responsibility for the offence, be remorseful and make reparations;
Victim participation during the trial is allowed to have them articulate their feelings and hurt. In one
country, the offender while incarcerated is allowed to send monetary support to the victim’s family;
Compensation of the victim is considered a component of the entire criminal justice system and may81

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No.82•be included as appropriate if it is a condition. However this remains tricky and may be limited tocertain or few cases;
Compensation value is determined at the end of the trial process and in some cases is the basis ofconsideration for parole.

IV. SUGGESTED MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITYREINTEGRATION FACTORS FOR OFFENDERS WITH ADDICTION
AND PERSONALITY PROBLEMS
••
•
•••
••••
•••
•
•
•
•

82

Criminal justice systems within the participating countries should comply with establishedinternational standards such as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, UN
Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) and the UN policies on drugs andcrime prevention. The implementation of legal reforms would facilitate the adoption of relevant goodpractices;
Governments should introduce and establish regulatory systems for partnership and collaboration thatclearly spell out the roles of partners and ensure the integrity of services and programmes delivered;
Rehabilitation treatment programmes should be domesticated to make appropriate consideration of
the offender’s intelligence level (IQ) and ability to understand;Institute holistic assessment of offenders to facilitate appropriate classification and treatment,
especially for offenders with difficult personalities or addiction;
Enhance human resources and capacity of staff in the entire criminal justice system, throughcontinuous training, to ensure and sustain the delivery of rehabilitation treatment programmes;
Establish information sharing systems and a common database to ensure flow of appropriate information
regarding the offender. Information is the foundation of corrections and treatment, especially foroffenders with addiction or personality problems;
Improve linkages between partners of the criminal justice system to facilitate continuity of ‘throughcare’, enforce aftercare and sustain a seamless system;
A pre-sentence report can be useful for offenders with addiction or personality problems. Acomprehensive pre-sentence report provides information on the offender’s background or family
history, his or her peers and neighbourhood and other factors related to the offence. This is important
for reintegration;
Create or establish problem oriented courts, such as drug courts, to handle offenders with drug
addiction;
Employ stringent measures to curb supply of drugs and substances in prisons or institutionalcorrections and establish regular urine testing;Government and criminal justice partners should identify potential private partners and develop theircapacity to understand their role towards offenders. Where possible encourage the establishmentof community-based or faith-based groups to facilitate reintegration, such as Volunteer Probation
Officers, halfway houses, self-help groups, co-operative employers and other private organizations. The
co-operative employer should be given subsidies to cushion damages by the ex-offender as appropriate;
Establish linkages among central government agencies and other levels.
The criminal records of the ex-offender, where appropriate, should be eliminated or protected andnot used against him or her as an obstacle to employment and reintegration, especially where there
is no recidivism;
The government should promote community sensitization to gain and maintain community supportand dispel prejudice and stigma against offenders;
The community should be involved in all stages of the criminal justice system, where appropriate;from reporting of crime right through the prosecution, trial, adjudication, and corrections (bothinstitutional and community);
Introduce combined sentences where possible such as electronic monitoring, weekend imprisonment
and night-time imprisonment for low risk offenders;
Restorative justice that involves the community and victims is important to facilitate community
reintegration. This encompasses both the individual or particular victim and the community orsociety and makes the offender not only aware of his or her offensive behaviour but also takeresponsibility for it.

145TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEREPORTS OF THE COURSE

V. CONCLUSION
Effective resettlement of offenders with addiction or difficult personality entails a systematic implementationof legal frameworks with comprehensive social support that involves central government and other levels ofgovernment, criminal justice partners, private enterprises and the community.

83