RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES NO. 111

GROUP 2PROMOTING INTERVENTIONS, TREATMENT AND SUPPORTTAILORED TO OFFENDERS’ INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

Chairperson
Co-Chairperson
Members
Advisers

Rapporteur: Mr. Justus Kishindo (Malawi)
Co-Rapporteur: Ms. Chotima Suraritthidham (Thailand)
Co-Rapporteur: Ms. TATEOKA Yoshiko (Japan)
Mr. ISHIHARA Junichi(Japan)
Ms. Winanti(Indonesia)
Mr. Mohammad Azlin Bin Sadari(Malaysia)
Mr. Braulio Jose Feliz Cabrera(Dominican Republic)
Prof. KITAGAWA Mika(UNAFEI)
Prof. FURUHASHI Takuya(UNAFEI)
I. INTRODUCTION

Most of the inmates who are incarcerated in prisons have generally committed crimes
several times, and some of them come back to prison after release. As effective
interventions have some effects on reducing recidivism, organizations in the justicesystem need effective tools and interventions to deal with those inmates who are more
likely to reoffend.
This paper focuses on effective risk assessment and intervention in prison and thecommunity, leading to preventing inmates from continuing their criminal behaviour. It
aims to discuss the challenges and good practices in selected countries (i.e. theDominican Republic, Indonesia, Japan, Malawi, Malaysia and Thailand). In addition,recommendations to deal with the challenges will be stated.
II. CHALLENGES AND GOOD PRACTICES
It is generally agreed that the need to prevent crime and reoffending cannot beoveremphasized. Various countries have put in place measures to assess offenders andthen place them under programmes that will assist them to change into better persons intheir society. It is acknowledged that every offender has to be treated according to theoffender’s own circumstances. As will be noted from the discussion below, this paper has
focused on the treatment plans available in prison and in the community through theprobation service.
A. Justice System
1. Prison Environment
Treatment programmes in prisons are sometimes hampered by lack of appropriate
structures and overcrowding. It is also difficult to carry out a treatment plan in thecommunity in the absence of a functional probation system or with a probation systemthat has overstretched human resources.
The Dominican Republic is an example of how reforms can be implemented inprisons to achieve a reduction in recidivism. This nation is moving from its traditional
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prison system to the New Penitentiary Management Model, in which all prisoners shall be
guaranteed their constitutional and human rights, including enough clothing, food,housing and security in prison. This prison reform made it possible for the authorities toprovide all inmates with evaluations to determine the type of treatment they will receive
while serving their sentences and the rehabilitation programmes in prison.
2. Treatment in the Community
Currently, some countries have no community supervision system. During thediscussions, the group found that other countries have good models of probation systems
which can be displayed as good practices. In the particular case of Japan, in addition tohaving probation officers, they also have volunteer probation officers, who collaborate in
the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into society.
B. Human Resources
Human resources are important factors needed in conducting assessments andinterventions. The accuracy of the results of the assessment is determined by the qualityof the officers carrying out the assessment. Likewise, the effectiveness of treatment isalso determined by the competence of human resources carrying out the treatment.
Current conditions related to human resources in the participants’ countries are:● Insufficient numbers of human resources possessing the qualifications to carry out
assessments and treatment;● Considerable variations of competence in carrying out assessments and treatment.
Several countries (e.g. Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand) conduct assessment
trainings for officers who are responsible for assessment. Besides that, a simple
intervention training programme is conducted for prison officers so that they canovercome the simple psychological and emotional problems of prisoners (DominicanRepublic, Indonesia and Japan), whereas more complex interventions or treatments will
be carried out by clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.
C. Assessment
Risk assessment attempts to predict individuals’ likelihood of recidivism by exploringand evaluating their risk factors. Good risk assessment enables the tailoring of treatment
plans and the administration of treatment programmes conforming to an individual’sneeds. This tailored treatment reduces the recidivism rate.
There are, however, some challenges in the tool and its practice. First, in somecountries, it is only available for certain juvenile delinquents. Furthermore, the standardof the risk assessment tool might be questioned. Empirical evidence and updated
knowledge about risk factors can be used to improve the tool by determining significant
factors associated with different types of offences. In addition, some studies indicate that
protective factors reducing the impact of risk behaviours and promoting an alternative
pathway should be considered. These risk and protective factors need to be added in thetool for use with a particular group, and the tool has to be validated and standardized bystatistical methods.

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D. Specific Treatment Programmes
Many offenders face difficulties in their lives associated with their criminal
behaviours such as conflicts in their family, chronic drug use, any type of abuse, andphysical and mental impairment. Some of them need to be rehabilitated with certain typesof treatment programmes in order to overcome such difficulties. Unfortunately, existingtreatment programmes for dealing with these offenders may be ineffective andinsufficient to respond to significant risk factors related to the likelihood of reoffending,particularly serious and violent offending. As several psychological and social factors
mitigate behaviours associated with risk, treatment programmes should be designed toincrease protective factors and decrease risk factors. A treatment programme needs toattend to various needs of the offender, have appropriate duration and be suitable to theoffender’s characteristics such as age and gender. Evaluation and statistical testing for thetreatment programmes may need to be done. Furthermore, cooperating with partners (e.g.
academic institutions) to develop and revise specific treatment programmes is a possible
alternative to achieve effective outputs.
E. Awareness of the Community
The community should be aware that it has an important role to play in helping toprovide effective offender rehabilitation. If the community does not help, theconsequences of repeated offences by the offenders will have a negative effect on thesociety itself.
Governments need to be aware of the importance of community cooperation. They
must have a precise and consistent policy on this issue by considering a form ofprogramme that is intimate and can build good relationships between offenders and thecommunity. The "Yellow Ribbon Project" in Singapore is an influential programme thatbuilds strong and close friendships between the community and offenders. It is already awell-known brand and has been followed by other countries around the world. This has
given aspiration to the offenders that they still have value to society. The same theme oressence needs to be created in all countries.
Awareness of the community is very important in playing a role in the rehabilitationof offenders. This understanding does not come easily. There must be a constant effort
and a high level of commitment. When there is “trust” between the community,government and the offenders, the percentage of recidivism will decrease.
III. RECOMMENDATIONS
From the foregoing discussion, several recommendations have been proposed to assist
in the prevention of recidivism in the various countries. Some of the recommendations
arise out of best practices obtaining in some participating countries in the seminar. The
recommendations are as follows:● Establishing or improving probation systems and, if necessary, a volunteer
probation officer system in which citizens with integrity in the community help
offenders rehabilitate themselves;● Building facilities and introducing tailored programmes for offenders both inprison and in the community in order to enhance the chance of rehabilitation;152

174TH INTERNATIONAL SENIOR SEMINARGROUP WORKSHOP REPORTS● Improving the quality of assessment, which enables the tailoring of treatment
plans and the provision of treatment programmes conforming to an individual’s
needs;● Educating and training practitioners who conduct assessment and treatment inorder to enhance the chance of reintegration of offenders into society;● Strengthening public cooperation, which plays an important role in helping
offenders return to ordinary life.
IV. CONCLUSION
With a concerted effort, reforms that pay particular attention to the prevention ofrecidivism are very possible. Apart from introducing innovative ideas to prevent crime or,where a crime has been committed, to prevent reoffending, various countries should be
open to learning about systems that are working in other countries and adapting them totheir unique circumstances.

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