Completion of the 145th International Course
Toru Kawaharada
Programming Officer1Introduction
UNAFEI held the 145th International Training Course from 12 May to 18 June, 2010. We
had a total of twenty participants, with twelve individuals from overseas and eight from Japan.
Those who participated are all criminal justice professionals, such as police officers,
prosecutors, members of the judiciary, and corrections and probation personnel. The overseas
participants represented nine different countries: there were two participants from Brazil; one
from Costa Rica; one from El Salvador; two from Iraq; one from Kenya; two from Nepal; onefrom Papua New Guinea; one from Hong Kong (observer); and one from the Republic ofKorea (observer). The Japanese participants included one Assistant Judge, one Family Court
Probation Officer, two Public Prosecutors, two Corrections Officers, and two Probation
Officers.

2Main Theme of the Course
The main theme was “Effective Resettlement of Offenders by Strengthening ‘Community
Reintegration Factors’”. Treatment programmes for offenders that strengthen “communityreintegration factors” include those that secure stable accommodation for offenders, enhancetheir basic skills, help them procure employment, and provide them with budgeting/debt
counselling. These represent the most basic treatment programmes provided in correctional
facilities and by probation offices. However, in recent years, it has become clear that thesebasic treatment programmes can have a significant impact on preventing recidivism and canalso affect the success of other programmes broadly recognized as effective, including
cognitive behavioural programmes. In light of these successes, the significance of basic
treatment programmes is now being re-evaluated. Likewise, because the idea of “socialinclusion” is now widespread, these treatment programmes have an opportunity to gain wider
recognition.
However, the degree of effort being made to implement treatment programmes foroffenders that strengthen “community reintegration factors” varies significantly by country.
Would our course have the same significance for each of the overseas participants? As theProgramming Officer, this was the point that most concerned me at the beginning of thecourse.

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Course Summary
The course programme primarily consisted of individual presentations by participants
about the current situation in each of their respective countries, lectures given by UNAFEI

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professors and experts from Japan and other countries, observation visits to agencies andfacilities related to the main theme of the course, and group workshops.
For this course, we invited a number of experts on offender treatment from Japan and othercountries to participate as lecturers. We visited agencies and facilities that provide offender
treatment, including prisons, probation offices, and halfway houses (Offender RehabilitationFacilities). However, to cover the main theme of this course, it was necessary to consider
collaboration with private and voluntary sector agencies too, rather than criminal justiceagencies alone. To this end, we also invited as lecturers individuals involved in social welfare,those from NPO organizations that help offenders find work, and a “co-operative employer”
who employs ex-offenders. From what I saw, the participants were equally attentive inlistening to lecturers with wide-ranging areas of expertise. Meetings with Volunteer Probation
Officers from various regions of Japan were also held as part of the VPO InternationalSeminar, 1 which was closely related to the main theme of this course. Overseas participants
were particularly interested in the activities of Volunteer Probation Officers in Japan - asystem unlike any other in the world - and we enjoyed some incredibly lively Q&A sessions
during these meetings. For example, a participant asked how VPOs’ family members feel
about having offenders on probationary supervision regularly visit their homes. One of theVPOs answered that his wife serves them tea, chats with them, and welcomes offenders aswarmly as she would any other guest. Many of the overseas participants could not hide theirastonishment upon hearing this response. I also frequently fielded questions about thevoluntary probation officer system between lectures and during breaks.
The information given by the various lecturers and VPOs provided a solid base for
conducting group workshops, for which the participants were divided into two groups. Bothgroups had to work hard to reach a consensus because the criminal justice system andsituations of offender treatment vary quite considerably from country to country. Participants
often continued discussions until very late at night. In the end they were able to successfully
put together a report that compiled their reform measures to address the problems presented
in relation to the main theme of the course.
4Conclusion
During the final general discussion, overseas participants made remarks such as: “In mycountry, most of the focus is placed on punishing offenders, but little attention is given tohelping them resettle into the community. I want to help spread the concept of rehabilitationof offenders in my own country” and “I want to introduce systems such as the voluntary

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The VPO International Seminar is held for a two-day period during UNAFEI’s International Course in
the spring and the Senior Seminar in winter. It offers Volunteer Probation Officers an opportunity todeepen their knowledge and gain information related to the treatment of offenders in other countries.

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probation officer system to my country”. As the Programming Officer, I was inspired bymany of these remarks. One overseas participant shared the following thought with me duringa group workshop:“In my country, prisoners end up joining a terrorist organization after being released fromprison because there are really no other ways to earn a living. But as this course taught us, if
proper vocational guidance is provided in prisons, we may be able to reduce, even if by only alittle, the number of such prisoners. This course has been a great encouragement and given us
hope”.
It was at this moment that I felt this course held true significance for these overseas
participants.

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