UNIT 2. PRISON POPULATION

TASK 1. Read the text below and answer the following questions:

L What are the main categories of inmates?

2. Where are long-term prisoners usually held?

3. What is the purpose of reformatories?

4. What are open prisons?

Nowadays prisoners are kept in separate institutions according to the severity of crime committed, as well as to the age» sex and other conditions. Consequently, the inmates include unconvicted prisoners, juvenile delinquents, women prisoners, recidivists and life-sentence prisoners.

Most prisoners serving longer sentences are held in correctional institutions, which are usually large maximum-security buildings holding offenders in conditions of strict security- Young offenders

Chapter V, Imprisonment; Retribution or Rehabilitation? Ifil

are usually detained in reformatories, often designated under names that imply that their purpose is treatment or correction rather than punishment. Women are normally held in separate prisons. Prisoners who are not considered a danger to the community may be confined in low-security or open prisons.

TASK 2. Ex-plain the meaning of the following words and expressions;

• unconvicted prisoner

• juvenile delinquent 0 recidivist

m Ше-sentence prisoner

TASK 3, Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:

 

1) close prisoner	а) 'узник совести';
2) life-sentence prisoner	политический заключённый
3) long-sentence / long-term	Ь) версия, выдвинутая
prisoner	обвиняемым
4) prisoner of conscience	с) военнопленный
5) prisoner of war	d) лицо, содержащееся
6) prisoner on bail	в одиночном заключении
7) prisoner on trial	е) обвиняемый, отпущенный
8) prisoner's box	(из-под стражи) на поруки
9) prisoner's story	f) осуждённый,
	отбывающий долгосрочное
	тюремное заключение
	g) подсудимый
	h) приговорённый
	к пожизненному тюремному
	заключению
	i) скамья подсудимых

TASK 4, Read the following text and wite down Russian equivalents for sentences given in bold type:

Prison Inmates

Unconvicted Prisoners

Some of the prison population consists ol unconvicted prisoners held in custody and awaiting trial These prisoners are presumed

Just English. Английский для юриста

to be innocent and are treated accordingly. They arc allowed all reasonable facilities to seek release on bail, prepare for trial, maintain contact with relatives and friends, and pursue legitimate business and social interests. They also have the right to wear their own clothes and can write and receive unlimited number of letters.

Young Offenders

In Britain, young offenders are held in reformatories, which are designed for the treatment, training and social rehabilitation of youth. School-age delinquents are kept in residential training schools, and young offenders between the ages of 1Й and 25 who have been convicted of a criminal act serve in special facilities. The most famous of these is the Borstal Institution,

Women prisoners

Women are usually held in smaller prisons with special programmes and recreational opportunities offered to reflect stereotyped female roles_T with emphasis on housekeeping, sewing and typing skills, Women prisoners do not wear prison uniform and there is a clothing allowance to help pay for clothes while in prison. Some prisons provide mother and baby units, which enable babies to remain with their mothers where that is found to be in the best interests of the child. In addition to the usual visiting arrangement, several prisons allow extended visits to enable women to spend the whole day with their children in an informal atmosphere.

Habitual offenders

Criminals who have frequently been apprehended and convicted, who have manifested a settled practice in crime, and who are presumed to be a danger to the society in which they live are referred to as habitual offenders. Studies of the yearly intake of prisons, reformatories, and jails in the United States and Europe show that from one-half to two-thirds of those imprisoned have served previous sentences in the same or in other institutions. The conclusion is that the criminal population is made up largely of those for whom criminal behaviour has become habitual; moreover, penal institutions appear to do little to change their basic behaviour patterns.

Though the percentage of recidivists runs high for all offenders, it. is greatest among those convicted of such minor charges as vagrancy, drunkenness, prostitution, and disturbing the peace. These are more likely than serious criminal charges to result from an entire way of life. Accordingly their root causes are rarely susceptible to cure by jailing,

Chapter V. Imprisonment: Retribution or Rehabilitation? 103

Life-sentence prisoners

Since capital punishment has been abolished in Britain, the severest penalty for the most atrocious crimes, such as murder, is life imprisonment. Those serving life sentences for the murder nf police and prison officers, terrorist murders, murder by firearms in the cause of robbery and the sexual or sadistic murder of children are normally detained for at least twenty years. Life sentences for offences other than murder can be reduced up to nine years.

On release, all life-sentence prisoners remain on licence for the rest of their lives and are subject to recall should their behaviour suggest that they might again be a danger to the public.

TASK 5. Find in the text above the English equivalents for the

following words and expressions:

»

1. исправительное заведение для малолетних правонаруши­телей

2. исправление и перевоспитание заключённых

3. рецидивист (2)

4. бродяжничество

5. нарушение общественного порядка

6. сотрудник исправительного учреждения

7. отбывать наказание (в тюрьме)

TASK 6. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the status of 'unconvicted prisoners? What are their privileges?

2. What are the purposes of reformatories?

3. What is the most famous facility for young offenders?

4 What special programmes are established for women prisoners?

5. What additional rights do women prisoners have?

6. What are habitual offenders?

7. What are the most typical crimes committed by recidivists?

8. What is the severest penalty for the most atrocious crimes?

9. What kinds of lifers' are sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment?

 

10. How is life sentence typically reduced in Britain?

11. How are 'lifers' supervised when released?

TASK 7. The word BAIL has the following meanings in legal Russian:

1) поручительство.

civil bail — поручительство в гражданском процессе

Just English. Английский для юристов

2) передача на поруки; брать на поруки; передавать на
поруки

to free on bail — освободить на поруки

3) поручитель; поручители

to be /to go bail — стать поручителем

4) залог при передаче на поруки

excessive bail — чрезмерная сумма залога

Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:

 

1) to stand bail for smb,	а) явиться в суд
2) to accept /to allow /	(о выпущенном под залог)
to take bail	Ь) быть отпущенным
for the prisoner	на поруки
3) to forfeit /to jump one's	с) внести; залог / поручиться
bail	за кого-л.
4) to find bail	d) найти себе поручителя
5) release on bail	е) не явиться в суд
6) straw bail	(об отпущенном под залог)
7) to surrender to one's bail	f) ненадёжное ('липовое')
8) to be out on bail	поручительство
9) to deny bail	g) освобождение под залог
	h) отказать в поручительстве
	i) отпустить арестованного
	на поруки {под залог)

TASK 8. Read the article below and write down the criminal record of the convict: