Reparation

The concept of reparation has gained in popularity in a number of jurisdictions. Under this method, the offender makes good the damage he has done through his crime, not by paying money but by providing services to the victim directly or indirectly through the community. In England this takes the form of the community service order, under which the court is empowered to order anyone who is convicted of an offence that could be punished with imprisonment to perform up to 240 hours of unpaid work for the community, usually over a period of not more than 12 months. The kind of work involved varies according to the area, the time of year, and the abilities of the offender; in some cases it may involve heavy physical labour, but in others it may require such work as the provision of help to handicapped people. If the offender completes the hours of work ordered by the court, he receives no further penalty, but if he fails to carry out the work without reasonable excuse, he can be re-sentenced for the original offence- This method is less expensive to administer than imprisonment less damaging to the offender and his family, and more useful to the community. There are some doubts about the extent to which the availability of community service as an alternative to prison weakens the deterrent effect of the criminal law, but there can be no doubt that community sex-vice has become an established sentencing alternative.

Disqualification

Other alternatives to prison are based on the idea of preventing an offender from committing further offences, without necessarily confining him or her in a prison. The most familiar power of this kind is that of disqualifying an offender from driving a motor vehicle or from holding a driver's license. Other forms of disqualification may be imposed on offenders convicted of particular types of crimcs: a fraudulent company director may be disqualified from being involved in the direction of a company, a corrupt politician may be disqualified from holding public office, or a parent who sexually abuses his children may be deprived of parental authority over them.

It appears* however, that imprisonment will still remain the major instrument of punishment. In light of the difficulties surrounding its use, prison ideally should be employed as a last resort for those offenders who cannot be handled in any other way,

TASK 2_t Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following words and expressions;

1. быть лишенным водительских прав

2. быть лишенным родительских прав

3. иметь право на возмещение ущерба

4. соответствовать требованиям

5. коррумпированный политик

6. насильственное преступление

7. отсрочка исполнения.приговора или наказания

8. сдерживающий эффект

9. сотрудник службы пробации

10. судебный приказ о направлении на пробацию

11. экономические санкции

12. условное осуждение

13. наблюдение, надзор

14. отсроченный приговор

15. коштенсадия, возмещение (3)

16. общественные работы

TASK 3- Read the text below and comment on the sentence given in bold type.

Tracking Humans; The Electronic Bracelet in the Modern World

 

Alternatives to incarceration such as the use of fines, community service, and restitution are products of the social movements of the 1960s. The rationalizations of these alternatives have been cost effectiveness, efficiency and humaneness. The same arguments have been associated with the newest community-based sanction, "electronic monitoring". It is clear that such an alternative may yield these benefits.

The electronic monitoring system generally requires the offender to wear an electronic bracelet around his or her ankle or wrist. The monitoring is usually of two types: passive or active. The passive system provides for random telephone monitoring by authorities in order to confirm that it is the specific offender who is present and responding. In contrast, an active system provides continuous information as to whether an individual is within the range, generally 150 to 200 feet, of a transmitter located within their residence. This is commonly referred to as continuous monitoring.

The overriding rationale in favour of electronic monitoring appears to centre on its potential to alleviate both prison overcrowding and the financial burden of incarceration.

The effects of imprisonment on an individual may be great, It is common knowledge that imprisonment returns a man to society with a scarred psyche» unpaid debts and financial losses, a highly disruptive if not irreparably broken family, children who lose respect for their parent, no job, and a gap in his life history that is hard to explain when he seeks a new job. In this respect, electronic monitoring allows the offender to remain at home where he or she can continue to hold employment and maintain any dependent children.

Consequently, society may benefit as well, since there will be no additional burden placed on the welfare system, as would be the case if an offender with dependent family members was imprisoned-

Violent crimes committed by electronically monitored offenders are rare. About one out of twenty- five electronically monitored effenders commit crimes, and the vast majority of these new offences are non-violent. Moreover, these figures compare favourably with other monitoring systems, including bail and probation.

4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the electronic monitoring system? What is its purpose?

2. What is the difference between passive and active monitoring?

3. What are the advantages of electronic monitoring compared with incarceration? What are its drawbacks?

TASK 5, Study the texts above (Task 1 and Task 3} and write down the advantages and disadvantages of each alternator to imprisonment. Make up your own list of prison alternatives.

TASK 6, Read the following text and answer the questions:

1. What approach characterises the Dutch punitive system?

2. What penalties do the Dutch prefer to impose on their criminals?

3. What are the prisons in Holland like?

4. What rights do prisoners enjoy in the Netherlands?

5. What is the goal of humanitarian treatment of offenders in Holland?

The Netherlands: a Land without Prisons

Soaring crime rates and law-and-order backlash are hardly unique to the United States, but not all countries have taken the 4ock-'em~up-and4hrow-away~the-key' approach. Many nations, in fact, have largely shelved the punitive psychology in dealing with criminals — and none more forthrightly than Holland. The Dutch have adopted an innovative and remarkably humane system of dealing with law breakers, with the result that the Netherlands is close to becoming a land without prisons. And the policy is apparently paying dividends: crime is certainly climbing much more slowly there than in all other countries.

The Dutch hold the view that harsh treatment and get-tough attitudes only aggravate the problems that lead a person to crime. "A prison sentence does little to 'resocialise a person', says vice- president of the Hague Court. "It more likely leads to rancour and bitterness. A mild sentence, possibly even just a fine, shows an offender that society cares about him." Because of this benevolent concept fewer and fewer people are serving time in Holland.

Whenever possible, the Dutch prefer to fine law breakers rather than clap them in jail. But even for those imprisoned, every effort is made to provide an environment that will rehabilitate the convicts. While, as one official put it, "Dutch prisons are not Hilton Hotels/¹ neither are they ugly fortresses full of cellblocks and harassment. Several prisons in Holland are country villas with only a handful of prisoner In many institutions prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes and keep personal possessions; they are given comfortably furnished rooms with such homey items as curtains, and they often are allowed to work outside the prison or leave from time to time to visit their families.

-Moreover, Holland has an extraordinary one-to-one ratio between prisoner staff members and inmates. "Our objective,¹' says the Deputy Prison Director, " is not to make life pleasant for prisoners, but to normalise it as much as possible to prepare the prisoners for a return to society."

Dutch officials maintain that their philosophy of short prison sentences and humanitarian treatment is essential if convicts are not to become repeaters. "A heavy sentence," they say, ''keeps a person out of possible mischief longer, but it merely postpones and aggravates the problem of recidivism/*

Given that kind of success, it is not surprising that Holland's liberal penal philosophy has won applause.

TASK 7. Explain the meaning of the following wards and expressions from the text above:

» soaring crime rates «law-and-order backlash

» 'lock^em-up-and-throw-away-tlie-key¹ approach • to shelve the punitive psychology 9 get-tough attitudes в to resocialise a person о benevolent concept в homey items» to become repeaters

TASK 8, Render the following passage into English paying special attention to the words and expressions in bold type:

Швеция прославилась своим гуманным отношением к лю­дям, преступившим закон. Особый интерес вызывают качествен­но новые подходы к решению задач борьбы с преступностью в рамках исправительных учреждений. В основе альтернативных программ лежит идея, состоящая в том, что преступление по­рождено обществом, социальной средой, сформировавшей нару­шителя. Преступники становятся таковыми из-за жизненных невзгод, и только особо опасных преступников следует заклю­чать в тюрьму — изолировать от общества. В связи с этим в Швеции, стране с высоким уровнем жизни, совершенно иная тен­денции борьбы с преступностью: в большинстве случаев мера наказания за совершенное преступление -— ото не заключение иод стражу, а взимание штрафов и нробация, т.е. надзор за ус­ловно осужденными. Существуют также специальные медицин­ские учреждения, которые оказывают психологическую помощь нарушителям закона и построены так называемые 'промышлен­ные тюрьмы', где заключённые работают в цехах и мастерских.

UNIT 5- REHABILITATION

BRAINSTORM

The word REHABILITATION has the following meanings in legal Russian:

1) восстановление к правах» реабилитация

rehabilitation of offender — реабилитация (восстановле­ние в правах) преступника

2) реабилитация личности преступника (приспособление его к условиям общежития)

rehabilitation — исправительная реабилитация, исправле­ние преступника

Comment on the meanings of this concept,

V________________________________________________________ J

TASK 1. Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents;

 

1) certificate

of rehabilitation

2) legal rehabilitation

3) psychiatric rehabilitation

4) rehabilitation agency

5) rehabilitation centre 6} rehabilitation facility

7) social rehabilitation

8) vocational rehabilitation

а] юридическая реабилитация, восстановление в правах

bj психиатрическая реабилитация

c) социальная реабилитация (восстановление личности

в смысле приспособления её к условиям общежития)

d) профессиональная реабилитация

e) орган по вопросам социальной реабилитации отбывших наказание преступников

f) центр социальной реабилитации (лиц, освободившихся из заключения)

g) справка о реабилитации

h) исправительное заведение

TASK 2. Read the text and translate the words and expressions given in bold type in writing;