Behind Bars In India: An Analytical Study Of The Criminal Justice And Correctional System

Abstract

Punishing the offenders is the primary function of all civil societies1. Prisons are known to have existed throughout history. The existence of prisons can be traced back to the ancient period. It was believed that rigorous isolation and custodial measures would reform the offenders. Experience, however, belied this expectation and often imprisonment had the opposite effect. With the development of behavioral sciences, it began to federalize that the reformation of offenders was not possible by detention alone.

Prisons are not normal places. The prisoners are deprived of freedom and personal contacts with family and friends. Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes.In modern times the idea of making living spaces safe and clean has spread from the civilian population to include prisons, on ethical grounds which honor that unsafe and unsanitary prisons violate constitutional (law) prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. In recent times prison reform ideas include greater access to legal counsel and family, conjugal visits, proactive security against violence, and implementing house arrest with assistive technology.The real purpose of sending criminals to prison is to transform them into honest and law-abiding citizens by inculcating in theirdistaste for crime and criminality. But in actual practice, the prison authorities try to bring out the reformation of inmates by use of force and compulsive methods. Consequently, the change in the inmates is temporary and lasts only till they are in the prison and as soon as they are released, they again get attracted towards criminality.

It is for this reason that the modern trend is to lay down greater emphasis on the prisoners so that they can be rehabilitated to normal life in the community. This objective can be achieved through probation and parole. They repeatedly launched protests with the prison authorities and made all possible efforts to see that the rigors of prison life are mitigated, and prisoners are humanely treated.³