REHABILITATION IN PRISON GERMAN EXPERIENCES AND WHAT CAN BE DONE BETTER
REHABILITATION IN PRISON GERMAN EXPERIENCES AND WHAT CAN BE DONE BETTER

Summary/Abstract: The last years, especially on the background of the high immigration rate of refugees from northern Africa and an increasing fear of crime and insecurity in society the punitiveness increased, not only in Germany. Against sexual and violent offenders more serious penal codes were adopted. The imprisonment rate in Germany is in a middle range of Western European countries. The number of registered crimes is relatively stable since mid-1990s. Only in the last years there is an increasing crime rate in some parts. Prison sentences are not only the most severe but also expensive penalties and are discussed in criminology very controversial. In Germany there are rehabilitation programs in prisons and special social therapeutic prisons; while the effects of the treatment are controversial, evaluations show a positive effect on crime prevention. The last years, from 2014 onwards, especially Germany showed a high immigration rate of refugees and asylum seekers, creating a problem of housing, education and integration in society of these people. There are fears of an increasing rate of terrorism in the country, and the question if Islam can be included in western Christian societies is more and more discussed. This very controversial discussion had effects also on the political structure, a right wing party was established and has meanwhile a position in the Parliament. There is the last year a continuing discussion about Alternatives to Imprisonment, like Restorative Justice and Mediation, used mostly in cases of juvenile offenders.

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