Open Prison

8/13/2019 Open Prison

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Open prisons in India

An open prison, also called minimum-security prison,

open camp, or prison without bars, is a prison which isopen in four respects:

(i) Open to prisoners, i.e., inmates can go to market atsweet will during the day but have to come back in theevening

(ii) Open in security, i.e., there is absence ofprecautions against escape, such as walls, bars, locksand armed guards

(iii) Open in organisation, i.e., working is based oninmates! sense of self-responsibility, self-discipline, andself-confidence and

(iv) Open to public, i.e., people can visit the prison andmeet prisoners. "t is the kind of authority and the natureof management, transferred to the inmates and thedegree of freedom from physical restraints (to escape),that should be the real measure of openness of an openprison.

#he main ob$ectives of establishing open prisons are: toreduce overcrowding in $ails, to reward good behaviour,to give training in self-reliance, to provide dependablepermanent labour for public works, to preventfrustrations and create hope among long-termers, toprovide training in agriculture and industry, to e%aminethe suitability of releasing offenders from prisons, and toenable prisoners to live with their family members (insome states).


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#he first open prison was established in &wit'erland in*, in the +nited &tates in *, in ritain in */, andin the 0etherlands in *1/. y *21, there were open

prisons in 3ngland, 41 in the +nited &tates, four each in&ri 5anka and the Australia, three in 6ong 7ong, twoeach in 0ew 8ealand, 9hina, apan, ;alaysia,


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At the time of its establishment, &ampurnanand camphad 1,*1 acres of land but later on 4,/// acres ofreclaimed land were handed over to the +ttar


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#he area of open prisons in different states varies from/ to 1/ acres e%cept in Andhra


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prisons

(1) #hey should not be below 4 years or above 1/ years

as prescribed by the state

() #hey should not have been convicted for certaintypes of crimes (like dacoity, forgery, counterfeiting,etc.)

(2) #hey should not have any case pending in the courts

() #hey should not be habitual offenders and (*) theyshould not be class " (one) prisoners or womenprisoners.

#he procedure for selection of prisoners for open prisonsis simple. #he superintendents of prisons prepare lists ofprisoners to be sent to open prisons on the basis of the

eligibility conditions (as described above).

#hese lists are sent to the selection committees whiche%amine each case-history and make the final selection.

About / per cent of prisoners in open prisons are thosewho have been sentenced for more than / years, whileabout 1 per cent are those who have been imprisoned

for more than 1 years. #he average stay in the prisonvaries from two to three years. #he wage system alsovaries from prison to prison.

"t may thus be maintained that open prisons differ fromthe ordinary prisons in four respects: in structure(affecting organisation and administration), in role

systems (affecting work and interaction in everyday life),in normative systems (affecting social restrictions and


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e%pectations guiding behaviour), and in valueorientations (affecting conduct and training).

Fhile inmate system in ordinary $ails is dominated by aset of values and norms which are largely anti-social andanti- administration, the inmate system in open prisonsis pro-administration. Open prisons are characterisedmore by consensus among inmates.

=hosh (**) studied 4// prisoners from two openprisons (&itargan$ and ;ir'apur) in +ttar


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among the inmates of closed $ails than open camps.

iv. Attitude towards authorities is more cooperative

among prisoners in open camps than those in closed$ails.

v. a$asthan)earns remission at the rate of one day for one day stay."n addition, he is entitled to fifteen days! remission forgood conduct every year. esides, the superintendentand "nspector =eneral of


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permitted to keep their families with them, if they sodesire.

B. 9hecking biases, pressures and corruption inpreparing lists of prisoners to be sent to open prisons bysuperintendents.

1. Assigning powers to the courts for sending certaintypes of offenders directly to open prisons.

Documents

Open Prison