1 / 8

Spencer D. Li University of Macau

Community Corrections in China. Spencer D. Li University of Macau. A Correctional System in Need of Reform. Major problems in the correctional system at the turn of the century 1.5 million inmates in jails and prisons 16% over capacity

carsyn
Download Presentation

Spencer D. Li University of Macau

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Community Corrections in China • Spencer D. Li • University of Macau

  2. A Correctional System in Need of Reform • Major problems in the correctional system at the turn of the century • 1.5 million inmates in jails and prisons • 16% over capacity • Operating costs totaled nearly RMB 20 billion annually • No evidence that the system had been effective in reducing recidivism and promoting offender rehabilitation

  3. The Calls for Change • The need of the government to reduce prison overcrowding and high cost of imprisonment • The concern about high recidivism, especially in the area of drug treatment • The influence of research on evidence-based corrections from abroad • The demand of making the system “kinder” and “humanitarian”

  4. The Initiative • Experiments started in two municipal CJ systems • The central government sponsored pilot programs in 2003 • The National People’s Congress amended the criminal law officially recognizing community-based corrections in 2011 • The government set policies and legal requirements of community-based corrections in 2012

  5. The Development • In March 2011, over 65% of the local jurisdictions had community-based correctional programs • They supervised a total of 659,000 convicted offenders • Successes in some areas • Zhejiang Provinces placed 130,000 convicted offenders in the system from 2004 to 2012. About 90,000 (69%) of them successfully completed their terms in the community settings

  6. Problems and Challenges • Ambivalent legal requirements • Insufficient funding • Inexperienced and poorly trained staff • Low accountability - lack of research and evaluation

  7. Contact: Spencer D. Li Department of Sociology University of Macau Avenida Padre Tomás Pereira Taipa, Macau, China Tel: (853) 8397 8836 Fax: (853) 2883 8312 Email: spencerli@umac.mo Thank You!

More Related