The Prison and Social Services
| Published date | 01 October 1982 |
| Author | Daniel P. King |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8205500406 |
| Date | 01 October 1982 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DANIEL
r. KING
THE
PRISON
AND
SOCIAL
SERVICES
Punishment has been traditionally viewed as the consequence of
crime, the just desert of wrongdoing. Hence policies concerning
criminal sanctions are considered as being of great public concern.
Today imprisonment involving segregation and isolation of the
offender is accepted as but the first step in the process of treatment of
the criminal. Ninety-nine percent of all inmates eventually return to
their communities under parole or aftercare supervision, and it is
vital for the police and public to understand what is involved in the
process of imprisonment.
A close look at an effective and adequate correctional institution
will reveal that the total programme may be divided into two broad
areas: custody and treatment. Custody includes security and routine
care such as feeding, clothing and housing. Treatment includes
classification, and isconcerned with individualization of programme
planning for each offender in relation to his needs and geared to
rehabilitation and return to useful living.
In modern penology, this parallel concept of custody and
treatment is considered basic in progressive prison administration.
Further, there is a growing demand on the partof the thinkingpublic
that its prisons, reformatories and other places of confinement
provide something in addition to custodyand security. A study of the
Auburn and Pennsylvania systems will reveal
that
while they
provided security they tended to break rather than to make a man.
The physical abuse of the one and the mental torture
of
the other in
combination with monotony, drudgery and the silent system
took
a
dreadful toll in which both the inmate and society were the losers.
Thus, in addition to its basic requirement for security, society now
demands an additional return from its investment in its correctional
institutions in the form of a positive effort at the rehabilitation of the
inmates committed to their care and custody. In meeting this
challenge, the great majority of institutions are giving added stature
to their social service units whose responsibility is planning an on-
going programme of individualized treatment of the offender.
This brings us to a consideration of .the purpose and scope of
treatment; what it is; what it is not; the personnel employed in the
process along with the methods
and
tools utilized and, above all, the
philosophy which should control their activities. Simply stated, the
purpose of treatment provided by the Social Service Unit within a
prison setting is twofold. The first function is to help the inmate to
adjust to the institution in order that he may utilize the training and
October 1982 345
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