Rehabilitation and social reintegration in an

unrestricted environment: Best practices

Olga Espinoza

Second Meeting of Officials Responsible

for Penitentiary and Prison Policiesin OAS Member States

Contents

•Overview•Legal definition of the term post-

penitentiary•A behavioral look at the issue•Post-penitentiary reintegration in practice•Positive experiences of post-penitentiary

reintegration

Overview

•Growth of the prison population in the region

•Criminal-law system reform processes•Negligible impact in terms of reduction of

the prison population

Source: International Centre for Prison Studies (King’s College London)

Overview

•Consequences of overcrowding:▫For the orderly management of the system▫For the rights of inmates and prison staff▫For proportional reintegration programs

and services▫For infrastructure▫In terms of costs for the State

Legal definition▫Argentina: Prison Sentence Enforcement

Law▫Colombia: Penitentiary Code▫Mexico: Federal District Penal Enforcement

Law▫Peru: Penal Enforcement Code▫Paraguay: Penitentiary and Penal

Enforcement Code

A behavioral look at post-penitentiary reintegration

•It is a process in which there is a break in the institutionalized existence characterized by a loss of independence in the determination of different aspects of life, from the most basic to the most complex

•De-institutionalize in order to re-institutionalize

A behavioral look at post-penitentiary reintegration

•Key areas for reintegration:▫Job placement▫Family support▫Financial management and personal

planning▫Community networks and restoration of

rights▫Psychosocial intervention▫Drug abuse

Reintegration in practice

•Distinguishing progressive obtainment of freedom from serving a sentence in full

•Analysis of this sphere from a gender-awareness perspective

•Challenges upon release from prison

Positive experiences

•EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE (Uruguay)

•COMMUNITY COUNCILS (Brazil)

•HOY ES MI TIEMPO (TODAY IT’S MY TURN) (Chile)

In conclusion…

Aspects to include in post-penitentiary policy:

▫Take into consideration the multitude of needs of persons released from prison, in order to avoid recidivism

▫Comprehensive tackling of different variables

▫Motivation to change

Everyone in prison today will one day regain their freedom

So:

What kind of persons do we want to return?

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