ROLES OF DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IN REHABILITATION OF PRISONERS

Abstract

         The role of correctional work in the rehabilitation of inmates is central to the enforcement of prison sentences. This is for the purpose of correcting the behaviour of the offender in order to change it in the right way and accept the law before being sentenced. To return good people to society and to be sustainable social protection. The objectives of this article were to 1) study the roles of the Department of Corrections in the rehabilitation of prisoners in Thailand and Singapore, 2) to study problems of penal administration in the rehabilitation of prisoners, and 3) to find the guidelines for solving problems in the rehabilitation of prisoners.

          The results revealed that Thailand had enacted the Correction Act, B.E. 2560 (2017), which established the prison’s structure and authorities of its officials but was not in accordance with the principles of rehabilitation for prisoners. This came from experts of various vocations who were not provided by the laws for participating in the administration of prisons to rehabilitate prisoners. On the other hand, Singapore placed more importance on the mental conditions of prisoners; follow-up and evaluation were conducted immediately after classification of prisoners and also succeeded at a high level because the Singapore Department of Corrections had an external agency related to this specific aspect.

          Suggestions: Thai laws on penal administration related to the rehabilitation of prisoners had to be amended by having processes of professional rehabilitation meet international standards. Those processes must be accepted and assured by external social that prisoners who will be released in the future will be rehabilitated by specialists with socially acceptable occupational standards, affecting those released prisoners who may return to their socially normal lives able to live a new life without committing another crime.