Data obtained from the records of the Greek Ministry of Justice revealed that there were 457 deaths in the Greek prison system (which includes prisons, mental hospitals and other general hospitals) over the past 20 years. Of these deaths, 93 were recorded as suicides--an average of 4.65 suicides per year or 112 per 100,000 inmates classified as convinced, on remand or hospitalized. The suicide rates fluctuated widely, from a low rate 32.3 in 1982 to the incredibly high rate of 390.8 in 1979 (11 total suicides, 10 of which occurred in prison hospitals). The present study, the first of its kind in Greece, was based solely on unpublished prison data, which revealed defects in recording (e.g., 11% of the deaths recorded by the correctional administration remained without specification of cause in the years 1977 through 1996; social and penal demographic data of the inmates who committed suicide were kept unsystematically; detailed information on the circumstances of suicide was not always available, etc.). Despite a noticeable decrease in the suicide rate in the years 1995 and 1996, the limited data suggest that the suicide rate in the Greek prison system has basically remained stable over the past 20 years.

Suicide in Greek Prisons: 1977 to 1996

Although the prison furlough programme in Greece was first implemented in 1990, it has received little academic attention ever since. In an effort to fill that gap, this article reflects on some of the main aspects of the programme and poses some key research questions. To what extent do furloughed prisoners fail to return to the establishment on time? What is the proportion of those who fail to return at all? Why are foreign applicants less likely to receive licences than Greeks? Which factors do the prison authorities consider in their risk assessment of furlough applicants? Which are the weaknesses of the existing correctional legislation? Based on the findings from a four-month research project in the Male Prison of Korydallos - the largest establishment in Greece - I deal with these questions which have important implications for the ‘what works’ debate in Greece.

The prison furlough programme in Greece Findings from a research project in the Male Prison of Korydallos

Prison policy and legislation since 1830, when Greece became an independent state, is described as ‘whimsical’ (Dimopoulos 2003), because of the successive reforms and re-arrangements, the drifting from one correctional system to another, and from one penal philosophy to another. All relevant initiatives remained incomplete and decisions were overruled because of political instability, repeated emergencies and exceptional situations (occupations by foreign forces, dictatorships, wars, civil wars, economic crises).1 The prison system throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was characterised by dismal conditions — with institutions described as ‘dirty drains’ (Maurer 1835 in Courakis 2009), ‘schools of crime for the young inmates and graves for the elderly’ (Appert 1856,), ‘earthly hells’ (Dedis 1872), ‘animals’ hideouts’ (Parliamentary Minutes 1885).

Greece: Prisons Are Bad but Necessary (and Expanding), Policies Are Necessary but Bad (and Declining)

There is a new population of non-national prisoners, drawn mainly from ex-socialist countries, entering Greek prisons. These foreign prisoners currently account for approximately twenty-five per cent of the total number of inmates in the country. Their introduction into an already overcrowded prison system has generated new problems both for the prisoners and for prison administrators. These new problems, however, appear at a time of high state deficits, and growing unemployment rates, which serve as disincentives to spend more money on unproductive endeavours such as imprisonment. Moreover, the familiar strategies designed to reduce imprisonment — community sanctions and diversion — are rarely used as the implementation of relevant laws voted between 1988–1993 are lagging due to the state’s inability to hire probation officers. Thus prison overcrowding combined with the increase in non-national prisoners not only threatens human rights within prisons, but challenges the normal functioning of the prison itself. This situation is becoming more pronounced year by year not only in Greece but in many European countries (Matthews, 1994; Prison Information Bulletin, 1992; Tomasevski, 1994).

Calliope Spinellis

Papers

Foreign Detainees in Greek Prisons: A New Challenge to the Guardians of Human Rights