Showing papers in "International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology in 1971"

Self-Mutilation by Peruvian Prisoners

Abstract: THE curious scars on arms, legs and torso, which, like the tribal markings they resemble, bear witness to common practices and the makings of a common folklore, are distinctive, tell-tale characteristics of a certain delinquent class in Peru. The motivations of this self-mutilation and the purposes they serve, are very complex; in this brief note I am limiting myself to some tentative conclusions within a strictly Peruvian context. Similar behavior has, however, been observed in other countries too, notably in the United States.’ The present article is based on a 14 months’ observation in the modern Centro Penitenciario of Lurigancho, near Lima. Its population fluctuated during this time between i, s oo and

Crime Statistics in South Africa

Abstract: are both politically and economically dominant, numbered some 3,750,000; the Coloreds (a mulatto population centred predominantly around the city of Cape Town and hence known also as the &dquo;Cape Colored&dquo;) numbered approximately 2,018,000; the Asians (most of Indian descent) numbered 620,00o and the Bantu (or African) numbered about I S,o57,000. In conformity with South African policy, crime statistics are computed for each &dquo;race&dquo;. They are provided by several ofhcial agencies including the Commissioner of the South African Police, the Department of Prisons and the Department of Statistics. The Commissioner of Police

On the Psychopathology of Boy Prostitutes

Abstract: AT least four aspects are relevant for the understanding of the development of boy prostitutes: study of normal psychosexual development in the male; assessing the meaning of symptomatic male homosexual behavior; comparing boy prostitution with female prostitution, and evaluating the combined ill-effects of socio-economic and cultural deprivation. Normal adolescence is ushered in by psycho-physiological sexual drives. They help to establish adult heterosexuality, by overcoming the remnants of infantile attitudes and of the early passive strivings. At this period, a gradual withdrawal from family ties takes place, competitive peer relationships emerge, while a genuine interest in women is still inhibited and there is a need for identification with older men. The

Socio-Psychological Aspects:

Abstract: are delinquents. There is no single type of offender; there are offenders. Yet after looking at some of the statistics covering New York City, I am unable to resist making some observations about the female offender-even without the benefit of covering all relevant aspects. In 1959 of 3 3, 3 8 persons arrested for felonies, 3,182 were females-or about i woman to io males. Of the 97,6z9 misdemeanors, 8,03~ were committed by females-or about i to I I males. These figures do not include 2,396 arrests for prostitution as an offense. Thus the ratio of females to males increases with the seriousness of the oflense-with the conspicuous exceptions of prostitution and &dquo;petit larceny&dquo;. The number of females arrested for the latter was 1300, a ratio of about i female to 3 males. When we examine specific crimes it is notable that the ratio increases from third degree assault, a misdemeanor (i female to 8 males) to felonious assault (i to 7) and finally to murder and non-negligent manslaughter (i to 4). For the latter, in 1939 83 members of the &dquo;gentle&dquo; sex were arrested compared with 341 men. This ratio represents a substantial jump from i to 5 to the i to 4 figure compared to those of the

A Canadian Group Approach Study of Dangerous Sexual Offenders

Abstract: THE term &dquo;dangerous sex offender&dquo; is not new, nor is the idea of punishing a person who persists in this type of activity. While some countries, notably Denmark and Holland have made inroads into the education of public opinion, the idea of punishment being replaced by treatment, methods in Canada have not changed much since the nineteenth century. In Canada, a man sentenced as a dangerous sex offender (a legal, not a psychiatric category) will serve a sentence of

Crime, Criminals and Prisons in Peru

Abstract: ALL prison systems are, of necessity, intimately related to the hard facts of the society of which they form a part and bear the indelible imprint of national and regional characteristics. It is this that makes for such difficulty in successfully transferring penological ideas. Many that have proved their worth in one country are somehow valueless in another; the seed simply does not germinate in alien soil. The present observations are offered then, with the caution that they refer to the special setting in which they have been made. Nevertheless, some characteristics are common to all mankind, and given similar conditions, the European, the American and the Peruvian are likely to react in very much the same way to at least some aspects of imprisonment. Certain phenomena observed in this study are probably common to all prison life; but the reactions described are, in the main, essentially Peruvian.

An Indian Study of Prison Psychoses

Abstract: 44 T is always twilight in one’s cell, it is always twilight in one’s heart ... to those who are in prison, tears are a part of every day experience. The only really humanising influence in prison is the influence of the prisoners.... It is not the prisoners who need reformation. It is the prisons.... The present prison system seems almost to have for its aim the wrecking and the destruction of the mental faculties. The production of insanity is, if not its object, certainly its result.&dquo; So wrote Oscar Wilde long ago in &dquo;De Profundis&dquo;. In India the horrid conditions of the penal institutions continue to exist to the detriment of the inmates’ mental health. The present study is based on my researches on patients in the three State Mental Hospitals located at Agra, Bareilly and Varanasi in the State of Uttar Pradesh, for a doctoral thesis on social work and the problem of mental disorder. The Mental Hospital at Varanasi is specifically for the criminal insane Painfully understaffed and tragically ill-equipped, it works under the administrative control of the District Civil Surgeon who visits the hospital twice a week, chiefly to sign the files. The Deputy Superintendent, a medical service man, is overburdened with routine administrative duties at the expense of the inmates’ care and therapy. The hospital has beds for

Psychiatric Services Integrated Into The Californian Correction System

Abstract: as during their imprisonment and also when struggling to get reintegrated after their discharge. Whatever form such suffering takes and whatever its cause, it should be treated both for humanitarian reasons as well as because it interferes with normal functioning and rehabilitation. In order to decide whether a man is in need of psychiatric help, prisoners are observed and diagnosed at the two reception-guidance centers at Chino and Vacaville. Those in need are usually not sent to a special institution, but there are psychiatrists attached to the various regular prisons who provide both direct and consultative services. At Vacaville there is a psychiatric prison-hospital to which prisoners can be

Juvenile Bureau of the Metropolitan Police, Greater London

Abstract: THE Metropolitan Police District comprises the whole of the Greater London Council area, also the local authority areas of Elstree, Potters Bar and Cheshunt; the parishes of Aldenham and Northaw in the county of Hertfordshire; Waltham, Holy Cross and Chigwell in Essex; Esher, Epsom, Banstead, Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames in the county of Surrey. So with the exception of approximately one square mile known as the City of London, the Metropolitan Police District stretches from Havering in the East to Uxbridge in the West, and from Cheshunt in the north to Banstead in the south. A total of 787.5 square miles with a population in excess of 81 million people. To keep so large an area within manageable limits it is divided into 23 divisions each with the population of a large sized town.

Social Work in the Psychiatric Court Clinic

Abstract: THE court clinic has a unique set-up, where two entirely different professional systems learn to co-operate. Mental health workers are trained to understand and help people; members of the judiciary are thinking in legal concepts and their task is to control lawbreakers. This is a rather unique example of professional intergroup relationships and necessitates great flexibility on the part of the social worker. In the court clinic the social worker must accept the fact that whatever recommendations are made by the clinic, it is the court which makes the final decision and disposition. Co-operation is only possible if both professional groups feel secure in their own values and loyalties, ready and able to understand

A Mental Patient with a Criminal Record Individual Liberty vs. Public Safety

Abstract: HOW long should a man pay for a murder he committed in a psychotic condition? Does a psychotic episode render him incapable of returning to a normal productive life? The following case history highlights these and related questions.