| Abstract [eng] |
Re-socialisation of Convicts in Imprisonment Institutions of Lithuania Summary Theory of critical criminology indicates that a major part of criticism falls upon custodial penalty, or rather, imprisonment. M. Foucault states that a penalty is the art of anticipation of consequences (Foucault, 1998, p. 113), and in order to escape painful consequences effective re-socialisation of convicts is necessary. The present paper aims at exploring re-socialisation status in Lithuanian penitentiary system and possibilities of application of re-socialisation measures for convicts in Lithuanian imprisonment institutions. For the purpose of the present paper, a social study in six Lithuanian imprisonment institutions is carried out by interviewing experts currently working in Lithuanian penitentiary system and by performing the analysis of legal documentation. The author decided to use questionnaires in imprisonment institutions in order to explore convicts’ opinion on re-socialisation and its application in Lithuanian penitentiary system and their opinion on a penalty of imprisonment (questionnaire error – 5 percent, number of respondents – 440). Qualitative exhaustive interviews are performed with experts working in Lithuanian penitentiary system: employees of the Prison Department of the Republic of Lithuania, Imprisonment and correction institutions deputy, psychologists, and heads of departments (total – 8 respondents). The findings of the study suggest that the idea of re-socialisation and convicts’ correction is mentioned in Lithuanian legal documentation, however, the law provides a very long term of imprisonment that obstructs implementation of re-socialisation; imprisonment performs a punitive function and does not have any re-socialisation effect on convicts in Lithuanian imprisonment institutions. |
