A Study On Community Correction System In Mainland China

Community Correction System is the product of the reprieve and socialization of penalty,which embodies the values of the era such as humanity,reason and democracy.Promoting the community correction system is a major part of Chinese criminal justice system reform.It is a significant measure to implement the criminal policies of combining leniency and mercy with severe punishment.And it reflects the modernization of our nation's governance capacity and governance system.In 2003,community correction system was introduced in Mainland China.Through the phased development trajectories of the pilot,of the pilot,trials to full implementation,its legal system has been initially established up to now.Its functioning system has been gradually improved.Its working staff has been gradually strengthened.And the social participation has been improved.Criminal policy effects are emerging gradually.However,the operation of Chinese community correction system is still confronted with the double dilemma of adaptability and implementation,due to such objective factors as biased guiding ideas,the lack of supporting system and the lack of guarantee conditions.The localization of community correction system has been more than fifteen years.It is the mission of the era that the theoretical and practical departments should take up to sort out timely and confront its development setbacks and seek out feasible solutions.This research is based on the objective facts of the development of Chinese community correction system.By taking advantage of the enactment of community correction law,this paper intends to reveal the current dilemma in the development of community correction system.Its theoretical basis lies in criminal integration,humanization of penalty and execution socialization.The research methods of comparative analysis and empirical analysis are to be applied.The complicated factors which hinder its further development will be deeply analyzed.Its reform paths will be explored from different levels of ideas,systems and conditions.Materials and thoughts will be provided for the construction of community correction system with Chinese characteristics.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,the body part of this paper is divided into five chapters.Chapter One,the current dilemma in the operation of community correction system.In this chapter,the current dilemma confronted in the operation of Chinese community correction system will be analyzed from two perspectives of its application and execution.Honestly speaking,with the prosperity of community correction system,prison correction and community correction have become the Twin Pillars of Chinese criminal execution system.But at present,imprisonment still occupies the leading position.The low proportion of parolees and juvenile offenders is a prominent problem in the application of community correction system.Meanwhile,in the process of executing community correction system,some practical setbacks are in urgent need of improvement such as difference in work systems,low efficiency of law enforcement activities,low competence of social participation,extensiveness of corrective measures and the simplification of special objects.Chapter Two,an analysis of the reasons for community correction system's dilemma.This chapter intends to analyzethe reasons for community correction system's practical dilemma from three perspectives:guiding notions,supporting systems,guarantee conditions.Specifically,in the level of guiding notion,the concept of criminal integration is not deeply implemented,therefore the interaction of prison correction and community correction is hindered,which leads to the maladjustment of the cooperation between criminal judicial organs.The concept of humanization of punishment is not well advocated,which leads to the penalty structure of heavy crime and heavy punishment,the penalty concept in the concept of supervision and the social public's retribution mentality.The concept of socialization of punishment execution is not fully infiltrated,resulting in the inadequate involvement of social organizations,the inactive participation of members of society and the dilemma of low efficiency of social participation.At the institutional level,the limitations of the parole system,the loopholes of the special subject correction system and the imperfection of community correction self-assessment system all restrict the expansion of the community correction scale and the improvement of the scientific level of fine correction work.At the level of security conditions,the lack of specific legislation for community correction leads to the differentiation of work systems including social investigation,appraisal,reward and punishment systems and so on.It also results in the simplification of special types of community prisoners,for instance,the inadequate differentiation of corrections for juvenile community prisoners,inadequate system of corrections for mobile community prisoners and few methods of corrections for community prisoners of foreign nationality etc.Meanwhile,the police identity of community correction enforcers is not clear yet,leading to difficulties in detention,tracing and routine management,which indicates the low performance in law enforcement.The community correction work staff is not professional and its work force is insufficient,which contributes to the extensiveness of corrective measures such as supervision and management,educational correction and social adaptation assistance.The involvement in the community corrective work of People's courts,public security organs,prisons and other relevant departments becomes a mere formality.This leads to the negative results of low application rate of non-custodial sentences,ineffective law enforcement,the ineffective collaboration between imprisonment correction and community correction.Chapter Three,ideological correction of the reform of community correction system.This chapter intends to revolve around how to promote the development of community correction system,the implementation and generalization of criminal integration concept,the concept of humane punishment and execution socialization.Criminal integration concept stressed the internal and external coordination and smooth mechanism.Therefore,the integrated correctional mode of "prison area—community area" should be constructed.And the interactive coordination between imprisonment correction and community correction should be strengthened.Meanwhile,accelerating the construction of community correction information platform can facilitate horizontal communication between criminal justice authorities.It also contributes to vertical connections in the system of justice administration,which is also the significance of the integration concept.Humanism is the foundation of the breeding and development of community correction system,which should be promoted at the legislative,judicial and law enforcement levels.Humanization of criminal legislation calls for the promotion of the establishment of a system of minor offences and lighterpenalty structure,creating space for the application of community corrections.Humanization of criminal justice calls for the implementation of the criminal policy which combines punishment with leniency,increasing the application rate of non-custodial sentences for juvenile offenders.Humanization of criminal law enforcement calls for the law executors to change their concept of law enforcement,transiting from"penal standard" to "human standard".Community correction is an important manifestation of the socialization of execution.The essential characteristic of community correction is to make the social resources and strengths get involved in.To encourage the active participation of the public and social organizations in the community correction system,several specific approaches can be applied which include fostering a culture of social participation,supporting the construction and development of private social organizations,designing incentive policies to encourage social participation,broadening access to social funding,and so on.Chapter Four,the perfect advice of the community correction system reform.This chapter intends to explore the development paths of community correction from such aspects as the improvement of the parole system,the establishment of the misdemeanour system,the perfection of the special object correction system and the construction of the assessment system,etc.First of all,it is suggested that the application of the parole system should be improved and expanded.Low parole rates not only limit the progress in community corrections but also increase the pressure of correction work in prisons.Therefore,"the biased concept of emphasizing the reduction of sentence while neglecting parole" should be transformed.The criminal policy function of parole system should be given a full play by means of improving parole conditions,increasing the number of parole recipients,abandoning the relevant restriction systems.Secondly,the establishment of the misdemeanor system is advocated in order to expand space for the application of community correction system.The expansion of the crime circle,the abolition of the reeducation through labour system and the prosperity of community correction system all provide good opportunities for the establishment of the misdemeanor system.The establishment of the misdemeanor system requires a corresponding system of light penalties.Furtherly speaking,the system of light penalties creates conditions for the development of community correction system.Thirdly,a specialized correctional system for juvenile community prisoners is advocated to be established.The unified correction system for mobile community prisoners should be improved.A special correction system for foreign community prisoners should be set up.All these approaches will contribute to tackling the obstacles facing the correction work of particular types of community prisoners which lacks guidance or effectiveness.In addition,quantitative risk assessment and effect assessment system is suggested to be established to deal with the phenomenon of focusing on control with extensive regulatory measures,so that the refinement level of community corrective measures can be improved and the scientificization level of corrective work can be promoted.Chapter Five,the guarantee follow-up of community correction system reform.In this chapter,the conditions to promote the progress of community correction will be discussed and explored from such aspects as legislation,improving the professionalization level of the workforce and building synergies among criminal justice authorities.The legislation of community correction should focus on the nature of community correction and the police status of the law-executors in order to solve the practical problem of inefficient law enforcement.Meanwhile,both the system of social investigation and the system of evaluation,reward and punishment should be regulated so that the unity and impartiality in the enforcement of sentences can be guaranteed.The professional level of law-executors of the judicial administration should be improved.The career development of social workers should be stressed.Suitable positions should be matched for social volunteers.All these measures can provide organizational safeguards and intellectual support for the development of community correction system.The collaborative cooperation of the public security organs,people's courts and other criminal judicial organs can provide external safeguards for the efficient implementation and smooth operation of the community correction system.