Prisoner rehabilitation in Serbia

Purpose: The paper gives a brief overview of the history and past developments of prison rehabilitation in the Republic of Serbia, as well as a more detailed description of present situation in the domain of the execution of institutional penal sanctions, in both normative and practical aspects. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purpose of the analysis, legislative documents were taken into account, as well as official data and reports of the Prison Administration of the Ministry of Justice and NGOs reports. Findings: The new treatment concept is based on the latest scientific achievements on crime and experiences of modern and developed penal systems Europe-wide. It is primarily focused on better classification of convicted persons by the level of risk, individual characteristics, needs and ability to adopt positive interventions through the penal system. Particularly important is that external control of work of penal institutions is provided, through the institution of Protector of Citizens. However there is still need of further developments in the domains of prison rehabilitation/treatments, and particularly of aftercare and post-penal assistance, in order to reach the substantial improvements in ex-prisoners’ social inclusion, reduction re-offending rates and crime prevention. Research limitations/implications: More reliable conclusions on overall effects of prison rehabilitations could be derived only on the basis of particularly tailored comprehensive longitudinal research. Rather new legislation and ongoing reform of the concept of prison administration are objective external research limitations. Practical implications: This paper emphasises the importance of after care and post-penal assistance as a problem that should be addressed in comprehensive manner by Ministry of Justice, together with other relevant ministries and agencies in Serbian government. Originality/Value: This paper is among few attempts of Serbian prisoner rehabilitation evaluation