Study On China's Community Correction System

Community corrections are the inevitable results of economic development, the civilization progress and the legal system improvement in human society. As important aspects of the execution socialization, they have already developed excellently in the western countries. They play important roles in enhancing the awareness of self-discipline of criminals, reducing crime again and improving the quality of criminal reform. However, in China, community corrections are just beginning and some successful practices have been received from trial works but there are some urgent problems to be solved at present. In order to establish the community corrections system suitable to the specific conditions of our country, the author puts forward theory assumption based on the situation of the community corrections practices in China and referential experiences of foreign countries. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part discusses the basic theory of the community corrections, including of definition, characteristic, duty and significance. In our country, community corrections refer to none imprisonment executions activities which put the criminals satisfying the conditions of community corrections in the community by special state organs, with the help of related social organizations and non-governmental organizations and volunteers, to rectify their guilty mind and immoral practice, promote them to return to society in the given period after the legal decisions. However, community corrections are executions of national criminal and need a guaranty for implementation by compulsion. Community corrections provide the criminals with opportunities of personal contact with society and adaptation to society, and gradually enable them to participate in the society again, return to the society successfully and become persons of adaptation to the society. This value orientation based on putting people first is consistent with building a harmonious society of our country. It is very important for constructing a country of " small government, big society" and the patterns of the social relation, maintaining social stability. The second part analyses the present pilot programs of the community corrections in our country. In order to explore a community corrections road conforming to our country, trial works are arranged in some cities and provinces and have achieved remarkable results. For example, with the all-out support of related departments, we have established the leading department of the community corrections, have set aside professionals, and have enacted the related applicable standard. At present, the reconviction rate after community corrections is near 1%, greatly lower than 10%, the national average reconviction rate of prisoners released. In addition, the author also gives a full account of the problems in the future development of community corrections, such as legislation lagged, guidance standard of unity lacked, system distempered, application rate lowed, specialization degree of operators, the cognition degree not high and so on. The third part explores to establish a set of system with Chinese characteristics that are suitable for modern philosophy of executions concerning the experience and shortage of trial works and useful experiences of foreign countries. Community corrections are systems engineering needs our joint efforts. In concrete operating, the penalty ideas should be renewed, the community corrections organizations should be established and improved, the existing judicature resources of gross-root units should be integrated, the functions of departments should be improved, the quality of the operators should be enhanced, the social workers engaged in the community corrections should be selected and specially trained, the advantages of the suspend sentence and parole abroad should be studied, especially something worthy of learning should be adopted in community corrections, the community services should be added to community corrections, the present legal system of criminal type and execution way in community corrections should be reformed, the drifting management mechanism aiming to the objectors of community corrections should be established, the system should be improved from the view of legislation. The aim of all above-said is to realize the standardization and institutionalization of community corrections in China. In the end, the author makes a summary of the community corrections practices in China and predicts the future. Certainly, the establishment of the community corrections is arduous and complex reform of criminal legal system. We must consider the difficulties. But the final objectives are definite. Community corrections inevitably have bright development prospects.