The current penal system is centered on the penalty of imprisonment. It takes physical freedom away from the convicts and then isolates them from the rest of society. They have to stay within the facilities and have the duty to work and be educated, w...
The current penal system is centered on the penalty of imprisonment. It takes physical freedom away from the convicts and then isolates them from the rest of society. They have to stay within the facilities and have the duty to work and be educated, which enables them to atone for their crimes and helps to reform them. The system is expected to have the influences just mentioned and so its importance has been admitted.
The real target for the control and prevention of the crime is the preclusion of the second crime and the prevention of the first crime. There have been a lot of endeavors to improve the criminal policy in many countries to control crime. The parole system is one of the methods used in regards to the efforts.
This paper has inquired into the general theories of it, such as the meaning and significance of the parole system, its legal characteristics, and functions. The parole systems in other countries such as the United States of America, Japan, and the United Kingdom have also been surveyed. The development process and current operational situation of the Korean parole system have been analyzed to find out its problem. The way to improve it also has been treated. The theoretical survey has been implemented under the aspect of the legal point of view, checking related laws and the established regulations of the Ministry of Justice. The current operational situation of the convicts on parole has been analyzed practically. Based on those surveys and analysis, the problems have been extracted and, to suggest an alternative solution towards a progressive way, other data, such as statistics or current penitentiary activities from the research of related documents, were supplemented.
The parole system shortens the unnecessary detention period and hastens the convicts' return to society, which saves the expense for the criminal administration and motivates the convicts to voluntarily return to their normal life. It also supplements some demerits from the regular detention system, promotes the enthusiasm to follow the rules of the facilities and makes progress, and helps the convicts to adapt themselves easily after their imprisonment. It is meaningful as a criminal policy to avoid the unnecessary detention of reformed convicts.
In conclusion, our criminal penalty system needs a policy change from the release on full sentence to release on parole for all the convicts' successful return to society. When the convicts return to society on parole, the condition to help them adapt should be provided. For this, what is needed most is a change of our concept to one where convicts are also members of society and our neighbor. We should help them to live as one of our sound neighbors.