Halfway Houses: General Considerations, Present Time and Future
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47152/ziksi2024034Keywords:
halfway house, prison, reintegration, comparative practice, recidivismAbstract
Halfway houses, as one of the frequently mentioned concepts of contemporary penological thought, have been modestly applied in practice, and have also been insufficiently researched. Therefore, the subject of the paper is a summary presentation of the notion of halfway houses, indicating their basic types and experiences gained so far in comparative practice. The goal is to highlight recommendations that could be relevant for domestic practice in Serbia, in the area of enforcement of criminal sanctions and post-penal care. The author applied the normative logical method and content analysis, using contemporary literature on topics related to the prison and the reintegration of ex-prisoners into everyday life. We conclude that halfway houses have been implemented in very diverse forms, with a wide range of implemented programs and services, which significantly complicates the formulation of any general assessments of their success in the domain of achieving reintegration. The author concludes that contemporary scientific thought recommends the organization of halfway houses with resources to meet the diverse needs of convicted persons, with strict adherence to ethical and professional standards and periodic evaluation.
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