A Comparative study of Prison reforms in India with U.S.A.

Author : Arun Karthick V.A.

Department : B.A.LL.B. (Hons) 4th year

Saveetha School of Law

Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences(SIMATS)

Saveetha University

Chennai - 600077

Email : vaarunkarthick@gmail.com

Phone number : +91 99942 60892

Co-Author : Mrs.K.Niranjana

Assistant Professor

Saveetha School of law

Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS)

Saveetha university

Chennai-600077

Email : niranjanak.ssl@saveetha.com

Phone number : +91 86085 92300

 A Comparative study of Prison reforms in India with U.S.A.

Author : Arun Karthick V.A.1

2
Co-Author : Mrs. K.Niranjana

ABSTRACT :

The purpose of punishment in the modern world has evolved from crime deterrence to reforming
criminals. When any person has committed an offense and is being punished for it does not
render him or her non-human being and thus, does not confer the power on state to treat him or
her in an inanimate manner. This research is objected towards the comparative study of prison
reformation of India, especially the treatment of prisoners, and an insight into the prison
reformation in the United States of America, for the purpose of comparing the two systems and
evaluating the Indian Prison administration on these lines. It is always a good policy to learn
something from other equally competent parties and the same holds true when one is discussing
the concern for prisoners in the criminal justice system.The research method followed here is
inquiry which deals with both primary and secondary sources of data and various secondary
sources are collected from books, journals, articles. a complete of 201 samples has been taken,
note of which is taken through a convenient sampling method . The statistical tool which is used
here is graphical representation from SPSS Tool and SPSS frequency table. The findings of the
research is that steps taken by India in reformation of its Prisoners are not efficient and the Prison
administration suffers as per the response of the public for this research paper . The aim of this
research is to verify the efficiency of Prison reformation in India in comparison with measures
taken in the United States of America .The results show that amendments in reformation and
proper implementation of the reformatory measures are required.

KEYWORDS : Prison Administration, Prisoners Right, Comparative Study, Human Right,

Judicial Response.

1
Arun Karthick V.A.,131901068, 4th Year B.A.LL.B(Hons.), Saveetha School of law, Saveetha Institute of Medical
and Technical Sciences(SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai-77, Email ID: vaarunkarthick@gmail.com ,
Contact No: 99942 60892
2
Mrs. K.Niranjana , Assistant Professor , Saveetha School of Law , Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical
Sciences (SIMATS) , Saveetha University , Chennai-77, Email ID: niranjanak.ssl@saveetha.com , Contact No:
86085 92300
INTRODUCTION :

India is the most populous democracy in the world with 1.3 billion population. Citizens have
certain fundamental rights which are protected through the constitution and which is equal to
everyone1 . Prisons are captivity centers created by the State to confine the liberty of certain
persons who have committed crime or in other words violated others rights. There are various
methods for punishing criminals suggested through various criminal theories such as retributive
theory, deterrent theory and preventive theory. India being a democracy has abolished certain
harsh punishment methods such as public hanging, flogging and whipping but has preserved life
imprisonment and death sentence. The most important function of prison is rehabilitation to
make the prisoner a law abiding citizen. When a person goes to jail there are long lasting effects
on his/her family and society at large. There is a disturbance in the income, relationships,
reputation and health of the family and prisoner. The State also incurs a huge expenditure in
maintaining prisons and also incur certain indirect costs such as social welfare and health
schemes that are difficult to measure. It is important for the State to introduce reforms for social
transformation and reducing the cost of imprisonment. There are more than 4.78 Lakh prisoners
in the country in 1350 prisons but the maximum capacity is 4 lakh which is a cause of concern as
the prisons face issues such as overcrowding, unhygienic, understaffing and lack of funding.
These issues need to be addressed to create a safer society and social transformation. These
reformative attempts are particularly common in developing or underdeveloped nations such as
Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Kyrgyzstan, and many more. Prisons are not normal places. The
prisoners are deprived of freedom and personal contacts with family and friends and the real
purpose of sending criminals to prison is to transform them into honest and law abiding citizens
but in actual practice, the prison authorities try to bring out reformation of inmates by use of
force and compulsive methods. Consequently, the change in the inmates is temporary and lasts
only till they are in the prison. As soon as they are released they again get attracted towards
criminality. It is the reason that the modern trend is to lay down greater emphasis on the
prisoners so that they can be rehabilitated to normal life in the community. This objective can be
achieved through some techniques of Prison reforms such as Probation and Parole. Today Prison
is treated more as a correctional or improvement facility which itself indicates that there is more
emphasis on reformation of prisoners in the form of punishment. To achieve this goal, a pleasant
atmosphere is required to be created in jails for the benefit of inmates. Apart from emphasis on
social and ethical values for integration with society after release, inmates also require
educational, recreational and vocational training facilities. This will help to provide them with
alternate sources of livelihood after release. In India, prison reforms did not emerge out of the
social movement but were necessarily an outcome of the worst conditions of treatment faced by
the political sufferers in prisons during the period of their imprisonment. United States Criminal
Code provides for Prisons and Prisoners under Part III of Title 18, ranging from Section 4001 to
Section 4351, running across Chapter 301 to Chapter 319.No citizen shall be imprisoned or
otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress. Moreover, the
control and management of Federal penal and correctional institutions, except military or naval
institutions, shall be vested in the Attorney General. Further, Attorney General has been
empowered, for the purpose of providing suitable quarters for the safekeeping, care, and
subsistence of all persons held under authority of any enactment of Congress, to contract, for a
period not exceeding three years, with the proper authorities of any State, Territory, or political
subdivision thereof, for the imprisonment, subsistence, care, and proper employment of such
persons. The Code also provides that the Bureau of Prisons shall be in charge of a director
appointed by and serving directly under the Attorney General. The Federal penal and
correctional institutions shall be so planned and limited in size as to facilitate the development of
an integrated system which will assure the proper classification and segregation of Federal
prisoners according to the nature of the offenses committed, the character and mental condition
of the prisoners, and such other factors as should be considered in providing an individualized
system of discipline, care, and treatment of the persons committed to such institutions. This
research paper attempted to highlight key fundamental elements of the law and steps taken by
India in reformation of its Prisoners that require substantial revision through proper
implementation.

OBJECTIVES :

To verify the implementation of prison reforms in India with a comparison to the USA.
To verify the efficiency of rehabilitation in Prisons.
To verify the need of reformative theory over deterrent theory.
To offer suggestions for proper implementation of the reformative theory over prisons.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE :

Singh (2018), says the offenders should be confined to prison for only a minimum period which
is absolutely necessary for their custody. The elimination of long term sentences would reduce
burden on prison expenditure. Anchan et al. (2021), defines that women prisoners should be
allowed to meet their sons and daughters more frequently and should be more liberal in case of
under trial prisoners. It will keep them mentally fit. Das et al. (2020) says, under trials, minors
and first offenders should be kept separated from each other. The young prisoners also should be
separated from adults. Bhosale et al. (2018), prescribes that there is need for scientific
classification of prisoners based on the nature of crime committed, age , sex and character.
Chemmalar (2020),elucidates that Prisoners belonging to peasant class should be afforded an
opportunity to go to their fields during harvesting season on temporary ticket on leave so that
they can look after their agriculture. Pal (2021), the prisoners are allowed to meet their near
relatives at fixed intervals yet there is a further need to allow them certain privacy during such
meetings. The rights of the prisoners to communicate and meet friends, relatives and legal
advisers should not be restricted beyond a particular limit. Singh (2018), said the Act also casts
auspicious days and festivals should be celebrated through rejoicings and other meaningful
programmes so that the prisoners can at least momentarily forget that they are leading a fettered
life. Mohanty and Banerjee (2017), says that in recent decades the Supreme Court has shown
deep concern for prisoners' right to justice and fair treatment and requires prison officials to
initiate measures so that prisoners' basic rights are not violated and they are not subjected to
harassment and inhuman conditions of living. Goyal and Goni (2020), mentioned that the
Women prisoners should be provided training in tailoring, doll making, embroidery, etc. The
prisoners who are well educated should not be subjected to rigorous imprisonment instead they
should be engaged in some mental as well as manual productive work. Memchoubi and Devi
(2020), said the reformation makes provisions for the medical examination of the inmates in a
manner designed to cause as little distress as possible. Agatha and Moirangthem (2019), says
the examination is to be carried out in the presence of the parent or other person whom the
inmates trusts, and in the case of a female inmate, by a female doctor. Ganesha (2019), provides
there is a dire need to bring about a change in the public attitude towards the prison institutions
and their management. This is possible through intensive programmes using the media of the
press. De et al. (2020), added Probation is a very significant tool of reformative penology; it is
basically a period during which the convict ordered to undergo sentence remains, instead of
being in prison, under supervision. Pathak et al. (2018), said the release of the convict on
probation serves as a reformative treatment plan prescribed by the convicting court and in the
course of this treatment, the conviction on probation lives within his Community. Maity (2022),
provides Parole is the release from a penal reformative institution of a criminal who remains
under the control of correctional authorities in an attempt to find out whether he is fit to live in
the free society without supervision. Sithannan et al. (2019), recognises the last stage in the
correctional scheme of which probation may probably be the first. After the careful study as well
as showing the potential for correction he is allowed to join the society conditionally. Shahare
(2020), provides furlough is another reformatory tool that is often confused with parole.
Undoubtedly, parole and furlough are reformative tools of the penal system but both are
different. Furlough must be granted to the prisoner periodically irrespective of any particular
reason. Pooja (2020), said the object behind this tool is merely to enable him to retain family and
social ties and avoid negative effects of a continuous prison life. The period of furlough is treated
as remission of sentence. Kaur et al. (2022), said that the pardon as an act of mercy by which
the prisoner is absolved from the penalty which was imposed on him, the grant of pardon may be
absolute or conditional. Paul et al. (2021) says, open prisons provide work to the inmates in
forests, agricultural farms and construction sites instead of allowing them to be idle inside the
prison cells.

METHODOLOGY :

The study deals with empirical research Le non-doctrinal study.It deals with both primary as well
as secondary sources of data and various secondary sources like books, articles, research papers ,
etc. were used for reference. The study deals with survey methods and the main tool for
calculating or analyzing the results is the cross tabulation count through percentage and
Correlation analysis. The method of collecting responses is through an online survey method by
getting people’s opinion and answers to the questionnaires. Convenient sampling method was
used for the purpose of this study.There are a total of 201 samples collected with regard to this
study. Age , gender and occupation are considered as the independent variables , whereas the
dependent variables are the efficiency of Prison reformation in India.
ANALYSIS :

Table 1

Legend : Table classifying the respondents based on their age.

Table 2

Legend : Table classifying the respondents based on their Gender.

Table 3

Legend : Table classifying the respondents based on their Occupation.

Table 4

Legend : Table classifying the respondents based on their Educational Qualification.

Table 5

Legend : Table classifying the respondents based on their Income Slab.

Table 6

Legend : Table classifying response for the ‘Status of visiting the Prison’.
Table 7

Legend : Table classifying response for the ‘How far the Indian Prison administration is efficient
in reformation of Convicts ?’.

Graph 1

Legend : Correlation of Table 7 with Occupation of Respondents.

Table 8

Legend : Table classifying response for the ‘Indian Prisons works for its desired goal of
Rehabilitation.’

Graph 2

Legend : Correlation of Table 8 with Educational Qualification of Respondents.

Table 9

Legend : Table classifying response for the ‘How far do you prefer Open prison system as the
best alternate of imprisonment ?’

Graph 3

Legend : Correlation of Table 9 with Educational Qualification of Respondents.

Table 10

Legend : Table classifying response for the ‘What shall be the significant issue which the Indian
Prison administration should redress immediately ?’

Graph 4

Legend : Correlation of Table 10 with Occupation of Respondents.

Table 11

Legend : Table classifying response for the ‘How far do you prefer Reformative theory of
punishment over Deterrent theory ?’

Graph 5

Legend : Correlation of Table 11 with Age of Respondents.

Graph 6

Legend : Correlation of the Status of visiting the prison with the question, whether Indian
Prisons works for its desired goal of rehabilitation.

RESULTS :

In Table 1 we can understand that 46.8% of the total respondents were between the age of 18 to
35 and successively 37.8% of the respondents were between the age of 36 to 65 and lastly the
remaining 15.4% of the respondents were above the age of 65 years and in Table 2 that 64.7%
of respondents are female and 35.3% are males.In Table 3, 19.4% of the total respondents by the
government employees and 26.4% of the respondents for the private sector people and the
remaining 21.4% of the respondents were unoccupied, whereas in Table 4, 65.7 % of the total
respondents have completed their undergraduate and 15.9 % of the respondents have completed
their post-graduation and 18.4% have completed their high schooling and in Table 5, we also
understand that 57.2% of respondents are earning less than 2.5 lakhs per annum, 26.3% earn 2.5
to 10 lakhs and remaining 16.4% earns above 10 lakhs. In Table 6 , Table classifying response
for the ‘Status of visiting the Prison’, the public are highly rated at No for 83.1%, only 16.9%
have marked Yes. In Table 7, Table classifying response for the ‘How far the Indian Prison
administration is efficient in reformation of Convicts ?’, public were highly rated between point
1 to 5 for 81%, only 19% have marked between point 5 to 10. In Table 8 , Table classifying
response for the ‘Indian Prisons works for its desired goal of Rehabilitation’, only 14.4%
respondents have agreed but 27.4% have disagreed. In Table 9 , Table classifying response for
the ‘How far do you prefer Open prison system as the best alternative of imprisonment ?’ , public
were highly rated between point 1 to 5 for 23%, only 77% have marked between point 5 to 10.
and in Table 10, ‘What shall be the significant issue which the Indian Prison administration
should redress immediately ?’ , most respondents mark that torture and ill-treatment must be
rectified. In Table 11, Table classifying response for the ‘How far do you prefer Reformative
theory of punishment over Deterrent theory ?’, the public were rated between point 1 to 5 for
only 34%, but 66% have marked between point 5 to 10.

DISCUSSION :

In Table 1 we can understand that we got more young respondents and in Table 2 that most of
our respondents are females. In Table 3, we got more ideal employed respondents , whereas in
Table 4, we can understand that we got more educated respondents and in Table 5, we also
understand that most of our respondents are earning less than Rs.2.5 lakhs. In Table 6, we
understand that Status of visiting the Prison is negative for most of the respondents, In Table 7,
we understand that the Indian Prison administration is not efficient in reformation of Convicts. In
Table 8 , we understand that Indian Prisons failed to work for its desired goal of Rehabilitation.
In Table 9 , we understand that the Open prison system is the best alternative to imprisonment
and in Table 10, we understand that the Indian Prison administration should redress immediately
that torture and ill-treatment must be rectified. In Table 11, we understand that respondents
prefer Reformative theory of punishment over Deterrent theory.

LIMITATIONS :

Since the large portion of respondents are youngsters, they may not be much experienced to
respond and may be biased with unreliable contents of Social media. Responses are collected
only from the Respondents of the Chennai city only , which may reflect only the view of the
particular city. However these limitations did not affect the results drastically as due to this
recent social issues through which the public is aware of Prison reforms rather than the normal.

SUGGESTIONS :

There should be regular visits by the media and press to study the condition of the inmates and
these reports should be published and the plight of prisoners should be highlighted by the media.
There should be some institutional publication in every correctional system in which inmates
should be allowed to express themselves freely. There should be a regular transfer of the
authorities of a Jail, so that these officials do not get involved in corrupt and torturing activities.
The provision of no bail in jail should be implemented in letter. In the case of default in paying
fine there should be a provision that the person who is not able to pay fine should be allowed to
pay it in installments. Should be provided to the prisoners as an effective legal service in every
jails to guide the prisoners in the legal matters. There should be special care for the pregnant
woman inmates in the correctional systems. Lady doctors should be appointed by the
government as permanent staff in the prisons. Every District Judge should be given the
responsibility of visiting the prison in his area of jurisdiction. This would put a check on the
various activities which usually go on in prisons and it will also help in curbing the menace of
corruption in the prisons.

CONCLUSION :

The success of the prison system depends less on the governing rules than on the manner and
spirit in which those rules are interpreted and applied by the staff in prisons. It has strong
relevance for Indian prison administration. The role of prisons has radically changed over the
years and now they are no longer regarded as mere custodial institutions. The emphasis has been
shifted from custody to training and re-education of prisoners. The emergence of the institution
of prison had a specific purpose which has drastically changed over the years. But this change is
not reflected in the attitude of Indian jail administrators who are still living in the colonial era.
The jail administration is entrusted to state governments, which has witnessed many defects in
form of funding, implementation, personnel training etc. On the contrary, in US prison
administration, there are federal prisons administered by the federal agency, apart from
respective state prisons. It sets up a model prison system for the rest of the prisons. Secondly,
the US Supreme Court has been striving hard to bring uniformity in the rights of prisoners as
well as in the administrative outlook of the officials. However, in India, we find the reiteration of
prisoner’s rights in every prisoner related case law, without bothering about the ground reality in
prisons where the prisoner is not even aware of basic constitutional rights. Thirdly, the Indian
prison administration differs from its counterpart in the USA in terms of updating prison
facilities. The US prison has segregated the security level according to the requirements of each
prisoner. Supermax custody involves almost every measure from cameras to sensors. Such a
structure in prison facilities is absent in India, where we will find either Kaal Kothari or Khuli
Kothari. This research paper attempted to highlight key fundamental elements of the law and
steps taken by India in reformation of its Prisoners that require substantial revision through
proper implementation.

REFERENCES :

● Singh , Prison reforms abuse in India, 2018, p.67-69

● In Anchan. Prison reforms and Neglect, 2021, p.43-50
● Das, Challenges and Opportunities. Tamil Nadu : 2020 .p.62-70.
● Bhosale, 2018, Study on Prison reforms: India : p.6
● Chemmalar, The Surgeon General’s Letter On Prison reforms Abuse, 2020 , p.69
● Pal, 2021, Department Of Health And Human Services, Washington D.C, p.4.
● Mohanty and Bannerjee , Medicolegal Care of Survivors Victims of Prison , 2017, p.89
● Goyal & Goni , Understanding Prison reforms : 2020. p.45.
● Memchoubi & Devi, 2020, A Guide for Prison reforms abuse, Department Of Health
And Human Services, Washington D.C, p.30
● Agatha , 2018,Critical Study on Prison reforms: India : p.61
● Ganesha, Prison reforms abuse in Tamil nadu , 2019, p.67-69
● In De et al. Prison reforms, 2020, p.46-55
● Pathak, Challenges and Opportunities. Tamil Nadu : 2018 .p.62-71.
● Maity, 2022, Study on Prison reforms: India : p.6
● Sithannan, The Police General’s Letter On Prison reforms Abuse, 2019 , p.6
● Shahare, 2020, Department Of Health And Human Services, Washington D.C, 2020, p.4.
● Pooja , Medicolegal Care of Survivors Victims of Prison Violence, 2020, p.89
● Kaur , Understanding Prison reforms and its implementation procedures throughout the
world : 2020. p.45.
● Paul, 2021, A Guide for Prison reforms in India : Challenges and Opportunities for
implementation , p.37.
PLAGIARISM REPORT :