Heseltine, Karen, and Day, Andrew (2017) Rehabilitation programmes in Australian Prisons. In: Deckert, Antje, and Sarre, Rick, (eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice. Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 831-846.

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Abstract

[Extract] Offenders convicted of breaching the community’s legal code may be sanctioned to a variety of undertakings, including imprisonment, community-based orders, or diversion programmes. The aim of any legal sanction is to reduce the likelihood of recidivism through offender rehabilitation and the promotion of community safety. In general, more serious and repeat offenders are more likely to be sentenced to imprisonment. Dominant theories of crime and its causation in a particular era have strongly influenced the role of prisons. Traditionally, prisons have been places where punishment is administered as a form of retribution for an offence. In Australia, the establishment of the British Penal Colony in NSW in 1788 saw the commencement of the prison system underpinned by principles of deportation. Over time, however, there has been a greater understanding, both theoretically and empirically, of the ineffectiveness of imprisonment in reducing recidivism (Chen and Shapiro 2007).

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