Abstract
Czech Prisons is co-authored by almost thirty academics and professionals: lawyers, psychologists, education professionals, sociologists, ethnographers, theologians and others. Many of them - although not all - have worked for the Prison Service or at other institutions that work with prisoners.
As a result, the book offers a complete range of perspectives, each looking at the Czech prison system from a different angle. Interconnections between prisons and other phenomena are explained throughout the text, with references provided to interesting facts that are beyond the scope of this book, since they are not essential for an understanding of the prison system.
The book is divided into ten chapters, and provides the reader with a comprehensive picture of Czech prisons, if read from cover to cover. The first chapter presents a theoretical reflection on imprisonment, discussing the position prison sentences hold within the sanctions system, why we imprison offenders and how we have ended up with the current situation in terms of prison sanctions and prison structures.
The second chapter describes (Czech) prisons. It discusses prison types both in Czechia and in other countries and how various types of prisons in Czechia differ from each other.
The sections on prison architecture and on the origins of Czech prison buildings are unique in the Czech context. The third chapter looks at every-day life in Czech prisons: daily routine, how prisoners spend their free time, the specifics of pre-trial detention and forensic detention facilities, security, education, work and family life are discussed.
Space is given to unofficial and non-institutionalized views, with a section on second life in prison and prison life as described by inmates. The chapter concludes with an analysis of suicidal behavior among prisoners and how to prevent ill-treatment in prisons.
The fourth and longest chapter focuses on prisoners. A presentation of the characteristics of the Czech inmate population is followed by a discussion of prison pains both in pre-trial detention and after being convicted.
The chapter then introduces individual groups of prisoners according to their specific characteristics: female, elderly and young prisoners, foreigners and prisoners from ethnic minorities, inmates with mental health or drug problems, the very dangerous and the vulnerable. The fifth chapter describes how Czech prisons treat their prisoners and discusses findings from abroad on the effectiveness of particular approaches and interventions.
It discusses both the current situation and also possible trends in the development of prison work in the coming years. The sixth chapter deals with release; it discusses preparation for release, conditional release (parole) and the process of reintegrating into society after a release, including potential pitfalls.
The chapter concludes with several ex-prisoners describing their own release and how they adapted to life outside the prison walls. Chapter 7 discusses an often-neglected group in prisons: prison staff.
After a general presentation of prison staff recruitment and training and on the risks of working in prison, the chapter then discusses individual staff roles in greater detail. The specifics of each position within the Czech prison system are described and relevant foreign research is presented; short interviews with staff members, who explain what it means for them to do their job well, are also included.
The eighth chapter introduces various control mechanisms within the Czech prison system (both internal to the Prison Service and external) and discusses why such control mechanisms are necessary. The ninth chapter concludes the description of Czech prisons by providing a basic overview of laws (including soft-law) regulating prisons and their interpretation by the judiciary, especially the European Court of Human Rights.
The tenth and final chapter is construed as a discussion between the editors of this book. They debate how the Czech prison system may develop in the coming years and decades and present their subjective opinions as to necessary reforms - both to the prison system itself, and to social and sentencing policy.