Incarceration of offenders has been relied upon as the dominant sentence option through the years to address the objectives of punishment. Research has shown that the above-mentioned approach does not match the current lifestyle anymore. Correctional centres (prisons) not only in South Africa, but across the board are faced with the same challenge. This is of course not a problem of the Department of Correctional Services alone, but that of the entire justice system. It is therefore obligatory for Justice to join hands with society in accordance with the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa (2005:63-68). Playing a major role in all above-mentioned bodies is Parliament, without which the whole justice system would not exist, let alone functioning. The victims of crime would most probably not condone any soft approach towards treating offenders, worse with alleviating overpopulation by releasing inmates from correctional centres. It is the researcher's submission that the effects of overpopulation coupled with inmate's human rights, as entrenched in the Constitution becomes the major driving force to address overcrowding in our correctional centres. / Penelogy / (M.A. (Penelogy))

Incarceration of offenders has been relied upon as the dominant sentence option through the years to address the objectives of punishment. Research has shown that the above-mentioned approach does not match the current lifestyle anymore. Correctional centres (prisons) not only in South Africa, but across the board are faced with the same challenge. This is of course not a problem of the Department of Correctional Services alone, but that of the entire justice system. It is therefore obligatory for Justice to join hands with society in accordance with the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa (2005:63-68). Playing a major role in all above-mentioned bodies is Parliament, without which the whole justice system would not exist, let alone functioning. The victims of crime would most probably not condone any soft approach towards treating offenders, worse with alleviating overpopulation by releasing inmates from correctional centres. It is the researcher's submission that the effects of overpopulation coupled with inmate's human rights, as entrenched in the Constitution becomes the major driving force to address overcrowding in our correctional centres. / Penelogy / (M.A. (Penelogy))

In this research project the overcrowding problem in South African prisons will be analysed as well as the influence it had on the rehabilitation of offenders. The problem of overcrowding in South Africa's prisons is very clear when the approved accommodation of a prison is compared with the actual number of prisoners incarcerated. Prison sentences are a favoured form of punishment throughout the world. More and more people seek alternatives to incarceration in order to reduce prison overcrowding. The time to finalize criminal cases, releases on bail, the abolishment of minimum sentences and better utilization of community based sentences are some of the issues which can reduce overcrowding. One of the concepts that was implemented to establish rehabilitation within prisons was Unit Management. The number of prisoners incarcerated makes it difficult for Unit Management to be effective. In some cases prisoners are kept under inhumane conditions which is a violation of the Constitution of South Africa. Currently the morale of members of Correctional Services is very low and this has an influence on the way in which they treat prisoners. These members are supposed to be an example to prisoners but instead their bad behaviour has a negative influence on prisoner's discipline. Correctional Services goal is to make every member a rehabilitator but overcrowding will first have to be reduced. Individual attention to prisoners is one of the building blocks of Unit Management but overcrowding of prisons creates a member/prisoner ratio which is far too high to be effective with rehabilitating prisoners. Community based sentences can also be utilized more frequently by the courts. It can better rehabilitation possibilities and through this the objectives of punishment are met. In the past the focus of South African Law was on the criminal. With the Correctional Services Act (Act 111/1998) this focus was shifted to the victim as well. Both these parties can now come together and discuss the offence as well as the influence it had on the victim. This is called restorative justice and it helps the offender with re-integration into the community. / Criminology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Penology)

In this research project the overcrowding problem in South African prisons will be analysed as well as the influence it had on the rehabilitation of offenders. The problem of overcrowding in South Africa's prisons is very clear when the approved accommodation of a prison is compared with the actual number of prisoners incarcerated. Prison sentences are a favoured form of punishment throughout the world. More and more people seek alternatives to incarceration in order to reduce prison overcrowding. The time to finalize criminal cases, releases on bail, the abolishment of minimum sentences and better utilization of community based sentences are some of the issues which can reduce overcrowding. One of the concepts that was implemented to establish rehabilitation within prisons was Unit Management. The number of prisoners incarcerated makes it difficult for Unit Management to be effective. In some cases prisoners are kept under inhumane conditions which is a violation of the Constitution of South Africa. Currently the morale of members of Correctional Services is very low and this has an influence on the way in which they treat prisoners. These members are supposed to be an example to prisoners but instead their bad behaviour has a negative influence on prisoner's discipline. Correctional Services goal is to make every member a rehabilitator but overcrowding will first have to be reduced. Individual attention to prisoners is one of the building blocks of Unit Management but overcrowding of prisons creates a member/prisoner ratio which is far too high to be effective with rehabilitating prisoners. Community based sentences can also be utilized more frequently by the courts. It can better rehabilitation possibilities and through this the objectives of punishment are met. In the past the focus of South African Law was on the criminal. With the Correctional Services Act (Act 111/1998) this focus was shifted to the victim as well. Both these parties can now come together and discuss the offence as well as the influence it had on the victim. This is called restorative justice and it helps the offender with re-integration into the community. / Criminology and Security Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Penology)