History of International Collaboration in Corrections

AuthorHelge Rostad
Pages92-95

Page 92

The German penologist Karl Krohne (1836–1913) spoke in favor of international collaboration in the field of criminology more than a century ago. At the time, many countries had experienced a substantial increase in crime, a phenomenon that was connected with an increase in industrialization and urbanization.

During the mid-nineteenth century, many countries were considering a reform of their penal system, partly due to an increase in the prison population and partly due to a desire for more humane and rational treatment of prisoners. Plans for new prisons were launched in many countries—new buildings would also make room for new methods of treatment. In an endeavor to improve European prison systems, many countries sent observers to the United States. The common interest in a new prison system gave rise to a need for an exchange of views and experience.

EARLY INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES

The first international congress on prison problems was held in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1846. It was attended by seventy-five people representing the United States and twelve European countries. The congress brought together lawyers, physicians, prison chaplains, wardens, and heads of correctional administrations. The discussions were concentrated on the merits of solitary or separate confinement as a treatment for inmates (Eriksson 1976).

The following year another international congress was held in Brussels, Belgium. The focus at this congress was the treatment of young offenders, and as a result a system of correctional education was stressed. According to Krohne (1889), this congress attracted attention not only from corrections professionals, but also from several governments, which expressed an interest in exchanging ideas on the treatment of offenders.

In the early 1870s the time seemed right for concerted action at the international level, and the great engineer in the work of international collaboration was the American prison reformer Enoch Wines (1806–1879). In 1871 he was appointed the task of organizing an international congress, influenced by Vladimir Sollohub, governor of the penal institutions in Moscow. Wines intended to give the international congresses a wider scope by addressing the prevention of crime as well as the treatment of offenders. He believed that crime prevention should be founded on intergovernmental cooperation. The outcome of Wines's efforts was a world congress held in London in 1872 with four hundred delegates, one-fourth of whom represented governments. The agenda of this congress was practical, with general and more subtle matters pushed into the background.

The 1878 congress in Stockholm, Sweden, was given a firmer structure. The agenda was divided into three sections: legislative matters within the penal field, prison matters, and crime prevention. One of the main purposes was to gather worldwide information on prisons. Altogether, fifty reports were sent in from European countries, American states, several countries in Africa and Asia, and even Australia and New Zealand (Eriksson 1967).

Page 93

The Swedish penologist Torsten Eriksson made this observation of the congress in Stockholm: "Beginning with this congress, the governmental delegates dominated the discussions and ran the...

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