Policy Transfer in Criminal Justice: A Case Study of the Probation System.

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

The institutionalization of Turkey’s probation system is considered a very recent development in Turkish criminal justice. Probation system, one of the alternative measures of imprisonment, has been implemented in Turkey since 2005. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate Turkish probation system from a historical perspective and to discuss how the system was transferred to the criminal justice system.
The Turkish Ministry of Justice implemented two European Union (EU) Projects in partnership with the United Kingdom. These projects aimed to establish and improve the capacity of the probation services in Turkey. It is obvious that the EU is a significant leverage of the institutionalization and perhaps the professionalization of Turkey’s probation system.
Compared to the USA and several EU countries, Turkey is still in its infancy years in probation system. Nevertheless, the improvements and achievements in the first ten years are quite significant. Although Turkey’s probation system still needs further developments, it has many positive outcomes such as cost-efficiency of imprisonment, reducing prison population, and successful reintegration process. Therefore, it is concluded that the probation system is favored and supported by policy makers, the community, and the practitioners working in criminal justice system in Turkey.

Author

• Arif Akgul, Mugla Sitki Kocman University