Offender reintegration in the Basque prison model: practical challenges

• In Event: The Basque prison model: achievements and pending challenges

Abstract

The assumption of prison administration competencies by the regional Basque government in 2021 followed a powerful declaration adopted almost unanimously by the Basque Parliament, which favoured a dignity-centred prison model guided by the aim of reintegration and the fostering contacts with the outside world through the critical measures of prison leave, open prison and conditional release. However, the promotion of open prison and other alternatives to closed conditions is constrained by legal and practical limitations requiring close scrutiny. At a normative level, the optimism towards the principle of resocialisation based on individualised treatment has turned, in the last two decades, into an ever-increasing legal “obstacle race” every prisoner must face in order to access any form of regime relaxation.

On the other hand, as there is only an effective reintegration with the engagement of prisoners, implementing these rehabilitative measures should not be an up-to-down process but consider their voices. In this line, the research on the quality of life in Basque prisons conducted by the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights identifies different aspects of the prison regime that potentially hinder the individual rehabilitative path, especially in the field of offence-focused treatment. Identifying and addressing these key challenges would help increase the current use of open prison and other alternatives to closed imprisonment, in line with the legislature's rehabilitative and individualised prison model.

Author

• Mikel Anderez Belategi, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)