Division of responsibility or diffusion of responsibility? Release decisions in German prisons against the backdrop of the general securitization of society.

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Rethinking punishment: Prison releases and alternatives to imprisonment

Abstract

People who serve long prison sentences have mostly committed serious offences. For the most part, these are offences that society would like to prevent from recurring. In addition to costly rehabilitation, serving a long and full prison sentence with no prospect of early release seems to many to be an easy way out for greater security. The release prospects of offenders are therefore strongly influenced by the increasing securitization of society. However, continued deprivation of liberty always requires justification, for example grave danger posed by an offender.
When courts make release decisions, a prognosis of future behavior usually plays a central role. In the German criminal justice system, the court bases its release decision on the perspective of many experts: In addition to the expert opinions of psychologists and social workers from the prisons, external experts are also regularly consulted. Often, these opinions contradict each other and prevent a positive release decision by the court.
The aim of this article is to examine the dynamics surrounding judicial release decisions in Germany by analyzing attorney prison files and investigating the question of whether the involvement of the various experts leads to a productive division of responsibility with regard to the pending release decision or whether an obstructive diffusion of responsibility occurs in which nobody wants to take responsibility for the decision and the offender therefore remains in prison.

Author

• Felix Butz, University of Leipzig