Integrated offender administration through correctional case management

Abstract

The research into case management was made necessary by the emphasis that the South African prison authorities of today placed on the rehabilitation of offenders. The lack of respect for human dignity, the need to reduce crime in South African prisons and the successful reintegration of offenders into the community are some of the reasons why the research became important. The idea behind introducing case management is to bring back humanity to the offender; to make the offender part of a team which is working towards a mutual goal: to promote the well being of the offender. Topics addressed include the case management process as a sub-system of sentence planning, the role of the correctional officer and the role of the offender and the community in the successful implementation of case management in prisons.

The philosophy of case management is also spelled out in the study, covering the implementation of case management within the criminal justice system in Australia, Canada, United States of America, South Africa and the United Kingdom. During any process of incarceration, documentation forms an integral part of the process and in the situation of the case management process, it is just as important. In this study, the researcher discussed those documents that form part of the case file and which play an important role in the successful implementation of case management.

The importance of case management in prisons as well as the fact that it can be implemented without the support of the unit management approach cannot be overemphasised. The research contributes largely to scientific knowledge in stressing the importance of sentence planning for each offender within the Criminal Justice System. The case file, which includes the individual sentence plan and the active involvement of the correctional officer and the offender, forms a vital part of the management of the rehabilitation of the offender in today's prison systems.