Ankara İlinde Denetimli Serbestlik Yükümlülerinde Suç Tekrarı

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand the association of the official (formal reaction) and social reaction (informal reaction) encountered by probationers processed under the supervision of Ankara Probation Directorate, the stigmatization experienced by the incumbents in terms of family, work and social life and their impact on repetitive criminal behavior. Furthermore, the structural problems of probation as an organization, the views of the staff regarding the system and incumbents have been addressed. Recommendations for a more efficient probation have been introduced as a result of discussion on the efficacy of probation improvement activities. 53 probationers including 4 women under Ankara Probation Directorate were interviewed face to face within the scope of the study. In addition, 17 Probation Experts in total comprised of 5 teachers, 5 sociologists, 5 social workers, 2 administration staff in Ankara Probation Directorate and Batı Probation Directorate have been interviewed. The theoretical framework of the study is comprised of the stigmatization theory. Tannenbaum's "the dramatization of evil", Lemert's concepts of "primary and secondary deviation", Becker's "criminalization" and Braithwaite's "concept of integrative and disintegrative shaming" are important conceptual tools of the thesis. The stigmatization encountered by the incumbents especially during the job seeking process steer them to the repetition of criminal behavior. This study has revealed that almost all of the incumbents had experienced stigmatization unrelated to their crimes long before they encountered official reaction to the criminal behavior and before the ‘criminality’ transformed into a constraining status for the incumbent. The stigma of being a criminal is the transformed state, the extension of the stigmatization that the incumbents currently experience and have experienced throughout their lives for various reasons. Regardless of all the good intentions of the probation system, as a result of problems incurring from implementation, the system has an increasing impact on stigmatization and encourages crime which is worse. The stigma of criminality becoming the dominant status of the individual can be traced in this study. The stamp of criminality is transformed into a self-fulfilling prophecy which increases the social isolation of the individual and prevents participation in social life and confines them to a social environment which is characterized with crime. The individual feels more comfortable with those he has met during incarceration and thus is confined to his criminal career. It is interesting that the manner in which the incumbents relate to their fathers is repeated in almost all the interviews. It can be asserted that the association of the incumbents with their fathers has been very influential in their tendency towards criminal behavior. The individual’s relationship with the father plays a triggering role in the emergence of criminal behavior while the mother is influential in the continuation of this behavior. The improvement activities within the probation system fall far behind the target, in its present state the system cannot go beyond being an executive institution which has been relieved of any deterrence. The experiences related to the stigmatization of the incumbents in terms of crime repetition and their relationship with the probation system has been discussed throughout the study.