How Rehabilitation Is Actually Quite Punitive in Hong Kong.

1721 Words7 Pages
Hong Kong is a society which is influenced by the traditional Chinese culture as well as the western culture. On one hand, Chinese culture wants to impose severe punishment on the delinquent child for slight inconformity. On the other hand, western culture wants to have a fair and open negotiation between children and parents to talk about what children do wrongly and the negotiable punishment. The correctional service for youth offenders in Hong Kong has a picture which mixes two cultures together. Generally, the objective of youth correctional service is rehabilitation. However, the rehabilitation is quite punitive. Foot drill, rigid schedule and absolute commands from the officers are just few examples. Inmates are allowed to freely express their views on certain problems during lessons but immediately the officers would “correct” them from their own views to the official and standard views. And inmates have to accept that answer due to the pressure given by officers. In this essay, providing brief background information of Hong Kong correction service, I will look into reasons why the correctional service department would adopt this kind of approach to rehabilitate youth offenders. Then, I will wrap up with the effect of this correction approach in inmates and society. Hong Kong Correctional Services Department (HKCSD) is responsible for the correctional service. The motto that governs the orientation of Hong Kong CSD is to “Support Rehabilitative Offenders for a More inclusive Society”. Hong Kong CSD highlights the five divisions which are Rehabilitative Units, Education Unit, Vocational Training, Psychology Services Section and Rehabilitation Unit. These divisions are designed to help the inmates to reintegrate in the society again (Heng & Tam, 2008). However, the treatment for offenders used in correctional centers like Lai King Correctional Institution is
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