UNIVERSITY OF NATIONAL AND WORLD ECONOMY

If you had the power to change the correction system in Bulgaria

what changes would you make to help reduce and prevent crime?
(essay)

By

Olya Harieva Dinkova

Stream / Group
134 / 1322
Faculty number: 12114136

2013

Nowadays the correction system in Bulgaria is way too ineffective, at least from my
perspective. Because if it actually achieved something, we would see a decline in crime
rates and less people who repeatedly commit crimes. But what we witness today is
constantly growing rates and people who get out of jail and commit crimes time and
time again, resulting in their imprisoning for multiple times.
Of course, the system can not be changed with the blink of an eye. It takes serious
planning and long-term changes in order to achieve some actual results. If I had any
power over the prison system in my country, I would apply a series of measures to
reduce and prevent crime. What is most important to understand is that a prison is not
warehouse of units that are just socially dysfunctional, but a place where individuals
learn to have a second chance. And thats the idea towards which all adjustments
should be addressed. Thats the only way we make sure that once getting out of prison,
an inmate will do their best never to go back there.
The first problem that should be tackled is the potential criminals and overcrowding of
our prisons. I believe we have to commit to educating our young people about the
pitfalls of crime and the real horrors of spending many years in prison. Every day, we
turn on our televisions or open our newspapers to see another tragic death or serious
injury as a result of some form of violent crime. With rising gun and knife crime among
young people, it's this age group I believe we need to seriously target. Young people
need to feel some pride back in their communities, in the hope that they will learn not to
destroy property or rob the elderly or become involved in futile gang fights, where no
one wins but lives get destroyed. Perhaps if more of us pulled together to try to do more
to encourage these young people to channel their energies into getting some
community pride and spirit back, and if we earn their respect instead of taking every
opportunity to chastise them, we may be able to deter these young people from a life of
crime. In turn, the problem of overcrowding in our prisons would naturally be tackled
too. They need to hear first-hand from people who have experienced the grim reality of
being locked up for years or how it feels to be a victim of crime.
Having created the organization to acquaint people with the horrors that crime
creates and criminals then suffer, I believe the next step should be to turn our attention

to the people who are already imprisoned for some crime. There is no doubt that such
people should be stimulated not to commit crimes again. Furthermore, they should be
given a second chance to start a new life after prison. And that could only happen
through education and qualification for some job that would make them a part of the
society behind the prison walls. Lots of people think that every inmate in prison ought to
be "busting rocks", which isn't true. You don't beat a dog to make it better, you train the
dog to make it better. So many people give up on inmates, forgetting that a large portion
are there for a short time, and returning back to society. What you put in an person
while in prison is what you will get out of him when he gets out. To me, education is a
strong help, in that it gives the inmate hope and a reason to change. If you are not
concerned about how prisoners are treated when they are in, why would they care
about you when they are released?
Apart of courses connected with work qualification, I would introduce more
interactive therapy classes, such as psychology, sociology, and creative activities such
as art and drama, which help inmates to express themselves and release anger. There
should also be more commitment to anger management courses and perhaps most
importantly, restorative justice, where the criminal can face victims of similar crimes and
is forced to see and understand the consequences of their actions. This is something
most criminals never have to do, but often produces the most definite and positive
response from both criminal and victim. The only time a criminal should be rewarded
should be following satisfactory completion of a carefully planned set of courses. At this
stage, an inmate's release should be considered. If prisoners fail, they should be backsquadded', in a similar way to army recruits, and be made to retake the course again.
Last but not least, I think that the prison administration should be improved as well.
Im sure that you have hear of abusive, corrupt and mean prison officers. Actually, a
substantial part of the staff in such places can be described this way. The initial flaws of
the prison system are the bad apples' among a staff, who spend their days bullying and
assaulting prisoners and putting other more junior members of staff under immense
pressure to do the same. Some people have the opinion that it's part of the process that
prisoners should have a hard time while they're inside', but staff bullying has a negative

effect and does not help criminals to see the error of their wrongdoing. As a prison
officer, you are employed to protect the public by keeping those committed by the courts
in custody, and to help them lead law abiding lives on their release. You are given
absolute power over the prisoners, as you control their every move. The problem with
power is that it can often go hand in hand with corruption. To quote a well-known phrase
by Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Although members of staff who participate in these acts are a not so many, they do
cause incredible strain on other officers and prisoners, who are just trying to do a
difficult job well, or get through their sentence, learn to understand the consequences of
their actions, and change their behaviour for their release back into our society. The
most important job as a prison officer is to act as a role model for the prisoners under
your care and to show them the errors of their ways. Those officers who walk the prison
landings like predatory animals, build reputations of preying on weaker prisoners, and
assault prisoners in unprovoked attacks, are not teaching inmates that breaking the law
is wrong and will not be tolerated in our society. There are prison officers who plant
contraband in cells and smuggle contraband into prison, for a price, of course. These
acts breed a vicious contempt between prisoners and staff and prison ultimately
becomes a battleground for survival. Furthermore, prisoners end up leaving prison with
nothing but resentment and often more bitterness and hatred for authority than they
entered with.
As a whole, in order for the correction system in Bulgaria to be redesigned in favor of
the society, we should take some substantial steps towards not only preventing people
from commiting crimes, but to also make sure that even if they do it once, they realize
they are not in their right to destroy societys lives and property and make sure they
dont violate society again. For this to be done, inmates should get the feeling that they
belong to this same society by becoming actual members of it people with jobs,
families and ideals.