Japanese Prisons Research Articles

New Initiatives for Drug Abuse Treatment in Japanese Prisons

The problem of substance abuse in Japan is centered around methamphetamine. The current article discusses the prevalence of methamphetamine use, legal controls against it, and a recently conducted study on recidivism in Japan. It also describes features of a newly initiated drug treatment program in Japanese prisons, its origin and differences from the original program. The article concludes with discussing the challenges faced by the newly initiated program.

共和分回帰・誤差修正モデルによる受刑者間暴力に対する収容率の効果の検証

This research examined the effect of prison population densities (PPD) on inmate-inmate prison violence rates (PVR) in Japan using one-year-interval time-series data (1972-2006). Cointegration regressions revealed a long-run equilibrium relationship between PPD and PVR. PPD had a significant and increasing effect on PVR in the long-term. Error correction models showed that in the short-term, the effect of PPD was significant and positive on PVR, even after controlling for the effects of the proportions of males, age younger than 30 years, less than one-year incarceration, and prisoner/staff ratio. The results were discussed in regard to (a) differences between Japanese prisons and prisons in the United States, and (b) methodological problems found in previous research.

Current Situation and Future Tasks for Psychiatric Services in Japanese Prisons

I outline the current situation and future tasks for psychiatric services in Japanese prisons. I describe the provision of facilities specializing in psychiatric services, preparation of legal aspects related to involuntary treatment, provision of therapeutic educational programs regarding addictive crimes, and the measures required for continuation of treatment after release from prison. I also discuss how, in the current system, under the "Act on Mental Care and Treatment for Persons who have Caused Serious Cases under the Condition of Insanity," unfairness arises in the treatment of mentally disordered offenders, requiring a division between medical care and justice (correctional institutions).

Naikan in the Japanese prisons between 1954 and 1964

Naikan in the Japanese prisons between 1954 and 1964

Metabolic improvement of male prisoners with type 2 diabetes in Fukushima Prison, Japan

Imprisonment often improves metabolic control in prisoners with type 2 diabetes; however, the reasons for this remain unclear. Here, we investigated the metabolic control of male prisoners with type 2 diabetes in Japan. Retrospective analysis of 4385 medical charts of male prisoners in Fukushima Prison from 1998 to 2004 revealed 109 prisoners (all Asian) with type 2 diabetes (mean ± S.D.: 51 ± 10 years). All were followed up during their imprisonment (14 ± 10 months). During imprisonment, mean fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin Alc (HbA1c) levels dramatically decreased from 184 ± 74 to 113 ± 38 mg/dl ( p < 0.001) and 8.4 ± 2.1 to 5.9 ± 1.2% ( p < 0.001), respectively. In addition, 5 of 18 prisoners (28%) treated with insulin and 17 of 34 (50%) treated with oral hypoglycemic agents were able to discontinue their treatment and maintain good metabolic control. Most prisoners in Japanese prisons work 8 h a day 5 days a week, consuming a high dietary fiber diet including boiled rice with barley, “Mugimeshi”. These findings suggest that a well-regulated lifestyle and long-term intake of high dietary fiber may have beneficial effects on metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Can New Prisoner&apos;s Treatment Act Change the Situation of Japanese Prisons?

Can New Prisoner&apos;s Treatment Act Change the Situation of Japanese Prisons?

Rule violations of Japanese inmates; An artifact of a low imprisonment rate

Rule violations offer insights to inmate reactions to penal confinement and to the official control system. Japanese prisons are of special significance because of the diversion of convicted offenders when feasible. American critics of community corrections have argued that heavy diversion would impose only the most intransigent criminals on prisons. By the sociocultural standards of Japan, diversion has had that consequence for its prisons. Official data provide the opportunity to examine a system of rule enforcement under those circumstances, including the relationship with inmate recidivism and the length of imprisonment.

A comparative study of racial justice in English and Japanese prisons

The world‐wide advancement in transportation and telecommunications has brought about tremendous human exchange across international boundaries. As a result of a huge influx of people of different ethnic origins, confrontations between ethnic majorities and minorities are taking place in many countries around the world. Because a prison is a society in miniature, it is not free from the ills from which the society as a whole suffers. That is why prison administrators are tackling the problem of racial justice. As the character of society varies from country to country, so the methods of prison administration vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, studies of racial justice in one national prison system may not automatically be applicable to another system. However, it is also true that an understanding of the nature of racial justice in the prisons of different countries may provide us with a fresh theoretical perspective on this subject and provide clues as to how to solve the problems of our ...

Tea Ceremony and Tatami Mat Making: Gender Differences in Access to Educational Programs in Japanese Prisons

Gender roles in the larger society are often reflected in prisons: Female inmates in most countries are confronted with prison conditions that are different from those of male prisoners. The goal of this study is to ascertain if the same holds true for Japan. We administered questionnaires to inmates in two prisons in Japan (N = 174) and conducted face-to-face interviews with officials in the same institutions concerning educational and vocational programs available to inmates. Our results indicate that fewer programs are found in prisons for females and that these programs reflect the traditional role of women in Japan.

"Club Fed" in Japan? Incarceration Experiences of Japanese Embezzlers

This paper analyzes the incarceration experiences of embezzlers in one prison in Japan. Data were gathered with a self-administered survey, unstructured interviews with inmates, and informal talks with prison officials. Findings indicate that embezzlers who serve time in Japanese prisons are treated more like street offenders than is the case in the United States. The "Club Fed" phenomenon observed in the United States is not characteristic of Japanese corrections.

The treatment of mentally disordered offenders in Japanese medical prisons.

The author outlines the general trends of crime and the treatment of criminals in Japan, and trends of mentally disordered offenders in Japanese penal institutions. Further, he explains the treatment of the mentally disordered offenders in Japanese medical prisons. The author analyzes the Hachioji Medical Prison's treatment record, particularly in regards to the reincarceration rate, which markedly decreases when family support and psychiatric treatment are properly present after release. Finally, the author stresses the value of correctional psychiatric treatment in the medical prison; it is expected to play an important role in contributing to the rehabilitation of mentally disordered offenders and "patients difficult to treat," and bringing about more open and innovative community-centered mental health services.

Women's Prisons in Japan: A Comparative Analysis

Among the results of Japan's preference for dispositional options other than imprisonment are a relatively low imprisonment rate, differences in the basic characteristics of Japanese and American prisoners, and differences between the sexes in Japanese prisons. From a comparative perspective, the paper considers several aspects of the situation in Japan: the relatively low priority of gender issues, certain trends stimulated by policy changes that influence the incarceration of women, the increase in the number of women prisoners attributable to stimulant-drug offenses, and the management of women in confinement.

Foreigners in Japanese prisons: Inmate adaptations and prison accommodations

Major movements of individuals across national boundaries increase chances for crimes by foreigners, some of whom become prisoners in societies in which they are both cultural strangers and social outcasts as prison inmates. Although they are relatively few when compared with the members of the host society who are imprisoned, their presence raises unusual difficulties for inmate adaptation and accommodations by the prison administration to their special needs and cultural preferences. This study examined the situation and accommodative reactions of the prison administration in Japan. There both the foreign inmates and the Correction Bureau encounter special difficulties in adjusting within the context of the regular operations of a prison system primarily tuned to managing inmates drawn from the host culture and society.

Condition of the heart following beriberi and malnutrition.

BERIBERI is recognized as an infrequent but a definite cause of heart failure. Although beriberi heart disease can be severe and frequently fatal in its acute stage, there is very little in the medical literature on the end-result of this type of heart disease, nor has it been shown whether persons who recover from beriberi may have a chronic form of beriberi heart disease. This report is on a study of the cardiac condition of 109 men who survived the acute effects of beriberi and severe malnutrition suffered during 44 months in Japanese prisons during World War II. The medical literature on beriberi heart disease contains reports on (1) the Oriental form, occurring where the diet consists chiefly of rice and is inadequate in general,1(2) the Occidental form, most commonly seen in chronic alcoholism and occasionally in a variety of conditions2in which there is a deficiency