Red Tape Hot Box on The custodians' Curie
Nevertheless, our governments were caught off guard when they learned a few years ago that all the prisons are full. They were faced with a big dilemma. On the one hand, public opinion demanded that sentences for convicts should be elongated because our judiciary is too lenient. But the flip side of the coin was-and still is-that the costs of keeping prisoners in jail are quite high.
Thus the judicial system concluded that some juvenile criminals and prisoners convicted for petty offences should be re-socialized outside the prison walls, under the watchful eyes of custodians. That's why the judicial system has improved the status of custodians who, since 2001, have gained better privileges. Their function is to help juvenile criminals and prisoners who have regained their freedom find jobs, persuade them to stop taking drugs and drink, and help find solutions to any family problems.
That's the theory. In practice, however, it doesn't work as smoothly as the judicial system would like. The reason is that custodians nowadays are usually young people who, although enthusiastic about their job, lack experience, and have no knowledge in the fields of pedagogy, sociology or law. Moreover, they are overloaded with work. According to the standards that are in force, a custodian shouldn't have more than 25 people under his charge. Unfortunately, on average, they have around 100 people under their care and therefore proper custody in such circumstances is just a fiction. The custodian can see the person whom he is trying to help twice, maybe three times in a year. That's definitely not enough.
Furthermore, there is the problem that custodians are frequently faced with aggressive and dangerous people. They look to the police to accompany them on their visits, as, again, theoretically that's how it should happen by law. However, the police have more serious matters on their minds and try to dismiss this additional demand on their time.
In such a situation the job of the custodian is rather fruitless. The only thing they can do is pat the person on the head and lie to him, promising that the next day will be better. Government officials are aware of the problem but at the same time can't think of any solution that doesn't involve spending more money on the custodians. After all, it was calculated that by setting 50 thousand convicts free under the custodians' charge costs about zł.24 million per year, while keeping all those people in prison would cost zł.1 billion. The numbers speak for themselves.
Thus the judicial system concluded that some juvenile criminals and prisoners convicted for petty offences should be re-socialized outside the prison walls, under the watchful eyes of custodians. That's why the judicial system has improved the status of custodians who, since 2001, have gained better privileges. Their function is to help juvenile criminals and prisoners who have regained their freedom find jobs, persuade them to stop taking drugs and drink, and help find solutions to any family problems.
That's the theory. In practice, however, it doesn't work as smoothly as the judicial system would like. The reason is that custodians nowadays are usually young people who, although enthusiastic about their job, lack experience, and have no knowledge in the fields of pedagogy, sociology or law. Moreover, they are overloaded with work. According to the standards that are in force, a custodian shouldn't have more than 25 people under his charge. Unfortunately, on average, they have around 100 people under their care and therefore proper custody in such circumstances is just a fiction. The custodian can see the person whom he is trying to help twice, maybe three times in a year. That's definitely not enough.
Furthermore, there is the problem that custodians are frequently faced with aggressive and dangerous people. They look to the police to accompany them on their visits, as, again, theoretically that's how it should happen by law. However, the police have more serious matters on their minds and try to dismiss this additional demand on their time.
In such a situation the job of the custodian is rather fruitless. The only thing they can do is pat the person on the head and lie to him, promising that the next day will be better. Government officials are aware of the problem but at the same time can't think of any solution that doesn't involve spending more money on the custodians. After all, it was calculated that by setting 50 thousand convicts free under the custodians' charge costs about zł.24 million per year, while keeping all those people in prison would cost zł.1 billion. The numbers speak for themselves.
