A Study on Re-integration Process of Offenders

Abstract

This article aims at, with the result of an empirical study, revealing the process how the offender can be re-integrated into the community. Such a concern pursues the possibility of the reversion of a 'labeling' process. That is, how the actor of a crime can be freed from a negative label of 'the offender', and be re-identified as a law-abiding person by people in the community. 2. Samples and Method of Research : The samples of this research study are a total of 553 university students. They were asked to read four fictitious stories: worker's injury, traffic accident, violence and shoplifting. Students were then asked to answer if they would keep associating with the offender in each story. These four stories were intentionally varied in details about the actors' attitudes or situations after committing crimes. For example, (a) if the actor repented and apologized to the victim, (b) if he tries to compensate for the damage, (c) if he was imposed any sanction, etc. Obtained data were analyzed by means of 'Analysis of Variance' (ANOVA). 3. Results of Analysis : Samples of this study tend to keep associating with the actor in the following cases: (a) when the actor repented of his crime and apologized to the victim, (b) when he tries to compensate for the damage, (c) when he decides never to drive after causing the traffic accident. But such motivation for friendliness doesn't occur, when the actor was only imposed such sanction as warning by his superior, a salary reduction, or investigation by the police. These results show that the people generally accepted the actor, when they judged that he will less possibly repeat a crime, and felt it unfair to keep reproaching him, through facing the actor's sincere attitudes after his committing a crime. 4. Conclusion : People tend to denounce and exclude the actor of a crime, labeling him as 'the offender'. But at the same time people tend to let the actor re-integrated into the community, and to free him from the label, when he tries to assume his responsibility and represents penitent attitudes. Thus, the actor is allowed to be integrated with the people in the community, and can revert to what he was before.