Prisoner Resettlement in Germany – New Approaches?

At present roughly 60.000 prisoners are serving prison sentences in Germany. The vast majority of them shall be released from custody sooner or later. As is the case in many other European countries, in Germany, too, release structures are currently a topic of debate both in criminal justice and penal/prison policy as well as in society as a whole. The transferral of powers from the federal legislator to the individual federal states of Germany to legislate in issues of prison law has provided the latter with an opportunity to break down and thus to reform outdated structures. The article at hand examines the legal provisions, both in federal and in federal state legislation, that have previously been and that currently are relevant for release from imprisonment. Recent findings from criminological evaluation research on the treatment of offenders, which point to a conduciveness of transition-oriented release structures for the prospect of successful reintegration, are currently being discussed, debated and considered in Germany as well. The article critically investigates the degree to which the reforms that have taken place up to now have covered the respective need for change. It closes with questions that need to be asked from the German point of view, in order to identify - through international comparison - good practice models for structured release that aim to reduce the risk of recidivism by better reintegrating prisoners into society.

Keywords: reentry, reintegration, prisoner, rehabilitation, Germany