Eleventh International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Research on criminal law and criminal corrections, although are vast in the context of Europe and America, yet remain scarce when it comes to India (Albrecht, H. J 2005). Indian prisons have been portrayed as being brutish, unhygienic, and overcrowded, which has urged the government to introduce various reforms in order to make the Indian penal system more humane and also respect the basic needs of the prisoners. Many Acts and Reforms have been introduced in India like the West Bengal Correctional Services Act of 1992, which have significantly worked to improve the inmates’ well-being and also paid attention to the rehabilitation of the inmates which helped in their social integration (Roy 2003). All this have made the Indian Penal System more ‘flexible’ in the recent years (Albrecht, H. J 2005; Vibhute 2005). An important outcome of the Act of 1992 had been the introduction of the Culture Therapy, which along with several infrastructural and social changes introduced within the prison were seen to revolutionize rehabilitation and significantly improve the degenerate mental health of the incarcerated and at the same time reduce recidivism. The field work took place in Durgapur Sub-Correctional Home in West Bengal were a host of factors were seen to health and wellness amongst the inmates. I have categorized my research on three broad topics namely: Infrastructure and Rehabilitation; Arts therapy and Consciousness-building in Rehabilitation; Social Connections and Rehabilitation and I have used these ‘tropes’ to analytically engage with rehabilitation in West Bengal Correctional Facilities.