As a result of inserting the probation service, the one committing a crime would not get infected by the criminal sub-culture characteristic to the penitentiary, Arshak Gasparyan, president of the “Social justice” NGO presents in a descriptive way.
“When this service is inserted, the person won`t be subject to criminal infection. Staying in the society he will be driven by social norms. These norms considerably differ from the methods of the penitentiaries”, stated Mr. Gasparyan.
He claims that the insertion of the service will serve also to the family of the person. “With the second part we defend the victim, if the person stays in the society, the possibility of working becomes bigger, and the compensation of the damage to the victim becomes easier and more available”, said our interlocutor.
Besides, the probation service will considerably assist the judicial system. “Judges who are lawyers, collect the information about the person in the best case from the advocate and the investigator. Probation service supposes a service based on the work with a person, and in these terms the information on the important personal characteristics of the person will be provided by the probation service”, highlighted the sociologist, adding at the same time that in this case the issue of overload of judges will also be solved. “When the judge, instead of reading one or 10 verdicts, reads the descriptive characteristics of the persons in those verdicts which will be provided by the probation service and be more comprehensive and deep”, said Arshak Gasparyan.
In addition to this, the most important feature of this service, according to the sociologist, is that the society tries to help the mistaken person. “Here we also have the increase of the human value, when you set the punishment not as an article, but you personify the punishment with a concrete person, and this is something we considerably lack now. Today our justice judges an article, and not a person. Probation service will entirely bring the criminal justice and the system of punishments to the centralisation towards a person: why that person has committed a crime and how to do that the respective recovery programs for that person are targeted and addressed”, concluded NGO president.
You can also read: What is probation? (in Armenian)
“Punishment is not equal to imprisonement”. Probation Service Breaks the Stereotypes
