Foreign experience of psychological work aimed at reforming convicts

Introduction. Psychological work aimed at reforming convicts (prisoners) in foreign penitentiary institutions is one of the most important practical tasks of national and public importance. The purpose is to analyze and synthesize foreign experience related to the reforming of convicts. Materials, Results and Discussion. The paper provides an analysis of the experience of psychological work on the correction of convicts in correctional institutions of foreign countries. The main approaches, methods and results of correctional influence on prisoners (convicts) in the practice of the USA and Western European countries are described. The experience of correcting convicts is considered in a historical context, the peculiarities of the development of penitentiary psychological views taken into account. Individual programs for the correction of convicts are analyzed in terms of their scientific and methodological maintenance, as well as the results of correctional impact. The author examines the experience of psychological work concerning the correction of convicts in Asian countries (China, Japan, Sri Lanka, etc.). General patterns and features in the work of reforming convicts in Western and Asian countries are mentioned. The focus is made on the specifics of organizing the correctional process in relation to juvenile offenders, convicts with drug addiction and persons adhering to the criminal subculture.