مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Criminal Justice Policies and Probation in Terms of the Sociology of Punishment in Turkey

Abstract :

In recent years academic debates about crime and punishment have become the focus of attention of different disciplines in Turkey. Issues that are opened to debate by different disciplines from the beginning of the 1900’s in Europe and America, in Turkey have begun in the last twenty years and within some limitations. In the entire world in this area, the sociology of punishment, can be considered a new area of debate. The sociology of punishment aims to evaluate the relationship between punishment and society from a different point of view and also to handle punishment as a complex social institution shaped by social and historical forces. The criminal justice system as a structure that determines and shapes punishment is an interest of the sociology of punishment as it is directly related to the social structure. When looking at the criminal justice system from the theoretical framework about the relationship between punishment and society that the sociology of punishment presents, one is faced with the fact that the policies that direct this system should also be questioned. One of the most effective institution that determine and shape criminal justice policies is the institution of probation. Within this area, the aim here is to inquire into criminal justice policies in terms of the sociology of punishment from the example of probation. With this aim, the theoretical background concerning the sociology of punishment is first put forward. The position of probation in the criminal justice policies in Turkey is questioned in determining the social structure after this theoretical explanation. From this context, this study aims to contribute to the missing debate in the field of criminal justice in Turkey.