The United National Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) published the report Digital Rehabilitation in Prisons in March 2024 (available here). The document was written by Victoria Knight and Stuart Ross, consultants at UNICRI, under the overall guidance and editing of Mana Yamamoto, Matthew Burnett-Stuart, and Alice Roberti. An expert group that included representatives from academia as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations also provided input for the report. I recognized several of the authors and advisors as practitioner leaders in contemporary correctional psychology, rehabilitation, probation, and prisons.
The report examines the potential benefits of introducing new technologies to assist the strategic efforts of secure and community corrections organizations to facilitate the rehabilitation of justice-involved individuals. It is noteworthy that this report was published just before the fifth global Technology in Corrections Conference, a joint event by Europris and ICPA. This report focuses on both the benefits and challenges of digital rehabilitation. It provides guidance in three broad areas:
- The ethical principles that should guide the use of digital rehabilitation in prisons
- Planning for the development, implementation, and continuing provision of digital resources to support rehabilitation
- The applications and systems that can be used to support rehabilitation, reduce reoffending, and promote desistance
What I liked most about this report is that it references both international rules and principles as well as research regarding rehabilitation. It presents the material in a very organized way and provides building blocks for implementing and enhancing digital resources. It also provides examples of resources that are currently being used globally in correctional programming.
The report does not suggest that an organization must make significant financial investments to move forward. In fact, it states at the outset that “it should not be assumed that digital rehabilitation is only possible if jurisdictions make costly investments in digital infrastructure, including equipment and architecture. Many of the examples in this report involve the use of the same digital platforms that have become a part of everyday life. The intention of this report is to present guidelines and options that will enable prison agencies, at different levels of digital maturity, to select a development pathway appropriate to their needs and those of the people in their custody.” (emphasis added)
The first section of the report focuses on ethical principles and human rights, understanding digital rehabilitation, and developing a digital rehabilitation strategy. The six guiding ethical principles for digital prisons are:
- Legality
- Privacy and transparency
- Normality
- Equality and fairness
- Proportionality
- Agency
Key to these principles is the focus on the justice-involved individual rather than on the marketing of specific digital resources, which helps provide a framework for humane rehabilitation. In addition, the report utilizes the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation formulated by the United Nations to present considerations when balancing human rights and the digital rights of justice-involved individuals. The four areas of concern that the report outlines are:
- Balancing digital rights with the need to ensure adequate security and public protection
- Providing access to digital technology as part of the normalization of prison regimes
- Addressing digital inequality
- Safeguarding personal information
In another European project, DIGICOR, these areas of concern were also identified as related to staff competencies, access, and professional development.
The chapter on developing a digital rehabilitation strategy presents a clear and thoughtful outline on how to address two questions:
- What is the scope of this strategy, and how does it relate to our goals and priorities, level of digital readiness, and the resources that are available?
- How do we get there?
Two case examples are provided in the report: studies of Finland’s Smart Prison and the correctional system in New South Wales (Australia). It also outlines the strategy development process without proposing a “one size fits all” solution. A clear message is that “decisions should be driven by human needs rather than the enticement and promise of technology.”
The second section is a gold mine for practitioners. It covers the following topics:
- Digital Education and Vocational Training
- Self-Service Kiosks and In-Cell Devices
- Treatment and Behavior Change Programmes
- Re-Entry and Transitional Support
- Family Contact and Support
- Staff Digital Engagement and Training
As each of these topics is covered, the report offers references to research, good practice, areas of concern, and case examples. While many ideas and innovations are described in this section of the report, care should be taken to not jump to this section before completing the strategy development process for a jurisdiction. The final topic, “Staff Digital Engagement and Training,” is a consideration for utilizing digital resources. When staff are engaged in the development process and able to offer their perspectives on the needs of the justice-involved individuals they are serving, the process becomes relevant to the people who will be responsible for implementation. And when they are prepared to utilize digital resources and supported to assume responsibility for implementation, the result may not only be improved rehabilitation outcomes but also longer-term staff retention.
The final section of the report focuses on the future—focusing the key research, policy, and regulatory issues that must be addressed for the continued use of digital rehabilitation. While the report does not go into great detail within this section, it does outline the concerns that must be addressed to ensure a human-centered approach to a more effective and rehabilitative criminal justice system. The specific recommendations made are:
- Conduct mixed-method research to determine how users interact with digital rehabilitation tools, with the aim to uncover practical insights that can guide the optimization of these applications.
- Conduct a broader examination of the role of security technologies in prisons to understand how they influence the rehabilitation environment. This examination should include both rehabilitative and security aspects and offer a more complete view of the digital landscape’s role in corrections.
- Increase research activities to assess the impacts of digital rehabilitation comprehensively, focusing on the identified priority areas to gather evidence on the tangible benefits and potential limitations.
- Undertake a meta-analysis of existing research to clarify the costs and benefits associated with digital rehabilitation services, considering all related expenses, including those borne by end-users.
UNICRI has implemented a new programme this year to support the development of digital rehabilitation strategies in two pilot countries: Namibia and Thailand. The training programme, best practices, and lessons learned from these two countries and this programme overall will be beneficial to all organizations serving justice-involved individuals. We look forward to learning from their efforts.
Finally, the report offers a checklist for moving toward digital rehabilitation. It provides an outline of the considerations for different levels of maturity on this journey. An important reminder might come from the report’s foreword, written by UNICRI Acting Director Leif Villadsen:
“Around the world, criminal justice systems are facing the challenge of rehabilitating prisoners effectively to reduce reoffending rates and create safer societies. Innovative digital technologies show promise in providing access to rehabilitation programmes and flexible, effective prison based interventions. However, the integration of technology requires a balance between digital and in-person modalities and a commitment to human rights and ethical considerations.”
Rehabilitation is, after all, about people.
