監所沒有被大眾看見,所以值得研究。
The prison is overused, invisible, and not well understood by the public, so it is worth studying.
World Prison Brief 創辦於英國,至今已20年有餘,致力於蒐集、研究各國獄政體制與監獄矯正機構的發展脈絡與現況,目標是希望喚醒更多大眾看見這些高風險,卻容易被我們忽略的受刑人族群。
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這次的訪談對象是 World Prison Research Programme 的主負責人 Catherine Heard,在彼此交流的過程中,我們發現:
World Prison Brief 是一個豐富的,且人人皆可上網研究與參考與監獄、受刑人議題有關的數據資料庫。不僅提供各國政府對於監獄律法的變更進程,也會即時追蹤各國政府在像是遇到Covid-19這樣如此緊急重大的事件會如何因應。累積與擁有多年的研究經驗與素材,World Prison Brief 持續追蹤數據的改變,例如女性和青少年的犯罪比例上升,以進一步推測社會在哪方面出現問題,例如可能是生活壓力、健康問題,進而去觸發更多對此議題有興趣的大眾關注到監獄議題。
World Prison Brief 會透過主動與NGO互動,以間接觸及到政府。透過舉辦國際研討會或線上論壇,邀請各國學術專家、相關領域組織單位及政府,也開放一般民眾參與,一同探討切磋與學習各國獄政系統與監獄環境等面向議題。
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接受訪問的Catherine 相當親切且研究深入,對於監獄議題的研究侃侃而談,常旅行到不同國家,拜訪學術機構或組織,分享 World Prison Brief 在做的事,希望能夠跟更多不同國家的人討論、交流與分享議題;Catherine 也認為應多多鼓勵青年關注監獄議題。
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The World Prison Brief was founded in the United Kingdom 20 years ago, in the year 2000. Today, it is compiled and hosted by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, part of the School of Law at Birkbeck, University of London. It is committed to collecting and studying the development context and current situation of prison systems and institutions in various countries. The goal is to awaken more people to realize these high risks, which are also easily overlooked prisoners.
World Prison Brief is a rich database that everyone can access to research related to prisons and prisoners. Not only does it provide information on the progress of government changes to prison laws, but it also tracks how governments respond to such urgent and major events as Covid-19. Accumulating and possessing many years of research experiences and materials, World Prison Brief continues to track changes in data, such as the increase in the proportion of women and teenagers committing crimes, to further speculate on the other problems in society, such as life stress, health problems, triggering more people that are interested in these issues to pay attention to prisons.
World Prison Brief interacts actively with NGOs to indirectly reach the government. Through holding international seminars or online forums, they invite academic experts from various countries, organizations in related fields, governments, and are also open to the general public to participate, to discuss, and learn about the prison systems and prison environments of various countries.
Website: https://www.prisonstudies.org/