ON AUG. 31, the Ministry of Justice rejected the parole application of a 31-year-old serial rapist surnamed Yang (
The department's faculty, from the moment we learned about Yang's admission to the department's social work division, has always emphasized that the rapist's "right to an education" (
As the faculty of an educational institution, we were very willing to cooperate with his family, psychologists, the government and the entire community to provide a good social environment for his rehabilitation so that adequate resources could be provided and supplementary measures taken to enable him to fulfil his hope of starting a new life.
But at the same time, we also realized that Yang's "right to an education" could only be protected and fulfilled under certain conditions. The issue can be viewed from two levels: the personal and the social.
On a personal level, we certainly hope that Yang receives the right treatment so that he may find a place in society. He was, however, sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping more than 30 women. The nature of his crimes, therefore, has to be taken into account. Research has shown that a serial rapist needs special rehabilitation to reduce the possibility of recidivism.
Consequently, we expect Yang to re-enter society only after he is fully rehabilitated. It is obvious that Yang himself has a strong desire to fulfil the terms of his parole so that he will never have to return to jail. But if there were mental or physical causal factors behind his crimes, such problems need to be treated first to remove any irresistible urges that may obstruct his efforts to be born anew. In fact, we hope that not only Yang but all prison inmates can receive much needed counseling and rehabilitative treatment -- so that their desires to be rehabilitated can be fulfilled.
From a social perspective, "community treatment" (社區處遇) of rapists has been recommended both inside and outside Taiwan due to serial rapists' high susceptibility to repeat offenses. Many special measures have to be taken to ensure the safety of the community while at the same time the community's hostility toward a released inmate has to be eliminated.
We must recognize that Taiwan is still a stranger to "community treatment." We also saw that such an approach has been discussed and is beginning to be put into practice gradually as a result of Yang's case. It is believed that only with complete "community treatment" can Yang and the community enjoy their freedom from fear and live promising lives, with the inmate free from discrimination and the community free from fear.
While we feel honored by Yang's decision to choose the department as the starting point of his new life, we also understand that a host of measures must be taken if he is to truly begin a new life. These measures, however, are being strongly brought into question at present. That is why the department, along with social groups that are concerned with the case, is aggressively promoting a better social environment which would allow local parolees to be born anew.
Chen Dung-sheng is chairman of the Department of Sociology at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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