Education-education, socio-cultural and psycho-social activities in criminal institutions of Turkey (2012-2016)

In the research, the Unit Activity Reports of the General Directorate of Prisons of the Ministry of Justice were examined and the educational, socio-cultural and psycho-social activities implemented for convicts and detainees in Turkish penal institutions between 2012 and 2016 were determined. In this context, education, training activities, vocational training activities, religious development and spiritual guidance activities, library, library activities, psycho-social activities, social, cultural and sports activities for convicts and detainees in penitentiary institutions were discussed. As a basis for the research, the historical development of prison sentences was examined within the scope of the conceptual framework, and in this direction, prison types were explained in relation to the Penal institutions of the Tanzimat period and the Republican period before the prison institution emerged. In the Tanzimat period, with the Kanun-ı Penalty of 1840, hard labor and imprisonment began to be applied. With the Kanun-ı Cedit in 1851, the punishment of hard labor and imprisonment continued. In 1858, the penalty of Kalebent was added to the penalties applied with the Penal Code of Humayun (Sarıdiken, 2014:20). With the laws enacted during the Tanzimat period, the punishment for the body was replaced by the formation of prisons aimed at rehabilitating the criminal (Demir, 2013:30). The young Republic of Turkey, which was established during the war and after ten years of war, has updated this field again with a modern, secular and legal basis. After the proclamation of the republic, the modernization works carried out under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha in all areas of the state were also carried out in penitentiary institutions. In line with the needs of convicted prisoners in penitentiary institutions since 1926 legal arrangements have been made. The Turkish Penal Code No. 765 came into force in 1926. In 1929, the prisons were taken from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and connected to the Ministry of Justice, and the process of change began. The Ministry of Justice made efforts to rehabilitate the convicts by employing them (Sarıdiken, 2014: 21) The perspective of the republican era on prisons Mustafa Kemal Pasha said, "Sirs, the problem of prisons is very important. It can be understood from the words "A citizen of the country whose personal freedom has been abolished should be brought up to be useful to the society at the end of the sentence". It is emphasized that prisons are not only seen as places where punishment is carried out, but also an institution that gives importance to the education and profession of convicts and detainees, and brings them into social life (Kurt, 2013: 38). With the Law No. 647 on the Execution of Penalties in 1965, modern execution procedures were adopted. The Law No. 5275 on the Execution of Penalties and Security Measures (CGTİHK), which came into force on 1 June 2005 and is one of the three basic laws of the Turkish Criminal Justice System, regulates the basic principles of the execution law (Artuk and Alşahin, 2016: 181). In the study, educational, socio-cultural and psycho-social activities carried out in penitentiary institutions were evaluated in terms of their contribution to individual, state and social life. The educational, socio-cultural and psycho-social activities in penitentiary institutions were discussed and the number of participation in these activities was examined. The research is important in that it is the first research that deals with education, sociocultural and psycho-social activities in penitentiary institutions as a whole. As a data source in the research; Unit Activity Reports of the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Prisons and master's theses, doctoral theses, articles, books, and newspapers were used. Keywords: Prison, educational activities, socio-cultural activities, psycho-social activities.