Abstract: | The trends towards the more humane treatment of prisoners which have as their principal objective the reform of criminals are determined by the societies that have evolved them; they are not therefore characterised by African aims and they do not express themselves in African forms. So the possibilities of purely African innovation are limited. The restrictions on the possibility of reform in penal practice in Africa are discussed in the sections: The criminal environment - Public opinion, politics, and penal reform - The extensive use of imprisonment - The demography of criminality - Budgetary restrictions on reform - The acceptance of penal alternatives - The limitation of existing reforms - The future. Notes. |