The Subjective Initiative in Criminal Rehabilitation

Criminal rehabilitation is a process of resocialization. The challenge for prison police officers is to help inmates improve themselves better during their prison life, face social life more effectively, and resort less to extreme measures (crime) when encountering setbacks. The subjective initiative in criminal rehabilitation refers to the active, autonomous, creative, and unique role that inmates play as the main subjects of the rehabilitation process, also known as subject-oriented rehabilitation. It involves transforming the passive and negative adaptation of “I am being rehabilitated” into the proactive and positive growth of “I want to rehabilitate”. By stimulating the inmates’ subjective initiative, prisons can encourage them to actively participate in various educational and rehabilitation activities, which helps maintain order, improves the quality of rehabilitation, and highlights the educational and reformative significance of punishment.