Italy promises support to South Korean efforts to improve
handling of juvenile delinquents
ROME: 6th August 2007 -- An eight month comparative study of
the 'Cooperative system between public and private sectors for juvenile
delinquents, with comparison betwen Italy, Belgium and South Korea' has
brought a firm commitment by the Italian Ministry of Justice for
support for eventual Italy-Korea collaboration in the juvenile
delinquent 'cooperative system'. This latter has been in place in
Italy since 1988 but is not yet implemented in South Korea.
Professor Lee Myong Sook, after spending a sabbatical year with the
Salesians in Italy and Belgium, met with the Head of Department at the
Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia, Dr Carmella Cavallo, and the Director
General for enforcement of judicial decisions, Dr Serenella Pesarin.
Accompanying Prof. Lee was Fr Domenico Ricca sdb, national Salesian
delegate for Youth at Risk and chairman of the Italian Salesian
Provincials Conference (CISI) body which deal with youth at risk as
well as full time prison chaplain in Turin. Present too was an
interpreter - Fr Vaclav Klement, who is fluent in both Korean and
Italian.
The Italian officials were impressed by Professor
Lee's extensive study of European approaches to juvenile problems. In
her eight months she had personally visited all the pieces in the
mosaic of the Italian juvenile delinquent network: Family Court,
Police, Procurator, Social agencies, Juvenile prisons,
Salesian juvenile delinquent services, particularly in Rome and Turin
but elsewhere such as Livorno. Then she visited similar
institutions at Vremde and Brussels, Belgium.
In Korea every year some 100,000 juveniles come into
conflict with the law (the figure in Italy is 24,000, though Italy's
population is closer to 64 million and South Korea's 49 million).
Despite the high figure, South Korea this year closed 8 of 16
reformatories without offering an viable alternative. Professor Lee,
who is associate professor in the department of correctional and youth
studies at Kyonggi University in South Korea, was moved to do something
about this and to use her already high profile in that country's
juvenile delinquent system to influence Government policy into the
future. The 52 year professor, who gained her degrees and experience
from both Korea and the United States, has held many influential
positions in South Korean Society, having been a member of the Prime
Minister's Commission on Youth Protection, and a youth policy
specialist with the Korean Government. It was there that she
first came into contact with the Salesians.
On completion of her 'sabbatical year' amongst
Salesians in Italy and Belgium, Professor Lee has expressed her thanks
for the extensive help she has received, starting with Fr Pier Fausto
Frisoli, the Italy-Middle East Regional Superior, and many othersm
scholars, practitioners and welcoming communities. She returns to Korea
now to influence her Government to adopt the idea of a Justice Centre
for Minors at province and city level, as exists in Italy and as
enshrined in law. _________________ AustraLasia is an
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