The conventional in-prison treatment and programs have limited inmates' reintegration by making their contacts with outside world difficult. However as the goal of punishment has moved from that of retribution into rehabilitation and reintegration, the importance of contacts with the society has been gradually recognized. The methods of "open treatment" is designed to reduce the degree of surveillance and control and at the same time to increase inmates' responsibility and self-reliance. Through more contacts with outside world, inmates are able to learn how to work and live as law-abiding citizens and through more autonomous life in prison, inmates can get the competency about themselves. Many experts agree that this is the most effective way to rehabilitate criminal offenders. On the contrary, although many believe the effectiveness of "open treatment," some are worried about the risk of break-out from prison. Inmates' break out of the prison surely make the safety of the innocent public in danger and it is the worst scenario in the eye of the advocates for open treatment. Regarding this issue, one should weigh a positive outcome of reintegration and rehabilitation and a negative outcome of the risk of inmate's run-away. In fact, the negative consequence does not outweigh the positive effects of the open treatment. That's why we should continue to administer various methods of the open treatment.

This study deals with how the Korean open treatment for prisoners in the 21st century should be implemented effectively. For this study, the historical trace of criminal policy theories and the correctional policies in Korea and the open treatment system in some other advanced countries were reviewed. The open treatment such as open facilities, work release system etc. has been extensively used in the developed countries and it has been generally successful in rehabilitating inmates effectively. In this context, the purposes of this study are to evaluate the current practices of the open treatment in our country and to make some recommendations for their improvement. In conclusion, this study aims at offering the progressive policies for the future open treatment system in Korea by searching for the effective and innovative programs based on my field experience of corrections for a long time.