Opinions about parole seem to converge on the careful introduction of this measure. A few who disagree seem to see some danger of letting insufficiently-reformed law breakers loose on society. This anxiety may be related to a perception that parole is just an unorganised "tutemba" instead of a socio-educational measure meant to make all stakeholders benefit - from the law breaker to his family and society.

Interesting opinions have been expressed by professionals working with inmates, such as psychologists, social workers and educators, who have first-hand experience in the attitudes of inmates who may be facing reintegration into society with uncertainty. My own experience in this matter is limited to studies in social education and social psychology with some research at the Paris juvenile court and juvenile detention centre for an assignment on delinquency with French and Franco-Vietnamese colleagues. Obviously, this subject requires continued reading as research results may change over the years.

Any new measure contemplated in a country must take into consideration its success or failure in other countries and its adaptability to the local situation. My impression is that no serious reason exists for parole to be less successful in Malta than in other countries.

One must also consider the advantages and disadvantages of parole in any specific society. The advantages may benefit the participants alone, society alone or both. A few practical examples show that parole is to the advantage of both society and the reforming law breaker.

To start with, when a law breaker is reformed, s/he is helping him/herself reintegrate into a society that does not easily accept to trust a person who has committed a criminal mistake. Parole allows a law breaker to prepare him/herself for the mistrust of society and the possibility of searching for areas of trust available. This is why parole cannot be a sporadic experiment but an educated exercise followed by a parole educator during a pre-parole and parole period.

Parole is also to the advantage of society in general as persons participating in a supervised parole exercise have a better chance of avoiding repetition of mistakes. And any society welcomes the improvement of law and order to be able to carry on with its business.

University students of criminology have expressed themselves in favour of parole and so have politicians from all parties. I believe that a committee set up to propose parole requires no more than a few weeks to present a workable framework.

Car paparazzi

Debate has lingered on the increased utilisation of speed cameras in our roads. I thought that sleeping policemen sprawled across road surfaces already limited over-speeding without unnecessary fines. Some have called speed cameras an indirect tax while others have insisted that they save the population from drastically decreasing through fatal accidents. Perhaps the eternal debate should end with a compromise. There are roads where a limitation of speed to 60 kph is ridiculous and it can only be called an arteriosclerosis of traffic. I would say that raising the 60 kph limitation to 70 kph would make most efficient drivers better organised.

At the same time, few citizens express themselves about under-speeding drivers. Indeed drivers who crawl at 40 kph or less on busy open roads are not uncommon and they may be called teachers of bad temper. Perhaps they should have their siestas at home or argue with their spouses outside the car. A case in point is the road between Cirkewwa and St Julians. Here you often see a slow car leading 20 cars fuming behind it. I believe that these drivers should be fined (without parole). It is done in some countries and it makes them move their lazy pumpkins at a reasonable velocity.

Instant tea

In establishments where you are served a serious tea, this arrives in a tea pot and made from naked leaves undressed with paper. Many tea serving cafés bring you a cup, hot water and a tea bag. This is, of course, a horrible way of serving tea. If they think that the taste of paper is wonderful, they should at least serve a liquid squeezed from paper separately.

Mind your French

The expression Médecins Sans Frontières has been massacred both in its spelling and pronunciation. I have before heard such word-handling of names of French horses. If the latter heard the way some people pronounced their names, they would probably not run before they stopped laughing.

Off my chest

A commentator with a sweet name has told me that articles are not meant to get things off a writer's chest. I kept wondering whatever else they were for.

Dr Licari teaches sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and geolinguistics at the Department of French of the University of Malta

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