CSPRI focuses on prisons and corrections, with the aim of improving the human rights situation in South African prisons through research-based lobbying and advocacy, and collaboration with civil society structures. By stimulating public debate and participation in government structures, the aim is to influence the development of appropriate human rights oriented transformation in South African Correctional Services.

The transitional period in South African prisons since 1994 has been beset with a number of difficulties, as increasingly highlighted by the Jali Commission of Inquiry. However, there has been little civil society engagement in policy debates concerning correctional services in South Africa over the last few years. CSPRI actively works to address this shortcoming by providing the information and skills for civil society to participate constructively in legislative and policy debates.

Objectives Of CSPRI

• To develop and strengthen the capacity of civil society and the civilian institutions related to corrections to improve awareness of prison-related issues, in order to provide effective oversight on correctional matters

• To promote improved prison governance, based on the Constitution and on a human rights culture, in the South African context

• To promote the greater use of non-custodial sentencing in general, and correctional supervision in particular, as a mechanism for reducing overcrowding in prisons and as part of a commitment that imprisonment should be used as a sentence of last resort 

•   To improve reintegration services to prisoners to reduce the risk of recidivism.