Purpose: This paper gives an analitical overview of historical development and contemporary picture of the concept of prisoner rehabilitation in Croatia within current crime and punishment perspective. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purpose of the analysis, legislative documents were taken into account, as well as data on crime and punishment (Croatian Bureau of Statistics) and Ministry of justice and Ombudsman reports. Findings: The authors have found that Croatia has a modern legal frame for meeting all internationally recognized prerequisits for prisoners' rehabilitation and reintegration but has to solve overcrowding as the main source of many problems in organizing adequate prison life for prisoners and also for the staff. Adequate staffing and incorporation of evaluation plans in special rehabilitation programs were also pointed out as important tasks. Research limitations/implications: Examination of history of prisoner rehabilitation is sometimes problematic while the laws were rehabilitation oriented (on declarative level) but those who experienced that „law in action“ rarely agreed with that declaration. This may also be the result of different meaning of the term „rehabilitation“ (specially for certain types of prisoners) in different political climates. Practical implications: This paper showed that concept of rehabilitation may vary at definition level. Also, it prooved that some current elements of the execution of prison sentence (as a part of rehabilitation) have a long history. Originality/Value: This paper provides a first attempt (to authors knowledge) of Croatian prisoner rehabilitation evaluation.

Education