Research on the long sentenced prisoners

Abstract

The term ’long sentence’ is just an ordinary technical jargon for those who are working in the Prison Service. Therefore, the subjective nature of this term is usually tended to be ignored. When do we consider something long and what does make it long? To what extent can the term ‘long sentence’ be considered subjective? The lexical meaning of the word expresses timeliness and temporality, precisely it refers to a condition which extends over a considerable time or prolongs beyond the usual time. Here a question arises: what is meant by the ‘usual time’? Three years, five years or just a ten years imprisonment can be defined as a sentence beyond the usual time? Is it possible that the term ‘long’ is not only a quantifier, but a qualifier as well? The current research analyses the long-term prisoners.