A Record-Based Review of the Results of Prisoner's Employment after Shahrivar 1320 (September 1941)

The idea of making use of prisons as a place for keeping criminals and sentenced individuals has always had its supporters and opponents. One of the disputes between these two groups is the prisoners’ employment and suitable placements in the light of their convictions; this issue is the main focus of this article. This research aims to inspect and explain different results of prisoners’ employment in Iran after Shahrivar 1320 (September 1941). The reason for selecting this timeframe in this article is the changes in laws relating to prisoners in Iran in this period of time. Although several studies have so far been conducted about the opinions and attitudes of the authorities concerned, no credible research has been prepared and presented in this regard from a historical perspective and with particular reference to unpublished resources and documents, This research tries to analyze the trend of developing laws of prisoners’ employment, and how these laws were implemented, on the strength of historical documents. For this purpose, a case study has been carried out on the Ghezel Hesar Prison as representative of changes in prisons and prisoners’ affairs in Iran, by considering their employment during the recent decades. This research also has taken into consideration the authorities’ altered attitudes towards prisoners’ rights during these decades.