Las políticas penitenciarias y la realidad carcelaria bonaerense en un marco social de alta conflictividad : 2000-2005

El presente trabajo intenta aportar una visión de la realidad carcelaria, con el objetivo general de indagar y analizar el aparato punitivo bonaerenses y las políticas penitenciarias aplicadas del 2000-2005. A partir de aquí pretenderé efectuar un primer acercamiento a la complejidad del Sistema Penal destacando: por un lado, el sistema de administración de justicia, en los factores legales y prácticas judiciales como acción condicionante previa, que han contribuido al notorio incremento de las personas detenidas en los últimos años; y por otro lado, la descripción de la artificialidad del sistema penitenciario bonaerense y el comportamiento de las prisiones: las condiciones de hacinamiento y superpoblación en el ámbito de las Unidades Penitenciarias de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. De esta manera, se busca establecer una conexión entre una sociedad que reproduce la cárcel, a partir de diferentes mecanismos de exclusión (tanto sociales como económicos), y la construcción de una idea de 'delincuente'

Las políticas penitenciarias y la realidad carcelaria bonaerense en un marco social de alta conflictividad : 2000-2005

El presente trabajo intenta aportar una visión de la realidad carcelaria, con el objetivo general de indagar y analizar el aparato punitivo bonaerenses y las políticas penitenciarias aplicadas del 2000-2005. A partir de aquí pretenderé efectuar un primer acercamiento a la complejidad del Sistema Penal destacando: por un lado, el sistema de administración de justicia, en los factores legales y prácticas judiciales como acción condicionante previa, que han contribuido al notorio incremento de las personas detenidas en los últimos años; y por otro lado, la descripción de la artificialidad del sistema penitenciario bonaerense y el comportamiento de las prisiones: las condiciones de hacinamiento y superpoblación en el ámbito de las Unidades Penitenciarias de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. De esta manera, se busca establecer una conexión entre una sociedad que reproduce la cárcel, a partir de diferentes mecanismos de exclusión (tanto sociales como económicos), y la construcción de una idea de 'delincuente'

Las políticas penitenciarias y la realidad carcelaria bonaerense en un marco social de alta conflictividad : 2000-2005

El presente trabajo intenta aportar una visión de la realidad carcelaria, con el objetivo general de indagar y analizar el aparato punitivo bonaerenses y las políticas penitenciarias aplicadas del 2000-2005. A partir de aquí pretenderé efectuar un primer acercamiento a la complejidad del Sistema Penal destacando: por un lado, el sistema de administración de justicia, en los factores legales y prácticas judiciales como acción condicionante previa, que han contribuido al notorio incremento de las personas detenidas en los últimos años; y por otro lado, la descripción de la artificialidad del sistema penitenciario bonaerense y el comportamiento de las prisiones: las condiciones de hacinamiento y superpoblación en el ámbito de las Unidades Penitenciarias de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. De esta manera, se busca establecer una conexión entre una sociedad que reproduce la cárcel, a partir de diferentes mecanismos de exclusión (tanto sociales como económicos), y la construcción de una idea de 'delincuente'

Rol de la policía, criminalización secundaria y selectividad policial

Es cierto que todos quisiéramos ser tratados por igual, pero no debemos olvidar que en las diferencias es donde se construye la personalidad individual, la identidad, la esencia de todo ser humano y que lo hace único e irrepetible, y que sin embargo a lo diferente que pudiera ser merece el mismo respeto. La negación de las diferencias, a fin de “igualar” a todos a un mismo nivel es discriminatoria. Nos dice Norberto Bobbio que no hay peor prejuicio que creerse libre de prejuicios, en esa línea el primer paso para una verdadera superación de los mismos es su concientización. En lo que al derecho penal se refiere, el mismo se encuentra organizado por agencias o instituciones que cumplen roles, muchas veces coordinan su accionar entre sí para la consecución de un objetivo macro, muchas otras compiten internamente por abarcar poder. Destacan la agencia legislativa quien es la que crea el programa que una sociedad requiera para cumplir sus objetivos, a través de la tipificación de conductas mínimas que se consideran apropiadas para hacerlo, se encomienda a la agencia policial la ejecución de dicho programa y a la judicial el control y garantía de los derechos de quienes ingresan al sistema. Es evidente que debido a lo inmenso del mismo como nos dice Zaffaroni, no podrá ejecutarse en su totalidad debiendo entonces la policía hacer uso de la selectividad para escoger a quien ingresará. El propósito de esta investigación es hacer evidente dicha selectividad y los criterios que son utilizados a fin de criminalizar a una persona, evidenciar si los mismos responden a objetividad o en el fondo los impulsa algún tipo de discriminación o prejuicio.

Mapping the conditions of penal hope

This article examines the conditions of penal hope behind suggestions that the penal expansionism of the last three decades may be at a ‘turning point’. The article proceeds by outlining David Green’s (2013b) suggested catalysts of penal reform and considers how applicable they are in the Australian context. Green’s suggested catalysts are: the cycles and saturation thesis; shifts in the dominant conception of the offender; the global financial crisis (GFC) and budgetary constraints; the drop in crime; the emergence of the prisoner re‐entry movement; apparent shifts in public opinion; the influence of evangelical Christian ideas; and the Right on Crime initiative. The article then considers a number of other possible catalysts or forces: the role of trade unions; the role of courts; the emergence of recidivism as a political issue; the influence of ‘evidence based’/‘what works’ discourse; and the emergence of justice reinvestment (JR). The article concludes with some comments about the capacity of criminology and criminologists to contribute to penal reductionism, offering an optimistic assessment for the prospects of a reflexive criminology that engages in and engenders a wider politics around criminal justice issues.

International juvenile (in)justice : penal severity and rights compliance

This article focuses on the anomalies and contradictions surrounding the notion of ‘international juvenile justice’, whether in its pessimistic (neoliberal penality and penal severity) or optimistic (universal children’s rights and rights compliance) incarnations. It argues for an analysis which recognises firstly, the uneven, multi-facetted and heterogeneous nature of the processes of globalisation and secondly, how the global, the international, the national and the local are not mutually exclusive but continually interact to re-constitute, re-make and challenge each other.

Penal Culture and Hyperincarceration : the Revival of the Prison

What are the various forces influencing the role of the prison in late modern societies? What changes have there been in penality and use of the prison over the past 40 years that have led to the re-valorization of the prison? Using penal culture as a conceptual and theoretical vehicle, and Australia as a case study, this book analyses international developments in penality and imprisonment. Authored by some of Australia’s leading penal theorists, the book examines the historical and contemporary influences on the use of the prison, with analyses of colonialism, post colonialism, race, and what they term the ‘penal/colonial complex,’ in the construction of imprisonment rates and on the development of the phenomenon of hyperincarceration. The authors develop penal culture as an explanatory framework for continuity, change and difference in prisons and the nature of contested penal expansionism. The influence of transformative concepts such as ‘risk management’, ‘the therapeutic prison’, and ‘preventative detention’ are explored as aspects of penal culture. Processes of normalization, transmission and reproduction of penal culture are seen throughout the social realm. Comparative, contemporary and historical in its approach, the book provides a new analysis of penality in the 21st century.

Continuity, Rupture, or just more of the 'Volatile and Contradictory': Glimpses of New South Wales' Penal Practice behind and through the Discursive

Throughout much of the western world more and more people are being sent to prison, one of a number of changes inspired by a 'new punitiveness' in penal and political affairs. This book seeks to understand these developments, bringing together leading authorities in the field to provide a wide-ranging analysis of new penal trends, compare the development of differing patterns of punishment across different types of societies, and to provide a range of theoretical analyses and commentaries to help understand their significance. As well as increases in imprisonment this book is also concerned to address a number of other aspects of 'the new punitiveness': firstly, the return of a number of forms of punishment previously thought extinct or inappropriate, such as the return of shaming punishments and chain gangs (in parts of the USA); and secondly, the increasing public involvement in penal affairs and penal development, for example in relation to length of sentences and the California Three Strikes Law, and a growing accreditation of the rights of victims. The book will be essential reading for students seeking to understand trends and theories of punishment on law, criminology, penology and other courses.

Commissions of Inquiry and Penal Reform

As prison populations increase in Australia and worldwide, Corrections Criminology is a timely stocktake of what we know about corrections. The book encompasses corrections in the community as well as private and public prisons, and is written by leading academics and senior practitioners. The book covers seven main themes: Trends in Correctional Populations (in Australia and worldwide) The Objectives, Standards and Efficacy of Imprisonment, including key issues such as accountability, treatment of prisoners, security and privatisation Special Prison Populations, such as Indigenous, female and ageing prisoners Prisoner Health, including mental health and strategies for minimising self-harm Rehabilitation and Reparation, including consideration of “what works?” and post-release support Correctional Officers, particularly considering the changing career of corrections staff and Future Directions in corrections.

Penal Colonies

Prostitution has been closely associated with the transportation of women convicts to British penal colonies. Convict labor was used to found a number of British colonies including Barbados, Jamaica, Maryland, Virginia, Singapore, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia. Between 1607 and 1939, Britain transported approximately 400,000 convicts, 162,000 of whom came to Australia and about 50,000 to North America. Significant numbers of women were among those transported to the Australian and North American colonies, although their numbers were relatively small in comparison to male convicts. Transportation was typically reserved for the most recalcitrant of female offenders. Most women transported came from working-class populations, resided in metropolitan centers, and were single at the time of their offense. Although few of these women were actually sentenced for activities associated with prostitution, large numbers had a history of involvement with prostitution. Transportation was considered to offer prostitutes a chance at redemption, with colonial commentators drawing contrasts between the Old World and its vice-ridden sensuality and the colonies, which offered opportunities for redemption through religious devotion and hard work. Many women transported to the Australian colonies were described by officials as being "on the town" at their time of apprehension and were collectively considered to be "damned whores, possessed of neither virtue nor honesty". Recently, historians have argued that these assessments were emblematic of middle-class prejudices toward the open and aggressive sexuality of working-class women. The number of convict women involved in prostitution may have been higher than recorded crimes, typically involving "larceny", suggest. A number of women were charged with theft from men who had paid them (or, in some instances, refused to pay them) for sex. Historians have estimated that one in five convict women were part-time or full-time prostitutes before transportation. Many continued in prostitution after transportation, with prostitution becoming an important element in the social and economic life of the Australian colonies, where, between 1788-1830, men outnumbered women six to one. Officially, prostitution was tolerated to dissuade men from vice. For women, prostitution presented a means of securing physical protection and accommodation at a time when general amenities and employment opportunities were restricted.