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Late modernization. CRCC - Partner 5 António Pedro Dores Nicosia, July 2009. Semi-peripheric penal system. Portugal become democratic Republic in 1910 and stay a dictatorship from 1926 till 1974 The 1rst Republic developed a modern Law school tradition, destroyed in the 40´s
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Late modernization CRCC - Partner 5 António Pedro Dores Nicosia, July 2009
Semi-peripheric penal system • Portugal become democratic Republic in 1910 and stay a dictatorship from 1926 till 1974 • The 1rst Republic developed a modern Law school tradition, destroyed in the 40´s • From the 70´s on, the people on the head of the judiciary system has been educated by the anti-modern judicial agenda • Legal system becomes a resistance to modern legality order (including market)
Culture of social control • No liberal and rational though tradition exist in Portugal, neither political or juridical • Ressocialization penal aims remains on the penal law modern doctrine, produced by few modernizers, without use • Since the 1974 revolution till 1996-2001 virtually no political discussion about penal policy (penitentiary system runned without specialists - Garland)
Actual penal policy • The abolitionist like 2008 penal law addresses the need of a long term reorganization of the penal system (new penitentiary buildings, new professional penal practices) in a country with a growing criminality problem • This political approach has been done without the contribution of (eventually against) the judicial community – that opposes (the government and) the “softness” of the new law
Double face of penal policy • Develop from zero alternative to prison penal system (electronic bracelet and work to the community) • Control professional violent practices inside prison • Develop from zero (since 2001) a max security system without Parliament support
Silence policy • Lake of political control over the prison system (big new prison policy) • Lake of administrative skills inside prison system (bucket toilet or educators or information system) • Health care problems (mental health and drug addicts) • Political uneasy position, given the “war” between judicial and political personnel • No University position on the subject
Window of opportunity • Autonomy and professionalism opportunity for ressocialization system • Coordinators concerned with definition of recidivism and policy operationalization (knowledge, criteria, assessment, coordination prison and social security) • Social workers feel striked by the information of skin-head guard recruitment (more education and partners on shearing information)
Cost-benefice controversies • Employment (and information) vs paternalism • Drug addict and mental cases • Magistrate position (believers or not on ressocialization work) • Professional assessment and prestige • Knowledge about national reality • Non imputable persons • New professional relations with prison staff
Cost-benefice controversies • Freedom to move inside prison • Assessment criteria (quantity of reports or quality of response to policy needs, such as separate youngsters?) • Specialization vs polyvalence (big or small prisons) • What to do with mental hill people? • Empowerment of coordinators (20 years old cars) • Silence policy to avoid political-profession-al problems in the court or in the media
Actual bettering situations • Two individual rehabilitation process • Technical autonomy of prison educators • End of drug panic • Informal information exchanges • Downsize number of inmate • Penal alternatives to prison • Stability of conditional freedom
Public opinion • Ressocialization help should come from family and friends • The State & the labor market have a role • The State should not take responsibility to get work opportunities to condemn people
Drug policies becomes a prison problem • Two approaches: prohibitionist and preventive • 80´s repression caused by inability of administration in the sea and in shore • Till 2000 it has been a administration problem (Eduardo Cortesão: abstentionist initiative, 3% success, community vs soft prison, out of therapeutic control)
Drug related crime • 21% of drug related crime in official statistics become inacceptable: 50% is discovered by a “independent” study • Introduction of preventive approach becomes politically controversial and inefficient (zero inmate users of support health care service to injections) • Decriminalization of drug use shorten prison population
Drug addict management • It becomes clear it would be impossible to manage prisons without drugs (bothillicit or/and psychotropic administrated by the staff, often without criteria) • There are available abstention program (”Alas Livres de drogas”used by 340 inmates) and 570 pharmacological programs (mostly methadone) over 11.000 inmate
The end CRCC - Partner 5 António Pedro Dores Nicosia, July 2009