¿Es la prisión criminógena? (un análisis comparativo de reincidencia entre la pena de prisión y la suspensión de la pena)

Premi a l'excel·lència investigadora. Àmbit de les Ciències Socials. 200

La política criminal europea en materia de sanciones alternativas a la prisión y la realidad española : una brecha que debe superarse

La presente aportación discute si el sistema penológico español está suficientemente adaptado a las recomendaciones del Consejo de Europa relativas al sistema de sanciones alternativas a la prisión. Se parte de la premisa que la armonización de las legislaciones europeas en materia penológica debería basarse en el cumplimiento de los principios de la política criminal europea, puesto que ésta supone un desarrollo de los derechos humanos en el ámbito de las sanciones penales. El artículo procede estableciendo los dos principios básicos de la política criminal europea: concebir la prisión como ultima ratio y disponer de un sistema efectivo de sanciones alternativas a la prisión, que constituya la respuesta normal frente a la comisión de una infracción penal. A continuación se desarrollan estos principios y se muestra su incumplimiento por parte de la legislación y la práctica españolas. En el trabajo se realizan diversas propuestas para conseguir que nuestro sistema de sanciones alternativas se adapte a los postulados europeos.This paper discusses whether the Spanish penal system respects the principles of the European policy on alternatives to prison. The starting point is that harmonization among European penal systems should be based on the principles of the European policy because this is a human rights matter. The paper presents the two main principles of the European policy: using prison as a last resort and having an effective system of alternative sanctions to deal with offenders. Then the paper proceeds showing the gap between those principles and the Spanish penal system and make proposals to amend the failures

El futuro de la prisión en España

En la discusión penológica internacional los países son comparados en función de su tasa de encarcelamiento, pero en realidad esta tasa es fruto de dos realidades que no necesariamente van en la misma dirección: el uso del encarcelamiento y su duración. En el presente artículo se analiza la evolución del encarcelamiento en España en la época democrática, abordando de manera separada sus dos dimensiones. El artículo destaca que existen cuatro factores que han tenido incidencia: el nivel de delincuencia, el proceso de europeización, la criminalización de nuevas conductas y el rigorismo penal. Atendiendo a la evolución probable de estos cuatro factores se preconiza una tendencia a la reducción de la tasa de encarcelamiento en España y unos nuevos retos para el sistema punitivo, obligado a focalizar su atención en las penas alternativas a la prisión, a trabajar con penas cortas de prisión y a mejorar la transición de la prisión a la comunidad.In comparative penology is prevalent to use the rates of imprisonment per 100,000 inhabitants as a criterion to measure the level of incarceration in one country. However, rates of imprisonment depend on two factors -flow of entries in prison and length of imprisonment- that not necessarily follow the same pattern. The present paper analyzes the evolution of imprisonment in Spain during the democratic period, focusing separately in its two dimensions. Four factors have been relevant to explain the evolution of the rate of entries and the length of imprisonment in Spain: the level of crime, the process of Europeanization,the criminalization of non-serious offences and the harshness of criminal law reforms. Considering the likely evolution of these four factors, I foresee a reduction of the imprisonment rates in Spain. In the future, the criminal justice system would need to devote more resources to the non-custodial sanctions, work with short prison sentences and pay more attention to the transition from prison to community

Is imprisonment criminogenic. A comparative study of recidivism rates associated whith terms of imprisonment and suspended prison sentences

This article examines the effects of custodial versus non-custodial sentences on recidivism. An 8-year follow-up study was conducted to track and compare rates of recidivism between former prisoners and offenders who had served a suspended prison sentence. Drawing upon a representative sample of 483 offenders sentenced in 1998 by the Criminal Courts of Barcelona, two subpopulations of offenders were selected. The first group consisted of offenders who were sentenced to prison (n=179) while the comparison group was composed of those who were given a suspended prison sentence (n=304). After controlling for other risk factors predictive of recidivism, logistic regression techniques were used to examine whether the variable "type of sanction" (prison or suspended prison sentence) predicts reconviction rates. The analysis revealed that the offenders given suspended sentences had a lower risk of reconviction than those given custodial sentences. The findings provide evidence that alternatives to custody are more effective than imprisonment in reducing recidivism. Finally, the article discusses how these findings relate to labelling and specific deterrence theories that make contradictory claims regarding the effects of imprisonment on recidivism

The penitentiary system in Spain : the use of imprisonment, prison conditions and rehabilitation

This article examines how close the Spanish penitentiary system comes to fulfilling an ideal role for the prison in the system of punishment based on: (a) limitation of the use of imprisonment; (b) normalization of prison life; and (c) early reintegration into society of prisoners in the process of rehabilitation. On the basis of official reports and data of the years 1996-2003, it is first shown that although non-custodial punishments have produced a reduction in the use of imprisonment, this effect has been extensively compensated for by the increased period that prisoners have to serve before parole is granted. Second, although prison conditions have improved considerably since the 1990s, the system continues to suffer from some important shortcomings. Finally, the article compares the use of open prison and parole in the two administrations that manage Spanish prisons (the Catalan administration and the General Administration of the State) and explores the relationship between a policy based on rehabilitation and the effective duration of the sentence

Estudi longitudinal sobre el procés de reinserció de persones empresonades

L'informe que presentem suposa una continuació de la recerca El procés de desistiment de persones empresonades: obstacles i suports (Cid i Martí, 2011). En la primera fase de la recerca es va entrevistar a una mostra de 67 homes empresonats per delictes contra la propietat i per tràfic de drogues amb l'objectiu de determinar els factors explicatius de les narratives de les persones al final del compliment de la condemna. En aquesta segona fase de la recerca s'ha treballat amb una mostra de 36 persones que han estat entrevistades dues vegades: en la fase final del compliment de la pena de presó i en un període comprès entre un i dos anys després de la llibertat definitiva. La mostra conté participants que han estat desistents en aquest període de seguiment i d'altres que han persistit i han acabat empresonats altra vegada. Per entendre la trajectòria dels desistents i persistents de la mostra, la recerca usa les teories que han tingut més recolzament en la recerca internacional per explicar el desistiment -la teoria del control, la teoria de la transformació cognitiva i la teoria del suport social- i vol esbrinar la capacitat explicativa que tenen respecte de les trajectòries de les persones que conformen la mostra analitzada. L'anàlisi s'ha realitzat examinant de manera separada les quatre qüestions que semblen centrals del procés de desistiment i en referència a les quals les teories donen respostes diverses: a) l'origen del procés; b) els factors i processos que expliquen el manteniment del desistiment; c) el rol de l'individu; i d) les contingències en el procés de desistiment quan la persona que ha iniciat un procés de desistiment no aconsegueix assolir els seus projectes d'autonomia familiars i econòmics

Suspended sentences in Spain : decarceration and recidivism

The suspended sentence - along with the fine- is the most commonly used alternative to prison in Spain. This sentence is generally regarded as a good sanction because it avoids the personal and financial costs of prison for occasional offenders that are not in need of rehabilitation. The main aim of this paper is to present data and empirical research about the effectiveness of the suspended sentence with respect its two main goals: reducing the use of prison and preventing offenders from re-offending. The data appear to suggest that this is an effective sentence in these terms, but the paper also raises questions about the need to replace suspended sentences with more rehabilitative orders in some special case

Turning points and returning points : understanding the role of family ties in the process of desistance

The objective of this article is to identify the interpersonal factors that explain narratives of desistance among offenders who have been sentenced to prison. Through narrative interviews, we have studied a purposeful age-graded sample of men convicted of acquisitive crimes. Although the results confirm the leading research of Laub and Sampson (2003) about the importance of social bonds as a change catalyst, they also suggest that changes in narratives may depend not only on participation in new social institutions but also on the new meaning that institutions present during the criminal career of offenders, such as family relationships, may acquire in adulthood