Penology and Penitentiary Law

PENOLOGY AND PENITENTIARY LAW
PENOLOGY AND
PENITENTIARY LAW
GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE SUBJECT
The student will integrate the main notions of penitentiary law, penitentiary systems,
as well as the rights and obligations of prisoners.
TOPICS AND SUBTOPICS.
TOPIC 1.- HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF PENITENTIARY LAW.
1.1. Hebrew Law.

1.2. The Greeks.
1.3. The Romans.
1.4. Constitution of Constantine.
1.5. The Galeras.
1.6. The Presidio.
1.7. The correctional type.
TOPIC 2.- PRECURSORS OF PENITENTIARYSM.
2.1. Precursors of Penitentiaryism.

2.1.1. Bernardino de Sandoval.
2.1.2. Cerdá n de Tallada.
2.1.3. John Howard.
2.1.4. Jeremiah Bentham.
2.1.5. Cesar Beccaria.
2.1.6. Rafael Salillas.
2.1.7. Lombroso and Ferri.
2.1.8. Constantine Bernardo de Quiroz.
2.1.9. Victoria Kent.
2.1.10. Luyis Jiménez de Azú a.
2.1.11. Penitentiaries of the 20th century.
TOPIC 3.- PRISON SYSTEMS.
3.1. Cellular System, Pennsylvanian or Philadelphic.

3.2. Auburnian system.
3.3. Progressive System.
3.4. Reformatory System.
3.5. Other systems.
INTRODUCTION
In this work we propose to develop some concepts about prisons, prisons and jails,
however, before getting to the topic of prisons, we will develop a little the topic of
punishments. Subsequently, it is aimed at delving into what the forms of prisons are.
This topic will be explained in greater depth.
On the issue of prisons we observe an evolutionary development of the increase in
crime in its different forms. Pre- and post-industrial society constantly discuss
improvements, uses, inventions, innovations and renewal of law, for the benefit of the
security and tranquility of all citizens.3
However, the situation and maintenance of the company are not defined by the simple
intention to maintain it, but rather it must perfect its procedures and improve its
control and security techniques.
Prisons and jails since the past have represented the means of repression,
containment and elimination of crime. It is then the means by which society imposes
punishment(s) on those individuals who transgress the norms, rules, laws, tranquility,
etc. Therefore, it is an important topic with great impact on the environment, because
it is based on the idea that any man or woman can fall into it - prison - at the least
expected moment, or at the least right moment and therefore in diverse situations. In
different nations, states and republics, the characteristics of these methods represent
the advancement of society or the regression of its humanity.
When studying Penitentiary Law, we must refer to the origin and solution of
sentences in their different forms of execution, to avoid the very frequent error of
including the study of sentences within our Executive Criminal Law.
The interchangeable use of "jail" or "prison" is frequent, however Ruiz. Funes

distinguishes between custodial prisons and punishment prisons. The place where
citizens are found would not strictly be prison, until a final sentence considers them
guilty of a crime and obliged to comply with a criminal sanction.
The prison precedes the prison and the penitentiaries, which are those that designate
the manner of compliance and the place of execution of the custodial sanctions.
The term "prison", according to the dictionary, means "public thing", intended for the
custody and security of prisoners.
Others find their origin in the Latin word "coercendo" which means to restrict, to
restrict, and in the word "carcar", a Hebrew term that means "to put something in."
We will eventually see that this concept has changed.
Then the concept of penitentiary appears, which evolves towards that of the custodial
sentence as “penance”.
That is, a place to achieve repentance for those who violated the criminal norm. The
first penitentiaries would have operated when the Philadelphia or cellular system was
introduced, which we will analyze later.
In a more modern way, they are called "Social Rehabilitation Center" because the
purpose of the sentence is not only security, but a fair balance between this and the
rehabilitation of the convicted person. This happens in Mexico in the case of prisons
that effectively serve sentences and prisons when it comes to preventive detention. In
the Argentine Federal Penitentiary System they are called "units". Also "rehabilitation
farms" like in socialist Cuba, where some prisons were converted into schools for
children.
ANTIQUITY
In ancient times there were prison sentences that necessarily had to be served in
establishments called prisons. Debtors were interned, individuals who did not pay or
did not comply with their obligations, for example taxes, and the State had an interest
in ensuring compliance.
The descriptions of the places where they stayed were tremendous and so it is said
that in a prison in Burma, a worker named Henry Gouger was thrown into a dungeon
filled with lepers, smallpox patients and hungry worms.
However, she was able to survive and adds in a report that during a period of her
imprisonment, a hungry lioness was placed in the neighboring cell, in view of the
prisoners who lived in constant fear of ending up in her clutches. This was a form of
psychological terror.
Prison, as a penalty, was almost unknown in ancient law.

The peoples who had places designated for prisons, in the ancient and Middle East,
were the Chinese, Babylonian, Hindu, Persian, Egyptian, Japanese and Hebrew.
The Chinese already had them in the 18th century, during the time of Emperor Sum.
Later, some prison regulations were imposed and those convicted of injuries had to
perform forced and public labor. In these prisons, the most different types of torture
were applied, such as the hot iron "pao-lo", which consisted of poking the eyes of the
criminals.
In Babylon the prisons were called "Lake of Lions" and were true cisterns.
The Egyptians had prisons, cities and private houses as places where they had to do
work.
The Japanese divided the country into northern and southern prisons, to house those
convicted of minor crimes in the latter.
1. Historical evolution of
Penitentiary Law…
1.1. HEBREW LAW
In this Law, prison had two functions: one, to prevent escape and the other to serve as
a sanction, which could be compared to the current institution of life imprisonment,
since the offender of the law was considered unworthy of living in society. There was
religious influence, with a significant dose of irrationality. The Marquis of Pastoret
states that the perpetrator of a crime was locked up in a cell that was no more than six
feet high and was narrow to such a degree that the subject could not extend inside it;
likewise, he was kept only on bread and water, until his extreme weakness and
weakness announced an approaching death. Well then a little barley was added.
In the biblical books we find some antecedents, for example in the book of Leviticus
they talk about the prison of the blasphemer and in the book of Jeremiah and Kings
they mention the prison of the prophets Jeremiah and Micah. Another clear example is
Samson, who was tormented until he was deprived of his sight and freedom.
It should be noted that there were different types of prisons, depending on the people
and the severity of the crime committed. This indicates a classifying principle.
Prison was a punishment that was applied with preference to repeat offenders,
likewise, the Bible speaks of institutions in cities as asylums, a precursor to the
current political asylum, to protect the accused from the revenge of relatives in the
case of culpable homicide.
1.2. THE GREEKS
According to Plato's ideas, each court should have its own prison, and they devised
three types: one in the market square, for mere custody; another for correction and a
third for punishment, in a dark and desert region.
The custody houses served as a general deposit for simple security, and the jail, to
prevent the escape of the accused. The laws of Attica gave them another meaning
since they ordered that the thieves, in addition to judging them and compensating the
victim, must spend five days and five nights locked up in chains.
There were prisons for those who did not pay taxes, as well as for those who harmed a
merchant or a shipowner and did not pay their debts, they had to be detained until
they made the payment. In Greece they received names, depending on where they
were located. In addition, they applied imprisonment on board a ship, as well as the
bail system, to avoid imprisonment.
In Sparta there were several prisons of this type. To cite an example, the conspirator
Cleomenes was locked up in a large house where he was well guarded, with the only
difference, compared to other prisons, that he lived luxuriously. According to Plutarch,
at the time of the reign of Agis, there were dungeons called “rayada” where those
sentenced to death were “drowned.” The conclusion is that prison, in this civilization,
was like a very uncertain institution, only applicable to those convicted of theft and
debtors who could not pay their debts.
There were also institutions for young people who committed crimes and the so-
called "Pritanium" for those who attacked the State.
1.3. THE ROMANS
At first they only established prisons for the safety of the accused, some of them were
located in the Forum, which was later expanded by means of an underground more
than four meters long.
The Emperor Constantine had a system of prisons built and Ulpian pointed out in the
Digest that the prison should be used not to punish men, but to guard them. He then
argued that during the Roman Empire, these were for detention and not punishment.
In these prisons, slaves were forced to do forced labor, such as the "opus publicum",
which consisted of cleaning sewers, repairing roads, working in public bathrooms and
in mines, "ad metalla" and " opus metalli", the first carried heavier chains than the
others, likewise, they worked in marble quarries, such as the very famous ones in
Carrara, or in sulfur mines. Selling adds: "if after 10 years, the penal slave was alive, he
could be handed over to his relatives."
Previously, the first of the Roman prisons was founded by Tullius Hostilius (third of
the Roman kings) who reigned between the years 670 and 620 AD. This prison was
called Latomia. The second of the Roman prisons was the Claudiana, built by order of
Appius Claudius and the third the Mamertina by order of Anco Marcío.
1.4. CONSTITUTION OF CONSTANTINE
This constitution from the year 320 AD contains very advanced provisions on
Penitentiary Law: such as, the second point establishes the separation of sexes, the
third prohibits useless rigors, the fourth, the obligation of the State to pay for the
maintenance of poor prisoners and the fifth, the need of a sunny patio for the inmates.
Currently, in some prisons, the aforementioned principles are not valid. In many
prisons there is no real separation of the sexes. The useless rigors persist, since the
State does not pay for food and dictatorships deprive prisoners of point V., in addition
to other rights.
The Middle Ages
For some authors, prison has the character of punishment, recently in the Middle
Ages, the opposite will be argued when stating that in that period, the notion of
custodial punishment seems buried in ignorance, since only torture was applied and
torture, the forms have been very varied, from ancient times to the present: whipping;
scalping; marking those who committed homicides and robberies; mutilating eyes,
tongue, ears, feet, fingers, and other physical torture. According to the crimes, the
punishments were given, with a symbolic nature, and thus it was advised to pull out
the teeth of false witnesses, walk around naked to adulterers, drill the tongues of
perpetrators of blasphemy. Its splendor is found during “the Holy Inquisition.” ”.
Later, the countries established legal provisions and in some cases constitutional
provisions, prohibiting torture or torment and making violators of these provisions
subject to penalties; although we must recognize the subsistence of this infamous and
corrupt system. In some states, such as Delaware, in the United States the percentage
of repeat offenders increased by 65% despite having been whipped twice.
Today, although it may seem incredible, the new Penal Code of a backward country
like Pakistan establishes, based on legislation, that the crime of indecent assault on a
woman will be punished with sentences of 30 lashes to 10 years in prison. For crimes
of theft, vandalism and pillage, the penalty of amputation of the hand is applied "by a
qualified surgeon and with local anesthesia." In certain serious cases it provides for
the application of the death penalty. As can be seen, torture, although more
sophisticated, is still preferred to prison.
In northern Europe, Germany and Italy, the prison took the form of a well, such as
"Lasterloch" or vice pit, "Dieslesloch" or thieves' prison and "Bachofenloch" or oven
prison. During this same time, there are the Tower of London, the Bastille and other
castles used as confinement establishments.
1.5 THE GALLERS
It is another system of exploitation in the way of serving sentences. Its creator, a

businessman named Jacques Coer, was authorized by Charles VII to take by force
"vagrants, idlers and beggars." The system was later expanded, especially in France,
for those criminals who could have deserved the death penalty, later extending to
Spain.
The form of carrying out the sentences was what Selling calls "prison-depots" where
each person carried their legs with rings and chains; and they were also threatened
with a whip and their wounds were carried around all the seas of the world. The
prisoners handled the oars of the State vessels, and at that time economic and military
power depended on naval power.
When the steamship is discovered, the galley becomes uneconomical and disappears.
The prisoners were sent to the docks of the arsenals, where they continued to be tied
with chains two by two. This shows how exploitation changed according to economic
interest.
GALLERS FOR WOMEN
Women with licentious lives (prostitutes), dedicated to vagrancy or pimping, were

housed in buildings called "Casa de Galera"; there their hair was shaved with a razor;
The meals were insufficient and, as in the men's galleys, they were tied with chains
and handcuffs or gags to frighten them, punish them, humiliate them and publicly
stigmatize them. If they managed to escape, as in Germanic law, the city's coat of arms
was applied with a hot iron to their backs. In case of third recidivism, they were
hanged at the door of the establishment.
1.6 THE PRISON
The meaning of the word presidio has varied, and implies "garrison of soldiers,
custody, defense, protection, stronghold, walled city." In this evolution, a vindictive
feeling is observable, but also an economic one, contrary to the progress of Penology.
After the galleys were abandoned, the prisoners were made to work in the prisons of
the arsenals.
With the decline of navigation they were transferred to military prisons. In Spain they
were considered beasts for work and consequently, a military regime had to be
applied to them, they were "tied and chained like a terrible beast to avoid its attacks"
because they were considered harmful.
The prison in public works arises with development and economic change, as the
State's interest in the exploitation of prisoners changes. They were made to work in
public works in chains, guarded by armed personnel and in the paving of streets, in
stone quarries and in the forests to cut down trees. All of these were very hard tasks,
and as always the whip was the best means to encourage the completion of these
inhuman jobs.
THE DEPORTATION
This institution responds to the social, political and economic interests of capitalist
countries, which send criminals and political prisoners to their colonies, thousands of
kilometers from their homes, to make them work as if they were undesirable beings.
This is how Australia was populated by the English and the Guianas by the French and
Dutch. Epidemics sometimes destroyed the crew during the sea crossing. Conditions
were unsanitary, food insufficient, and disease and death followed them like a shadow
everywhere.
Deportation was not only applied to criminals classified as dangerous, but also to
debtors and political prisoners.
The state of these prisons has been famous in literature and politics. In Emilio Zolá 's
magnificent argument “ I Accuse” , he points out the conditions of Captain Dreyfus's
confinement game. The environment was a hot climate, virgin jungle, poisonous
snakes, giant ants, etc., which were deadly. As is known, Captain Dreyfus was a French
soldier, of Jewish origin, convicted by the General Staff for alleged complicity with the
German military. The writer Zolá demonstrated his innocence. Alfred Dreyfus
remained a prisoner from 1894 to 1899.
For Alberto London, one way of interpreting exile was through violence, which is
forced.
Another terrible accusation was that of Belbenoit, a famous prisoner from the Guianas
who wrote his book “Dry Guillotine”, translated into 10 languages and his second book
“Hell”, where he narrates everything that the famous Papillon would later do. The very
name of the titles of his works demonstrates the horror of that prison.
Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy describe the deportation in the "House of the Dead" and in
"The Resurrection", respectively. The deportees were sent to Siberia, where they lived
in camps with chains on their feet, others worked in mines with poor nutrition and
mistreatment.
Deportation also existed in Mexico, in the States of Quintana Roo, Oaxaca (National
Valley).
Likewise, three factors coincide in deportation:
1.-) Removal to an unfavorable environment;
2.-) Location in a place where the prisoner has little memory of his crime, has new
perspectives,
3.-) An unusual climate that makes you consider new adaptation tasks.
However, the results have not been so generous, but rather tremendous punishment
through exploitation and uprooting. Distances and separation from family are always
hard and difficult tests to overcome.
This type of forced banishment was applied to politicians and thinkers whom they
wanted to mortify, with the desire not only to segregate them but also to inflict
greater punishment on them. The places chosen have generally been inhospitable,
tremendously brutal in terms of climate, diseases, pests and other scourges, as we can
see when referring to the deportation in particular from the different capitalist
countries.
The distances have been enormous. If the goal really were simply to take them away
from the place where the crime was committed, it would have been enough to take
them a few kilometers or hundreds of kilometers, but not thousands, making them
cross seas and in conditions of little security during the journey.
THE ENGLISH DEPORTATION
It has been the most important and began in 1597 with the deportations to the United
States of North America, it is estimated that the number of prisoners shipped to this
country exceeded 30,000, which is a highly significant figure if we take into account
the populations of that time. Among those who arrived on the beaches of northern
America were the most undesirable criminals, vagrants, beggars, and people with
criminal records. But to this long list we must add that of Irish and Scottish politicians,
soldiers, Quakers and "terrorists".
In this way, while in the metropolis this type of punishment was praised "because it
freed the country from evil", crime increased dramatically in the new colony and later
a prosperous world power. When the latter achieved its independence, the old empire
began to think about other colonies as its prisons were completely overcrowded and
overcrowded. They first thought about those in Africa, but almost half of the sent
population had perished there and, finally, they finalized their projects on the island of
Australia, where the first shipment arrived in January 1788.
On the first voyage, which lasted eight months, a serious epidemic wiped out almost
the entire crew. There were no clothes for the women, who were almost naked, nor
medicine for the sick, and the guards themselves mutinied several times. The place
chosen to disembark was barren and swampy land, and the bay with little flow
prevented the disembarkation. They had to go further north, where they discovered
the current Sydney Harbour.
Mortality reached alarming figures; it is estimated that one in three convicts died
before completing their sentence. It is indicated, for example, that in June and July
1802, the ships Hercules and Atlas arrived, carrying Irish convicts and that almost all
of them were dead or dying. In other cases the guards were thrown overboard and the
prisoners died by hanging or being shot. Under these conditions, they wanted to
replace the death penalty with this new form of exploitation, but in the end the result
was the same, that is, work was applied to the prisoner, until the last moment of his
life. Other colonies were established in Tasmania and Norfolk. Deportation in
Australia ceased in the mid-19th century due to settler protest.
DEPORTATION IN FRANCE
In France the deportation acquired the same characteristics of brutality and cruelty
towards the prisoners that we have seen when referring to England. There was also a
big difference between what the laws said and what was the harsh reality. While the
deputy Miriel maintained that in this way those who were sent thousands of
kilometers would reflect, although in reality we were shown that they were treated
like wild animals, which had to be "tamed" through forced labor, in an inhospitable
climate full of vicissitudes, which largely led to death.
Deportation began to be used in 1791, so that all those convicted who were repeat
offenders of certain crimes would be transferred to Africa, to the island of
Madagascar, but the idea did not materialize. Then it was decided to send them to
French Guinea.
The best known of the deportation is the use of French Guiana, for political prisoners,
inaugurated by Captain Dreyfus.
The prisoners had to remain there for twice the time established in the sentence and
in the case of sentences longer than eight years, the residence was permanent. To
prevent escapes, to which prisoners were tempted by the inhumane conditions they
had to endure, a considerable increase in sanctions was established.
Those released had to find work within ten days, otherwise they were accused of
vagrancy. This is a bit of what currently happens with former inmates who are
pressured by police authorities and in cases persecuted with the pretext of lack of
criminal record.
This miserable prison was abolished by the socialist Leó n Blum, who on December 30,
1936 presented a project to end deportation in France.
DEPORTATION IN MEXICO
Also in Mexico the deportation system was used, sending prisoners thousands of
kilometers.
Among the places chosen was Valle Nacional, in the southern state of Oaxaca, where
criminals or non-criminals were treated like slaves, and after six months of staying
there they died "like flies during the first winter frost." At the time of the government
of General Porfirio Díaz, there were about 15,000 slaves. It is said that only 10% were
accused of a crime, but that none came to the Valley of their own free will. The place is
totally inhospitable, there are almost no access roads, the climate is tropical and the
existence of giant snakes, jaguars and pumas remind us of the difficulties that
prisoners had in the colonies, such as the French ones. Anyone who stopped the
escaping prisoner was rewarded with ten pesos. Slaves were hired by landowners
who considered them as their private property, making them work at will, "they were
watched with armed guards, day and night, they were whipped, they were not given
money, or they were killed." ". In this way, the construction of prisons was avoided,
since the criminals, instead of serving their sentence in them, were sold as slaves in
Valle Nacional, sent in gangs and guarded by government personnel.
THE CORRECTIONAL TYPE
In the 16th century, a movement emerged to build correctional facilities for beggars,
vagrants, young criminals and prostitutes. Materializing in the Bridwel House of
Correction, London, 1552, other establishments were those created in Amsterdam, at
the end of that century, such as the "Raphuis" where inmates worked scraping wood
that was used as dyes, and included vagrants to prison, others who had been whipped
and then confined, and some who were detained at the request of relatives and friends
due to their irregular life.
What is notable is work as an educational means, although there were punishments,
likewise, there was continuous and hard work, partly due to the influence of the
Lutherans, who were in favor of work and of the Calvinists, in that there was no need
to ask for pleasures. , but fatigue and torment. The discipline was very severe, there
were floggings and lashes, there were water cells, where the individual had to remove
the liquid that invaded the cell to save his life. That is why it could be noted that "those
released from these houses, rather than corrected, came out tamed."
INFLUENCE OF JUAN MABILLÓN, CLEMENTE XI AND VILAIN XIX.
Juan Mabilló n, was a Benedictine monk, who proposed individual cells with a small
garden so that the inmates could cultivate the soil in their free hours. The system was
still very strict, visitors were prohibited and food was light. Fasts were also imposed
on them. He wrote all this in his book Reflections on monastic prisons.
Pope Clement XI created the Hospice of Saint Michael in Rome (1704). It housed
young criminals. Later it was a home for orphans and the elderly. The basis of the
system was centered on discipline, work, isolation, silence and especially religious
teaching.
Juan Vilain, founder of the Gantes prison, considered the father of Penitentiary
Science, established a classification of inmates. He separated beggars from women and
criminals; It ended the total isolation of the previous regimes, to include common
work and only admitted night isolation. He was opposed to corporal punishment. The
establishment, created by him, was octagonal and cellular. They were given
professional instruction and education. Among the workshops were shoemaking,
spinning, weaving, and tailoring. etc
The prison designed by Vilain is considered after the canonical prisons, the first
penitentiary experience in Europe. The Houses of Force began in the 16th century,
with a mandatory work regime, subjecting beggars, vagrants, prostitutes and young
people devoted to a dishonest or dissolute life to various tasks.
However, it is perceived that many of the criminals and especially the thieves were so
dangerous that it was necessary to place them in these houses of correction, after the
sentence was pronounced by the judge.
Other houses of correction were that of San Fernando de Jarama, founded by Carlos III
and initially directed by Olavide. Among those who most advocated for this type of
establishment is the Mexican Manuel de Lardizá bal.
2. Precursors of Penitentiaryism…
2.1. PRECURSORS OF PENITENTIARYSM.

2.1.1. BERNARDINO DE SANDOVAL.
2.1.2. CARVING CERDÁN.

2.1.3. JOHN HOWARD.
2.1.4. JEREMIAH BENTHAM.
2.1.5. CESAR BECCARIA.
2.1.6. RAFAEL SALILLAS.

2.1.7. LOMBROSO AND FERRI.
2.1.8. CONSTANTINO BERNARDO DE QUIROZ.
2.1.9. VICTORIA KENT.
2.1.10. LUYIS JIMÉNEZ DE AZÚA.
2.1.11. PENITENTIARISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

3. Penitentiary Systems…
Concept
Penitentiary systems are based on a set of organic principles on the problems that
gave rise to prison reforms and arise as a natural and logical reaction against the state
of overcrowding, promiscuity, lack of hygiene, food, education, work and
rehabilitation of prisoners. internal. Hence the importance of the ideas of Howard,
Beccaria, Montesinos, Maconichie, Crofton, etc. and a necessary planning to end the
chaos described in some works of the aforementioned authors. Likewise, many of his
ideas began to be reflected in the new colonies of North America. They are then
transferred to the old continent where they were further perfected, and then tried to
be implemented in all the countries of the world.
Different Systems
The known systems are:

 Cellular or Pennsylvanian
 Auburnian
 Progressive (Crofton, Montesinos, Borstal Reformatory and classification)
 AII 'open,
 open prison
 Other forms in freedom
a) Cellular, Pennsylvanian or Philadelphian
This system arose in the colonies that later became the United States of North
America; and it is fundamentally due to William Penn, founder of the Pennsylvania
colony, which is why the system is called Pennsylvanian and Philadelphia, having
emerged from the Philadelphia Society for Relieving Distracted Pressors.
Penn had been imprisoned for his religious principles in deplorable prisons and hence
his reformist ideas, encouraged by what he had seen in Dutch establishments. He was
head of a religious sect of Quakers who were very severe in their customs and
opposed to any act of violence.
Due to his extreme religiosity, he implemented a system of permanent isolation in the

cell, where the offender was forced to read the Holy Scripture and religious books. In
this way they understood that there was a reconciliation with God and society. Due to
their repudiation of violence, they limited capital punishment to crimes of homicide
and replaced corporal and mutilating punishments with prison sentences and forced
labor.
The prison was built between 1790 and 1792, in the courtyard of Walnut Street, at the
initiative of the Philadelphia Society, the first North American organization for the
reform of the penal system. He had the support of Dr. Benjamín Rusm, social reformer
and precursor of Penology. It was also made up of William Bradford and Benjamin
Franklin of notable influence on North American independence.
Von Hentig observes that in the prison until the end of the 18th century, twenty to
thirty inmates lived in the same room. There was no separation between them,
neither by age nor by sex. The defendants were missing clothes and in some cases
these were exchanged for rum. Alcohol circulated freely and its abuse seemed to favor
homosexual practices. Street women were arrested to have sexual relations with
inmates during the night. Violent prisoners forced inmates to sing obscene songs,
extorted newcomers, and those who resisted were severely mistreated. The
aforementioned Society reacts violently against this state of affairs, which maintains
correspondence with John Howard himself, who requests abstention from alcoholic
beverages and forced labor in a regime based on isolation. This was established by the
Great Law in 1682 and submitted to the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly.
In 1789 it was described that the cells had a small window located at the top and out
of reach of the prisoners, which was protected by double iron bars in such a way that
despite all efforts they could not get out, but also taking into account the thickness of
the wall. They were not allowed the use of benches, tables, beds or other furniture.
The cells were covered with mud and plaster and were whitewashed with lime twice a
year. In winter the stoves were placed in the passages and from there the convicts
received the necessary degree of heat. There was no type of communication between
the inmates due to the thickness of the walls, which were so thick, making it
impossible to hear the voices clearly. They were given food only once a day. In this
way, it was intended to help individuals subjected to prison to meditation and
penance, with a clear religious meaning.
The isolation was so extreme that in the chapel, the prisoners were located in small
cells, like cubicles with a view only of the altar. Likewise, for teaching purposes they
were placed in kinds of superimposed boxes, where the teacher or religious could
observe them, without them communicating with each other.
Another principle of the system was work in the cell itself, but surprisingly it was
understood that it was contrary to that idea of recollection. In this way they were led
to brutal idleness. They could only take a short walk in silence. There was an absence
of outside contacts. The only ones who could visit the inmates were the Director, e!
teacher, the chaplain and the members of the Philadelphia Society. For some authors
the food and hygiene were good. It is noted that among the benefits of this system is
the fact that they were allowed to maintain good discipline, although in cases of
infractions, they were punished with excessive severity.
Therefore, this type of prison was insufficient and in 1829 it was closed and the
inmates were sent to the “Easter Penitentiary”. This prison was visited in 1842 by the
famous English writer Charles Dickens, who was saddened by the extreme silence.
Upon entry, an inmate was put on a hood, which was removed when the sentence
expired. Therefore, while he was imprisoned he had to wear it, and he was also
prohibited from listening to and talking about his wives, his children or friends. They
only saw the face of the guard, with whom there was no relationship or verbal
communication, everything was visual or by signs. So in this form of prison, we can
conclude that the individuals were "buried alive", and that "it would have been better
if they had hanged them before putting them in this state and then returning them like
this to a world with which they no longer have nothing in common".
In the Hague prison, when the inmates had to leave their cells or someone entered
them, the prisoners had to cover their heads with a white mask that the Dutch call
"masker" and the French "cagoule", and which only had two holes for eyes. The same
thing happened with English prisoners who had to wear a mask on their walks.
Other characteristics of the cellular system consisted of having twenty-three hours of

confinement, both young children and adults, subjected to the same regime, a diet
contrary to health, insufficient medical and spiritual assistance, as well as
unproductive work, all This happened in England, where Oscar Wilde was detained,
who told the readers of the Daily Chronicle in his letters about "The Case of the
Watcher Martin" how he himself was dismissed for having given some biscuits to a
imprisoned child who could not tolerate the food he It took place within these prisons.
IMPACT OF THE SYSTEM
Important visitors from all over the world arrived at the aforementioned prison, such
as the French Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de Tocqueville, the Englishman
William Crawford and the German Heinrich Julius. They were made aware that the
absolute isolation was broken with visits from the State Governor, deputies, judges,
mayors and members of the Society who could dedicate four and a half hours to each
prisoner for religious help.
This system was widely disseminated in Europe, which allowed these ideas to spread
to countries such as Germany, England, Belgium and Scandinavian countries that
"believed they had found a system that would cure all their problems."
England adopted the cellular system in 1835, Sweden in 1840, France in 1842,
Belgium and Holland in 1851 and it was tested in the Madrid prison without being
implemented due to the high cost and the distress it meant for southerners
accustomed to life outdoors. . Paradoxically, while it was adopted in old Europe, it was
abandoned in North America. The explanation lies in the European rejection of the
reformist movement and the extreme repressive nature of prison in those countries.
Today, we still find those who accept it, to carry out the punishments of regulations,
for criminals such as extremely dangerous psychopaths, for the fulfillment of short
sentences, in order not to put them in contact with other habitual criminals, and for
their overnight compliance. This was admitted at the Prague Penitentiary Congress of
1930.
It is clear that the system has been softened since the second decade of this century,
reserving isolation at night in individual cells, but allowing life in common during the
day, during breaks, schools, sports, etc.
In Holland it is used only in cases of maladjusted individuals.
Among the advantages pointed out in its favor are: avoiding the spread of corruption,
requiring a minimum of personnel, producing intimidating effects and being applied
as a true punishment, exercising a supposed moralizing action in response to the
reflection that the prisoner would make in his cell. about the "wrong" committed and
said reflection would be less in the case of having to work together with other people,
surveillance is more active and consequently there is no escape and mutiny and little
need for disciplinary measures.
In Mexico, the Penal Code of 1871 provided for the aforementioned system.
OBSERVATIONS
CRITICISM OF THE CELLULAR SYSTEM.
The criticisms of the cellular system have been overwhelming and we can summarize
them in the following:
 It does not improve or make the criminal socially fit, but it brutalizes him
morally, physically prostrates him, exhausts him intellectually, makes him
incubate a deep hatred of society and does not educate him in work either. It is
a ferocious and inhuman system without being useful.
 It produces a harmful action against physical and mental health. Lack of

movement predisposes to diseases. madness and prison psychoses, this prison
does not constitute any success, since eight prisoners permanently held in
cellular prison, with the exception of two, came out after two years, dead,
insane or pardoned. Lombroso added that in them, there was an increase in
suicides and mental illnesses; Spencer attributes it to producing madness and
imbecility and Baumman attributes diseases such as tuberculosis, brain
disorders and suicides to it.
 Bentham also accuses him of producing madness, despair and a stupid apathy
in the detainee. The same consequences on mental health were indicated by
Doctors Pariset and Esquivel. The great Russian writer Dostoyewsky said: “It
takes away all strength and energy from the criminal, it enervates his soul,
weakening and frightening it, and finally presents a stuffed, half-mad mummy
as a model of repentance and amendment.”
 Difficulty for the prisoner's adaptation and weakens his social sense, since it
does not prepare him for his subsequent freedom. Aristotle pointed out that to
live alone, you need to be a God or a beast and there are those who have stated
that isolation can be a path to perfection for a superior spirit, but not for the
criminal, for whom it generally causes dullness and mental disturbance.
 It creates inequalities between those who are accustomed to the outdoors and
those who are not, such as people from northern Europe, who, due to the
harshness of the climate, are more confined to their homes. These criticisms
are due to the positivists and especially to Enrique Ferri, who in a conference
in 1885 on the topic Lavoro e celli dei condemnati , stated "the cellular
system is an aberration of the 19th century."
 He also added that it was inhuman by atrophying the social instinct, already
quite atrophied in criminals, and accused it of producing other evils.
 It is a very expensive regime, which is why the idea did not materialize in the
Madrid prison.
 It prevents the implementation of an industrial regime in prison work, which

requires adequate workshops that are impossible to practice in this absurd
system.
 Education also cannot be transmitted effectively.
 In short, we went beyond total overcrowding, with all its disastrous

consequences of promiscuity, lack of classification, diseases, epidemics. etc., to
a system as or more brutal than the previous one due to the multiplication of
disastrous consequences. What was missing, and had not penetrated the heads
of the ideologues of this system, was the idea of social improvement, thinking
only of confinement and remorse and not of returning to the social
environment.
b) Auburnian System
It was imposed in Auburn prison in 1820, New York State, and later in Sing-Sing.
Daytime work was introduced, with the common denominator being not speaking, as
well as nighttime isolation. It is also called the regime of silence, although during the
day there is relative communication with the boss, reading without comments during
lunch and silence and isolation during the rest. It was built with the labor of convicts,
and in 28 cells, each one could receive two inmates. This did not work. The director
William Brittain resolved the absolute separation, having eighty more cells built, but
there were tremendous results, since five prisoners died within a year and others
became "ragingly crazy."
Silence, on many occasions, made people idiotic and according to some doctors it was
dangerous for the lungs. Likewise, this system was implemented in the Baltimore
prison in the United States and later in almost all the States of that country, and in
Europe (Sardinia, Switzerland, Germany and England).
The Auburn system was created as a result of the disastrous experiences of the cell
phone, due in part to the high costs of the previous system. Now we find within this
system large workshops where all inmates were confined.
The jobs are very important and this is one of the significant differences with the
Pennsylvanian or Philadelphian. As seen in the Sing Sing prison, built in 1827, which
was a large quarry from which construction materials were extracted for the
surrounding buildings; and also with activities dedicated to blacksmithing. Because
the prices were significantly lower than the market, for example marble for a museum
that in the prison cost 500 dollars, abroad its price was 7,000 to 8,000, which is why
there was strong criticism from competitors, reaching to the point where a petition
with 20,000 signatures was signed to suppress the work carried out in that prison.
As we can see, "The economic productivity of the establishment was its enemy and its
downfall." Its director, White, pointed out that in two years there was a "surplus" of
$11,773.
The silence was such that a law established: “prisoners are obliged to maintain
unbreakable silence, they must not speak any words among themselves, under any
pretext. They should not be communicated in writing. They should not look at each
other, wink their eyes, smile or gesture. It is not permitted to sing, whistle, dance, run,
jump or do anything that in any way alters in the slightest the uniform course of
things or could infringe or interfere with the rules and precepts of the prison. This still
exists in other establishments such as San Quintín, where it is said: “never go quickly,
you have plenty of time. The man with the rifle (in the watchtower) could
misinterpret a quick movement."
And in other prisons, reading aloud is still prohibited today.
Another characteristic of the system was rigid discipline. Violations of the regulations
were punished with corporal punishment, such as whipping and the cat o' nine tails.
Sometimes the entire group where the offense had occurred was punished and
neither the insane nor those suffering from attacks were spared. They were prevented
from having outside contact, not even from receiving visits from their relatives.
The education was very basic and consisted of learning writing, reading and notions of
arithmetic, depriving them of learning new trades.
The extreme rigor of isolation suggests that the understood language that all
prisoners in the world have was born there. Since they could not communicate with
each other, they did so by knocking on walls and pipes or by signing like deaf-mutes.
The Auburn system had influence in some Latin American countries, such as the 1937
Law of Venezuela (creation of Dr. Tulio Chiossone) that was in effect for 24 years.
c) Progressive System
It consists of obtaining social rehabilitation through stages or degrees, it is strictly

scientific, because it is based on the study of the subject and its progressive treatment,
with a technical basis. It also includes an elementary classification and diversification
of establishments, it is adopted by the United Nations in its recommendations and by
almost all countries in the world in the process of penitentiary transformation, it
begins in Europe at the end of the last century and extends to America in the middle of
the century. twentieth century.
Captain Maconochie, the Archbishop of Duplin Whately, George Obermayer, Colonel

Montesinos and Wafter Crofton were decisively influential in implementing the
progressive system. The penalty began by measuring the sum of the inmate's work
and good behavior. According to the first, they were given marks or vouchers and
when they obtained a certain number of these they regained their freedom.
Consequently everything depended on the subject himself. In cases of misconduct,
fines were established.
The system began with Captain Maconochie, who in 1840 was appointed governor of
Norfok Island, who noted, upon arriving at the island "I found it converted into a hell
and I left it transformed into an orderly and well-regulated community."
The sentence is indeterminate and based on three periods:

 testing (day and night isolation) and mandatory work:
 common work during the day and isolation at night. (the voucher system
intervenes) and
 probation, (when he obtains enough vouchers).
A similar system in Germany is introduced by George M. von Obermayer, director of

the Munich State Prison in 1842.
In the first stage, the inmates had to remain silent, but they lived together. In a second,
a personality study was done and they were selected in numbers of 25 or 30, the
groups being homogeneous in nature. Through work and conduct, inmates could
regain their conditional freedom and reduce their sentence by up to a third.
Then Walter Crofton, director of prisons in Ireland, came to perfect the system, by
establishing intermediate prisons, in which there is a trial period to obtain freedom,
this is where we find four periods:
1.- The first, isolation, without communication and with a diet.

2.- The second job together and night silence. It's the Auburn system.
3.- The third, intermediate period, introduced by Crofton is outdoor work, especially
in agricultural tasks, like the current extramural system. Among its innovations is the
non-use of criminal clothing.
4.- The fourth period is probation based on vouchers, as in the Maconochie system,
earned for conduct and work performed.
Likewise, when they left the work houses they were sent to Luzk for six months,
where they worked as free workers in nearby fields and factories.
They were also taken to Smithfield for industrial work, which were establishments,
located 21 kilometers from the city of Dublin, where there were no bars, walls, or
locks, where inmates housed in removable metal barracks were employed as free
workers in agriculture. and in the industry, learning to monitor themselves (self-
control).
It should be noted that among the people who perfected the system was Manuel de
Montesinos in the important work of the Valencia prison, since at the entrance he
placed his ideology, “the prison only receives the man. The crime stays at the door,
since its mission is: to correct man.”
Montesinos, like Maconochie, had found the Valencia prison in deplorable conditions
and knew how to transform it thanks to his humanism, lack of attachment to formality
and courage to introduce a system of self-confidence.
The progressive system was implemented in Spain at the beginning of the century
(decree of June 3, 1901), in Austria in the Law of April 10, 1872, in Hungary in 1880, in
Italy in the Penal Code of 1889, in Finland in the Code of 1899, in Switzerland in 1871,
in the Brazilian Code in 1890, in Japan in the Prison Law of 1872, although it was only
implemented years later. Other countries that established it in a practical way were
Belgium (May 15, 1932) in a security establishment for repeat offenders, Denmark, by
a decree of the same previous year, Norway (law of June 6, 1933), Portugal (decree of
the May 28, 1936), Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil (C. of 1940), Chile penitentiary
regulations), Cuba (Social Defense Code), etc...
Among the Latin American countries that have applied it with recognized success are
Mexico, through the Minimum Standards Law of 1971, art. 7º, which establishes that
the prison regime will have a progressive and technical nature and will consist of at
least periods of study and diagnosis and treatment, Argentina, by Juan José O'Connor
and currently provided for in decree law 412/58, Peru (decree 063/96), Venezuela
and Costa Rica very recently.
CRITICISM OF THE PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM
There have been numerous objections to this system, due to the centralization of all
disciplinary actions, the rigidity that made individual treatment impossible, and the
stages in watertight compartments. On the other hand, the lack of material resources
and lack of personnel. This has led some countries, such as Sweden, to have
abandoned it and Costa Rica is carrying out an experiment that substantially modifies
the classic criteria, where inmates must not progressively and strictly follow the
stages, tending to avoid the lack of flexibility that has been the greatest criticism
leveled at the system. That is, the inmate upon admission should not necessarily be
placed in the first stage, nor are the disciplinary criteria decisive, since they do not
indicate authentic rehabilitation. The important thing is to take into account
adaptation to society and not to the closed and vicious prison system.
REFORMATORY SYSTEM
It emerged in the United States of America for young delinquents. Its creator was
Zebulon R. Brockway, director of a women's prison in the city of Detroit. He achieved a
law of confinement in houses of correction for prostitutes sentenced to three years
and who had the right to conditional or permanent freedom, for their regeneration or
good behavior. His passage into history occurred when he was appointed director of
the Elmira Reformatory (New York) in 1876 and whose characteristics were:
 The age of the convicts was more than 16 years old and less than 30; They had
to be primary.
 It was based on the indeterminate sentence, where the penalty had a minimum
and a maximum. According to the rehabilitation, they could regain their
freedom sooner.
 Another basic aspect was the classification of convicts, according to an

observation period, a file with their data, and a medical examination.
 There were grades, from admission, that gradually softened until the first six
months (first grade). The inmate received preferential treatment, better food,
increasing confidence, and wore a military uniform. If he had good behavior,
after six months he would achieve his definitive freedom. If he violated any
parole rule or committed a new crime, he would return to the reformatory.
This draws attention, because repeat offenders were prohibited.
 The Director had a long conversation with the inmate upon entering, in which
he explained the causes of his detention, the social environment from which his
inclinations, desires, etc. come. An examination was carried out not only
medically, but also psychologically. The control was of a military type due to
the methods and the use of uniforms, with classification of the inmates whose
third category was the one with the worst behavior and was mainly those who
intended to escape, for which they were made to wear red suits, with chains. at
the foot and ate in the cell itself. Those in blue uniforms enjoyed greater
confidence.
Treatment was based on physical culture (there were gymnasiums), industrial and
agricultural work, teaching of trades and discipline.
But this system failed due to lack of adequate establishment, since it was used for
maximum security criminals. Discipline was linked to cruelty (corporal punishment),
so there was no social rehabilitation or social education, nor sufficient personnel to
maintain control. Furthermore, there was saturation, since from having 800 inmates,
it reached a maximum of 2,000 inmates.
On the positive side, it is the first attempt to reform and rehabilitate young offenders,
and its contribution with the indeterminate sentence and conditional or parole
release is significant.
For some authors, the positive results of the system were due to the psychological and
managerial skills of its Director. Systems similar to that of Elmira were established in
numerous North American states and this position is repeatedly cited in texts from
the time of the splendor of positivism as a new penitentiary dawn. However, the
expectations did not have the desired result.
THE BORSTAL REGIME
It is a form of the progressive system and was due to Evelyn Ruggles Brise, who at the
beginning of this century (1901) experimented in a section of an old prison in the
municipality of Borstal, near London, housing repeat minors aged 16 to 21. Given the
success achieved, he expanded it to the entire establishment. The young people sent to
that establishment had indeterminate sentences ranging between 9 months and three
years. The fundamental thing was the physical and psychological study of the
individuals, to know what type of establishment in Borstal they should be referred to,
since there were lesser or greater security ones, urban or rural, for the mentally ill.
The progressive form is perceived in the different degrees that are obtained according
to conduct and good application. The first is called ordinary and lasts approximately
three months and has the characteristics of the Philadelphia system, that is,
conversations are not allowed and the ward can only receive one letter and one visit
or two letters but no visits. There are no games and the Auburn system is introduced,
since they work together during the day and receive instruction at night. During this
period observation is practiced. In the later grades called intermediate, probationary
and special, the system is liberalized. The first, which consisted of permission to
associate on Saturdays, in a closed game room, and then move on to another, which
would be outdoors and receive professional training. There are two periods of three
months each. In the probationary grade you are allowed to read the newspaper;
receive letters every 15 days, play outside or inside.
The last degree (called special) is of considerable benefits and almost of probation,
after issuing a certificate by the council of the institution. The work is without direct
supervision, you can smoke a cigarette daily, receive letters or visits once a week and
be employed in the same establishment.
It has been pointed out that this system has been successful and this is due to the
capacity and specialization of the personnel, the teaching of trades in workshops and
farms, the discipline based on education, trust and breaking with traditional methods
of humiliation and submission.
OR BELGIAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
It was considered the “desideratum” because it included the individualization of

treatment, classifying inmates according to their urban or rural origin, education, and
criminal instruction (whether they are primary or repeat offenders). The dangerous
ones were separated into different establishments. The classification also depended
on the duration of the sentence (long or short). In the first case the work was
intensive and in the second it was not. Psychiatric experimentation laboratories are
created, annexed to prisons, as established in some Latin American penitentiary
legislation (case of Argentina), the cell is abolished and the prisoner's uniform is
modernized...
"AII'APERTO" REGIME
As its name indicates (outdoor) it breaks with the classic scheme of the closed prison.
It appeared in Europe at the end of the last century and was gradually incorporated
into all the legislation of that continent and South America.
It is fundamentally based on agricultural work and public works and services. For this
reason, in countries with numerous imprisoned peasants, it had a unique reception, it
has economic advantages and in the health of the prisoners, by providing them with
work outdoors, in simple tasks that do not require specialization. Work in public
works and services is reminiscent of the exploitation to which prisoners were
subjected and although their clothing is modified, it is still a penalty applied in a spirit
of retribution and revenge.
PRE-FREEDOM REGIME
It is not strictly a system, but a stage of the progressive that was tested in Argentina,
during the time of Roberto Petinatto, to break the automatism of getting up, washing,
working, sleeping and eating at the same time.
Defended by Alfredo Molinario at the XII International Penitentiary Penitentiary

Congress in The Hague (1950), it is based on special treatment for inmates close to
regaining freedom, avoiding a sudden entry into society.
No special establishment was needed, just a pavilion.
It started with primary offenders, because it was a trial. The prisoner was free to go
out during the day, ate at common tables and enjoyed reading rooms and
entertainment. Their results were excellent.
In this stage of pre-release, the aim is to progressively bring the inmate closer to
society. For this to be achieved scientifically, the action of the interdisciplinary
Technical Council must be counted on, which will advise the selection of people who
can obtain these benefits.
In the case of Mexico, the Mexican Minimum Standards Law (art. 8) establishes the
forms that must be followed for the pre-release regime and which are the following:
 Information, special guidance and discussion with the inmate and their families
about the personal and practical aspects of their life in freedom.
 Individual and collective methods of therapy, aimed at reaffirming man's solidarity
with his fellow men and strengthening his awareness of belonging to his own social
nucleus.
 Grants of greater freedoms within the establishment itself.
 Permission for weekend or daily departure with overnight confinement, or
departures on business days with weekend confinement.
 Transfer to open type institutions.
 Other pre-release alternatives, such as a conditional sentence, partial reduction of
the sentence or preparatory release.
All these aspects indicated in the pre-release regime are based on humanistic and
scientific aspects to achieve a more effective social readaptation.
On the one hand, the aim is to give him greater confidence and, on the other hand, to
break the abyss that exists between prison and the outside world. In this way he is
prepared to participate more actively with the social nucleus to which he belonged,
before being deprived of his freedom. This pre-freedom regime corresponds to the
last stage of the progressive system.
e) Open prison
Not all those sentenced should be in maximum security prisons, and that is why open
or semi-open institutions have been imposed. Of course, some should not even be in
prison, but in any case there is a need to bring them closer to society. These relatively
new forms are contradictorily called "open prisons", because prison means
confinement.
It is the most innovative regime, with excellent results, which constitute “one of the
most daring and interesting creations of modern penology.” Since they are
establishments without locks, bars, or means of containment, such as solid and high
walls, and surveillance towers with armed guard personnel. The individual is held
back more by psychological factors than by physical constraints.
The fundamental thing about this system is social rehabilitation, self-government,
rapprochement with the social environment, as well as its low cost. Since, they are
generally self-sufficient, and it also allows society to regain trust in the subject who
committed the crime, partly due to the results that said system produces and the way
in which the subject himself evolves.
The experiences observed by Neuman in Brazil and by us in Sweden and Argentina
have left excellent results that should be encouraged, such is the case of the General
Pico open prison in the Province of La Pampa (Argentina), which was a former -
hospital, where inmates go out to work and return at night. Also that of Campo de Los
Andes, in the Province of Mendoza, where inmates live with their families, like in
Brazilian prisons.
The open prison has been defined as “a small active world, a center where kindness,
tolerance, understanding, serene severity, friendly restraint, agile teaching, profitable
work and intelligent advice are architects capable of replacing the old concept of
punishment for the social readaptation of men who have committed crimes”; and is
made up of an “essentially preventive and resocializing punitive philosophy.”
Open prisons are often confused with penal colonies. They are not the same. In the
former there is no type of containment, while in the latter there is the safety of the sea,
as in the case of the Marías Islands in Mexico and other prisons on islands in the
Pacific Ocean (in the case of Chile), and La Gorgona in Colombia. The colonies boomed
from the time Australia was discovered and began to be populated with English
criminals. The open prison system is more modern.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Its antecedents include the vagrant colonies in Germany in 1880, the Swiss cantons
such as the agricultural canton of Witzwill in 1895 and the penal detachments of the
1940s, although it had another purpose, such as building roads and various companies
to demassify prisons. .
Recommendations were approved at the XII Congress of The Hague, in 1950, in the
1st. United Nations Congress in Geneva in 1955 and in international Criminology
events, such as the Conference held in Mendoza (Argentina) in 1969, "it is suggested
that countries that do not yet have open penal establishments, find a way to introduce
them, as one of the types of differentiated institutions that the penitentiary
administration should have for the proper execution of the sentence.”
Open prison had been considered by Kimberg at the Second International Congress of
Criminology, held in Paris.
SELECTION OF INMATES
This system, which violently breaks with the old concept of punishment, requires
rigorous selection criteria for inmates. It is assisted by all the disciplines that study
the criminal and punishment such as Criminology, Criminal Law, Penitentiary Science,
Criminal Sociology, Criminal Psychology, Social Work, etc.
Neuman lists three fundamental elements of Judgment to take into account:
 dispense with traditional criteria for classifying criminals;
 that not all criminals are suitable to enter the system; and
 keep in mind the current possibilities of the penitentiary system of the country or
region.
The first United Nations Congress recommended not following the criterion of the
penal or penitentiary category to which the inmates belong, nor the duration of the
sentence, but rather the criminal's ability to adapt to the open regime and the fact that
this treatment has more possibilities to favor their social readaptation, than that
stipulated in other forms of deprivation of liberty. Depending on the prison regime of

each country, prisoners may be sent to open prisons from the beginning of their
sentence or after having served part of it in a different type of establishment. The
selection should be made, if possible, based on a medical-psychological examination
and a social survey. The criterion in Argentina is to reserve open prison only for the
last stage of serving the sentence.
It should be noted that in Sweden, the group that most needs this type of treatment is
young people, to prevent their personality from deteriorating, and psychopaths who
manage to “restore their psychological balance.” However, “both groups lack the
stability necessary to resist treatment in absolute freedom.” Young people were
included in the same current, considering them more open to educational influences,
but they opposed the entry of the elderly.
Giovanni Musillami points out that the regime is special for first-time and occasional
offenders, since without a doubt, it is in these cases that there are more possibilities
for social readaptation. In the same sense, Paul Cornill maintained that this treatment
should be reserved for those who could be capable of being re-educated, especially the
harmless ones.
Since those most suitable for compliance are not always those who can be integrated
back into society, because often those who are in these establishments do not even
need reintegration into the social universe of the rest of the population.
The idea of reducing security and enabling re-socialization do not always go together.
Due in part to the other idea that they are subjects that do not offer the danger of
evasion and that danger exists in those who can be re-socialized.
The criterion must be based on practical experience, regardless of age or crime
committed.
In the same sense, the Director of Witzwil points out that the selection must be based
on practical knowledge, after an individualized study.
But in the case of Denmark, in principle it is applicable to all types of criminals,
whether primary or repeat offenders, young or adults, with the exception of hardened
criminals, gang leaders, homosexuals, sexual offenders who reveal a danger to other
inmates. , intractable psychopaths, habitual recipients of stolen goods and in general,
all those convicted who, due to personal and character circumstances, can have a
harmful influence on others.
Individualization will be to select it and continue in an intelligent and subtle way,
keenly observing the behavior of each of the prisoners. Hence the need for groups to
be small.
The inmate, unable to adapt, or whose behavior seriously impairs the proper
functioning of the prison and has an unfavorable influence on other inmates, must be
immediately transferred to an establishment of another type (semi-open).
STAFF PICK
If the inmates are carefully selected, the same should be done with the staff. The
importance of this is capital. It has been precisely pointed out that “it is not unusual
for guards to be of a social class and geographical origin very similar to that of the
inmates themselves. The immediacy of daily treatment, and the frequent contact with
inmates, can be the cause - especially in prisons located in isolated areas - that the
guards become absorbed into the subculture of punishment.
The United Nations Congress recommends that staff: “know and understand the
character and particular needs of each inmate, and be capable of exerting a favorable
moralizing influence.” Hence the requirement for selection and a reduced number of
inmates, who can be known perfectly. We also suggest that the authorities and guards,
for this type of open establishments, should follow special courses in order to
understand the purposes and methods to be followed and be deeply imbued with
their noble social mission of rehabilitation. The expected roles will be like those of a
good family father, vigilant who is alert to the first failure or difficulty of each of the
inmates. This does not mean that there is an excess of paternalism, but rather that the
difficulty of their mission requires them to keenly observe all the psychological and
social conflicts that the inmates are burdened with. The Geneva Congress of 1955
pointed out that among the skills that a guard must have are humanity, integrity,
personal suitability and professional capacity.
NUMBER OF INMATES
It should not necessarily be low, because the facilities and services are limited, nor
very high, because the sense of treatment and individualization is lost.
It is stated that in Sweden the number is 40 inmates, while in the Philippines it is
3,000 and in Argentina 200.
The system works in the last stage of progressive treatment, with some exceptions,
once it has been possible to perfectly study the behavior and aptitudes of the inmates
for their reintegration into social life.
LOCATION
The location of a jail or prison must be carefully studied. Preferably in a rural area that
is not too far from towns. At the Hague Congress it was recommended that if possible,
they should be located in the countryside, but not in an isolated or unhealthy place,
since they should be close to an urban center, to offer comfort to staff and contacts
with educational organizations. and social organizations that collaborate in the
reeducation of prisoners. In addition, the installation of workshops and industries
outside the farms is necessary.
On the other hand, it is necessary to raise awareness among the population close to
prisons or prisons, to obtain the collaboration of the public and the community. Since
if said nucleus has fears, it will provide guidelines for the creation of certain logical
points, so that thieves, murderers and rapists are free and attack their lives and
property. More intensified in a rural population that, in general, is conservative,
prejudiced and where nothing goes unnoticed.
For example, when the unbarred Leyhill prison was opened, protests arose from
alarmed farmers living nearby. They went to the English government to request the
closure of the establishment and it did not agree to this request due to lack of founded
reasons. Especially when the results of the new experience were not yet known.
Later the fears disappeared as several of the inmates collaborated with the settlers in
their agricultural tasks, participating in the population's tasks and the neighbors felt
important in social recovery.
Advantages:
 Improvement of the physical and mental health of inmates. This was expressed in
the XII Congress of The Hague in 1950, and in the United Nations, point 8, section a)
“the open establishment facilitates the social rehabilitation of prisoners and at the
same time favors their physical and mental health.” It is estimated that this is
undoubtedly due to the participation of elements such as fresh air, light, sun, open
spaces "that are capable of restoring the physical, mental and moral balance of the
prisoners, most of the time deteriorated" and that work outdoors and of an
agricultural type, helps to restore “that peace of mind altered by criminal commission”
and particularly in subjects who come from rural environments to avoid the
imbalances of the classic prison.
 It reduces the tensions of prison life and therefore reduces the need to resort to
disciplinary sanctions. In the XII Congress of The Hague in 1950, and in the first
United Nations Congress in Geneva, it was held in point 8, b) that: “the flexibility
inherent in the regime of open establishments makes the regulations less severe,
which the tension of prison life is alleviated and consequently discipline is improved.”
Everyone knows the consequences of confinement, where prisoners "do not want or
cannot adapt, so they mentally isolate themselves from prison life and will surely
reach neurosis or defy the rules and receive punishments." In some cases the
existence of punishments has led to thoughts of suicide.
 Prison conditions are closer to normal life, more so than in closed establishments
(resolution VIII, c) of the Geneva Congress). This facilitates communication with the
outside world, since in some type of prison (such as General Pico in Argentina) the
inmates worked outside the prison and then the interrelation was more fluid.
We found inmates who were studying at the University, others worked in an
agricultural machinery factory and some in a labor camp. In the “Campo de los Andes”
experience, the vast majority lived with their families and could receive visits from
other family members and friends in the same institution.
The importance of external contact does not need many comments, because the
feeling of anguish is produced, among other causes, by isolation.
On the other hand, the transplant to outside life will not be so abrupt, but rather
attenuated with this progressive reintegration.
In certain cases, open prisons are located on the periphery of classic or medium-
security prisons, to clearly show the steps of the progressive regime. It is planned for
the trial period as occurs in the colony of Presidente Roque Sá enz Peñ a, in the
Argentine federal penitentiary system or in Toluca (Mexico).
 They are, on the other hand, more economical. This is logical because the expensive
retaining walls of classic prisons are not needed. nor the bars or locks that make the
construction significantly more expensive. On occasions abandoned buildings have
been adapted; Thus in General Pico, the construction was an old Hospital and in
Campo de Los Andes it was an old barracks. The Argentine Federal Penitentiary
Service, with abundant economic resources, built appropriate, simple and therefore
more economical buildings.
The institution tends to be self-sufficient. When inmates work abroad, they receive
sufficient pay to allow them to make a savings deposit (70% in General Pico), and in
agricultural work, food for inmates and good surpluses are achieved for the
institution.
By having reduced staff, the maintenance of the prison is cheaper.
 They decongest traditional prisons, which are generally overcrowded and

overcrowded. It is a way to select the most readaptable and avoid their contamination
with the rest of the population.
If we could have a significant number of open prisons, especially in rural areas, closed
prisons would decrease. We even think that in low-risk areas, open prison can almost
completely replace the traditional one.
 For others it serves as a solution to the complex sexual problem. Elías Neuman,
opposed to the regime of intimate visits, affirms that open prison is the only
comprehensive solution and avoids the destruction of the family unit. We share this
criterion, but since open prison is foreseen in some countries only in the last period, it
would not be a total solution.
 Being able to find work more easily once released, as indicated by the Swedish
experience and the opinion of the cited author.
It is to be thought that the fear, to a certain logical extent, of the bosses of not
accepting ex-convicts, can disappear by making them see that these subjects have
practically been in a period of freedom without having attacked the property of
society.
On the other hand, the inmates are working in a factory or official institution and the
only thing left is to continue with the same job. Thus we know the case of an intern
who started working in a Municipality and when he left he became the Secretary of
the Mayor. The previous period helped strengthen bonds of trust.
 Social rehabilitation in a more effective and scientific way. We believe that this
system provides more realistic and lasting possibilities. This argument alone justifies
the support that the institution has deserved. Although it would be hypothetically
more costly from an economic point of view, its intensification is desirable.
DISADVANTAGES
Among the drawbacks is the possibility of evasions. The United Nations Congress itself
in Geneva, which encouraged these open experiences, warned about the danger of a
greater number of leaks, although this is sufficiently compensated by the
aforementioned advantages.
We do not know of cases of escapes in Argentine open prisons. We know of some
escapes in England and Brazil, but in any case the number is significantly lower than
in classic prisons. Since those who escape are often abnormal with spontaneous
reactions and consequently these people should not be placed in open establishments.
Thus the prospect of being close to freedom is an incentive for good behavior. On the
other hand, thinking about walls during years of confinement leads to attempts to
escape. The subject who has already served most of his sentence does not risk escape.
However, Paul Cornill estimates that the length of the sentence is not an index to
measure escapes because in certain cases of short sentences inmates escape, while
those sentenced to a long sentence serve it without problems in open establishments.
It is noteworthy that in Italian legislation, in the event that the inmate escapes, when
he is recaptured, he has to serve the entire sentence again. That is, the time spent in
prison is not counted.
On the other hand, the number of escapes is very low and will depend largely on the
good selection of inmates and staff.
Cuello Caló n counts against: “the ease of establishing relationships with the outside
world and the possibility of introducing alcoholic beverages, books, newspapers and
prohibited objects.” In this regard, it should be noted that this probability is observed
to a greater extent in classic prisons and even more so in corrupt ones where drugs
are introduced, which constitute a serious problem. We do not know of drug addiction
or alcoholism problems in open prisons, but in closed prisons where inmates manage
to obtain narcotics and inhalants, such as drinking thinner, used for paints or the
cheapest cements, but both harmful. because they cause irreversible brain damage.
Cuello Caló n also indicates that it weakens the intimidating function of punishment.
This is a criterion supported by supporters of the repressive function of punishment.
On the other hand, it is questioned that in prisons where inmates live with their
families, such as the cases of the Baurú and San José Río Prieto agricultural penal
institutes in Brazil or Campo de los Andes in Argentina, a prison society would be
created. where the children of inmates marry each other and grow up in a kind of
criminal subculture.
Other criticisms are that it facilitates the relationship with the accomplices, not
imprisoned, and the possibility of continuing to participate in their criminal activity,
an inconsistent observation, if we think that the inmates have been exhaustively
selected by the Interdisciplinary Technical Council. On the contrary, maximum
security prisons are where a perfect society for crime and its perfection stands out.
SOME EXPERIENCES
The proliferation of open prisons is striking both in capitalist and socialist countries,
such as in Europe, America, Africa and Asia, or although it is worth noting the absence
of these institutions in countries of our Latin America (case of Venezuela), despite the
agricultural economic characteristics of these countries, with extensive territory and a
high number of rural inmates, without major risks of escape. Panama, Colombia and
most of the Republics of our continent do not have open prisons.
The first experience in the United States occurred in 1930 in a camp in the State of
Arizona. It is stated that a fifth of the 20,000 detained by the federal justice system in
that country are serving sentences in open establishments.
The leaks have been few. The majority are criminals who committed their crime for
the first time.
Later more others have been created; such as those in Switzerland, especially in
Witzwill, founded in 1895, where repeat offenders and dangerous convicts are not
admitted, with excellent results.
The Soviet Union has been known worldwide for the Bolchew commune, described as:
“a town of thieves in which municipal life is widely developed and which is, at the
same time, a peaceful cultural center.” The interesting thing about this experience of
3,000 “citizens” is that the majority (89%) are repeat offenders, and that the
administration is made up of inmates of both sexes. The readaptation is based on
work, since it has four large factories; one of them directed by engineers convicted of
theft, in Moscow.
This colony costs the State nothing, because it subsists entirely on its production.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, since the Second World War, open and semi-open
establishments have fundamentally increased, whether for young people or adults. A
type of “prison without bars” was implemented with primary criminals in 1947 in
Leyhill, belonging to the County of Glucester (England), with good results.
Spain has built open sections in recent years, some being operational and others not.
Among the first we can list those of Mirasierra, Castillejos, Mujeres de Barcelona,
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Alcalá de Henares and Burgos and among those that do not
come into operation those of Alicante, Murcia, Lérida, Valencia and Yeserías (Madrid).
In Latin America, those in Brazil and Argentina have stood out for some decades and
more recently the experience in Mexico (Almoloya de Juá rez, Toluca, State of Mexico).
Sweden is the country par excellence that has intensified this system, to the point that
it houses a third of the prisoners and currently has more than fifty open
establishments.
The Operating Manual for Swedish Prisons states that: “prisoners housed in open
institutions must be considered trustworthy enough to be authorized to correspond
without prior censorship and make telephone calls without being overheard. When it
is deemed necessary to open an inmate's correspondence, this should be done as far
as possible in his or her presence. In open institutions, inmates must have a coin-
operated telephone. Inmates must have keys to their own rooms, which must even be
equipped with wardrobes for their civilian clothing, so that it is easily accessible for
visitors outside the institution."
To enter the Svartsjó Penitentiary Center (open prison), it is necessary that the
individual has less than one year left on his sentence, or that the time for which he
was sentenced does not exceed those 12 months.
In addition, you will have a reduction of it (2/3 parts) and if you are only 20 years old,
it is automatically reduced by half. This is for individuals or "clients" as they are called,
who own homes and jobs. Those who do not have these two requirements are given a
series of permits to prepare for their freedom, such as going to the employment or
housing office.
The majority of the inmates of that Center are for drug crimes. Although there is no
detoxification clinic there, they can go outside for treatment. Also traveling to
Stockholm to study or to nearby farms, at seven in the morning and returning at 4 in
the afternoon. Those who stay at the Center make food, do cleaning work, work in the
carpentry workshop, work as lumberjacks, complete their primary education, or learn
Swedish classes (for foreigners, especially Finns). Prison can also be exchanged for
military service and all the money obtained from the work of prisoners goes to the
Swedish railways. They receive the equivalent of 25 pesos per hour of work.
After four in the afternoon, it is time to rest for all the inmates who are working.
Each "client" dedicates himself to his "hobby" (watching TV, playing cards or chess, or
studying ceramics, silversmithing and painting classes). On Saturdays and Sundays
they are free to go out wherever they want. Even on Sundays they can receive female
visits in their bedrooms from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., "because prison cannot be a
center of sexual repression or social marginalization but rather a stage in an
individual's life where prepares them for their best incorporation into society,"
according to its director.
The detainees in the open prison of Tillberga, as of November 1972, have a
remuneration corresponding to that of the external labor market.
In socialist countries there are open prisons, or open sections within prisons, such as
"Orá cov" in Czechoslovakia, especially for those responsible for negligent crimes
(traffic accidents), or those in a state of drunkenness. In “Orá cov” itself, those with the
best behavior could stay with their families for 24 hours and could leave the prison for
15 days.
The prisoners go to work outside without any type of surveillance and while in prison
they attend the movies four times a week, watch television, play sports, discuss
cultural problems, etc. The system is self-governing, meaning that the inmates
themselves are responsible for discipline and organization within the institution.
There is only one person, unrelated to the prisoners, who records the exits and entries
of the latter, who have mostly been drivers of vehicles that have committed crimes, or
other types of culpable accidents, although there is no shortage of those who have not
complied with family assistance duties.
OPEN SYSTEM IN MEXICO
In Mexico, the first open prison experience is the one that was inaugurated in
Almoloya de Juá rez, Toluca. Mexico state.
It began in 1968, with the granting of permits for departure on weekends, with
excellent results, in a first stage of compliance with a pre-liberal regime.
Later, the open establishment was inaugurated, separate from the prison of the same
name and where the inmates could work from Monday to Friday or from Monday to
Saturday in a company or factory outside the prison, to which they returned at night
to sleep only and exclusively. They can also be at the institution on Saturday
afternoons or Sundays.
The individuals who entered this open system had previously been studied by the
interdisciplinary Technical Council of Social Work, Psychiatry and Psychology.
The institution functions as the last phase of the progressive system, in the pre-
liberation regime. The number of inmates is around 10 to 12% of the total population
of the Almoloya de Juá rez prison, fifty percent are subject to the aforementioned
regime and consequently the indicated percentage means that in the open
establishment They find 35 to 40 inmates. These must have served two thirds of the
sentence, in accordance with legal aspects.
Regarding criminology, the following guidelines are taken into account:
 having observed what is established in the law of minimum standards regarding
their job stability, schooling, good conduct and approval of the Interdisciplinary
Technical Council in the supposed resocialization;
 adaptation to life in society according to the personality study;
 be physically and psychologically healthy;
 have adequate family relationships, so that one can adapt to the family nucleus and
behave positively in relation to it and society;
 the victimological problem has been resolved to avoid possible crimes by the
offended party against the inmate or the inmate's relatives or by the inmate against
the victim or his or her family members.
The work modalities are different, in some cases it consists of:
 work in the institution with day release and night confinement;
 departure two days a week;
 weekend outing with your family;
 departure for the entire week with confinement at the end of it;
 or presentation every fifteen days.
Another open prison model is found in Cuernavaca, Morelos, stating that inmates will
be able to go out during the week to work and care for their family and will only
remain locked up on Saturdays and Sundays. According to this, differences are
perceived with the type of open prison that we have been studying and it is a positive
step in terms of a pre-liberation regime. This is a weekend confinement (started with
21 people), who are one year away from acquiring their preparatory freedom and
have had good behavior in prison.
In addition, there are open prisons in some prisons in the country, such as in the case
of San Luís Potosí, and in institutions for juvenile offenders, especially drug
dependent, in the city of Acapulco (Guerrero).
LEGISLATION OF SOME PENITENTIARY SYSTEMS.
Most countries have adopted the technical progressive system.
Federal Germany.
In Germany, the penitentiary system has different characteristics according to the

States.
A distinction is made between preventive detention, adult, semi-adult and juvenile
detention, and that which is due to security measures.
Regarding preventive detention, the Regulations for the Execution of the Sentence of
1965 establish that “the personality of the detainee must be taken into account and
his sense of honor must be respected. When dealing with him, we must avoid even the
appearance that he is detained as a punishment. Preventive detention must be carried
out in such a way that the detainee does not suffer any moral or physical harm” (cited
regulation number 1, paragraph 3).
The detainee is housed in an individual cell and attempts are made to keep him as
separated as possible from the rest of the inmates.
Some of the few pretrial detention facilities are those in Hannover and Stuttgart.
The different phases consist of:
An admissions department, headed by a chief psychologist who studies the

personality of those entering the prison. A team tells him what awaits him in the
establishment and what is expected of him. In this way, other inmates are prevented
from giving these explanations.
A treatment department that deals with the execution of the sentence itself. The
inmate's activity is divided into work, free time and rest, as in life in freedom.
The third department is the output department where you can see the result of the
treatment and the diagnosis made.
Argentina
In the Argentine Republic, a process of legislative evolution has developed that led to
the current Decree Law 412 of 1958 where the progressive system is adopted.
It is necessary to distinguish between this legal body incorporated into the Penal Code
that governs the entire country, and the provisions of the provincial States that had to
adopt it. And the vast majority have not done it and when they did, they did not put it
into practice effectively.
Progressivity consists of a period of observation with medical-psychological
examination and the surrounding world to formulate the criminological diagnosis and
prognosis.
They are then classified into:
 easily adaptable:
 adaptable and
 hardly adaptable.
The second period consists of a treatment based on work, education and discipline
divided into phases, where work, behavior, discipline, prohibitions, clothing, food, etc.
are analyzed. until you move on to the trial period. This provides for the possibility of
temporary departures and early discharge, to seek the strengthening of family and
social ties, obtaining work, accommodation, documents, etc. before final departure.
Colombia
With a strong positivist accent in its criminal legislation, it suffers from almost all
known problems, such as overcrowding, lack of budget, classification. etc In its
regulations, the progressive system is also accepted, as occurs in the Prison Regime
code of 1934 (decree law 1405). This was influenced by Enrique Ferri's 1921 Draft
Code, the Rocco and Novelli Regulations, the Cuban Sanctions Execution Code of 1936
and several previous Colombian regulations.
In the new Code of Prison and Penitentiary Regime (Decree Law 1817 of 1964) the
specification of the principles that guide the progressive system was established.
Costa Rica
In this country where intense activity is carried out by an organization for the
prevention and treatment of crime, such as the United Nations directed by Jorge
Montero Castro, there is the Center for Social Adaptation 'La Reforma', whose
regulations include the regime of individualization and progressivity (art. 6). As in the
previous one, the goal is set for the social adaptation of those sentenced and the
custody of those undergoing trial (art. 1). Progressivity is achieved with a regime of
maximum, medium and minimum security, in addition to trust. Then all the problems
stated above are included and will be seen in the respective chapters.
Chili
A unitary system prevails, that is, it applies to the entire country. Prison
establishments depend on the Directorate of Prisons, and this on the Ministry of
Justice. The regime is governed by the prison regulations of 1928, which contains the
progressive system in 4 periods.
1) The first has a minimum duration of one month, with maximum restrictions on
work, food, education, comforts and communication with other people (art. 99 of the
regulations),
2) The second comprises 4 degrees:
isolation, where he can only communicate with his family, he starts working and is
forced to attend education classes (art. 100 regulation).
 Remunerations for work improve and communication with other people is allowed
(idem cited article);
 living conditions are improved, and/or more stimuli are provided.
The total minimum of the second period is one year and depends on the behavior and
conduct observed. According to this, the extension of the degrees can be extended or
reduced.
3) In the third period, the inmate can be called by his name, his hair and beard can be
cut, he remains alone in the cell during sleeping hours, and receives the maximum
salary for his work. He has more freedom to communicate with the outside world; as
long as he is not sentenced to life, he can obtain permission on Sundays to go home.
The third period does not have a defined duration, but it extends until the inmate
serves half of the sentence and can have the benefit of conditional release, unless he is
a repeat offender. In this case he must serve three quarters of his sentence (art. 101
and 115 of the cited regulation).
4) In the fourth period he is released on conditional release (art. 113). This is a testing
stage to see if it is corrected and socially rehabilitated. It is awarded to those who are
sentenced to more than one year in prison, observe good behavior, have learned a
trade and regularly attend the institution's school.
In repeat offenders, as we have said, when they have served three-quarters of the
sentence. In the case of those sentenced to life imprisonment or more than 20 years,
when they have served at least 10 years in prison. Thieves or fraudsters or sentenced
to more than 6 years when they have served half of this figure.
Denmark.
The penal system in this country is based on the Penal Code of April 18, 1930. The
death penalty was abolished and punishments disappeared. Penalties are simplified
and special measures are taken for the treatment of abnormal people and alcoholics.
Criminal liability was established at 15 years.
The situation in prisons is undergoing a radical change. Every inmate can regain his
freedom, regardless of his sentence, once a third of it has been served, if his behavior
in prison has been exemplary and makes him eligible for that measure. Freedom is
granted by the Ministry of Justice, and while it lasts, strict rules of an exemplary life
must be observed.
Those who have reoffended before two years of being released are sent to workshop
prisons. The so-called "preventive detainees" have an indeterminate sentence; they
are reviewed every two years. If his conduct during these two years has not been
exemplary or dignified, he has to remain in prison for up to 20 years. Once this age is
reached, freedom is proposed to the Court, which, based on the file, estimates whether
it is appropriate or not. If the answer is negative, the person remains detained and the
situation is reviewed every five years.
For abnormal detainees there are establishments with psychiatric personnel. In the
case of alcoholics: special institutions for those sentenced to more than 18 months
and less than 3 years. There are workshops where they have to work to advance their
freedom, which is resolved by the Ministry of Justice.
For prisoners with long sentences there are three special security establishments. At
first they were cell phones; Now workshops have been added and the system has been
relaxed.
Among the latest constructions are some open establishments.
Experience has shown that this system with work is better than the absolutely settled
cell phone system.
Working together in workshops makes them "more sociable and fit" for their future
lives.
The Savior
The Republic of El Salvador has through decree No. 427: "Law on the Regime of Penal
and Rehabilitation Centers" (September 25, 1973. Official Gazette No.180, Volume 240
of September 27, 1973).
It establishes in its art. 6 that "the systems and treatments will be designed for
gradually progressive development as much as possible and should be aimed at
promoting in the inmate self-respect and the concepts of responsibility and social
coexistence."
Mexico
The first antecedents of a progressive regime are found in the Penal Code of 1871, by
Antonio Martínez de Castro, where although the Philadelphia, or cellular, system of
absolute isolation is accentuated, some intermediate phases are foreseen, including
permission for the inmate to leave the prison during the day with night confinement.
José Almaraz's positivist code of 1929 had a similar system. The current Code of 1931,
of an eclectic nature, was based on the Belgian system of classification and
administrative individualization of punishment.
It was declared that the execution of the sanctions corresponds to the Federal
Executive, "with consultation of the technical body established by law" (art. 77 penal
code), which was the Department of Social Prevention, dependent on the Ministry of
the Interior."
In addition, the following principles are reproduced from the 1929 Code:
 separation of criminals who reveal certain criminal tendencies. taking into account
the types of crimes committed and the causes and motives that have been discovered
in the processes, in addition to the personal conditions of the offender.
 Diversification of treatment during the punishment for each class of criminals,
trying to reach individualization of the former as far as possible.
 Choice of appropriate means to combat the factors that most directly contributed to
the crime and those measures that develop the elements antithetical to said factors.
 the orientation of treatment in view of the best rehabilitation of the offender, and
the possibility, for him, of meeting his needs with his work (art. 78 of the CP).
Norms were also established regarding the obligatory nature of work and the
distribution of the product, as we will see in the respective chapter. There are also
prisons, penitentiaries, prisons, penal colonies, penal camps and special
establishments (art. 79 to 83 of the CP), but without defining them.
Despite the advanced provisions regarding classification and prison treatment, the
code did not adopt the progressive system. This was only implemented in the
Minimum Standards Law of 1971, currently in force. It is established that it will have a
progressive and technical character, consisting of at least periods of study and
diagnosis and treatment, the latter divided into treatment phases in pre-liberation
classification {art. 7). This is the backbone of the system. It is considered technical,
because it must have the contribution of various sciences and disciplines relevant to
the social readaptation of the offender and individualized by taking into account their
personal circumstances, since the law establishes personality studies (second
paragraph of art. 7).
Pre-liberation treatment may include:
 Special information and guidance and discussion with the inmate and their families
about the personal and practical aspects of their life in freedom;
 Collective methods;
 Granting greater freedom within the establishment; IV) Transfer to the open
institution; and
 Permission for weekend or daily departure with night confinement, or for departure
on business days, with weekend confinement (art. 8).
The law wisely establishes: “'the creation in each prison of an Interdisciplinary
Technical Council, with consultative functions necessary for the individual application
of the progressive system, the execution of pre-liberation measures, the granting of
partial remission of the sentence and freedom preparatory and application of
withholding.
The Council may also suggest to the executive authority of the prison measures of
general scope for the proper functioning of the prison" (art. 9, first paragraph).
This institution has been enthusiastically supported by the most prestigious Mexican
penitentiaries.
The Council will be made up of the director of the establishment or the official who
replaces him in his absence (who presides over it), and by members of the
management staff, in their highest hierarchies, the administrative, technical and
custodial staff.
In addition, a doctor and a teacher assigned to the prison are included, and in the
event that these do not exist, they will be replaced by the Director of the Health Center
and the Director of the local federal or state school, and in their absence, by those
designated by the State executive (art. 9 second paragraph).
These interdisciplinary councils operate in the prisons of the Federal District and in
the Santa Martha Acatitla Prison (for convicted persons), and in some States such as
Mexico (in Almoloya de Juá rez. Toluca). When the inmate enters, two files are
prepared, one of a legal nature, with personal data, affiliation, fingerprints, the
sentence that he is going to serve, date of initiation of calculation and date of

completion of the same, crime committed, criminal record, pending processes, if you
do not have them, behavior observed in the preventive detention, tasks performed,
participation in educational activities, etc. The other file, of a technical nature, is made
up of the psychological interview (personality study), pedagogical, and social, with the
inmate's family, environmental, and social data.
Venezuela
The Penitentiary Regime Law of 1961 establishes in its art. 7 the gradually
progressive system, "aimed at promoting self-respect in the prisoner." The concepts of
social responsibility and coexistence and the will to live in accordance with the law."
In turn the art. 68 indicates the adequacy of the postulates to each case, attempting
measures to comply with the sentence closest to total freedom.
The progressive regime in this country is based on the classic principles of
observation and classification followed by a phase of designation and grouping,
another of improving the grouping, a third of semi-freedom, consisting of temporary
exit permits and extramural work, and finally freedom. conditional.
DIFFERENT PENAL COLONIES.
Colombia
It has the colonies of Acacias, Araracuara and Gorgona. The first founded in 1924 at
130 km. from the capital of the country and with 24,000 hectares of which only 16,000
are cultivated with different tropical products (sugar, rice, cocoa, banana, etc.).
Despite its acceptable economic performance, it is maintained that there is a lack of
technical resources and sufficient financial aid. Other criticisms noted are
uncomfortable and common, unhygienic and demoralizing bedrooms, poor clothing,
and lack of medical service. The population is 460 inmates.
The Araracuara colony with a smaller population of 120 inmates has crops similar to
the previous one. Diseases caused by poor nutrition, uncomfortable housing, poverty
of clothing and unhealthiness of the sector are observed. It was therefore planned to
move location.
The Gorgon colony is located on the island of the same name in the Pacific Ocean. For
security reasons, it is generally sent to those convicted of blood crimes and their
transfer is very expensive. It is in better condition than the previous ones, but it has
been criticized.
The Penitentiary Regime Code establishes that they may be transferred to the 3
agricultural colonies after serving half of the sentence and that it does not exceed 5
years.
Chili
In this country, the agricultural Penal Colony on Santa María Island is 300 hectares for
inmates of minimal danger and good behavior and who, due to their occupation or
aptitude, wish to work in a regime of semi-freedom.
Mexico
In Mexico, the need to establish colonies was raised in the Program of the Mexican
Liberal Party of 1906 (point 44) and in the Message and Draft Constitution of
Venustiano Carranza, on December 1, 1916 for all those who had sentences of more
than two years in prison.
The penal colony of Islas Marías, located in the archipelago of the same name in the
Pacific Ocean, at the height of the port of Mazatlá n and made up of several islands 103,
was destined as a penal colony during the time of the Porfiriato by means of the
decree of May 12 of 1905 and later by presidential agreement of June 26, 1908. A
progressive system was established in two periods for serving the prison sentence of
federal or common order prisoners, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior.
The inmates can live with their families and it has been wrongly indicated that it is an
open prison (because you can move freely within it) when in reality it is maximum
security (like all the colonies surrounded by the sea).
There is an abundant bibliography on the life of this prison that symbolized a black
history in Mexican penitentiary system and currently considerable efforts have been
made to modify the situation of the inmates.
You reach María Madre Island, which is the main island and where the Colony is
located, by means of a National Navy ship that makes the crossing every 15 days.
Currently, about 2,800 people live there, of which about a thousand are inmates. The
activity begins at 4 in the morning and ends at 9 p.m., the oldest being the sowing of
henequen and the most modern being a soft drink bottling plant called "Tres Marías."
It is completed with an agricultural unit located 10 kilometers from the town of
Balleto, another livestock farm and several industries. Among recent activities is the
literacy campaign carried out on the island.
CONCLUSION
Each jail, prison, becomes a micro universe of the prisoner, internally developing
anger, dreams, rages and characters, etc. Falling into the greatest contradictions. The
man who arrives in prison - after a trial or not - loses all the individual guarantees that
he had before entry, however, he begins to have obligations, duties and to obey a scale
of values, which until that moment he had not known. no sense. He will become an
insignificant, guilty and unwanted man. Trampled, denigrated and mistreated.
He loses his individuality, dignity and responsibility. It is led, managed and
puppeteered. But the least he achieves is to refute or criticize, he will be subjected to
work, so that he forgets the time, the wait and his life becomes the permanent
punishment of all the minutes, hours and days he lives. You cannot forget what it is,
how it is and what it will be. The time is what was assigned to him, he cannot rebel
against losing it, they do not let him and they also permanently remind him of his
condition and his precariousness as part of a system that imposes everything on him
and takes everything away from him.
Prisons and jails seek - especially on the part of the defenders of the system - the
improvement, correction and healing of criminals. For various reasons, the
confinement of the body - it was believed and believed - made possible the correction
of its actions, the best quality of life and acquisition of values and preparation to face
the new life, once the sentence was over. But many of the prisons we have known are
unhealthy, unhealthy, alienating and unnatural. Which leads to results of the same
order. Furthermore, let us not forget the cruel separation that means - in many cases -
isolating men and women in different cells and prisons, losing their natural sexual
condition, for one, who on many occasions loses his heterosexuality and falls into
homosexuality.
Problems such as those described have existed for a long time, because they are
intrinsic to human nature and the breakdown or breakdown of its nature produces
negative and perverse changes.
And as recommendations we can point out :
 The need to increase the number of prisons or open institutions. taking into account
the characteristics of a large part of crime. because it enables a more effective social
readaptation. because a considerable number of inmates should not be in closed
institutions, because it is more economical, because it makes it possible to combat
overcrowding and overcrowding in traditional prisons, and because, according to
experience, it allows compliance with a progressive penitentiary regime of social
rapprochement.
 Establish an effective and scientific selection of inmates and staff in open prisons.
 Raise awareness in advance among the population close to it. institutions to avoid
subsequent rejections.
 Broadly disseminate the advantages that come with the creation of open institutions
and make known the experiences carried out in this matter.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1.- FERNÁNDEZ MUÑOZ, Dolores Eugenia. “ The Prison Sentence, Proposals to
Substitute or Abolish It.” Ed. UNAM, Mexico, 1993.
2.- GONZÁLEZ PLACENCIA, Luís. “The Experience of Contemporary
Penitentiaryism, Contributions and Expectations . ” Ed. CNDH, Mexico, 1995.
3.- OJEDA VELÁZQUEZ, Jorge. “Punitive Law, Theories on the Legal Consequences
of Crime . ” Ed. Trillas, Mexico, 1993.
4.- ORTÍZ ORTÍZ, Serafín. “The Ends of Penalty.” Ed. INACIPE, Mexico, 1993.
5.- RAMÍREZ DELGADO, Juan Manuel. “Penology, Study of Various Penalties and
Security Measures.” Ed. Porrú a, 2 edition, Mexico, 1997.
6.- RODRÍGUEZ MANZANERA, Luís. “ Penology”. Ed. Porrú a, Mexico, 1998.

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PENOLOGY AND PENITENTIARY LAW

GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE SUBJECT

TOPICS AND SUBTOPICS.

TOPIC 1.- HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF PENITENTIARY LAW.

1.1. Hebrew Law.

TOPIC 2.- PRECURSORS OF PENITENTIARYSM.

2.1. Precursors of Penitentiaryism.

TOPIC 3.- PRISON SYSTEMS.

3.1. Cellular System, Pennsylvanian or Philadelphic.

The interchangeable use of "jail" or "prison" is frequent, however Ruiz. Funes

Prison, as a penalty, was almost unknown in ancient law.

1.1. HEBREW LAW

1.2. THE GREEKS

1.3. THE ROMANS

1.4. CONSTITUTION OF CONSTANTINE

The Middle Ages

1.5 THE GALLERS

It is another system of exploitation in the way of serving sentences. Its creator, a

GALLERS FOR WOMEN

Women with licentious lives (prostitutes), dedicated to vagrancy or pimping, were

1.6 THE PRISON

THE ENGLISH DEPORTATION

INFLUENCE OF JUAN MABILLÓN, CLEMENTE XI AND VILAIN XIX.

2.1. PRECURSORS OF PENITENTIARYSM.

2.1.1. BERNARDINO DE SANDOVAL.

2.1.2. CARVING CERDÁN.

2.1.3. JOHN HOWARD.

2.1.4. JEREMIAH BENTHAM.

2.1.5. CESAR BECCARIA.

2.1.6. RAFAEL SALILLAS.

2.1.7. LOMBROSO AND FERRI.

2.1.8. CONSTANTINO BERNARDO DE QUIROZ.

2.1.9. VICTORIA KENT.

2.1.10. LUYIS JIMÉNEZ DE AZÚA.

2.1.11. PENITENTIARISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

The known systems are:

a) Cellular, Pennsylvanian or Philadelphian

Due to his extreme religiosity, he implemented a system of permanent isolation in the

Franklin of notable influence on North American independence.

Other characteristics of the cellular system consisted of having twenty-three hours of

IMPACT OF THE SYSTEM

 It produces a harmful action against physical and mental health. Lack of

 It prevents the implementation of an industrial regime in prison work, which

 Education also cannot be transmitted effectively.

 In short, we went beyond total overcrowding, with all its disastrous

And in other prisons, reading aloud is still prohibited today.

It consists of obtaining social rehabilitation through stages or degrees, it is strictly

Captain Maconochie, the Archbishop of Duplin Whately, George Obermayer, Colonel

The sentence is indeterminate and based on three periods:

A similar system in Germany is introduced by George M. von Obermayer, director of

1.- The first, isolation, without communication and with a diet.

CRITICISM OF THE PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM

 Another basic aspect was the classification of convicts, according to an

THE BORSTAL REGIME

OR BELGIAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

It was considered the “desideratum” because it included the individualization of

Defended by Alfredo Molinario at the XII International Penitentiary Penitentiary

stipulated in other forms of deprivation of liberty. Depending on the prison regime of

 They decongest traditional prisons, which are generally overcrowded and