PENITENZIARIO. — In the technical sense, this is the place where an individual, convicted by a final judgment, must serve the sentence imposed upon him. It is therefore linked to the concept of punishment, whereas preventive detention houses those awaiting criminal proceedings.
The p., with all the complex life that unfolds around it, is a source of numerous social problems: it may be said that almost all of them are determined by the presence of the individual as a responsible being, endowed with a soul as well as a body, and by the form consequently assumed, especially in more recent times, by the concept of criminal punishment. For the historical evolution of this concept, and for problems also common to preventive detention, V. CARCERE.
At the foundation of a penitentiary system worthy of a civilized and Christian state there must be a concept of punishment that aims at the re-education of the convicted person and therefore consists in treatment that is not contrary to the sense of humanity, while nevertheless taking account of the moral responsibility of the human person.
In the so-called Pennsylvania system, the criterion of continuous isolation, by day and by night, has been adopted in the most serious cases, while little enthusiasm is shown for prisoners’ work. In the so-called Auburn system, also characteristic of certain American states, isolation is limited to the nighttime and coincides with the attribution of particular importance to the re-educative value of silence, while during the day communal work is permitted. In Europe, the Irish system, for example, places great reliance on the prisoner’s participation in his own re-education, achieved through a gradual system that proceeds from continuous isolation to nighttime isolation only, with communal daytime work and subsequently work in institutions organized on an industrial and agricultural basis, up to conditional release for the most deserving. In Italy, the penitentiary system, still based on the codification of 1930 and on the Regulations of 18 June 1931, is undergoing revision in order to coordinate the entire penal sector with the new constitutional requirements. As in other sectors, there is a notable gap between legislation and practical implementation, owing to the scarcity of resources and the effects of the war. In 1949–50, a parliamentary commission of inquiry was appointed, which published a valuable report issued under the auspices of the Chamber of Deputies.
The principal social problems in this field may be briefly summarized. First of all, the development of penal science and legislation toward adapting punishment to the individual personalities of convicted persons, as in every sound therapeutic technique, requires a perfected and specialized system of education and observation. This consequently entails the specialization of penal institutions, both by distinguishing them from preventive-detention institutions and by differentiating them according to the severity of the sentence to be served (life imprisonment, houses of reclusion, detention houses) and the personal qualities of those subjected to them (institutions for minors, for the physically disabled, sanatoria for tuberculosis patients, institutions for habitual and professional offenders, etc.).
The problem of prison construction is particularly important; no one can fail to see that punishment rightly understood, in order to achieve its re-educative effect, must be served in surroundings that positively facilitate its effectiveness. Specialized building science has made decisive progress in this field, awaiting extensive practical application. The most recent tendencies, also adopted by Italian legislation, are not favorable to continuous isolation. Indeed, this ultimately develops antisocial feelings in the individual; it should therefore be limited to the most serious cases and to the nighttime, as a source of valuable meditation, and separated from the harshness of gloomy and unhealthy surroundings. A perfect health-care service is also necessary, so that the convicted person may always be in the best condition to endure the punishment. This requires modern equipment, general practitioners and specialists, and special facilities for the sick, in order to prevent deterioration and contagion. As a preventive measure for this purpose, and for obvious reasons of humanity, nourishment must be wholesome and provide a sufficient minimum of calories. The variety and wholesomeness of the food are certainly compatible with the requirement that the prisoner should not find in prison a privileged standard of living compared with the environment in which he lived.
At the center of the entire penitentiary organization are those means designed to redeem and re-educate the individual. Although it is true that, in order to be effective, they require a favorable environment, these means, which are called factors of amendment, must not be confused with II. Holy Scripture already shows the afflictive character of work (Gen. 3, 19); it is also a social obligation from which precisely those who have set themselves against society cannot withdraw, and it is a most effective means of combating idleness and the consequent physical and moral depression, as well as of providing the penitentiary organization with the means it needs and the prisoner with the satisfaction of contributing to his own maintenance, his own re-education, and his return to society. In this regard, a trade must be taught to those who lack one, those who are already skilled must be enabled to advance in their own trade, physical and moral exploitation must be avoided, adequate wages must be paid, and suitable means and surroundings must be provided. Education, a factor of amendment of primary importance, tends to ennoble the convicted person’s spirit by combating ignorance, which is one of the remote causes of evil. Organized schools, well-prepared and kindly teachers, qualifications equivalent to ordinary educational certificates, wholesome and attractive reading, and modern pedagogical means, especially for adults often unaccustomed to the effort of learning, are increasingly pressing necessities. Religious assistance and acts of worship constitute a factor of amendment of the greatest importance. It would be a fundamental error to replace religious assistance with psychoanalytic and psychological treatment: psychology, in fact, remains a psychosomatic science, extending itself at most to the study of the effects of inner manifestations, which are something quite different from the soul and supernatural life. Moreover, if one reflects that crime is fundamentally a lack of love on the part of man toward society, and is often caused by society’s lack of love toward man, nothing outside religion and charity can repair this fundamental defect. Only the minister of God, who in forgiveness represents God himself, can restore enduring light and love. The prisoners’ communal prayer is the most moving and effective means one can imagine for their rehabilitation.
The problem of minors constitutes a particular chapter in the execution of criminal penalties. Without considering the preventive means that society must adopt for the better formation of young people (v. RECONVENZIONE), it is evident that measures of particular effectiveness must aim at the re-education of minors who yield to crime. In some Anglo-Saxon nations, the principle of supervised liberty has been applied to a considerable extent, and many also hope for its adoption in Italy. In any case, while the minor’s criminal responsibility remains established, penal institutions for minors should not have the appearance of a p., and punishment should be stripped of all material afflictiveness, assuming an exclusively re-educative character. The specialization of punishment should take on an absolute character with regard to minors.
A notable social function is fulfilled by all the organizations concerned with post-prison assistance. The efficacy of the penalty, measured in terms of the condemned person’s successful reintegration into an honest social life, must be facilitated by helping the condemned person in every possible way on the journey back. If society bears some responsibility for many of the crimes that are committed, the most perfect of penitentiary systems will never fully achieve its purpose unless it is complemented by an effective moral rehabilitation of the social environment.