Penitentiary Sistems

Code:

C305

Acronym:

SPEN

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Criminology

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S (since 16-09-2024 to 20-12-2024)

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Criminology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
C	56	Oficial Study Plan LC 2023	3	-	6	-
		Oficial Study Plan LC	3	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

- To point out the rise and evolution of prison in the picture of the evolution of the social systems, the penal philosophies, the knowledge about crime and sentences and the systems of social control in the occidental countries;

- To analyze the functions, purpose and criminal effectiveness of the punishment by confinement and penal sanctions and measures and frame the penitentiary policies in the frame of the criminal politics;

- Analyze the prison and the punishment by confinement in Portugal;

- Specificities of the inmate population: to know the effects of prison and ways of adaptation to prison;

- Framing the execution of custodial measures regarding the international respect for Fundamental Rights;

- Analyze specific problems in the prison context (e.g. violence, suicide, parenting etc..) and respective modes of intervention.

Learning outcomes and competences

The syllabus aims to provide knowledge about:
1) the emergence, evolution and current purposes of imprisonment, with special focus on Portuguese prison system, 2) the main specificities of the prison population and its adaptation mechanisms,
3), theoretical and empirical knowledge, on the major issues affecting the prison system today,
4) knowledge about the main rational for intervention in the prison context, concerning the prevention of recidivism.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

N/A

Program

I. The emergence and evolution of the prison: genealogical and historical approach: 

- The prison and imprisonment as primary sentence;

-Foucault and the disciplining role of prison and model of society that supports it;

- The prison models, their s evolution and scurrent situation in western societies.

II.  Prison sentence in Portugal and the Portuguese correctional system: statistical data and general trends

- The European recommendations (UN Convention, CEDH, CEPT) and the vision of the detained (from object to subject)

III. Issues in correctional systems:

- Prison overcrowding: Causes, consequences, system’s response;

- Violence and suicide in prisons: theories and empirical research;

- Prison adaptation: the effects of confinement and the different adaptive pathways;

- Female prisons: the maternity in prison;

- Intervention models in prisons: recidivism prevention and intervention in specific issues (violence, suicide, parenting etc..).

IV. Ethnographic studies in prisons: cultures, identities and social relationships: 

- Theoretical and methodological issues;

- Application of concepts to specific prison settings.

Mandatory literature

Antunes, M. J. & Pinto, I. H. ; CEP. Código Anotado., Coimbra Editora., 2001
Aos, S., Miller, M. & Drake, E.; Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not. , Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy., 2006
Bottoms Anthony E. 340; Alternatives to prison. ISBN: 1843921049
Crewe Ben 340; Handbook on prisons. ISBN: 978-0-415-74566-6
Coyle Andrew; Understanding prisons. ISBN: 0-335-21338-3
Dye, M. H. ; Deprivation, importation, and prison suicide: Combined effects of institutional conditions and inmate composition. , Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 796–806., 2010
Foucault Michel 1926-1984; Surveiller et punir. ISBN: 2-07-072868-0
Gendreau, P., French, S. A. & Gionet, A. ; What works (What doesn’t work): The Principles of effective correctional treatment. , Journal of Community Corrections, 13, 4-30., 2004
Granja, Rafaela; Beyond prison walls: The experiences of prisoners’ relatives and meanings associated with imprisonment, Sage, 2016
Granja, Rafaela; Sharing Imprisonment Experiences of Prisoners and Family Members in Portugal in Prisons, Punishment, and the Family: Towards a New Sociology of Punishment? (pp. 258-272). , Prisons, Punishment, and the Family: Towards a New Sociology of Punishment? (pp. 258-272). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Heilbrun, K., DeMatteo, D., Fretz, R., Erickson, J., Yasuhara, K. & Anumba, N.; How ''Specific'' Are Gender-Specific Rehabilitation Needs? An Empirical Analysis., Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 1382-1397., 2008
Jewkes, Ivone (ed.); Handbook on Prisons, Routledge, 2013
Johnson Robert 1948-; Hard time. ISBN: 978-1-119-08277-4
Kuhn, A. ; What can we do about prison overcrowding? , European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 2(4), 101-106., 1993
Levan Kristine; Prison violence. ISBN: 978-1-4094-3390-3
Liebling Alison 340; The^effects of imprisonment. ISBN: 978-1-84392-217-9
McCguire, J. ; What works in correctional intervention? Evidence and pratical implications. , In Gary A. Bernfeld, David P. Farrington, Alan W. Leschied (Ed.), Offender rehabilitation in practice : implementing and evaluating effective programs. Chichester, 2001
Reforma Penal Internacional; Dos princípios à prática: Um manual internacional para uma boa prática prisional, 1996
Rocheleau, A. M. ; An empirical exploration of the ‘‘Pains of Imprisonment’’ and the level of prison misconduct and violence., Criminal Justice Review, 38(3,) 354-374., 2013
Scott David; Prisons & punishment. ISBN: 978-1-4462-7347-0

Complementary Bibliography

Celinska, K. & Siegel, J. A. ; Mothers in trouble: Coping with actual or pending separation from children due to incarceration. The Prison Journal, 90(4) 447 –474., 2010
Gadon, L., Johnstone, L. & Cooke, D.; Situational variables and institutional violence: A systematic review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 515 – 534., 2006
Kuhn, A. ; Détenus: Combiens? Pourquoi, Que faire? , Berne: Haupt., 2000
Liebling, Alison.; Doing Research in Prison: Breaking the Silence?. Theoretical Criminology, 1999, vol. 3, pp. 147-173.
Phillips, Coretta and Earle, Rod. ; Reading difference differently? Identity, epistemology and prison ethnography. British journal of criminology, 2010, vol. 50 (2). pp. 360-378.
Porporino Frank; Strategies to reduce prison violence
Porporino, F. J., & Zamble, E. ; Coping with imprisonment. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 26, 403-421., 1984
Sykes Gresham M.; The^society of captives. ISBN: 0-691-02814-1

Comments from the literature

Throughout the semester, bibliography in electronic format will be provided, v.g. relevant scientific articles.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Lectures and practices in which the contents exposed are complemented by the application of the knowledge acquired to the themes presented.

Small group work will be privileged so as to analyse and discuss the subject matters through documentary source research prepared by the student and simultaneously granting the possibity of direct contact with the penitentiary system through visits to prisons.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	60,00
Trabalho escrito	40,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Trabalho escrito	15,00
Total:	15,00

Eligibility for exams

The successful completion of the curricular unit assumes that the student obtain at least 8 values in each of the evaluation components and the final score is equal to or higher than 10.

Calculation formula of final grade

Distributed evaluation will have a weighting of 40% of the final grade, corresponding to 8 out of 20. Since the final examination, therefore, a weighting of 60% (12 values).

Examinations or Special Assignments

N/A

Internship work/project

N/A

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

N/A

Classification improvement

Grade improvement is realized by written examination, applying the same formula of distributed evaluation.