Lima Penitentiary and the Modernization of Criminal Justice in Nineteenth-Century Peru (From Birth of the Penitentiary in Latin America: Essays on Criminology, Prison Reform, and Social Control, 1830-1940, P 44-77, 1996, Ricardo D. Salvatore and Carlos Aguirre, eds. - See NCJ-168123)

• NCJ Number: 168125
• Author(s): C Aguirre
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: University of Texas Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay explains how the imitation of Western models and existing social tensions led to the adoption of the penitentiary in Peru, while prevailing patterns of social control and traditional mentalities undercut the accomplishments of the reform.

Abstract

The search for order and stability after a period of social dislocation found in the penitentiary the apparent ideal solution. The failure of the penitentiary to control crime, to reform prisoners and turn them into useful and productive citizens, reflected persistent colonial social hierarchies and mental settings in Peru. The project had inherent contradictions and not even those in charge seemed convinced of its suitability. This essay also examines the close connection between the adoption of the penitentiary and the development of a modern state and renewed efforts at social control. It shows how the adoption of European and North American innovations resulted from the elite's general fascination with them, regardless of their feasibility; this is a topic that the essay concludes says more about the elite's obsessions and mental settings than about social realities. Notes