NCJ Number
61721
Date Published
1978
Length
177 pages
Annotation
THE THIRD NATIONAL SEMINAR ON CRIMINOLOGY HELD IN PANAMA IN 1978 FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS OF IMPRISONMENT ON INMATES, URBAN CRIME, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, DECRIMINALIZATION, AND LATIN AMERICAN LAW REFORM.
Abstract
THE FIRST SESSION DEALT WITH THE EFFECTS OF IMPRISONMENT ON INMATES; THE LEGAL AND MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF DEPRIVING CRIMINALS OF THEIR PERSONAL FREEDOM WERE STUDIED ALONG WITH THE BIOLOGY OF PRISON LIFE, ITS CRIMINOGENIC EFFECTS AND HOW IT CAUSES DETERIORATION OF INMATES' PERSONALITIES. PRISONIZATION IS SHOWN AS A DESTRUCTIVE AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE PHENOMENON. MONITORING OF ONGOING PROJECTS IN NONINSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS, CHIEFLY IN THE UNITED STATES, IS RECOMMENDED. FORMS, MANIFESTATIONS, AND CHARACTERISTICS OR URBAN CRIME ARE THEN ILLUSTRATED, ESPECIALLY IN DEVELOPING LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES, AS A PRODUCT OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT, WITH ITS ANONYMITY, IMPERSONALITY, AND EASE OF ESCAPE. CRIMES TYPICAL OF LARGE CITIES ARE DESCRIBED. THIRD, THE THEME OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS PRESENTED WITH ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST ITS REMOVAL FROM ALL CRIMINAL CODES. THE DEATH PENALTY IS DISCUSSED IN PARTICULAR WITH REGARD TO ITS PRACTICE IN PANAMA, AND ITS APPLICATION TO PANAMA AND U.S. CITIZENS. THE FOURTH SESSION DISCUSSED THE REFORM OF LATIN AMERICAN CRIMINAL CODES TO MAKE THEM MORE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEW POLITICAL CLIMATE OF MOST LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES. FINALLY, DECRIMINALIZATION OF A NUMBER OF OFFENSES AND THE TYPES OF OFFENDERS TO WHICH IT SHOULD APPLY ARE WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF ALLEVIATING PENAL INFLATION AND FREEING MORE POLICE PERSONNEL TO CONTROL SERIOUS CRIME. APPENDIXES TO THE PROCEEDINGS INCLUDE STATISTICS, A PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS, AND THEIR EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE OF THE SEMINAR. --IN SPANISH. (LGR)