NCJ Number
118779
Journal
International Journal of the Sociology of Law Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1989) Pages: 131-145
Date Published
1989
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The 11th International Penitentiary Congress in Berlin in August 1935 occasioned a public debate between delegates holding differing views on the purposes of prison discipline and penal policy.
Abstract
The National Socialist German delegates put forward an approach founded on Nazi philosophy, which included an emphasis on eugenic measures to eliminate criminality stressing the idea that criminality and character were transmitted biologically. The British delegates, on the other hand, emphasized a classical view of prison discipline: Criminality, while effected by heredity and environment, was primarily the result of free moral choice, and the moral reformation was therefore an important part of penal discipline. The nations subsequently adopted the minimum standard for the treatment of prisoners for which the English had pressed, including freedom of worship, prohibition of slave labor, and cessation of violence and starvation of prisoners. 21 notes and 33 references.