Double penalty and double right? Prison at the time of the covid-19

The spreading of the new coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) in Italy caused inevitable consequences also on our penitentiary system and on all the people that live and work there. Thoughts, experiences and strategies for coping with the emergency are reported through three testimonies of three Directors of Italian Penitentiary Institutes. In some cases, the crisis was managed using creativity, imagination and motivation. This attitude lead to valid treatments profiles and to functional communication systems between the prison and the outside world. The mediation of conflicts and the inevitable tensions caused by the pandemic emergency were well handled and the results are visible and concrete. © Pensa MultiMedia Editore – Rassegna Italiana di Criminologia.

Pandemic and right to university study in prison

The article n°34 of the Italian Constitution establishes that the school is open to all, without any reference to the personal conditions of the student that can be deprived of his freedom. This right to education is inviolable. The education is an es-sential element to reach the re-educational function of the sentence. The article n°17 of the Norms for the Penitentiary System establishes the important role of the in the external community and of private and public subjects to help in re-educating and re-socializing prisoners. In normal conditions there are often contradictions between the principle and the reality of prison condition so in a condition of crisis such as the covid-19 pandemic there is a high risk to break important achievements in this part. Our article starts from thoughts on the right to study in prison and on the history of Criminology’s attention to the treatment of the offender and from studies on the sector of sentence execution. Then our article presents the results of surveys carried out by the National Conference of Delegates of Rectors for the Prison University Centers at the prison facilities where they are established, during the Coronavirus Pandemic. © Pensa MultiMedia Editore – Rassegna Italiana di Criminologia.

Pandemic in prison

The coronavirus emergency led to a particularly serious situation, increasing the precarious conditions in which the external company found itself. The responses of the penitentiary world have produced heterogeneous consequences, in some cases resulting in violent acts, in others based on internal mediation strategies that allowed collaboration between prisoners and staff. The implementation of new measures such as calls on a daily basis and video calls, certainly contributed to alleviating internal tensions and marked an innovative turning point for the national penitentiary system. The main problem, however, remains as always the overcrowding: in Italy but also in Europe has understandably increased the management problems of the pandemic. © Pensa MultiMedia Editore – Rassegna Italiana di Criminologia-.