NCJ Number
97767
Date Published
1984
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses theoretical concepts of crime prevention in Latin America, identifies criticisms and limitations of traditional crime prevention concepts in capitalist countries, and defines criminal policies in socialist Latin America according to the concept of legality.
Abstract
Discussions of Latin America delegates at a seminar in Costa Rica on the planning of criminal policy are summarized. Areas addressed include development and crime and regional cooperation. Crime and the abuse of power -- particularly economic power -- are detailed, and the violent situation in Latin America is characterized. Four types of violence -- individual, institutional, structural, and revolutionary -- are defined. The need to recognize the predominance of structural and institutional violence in Latin America is emphasized as a means of developing the field of criminology and of preventing violence. The discrepancy between the 'crime' and the 'criminal' in Latin America is explored. Those who participate in 'violence from below' are 'criminals'; those who commit 'violence from above', including torture and unjust imprisonments, are not. Politicians' viewpoints on political violence are reported, and some alternative crime prevention concepts are presented. In Cuba and Nicaragua, the main object of criminal policy is to secure the integrity of society and its members. Toward this end, Cuba has a law prohibiting antisocial behavior and has instituted citizens' courts. In Nicaragua, the Sandinistas use penal sanctions as an instrument of prevention for safeguarding society and reeducating Somoza's young National Guard recruits. Thus, the results of criminal policy depend upon the definition of justice. Thirteen references are included.