NCJ Number
64921
Journal
REVISTA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS PENALES Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (ENERO-JUNIO 1978) Pages: 41-52
Date Published
1978
Length
12 pages
Annotation
THE LIBERALIZATION OF THE SPANISH POLITICAL CLIMATE AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE ADVENT OF THE NEW MONARCHY IN 1975 WAS REFLECTED IN LAW AND CORRECTIONAL REFORMS.
Abstract
THE NEW SPANISH GOVERNMENT'S INAUGURATION OF AN ERA OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS EXTENDED TO CRIMINAL LAWS AND PENAL CODES. THE AMNESTIES AND PARDONS OFFERED TO VARIOUS TYPES OF POLITICAL OFFENDERS REFLECTED THE WISHES OF THE SPANISH PEOPLE. THE PUBLIC APPEARED TO BE ESPECIALLY OPPOSED TO PENALTIES INVOLVING THE LOSS OF PERSONAL FREEDOM (IMPRISONMENT). THESE ATTITUDES WERE SHARED BY PROGRESSIVE PENOLOGISTS, BECAUSE IMPRISONMENT HAD FAILED AS AN AGENT OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION THROUGH TREATMENT. IT WAS GENERALLY FELT THAT SOCIAL 'REINTEGRATION' AS A CONCEPT WAS ESPECIALLY MISLEADING AND MEANINGLESS, WHEN APPLIED TO INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE NEVER SOCIALLY INTEGRATED TO BEGIN WITH, AND PRISONIZATION INSTEAD OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION WAS THE RESULT ACHIEVED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF PRISON LIFE. PUBLIC OPINION ALSO CALLED FOR, AND ACHIEVED, DECRIMINALIZATION, OR AT LEAST DEPENALIZATION, OF CERTAIN TYPES OF BEHAVIOR IT NO LONGER REGARDED AS CRIMINAL (E.G., SEXUAL, POLITICAL, AND TRAFFIC-RELATED OFFENSES). HOWEVER, AGAIN IN RESPONSE TO PUBLIC DEMAND, VARIOUS TYPES OF ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS CRIMES, AND CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT, WERE OFFICIALLY CRIMINALIZED. CRIMINAL LAWS WERE REFORMED BY DEFINING WITH GREATER PRECISION THE PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF CRIMES. CRIMES WERE ALSO MORE PRECISELY DEFINED, THIS WAS FOUND TO HAVE GREATER DETERRENCE VALUE. FOR THE FUTURE, SPANISH CRIMINOLOGISTS, HITHERTO EXECESSIVELY BOUND BY OBSOLESCENT THEORIES CORRELATING CERTAIN TYPES OF CRIMES WITH A CRIMINAL 'TYPOLOGY' (THE BORN PROSTITUTE, THE RELIGIOUS FANATIC) MUST CONTINUE TO EXAMINE THEIR PREMISES AND CONSIDER OTHER CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS, SUCH AS THE SOCIOCULTURAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE SEARCH FOR CONSTRUCTIVE ALTERNATIVES TO IMPRISONMENT MUST NOT BE SLOWED DOWN OR DEFLECTED BY SUDDEN CHANGES IN PUBLIC OPINION WHICH CAN CHANGE FROM LIBERAL TO CONSERVATIVE WHEN THE PROLIFERATION OF CERTAIN CRIMES, DIRECTLY AFFECTING THEMSELVES, THEIR FAMILIES, AND THEIR COMMUNITIES, PROMPTS THEM TO CLAMOR FOR A RETURN TO TRADITIONAL PENALTIES WITH A VENGEANCE. --IN SPANISH. (LGR)