(Postmodernist) / Neoliberal Influence on Penal Policy and the Prison System vs. Prison Life Quality

Ilijić, Ljeposava (2024) (Postmodernist) / Neoliberal Influence on Penal Policy and the Prison System vs. Prison Life Quality. In: International scientific conference “Life in prison: criminological, penological, psychological, sociological, legal, security, and medical issues”, Institute of criminological and sociological research, Belgrade December 2 and 3, 2024. Institute of criminological and sociological research, Belgrade, pp. 359-372. ISBN 978-86-80756-73-8

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Abstract

Global changes in the social, economic, and social spheres, initiated forty years ago, have altered the key outlines of penal policy at both macro and micro levels, which has also affected the prison system and the prison community. In the domain of penal policy, the key consequences are reflected in the demands for more efficient law enforcement and harsher punishment, penal populism, the affirmation of victims’ rights, with an emphasis on the safety of the social community. The consequences of shifting the purpose and goals of punishment at the societal level, as well as corporate and managerial regulation within prison institutions, alongside classification assessment instruments for convicted persons, have reshaped the previous (traditional) roles and relationships between prisoners and professionals. The treatment of convicted individuals is increasingly characterised by distance, a lack of genuine care and interest. Contenptuous and impersonal attitudes toward convicted persons have emerged as common methods of treatment in prisons, impacting the moral dimension of the individual. The primary aim of this paper is the critical consideration of the consequences of neoliberal changes that have occurred within prisons. In this context, the author emphasises the importance of moral and social climate, its measurement, and improvement. The prison social climate is reliably measurable, which provides the opportunity to identify a good prison, one whose moral impact is satisfactory. The moral impact of a prison is precisely made up of interpersonal relationships and the material components of treatment, which create a gradation of the prison experience, determining it as less or more painful, inhuman, or humiliating. Better understanding and management of the prison social climate is an essential aspect of improving safety in prisons and the effectiveness of the execution of prison sentences.

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