Dietro le sbarre: escludere per includere? Carceri e detenuti tra Otto e Novecento

The essay deals with the history of the prison, from a place of detention to a “penalty of civilization” in the 19th century, up to the reforms of the last decades of the 20th century. The survey takes into consideration the Regulations that came into force over the course of a century (1891, 1931, and 1975), especially focusing on the prisoners’ life conditions rather than on the penitentiary organization. The objective is to understand if and how penal execution fulfilled the purposes, which had been recognized to penalty in different times. The gap between the theoretical discipline and the practical implementation of the inspiring principles of the regulations is particularly evident. Although they affirmed rehabilitating wishes and humane treatments, they actually regulated places where a minority of the population lost the sense of their identity and even of their existence.