L’affettività in carcere: modelli da ripensare

Mag 5, 2021

DOI: https://www.cesp-europa.org/rivista/aisp2020t101/
Autore: Domenico Alessandro De Rossi
Affiliazione: Vicepresidente, CESP

Altri Autori:


Abstract:

When we talk about “Polis carceraria” we refer to the criminal conviction which from abstract thought becomes action and which is transformed into physical matter to seize from the condemned his time and his freedom of movement in space. Necessary for this passage are the men and the resources, the procedures and instrumental means. These include special physical environments, differentiated by function, size and purpose. This special habitat with its physicality, conditions and influences with the “stone”, transforming the mind of man day after day. Architectural space “sculpts” over time and modifies human behavior also in the physical: changes that can be for improvement or pejorative. The inadequacy of our prisons, certified by the various convictions of the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights, also lacks environmental resources destined for learning, laboratories for work, gyms and outdoor areas for physical recreation, also suffering from a very low “formal” quality. The absence of suitable spaces for spirituality and family relationships with younger children and affective relationships reserved for the spouse makes us understand how the environment negatively affects the physical and mental health of those who are forced into unacceptable spaces for years: animal cages . In prisons, ugliness, degradation, neglect and abandonment, noise, aggressive gestures become the perceptive horizons of everyday life for those in prison. It is necessary to transform the prison from a penitentiary to a social structure for behavioral correction and rehabilitation, according to the true meaning of the inspiring principles of human rights. The awareness of the role played by the environment and the functions inside the prison (in addition to the mandatory safety devices) has made it clear that the prison structures, as they present themselves in the majority of cases today in their physical building conformation, inflict to the condemned and those who work within varying degrees of suffering, distress and depression. The current health crisis caused by Covid 19 is a fundamental issue to which the utmost attention must be paid in relation to the prison issue with a dedicated rethinking of the distance between prisoners. This will determine in the future a new strategy of penitentiary proxemics, because the changed meaning of distance will also represent the real next anthropological, legal and cultural challenge on the level of the neuro sciences to better contrast the risk of viral contagion and that of revolts and that of recidivism. (article language:Italian)

L’affettività in carcere: modelli da ripensare

Scarica l’articolo in formato PDF