Comparison of the Italian Prison System to Ours Essay

university of phoenix| A World Apart| A Comparison of the Italian Prison System to Ours| | Matthew Kramer| 4/23/2011| | The Italian correctional system although much older than the American system are very comparable to each other. Both have come from fledgling institutions in the past that have both evolved because of officials in higher positions as well as concerned citizens that have voiced their opinions on how inmates are treated and how they are housed during their sentences. They have both experimented with the Pennsylvania and Auburn style types of correctional institutions. While America has primarily gone with just one of the models Italian prisons have taken a mix of both throughout their country. Their types of institutions are also pretty much the same as we have here with problems with overcrowding and underfunding. Italy has designated three separate penal housing authorities that are divided into three preventative detention institutions these are as follows: The preventive detention centers, the institutions for the execution of sentences and the institution of security measures. However the building of these institutions has been a problem due to funding and has also placed many inmates in cells that are built for one inmate. America also has the same problem with overcrowding and underfunding causing our country to place more inmates in spaces that were not designed for that many people. We will not place more than two inmates to a cell as where in Italy you may see more than two in a cell for a period of time because there is nowhere else to put them. The institutions for the execution of sentencing are divided into sub groups of arrest centers and detention centers. The institutions of security measures are also broken up into prison farms, work homes, treatment and custody centres and judicial psychiatric hospitals. American correctional institutions also have something similar to this although most of these are accompanied under the same umbrella. Inmates that enter the American system initially go to prison and from there unless sentenced differently they will be placed in a half way house or probation and parole house. Mental health inmates tend to stay at the prison while some will be moved to state mental hospitals for further treatment. The population of the two different correctional systems is very different here in America our inmate population is at almost 2. 5 million as of a survey done in 2008 while in Italy their total inmate population as of 1997 forward was at 55,136 and counting but the comparison of numbers to each other is very different. Many argue that this is due largely to our freedom and laws that govern our land and the allowance for the right to bear arms in the United States. Italy is a country of great reform and is always changing their laws this might also have an effect of how many inmates also make it in to prison. While American prisons are overrun much more then Italy’s are this forces us to privatize our correctional institutions to save space and maybe some money but mainly space. Since Italy’s inmate population is relatively low compared to ours but they do face overcrowding due to the limit of prisons they have built they do not tend to privatize the inmates out. Italy’s security levels are also similar to ours in they will segregate inmates that are more violent and volatile than others. The first level which is their high security is designed to hold inmates that have been convicted of a crime involving the Mafia, kidnapping, extortion or drug trafficking. First level prisoners will be assigned to prisons out of their areas that they live they are also not allowed out of their living areas which means anything that they do as far as programming, school, talking, walking etc. The second level which is their medium security and makes up most of their inmate population have all the schooling and programming that is available. The third level or minimum security is the lowest level and are allowed to have little supervision and placed in the least restrictive areas there are. American prisons are generally the same as we have the same levels our inmates are categorized with other levels within these levels that will determine what type of perks they are allowed while locked up. Prison life in both countries probably only differs little due to the prison that you are locked up in to the people that make the laws. For everything else how you have to watch your back and the groups that inmates will place themselves with for protection this does not change just from country to country you will see remains the same. Italy has three types of release that is comparable to America’s parole they are conditional release, amnesty and pardon. Conditional release is the most widely used in the country and is more like American parole then the other two. Inmates can be granted this if they have served at least 30 months or at least half of their sentence. They must have been good inmates while they were incarcerated and also they must believe that the inmate will be successful if released. They still must report to someone and get a job and have a place to live which is the same for American inmates on parole. Amnesty can be granted before or after the sentence and it basically commutes the sentence this was very unpopular and not used very much and since 1992 no amnesties have been granted. Pardons are the same in Italy as they are in America and can be granted by a governor or president. Article 111 of the Italian Constitution which was amended in 1999 will allow the defendant the right to question the accused and all parties to be cross examined. As where before a person could be convicted based on statements made during the preliminary phase of a trial. This allows inmates before sentenced or found guilty of a crime the right to face their accuser and question them as to why they are accusing them of committing a crime. The comparison of the two correctional systems you can see a lot of similarities and then there are vague differences. In my opinion I would take the American correctional system over the Italian one. This is due to the reading I have done and the way the Italian courts and correctional system are set up.