The Italian Prisons: An Emblematic Case of Chance of Improvement of a Public Service

Abstract

The history of prisons is full of pains and contradictions in every historic period. Detention should be seen as a moment of transformation of an offender in a rehabilitated subject. To do this, we need adequate structures, which are able to support individuals by offering them the opportunity, "which in civil life did not have or have not been able to exploit", therefore, prisons where the prisoners do not spend their time lounging due to the absence of any activity, not a structure without services such as the library, recreation centre, etc. as well as not a dilapidated structure and hygienically deficient. A reintegration process has to take into account the place of the reintegration. In Italy the psychological and physical conditions, in which the prisoners and in general the users are forced to live, are beyond endurance. This condition of inefficiency characterizes the most of prison buildings and has inevitable negative effects on the economic administration. The aim of the manuscript is to analyse the physic and psychological elements, which influence the global comfort inside the prisons in order to identify economic and logistical solutions. The proposed methodology started with the singling out of critical points through questionnaires and surveys on the indoor condition. Then we will analyse a set of possible economic solutions both through possible legislative changes and through small intervention on the buildings.