'The tombs of the living': Prisons and prison reform in Italy, 1861-1915

摘要

This dissertation examines prison reform, and especially the idea of the penitentiary, in Italy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its first goal is to examine the theories of prison reform developed by Italian intellectuals, politicians, and prison reformers before and after national unification in 1861. Its second aim is to calculate how effectively these ideas were realized and implemented in Italy, especially during the liberal era, 1861-1915. Lastly, it seeks to explain what Italy's success or failure in prison reform reveals about the Italian state after unification.;Italians shared the European enthusiasm for the penitentiary. Led by Martino Beltrani-Scalia, the Italian prison administration made every effort to create a national prison system. The demand for a viable prison system was stimulated by a desire to alleviate Italy's "sad primacy" in crime. It was also driven by the belief that a viable prison system proved Italy's great power status.;Italy failed to realize the disciplinary ideal of the penitentiary, either before or after unification in 1861. Italy's experience with prison reform was, at best, incomplete and frustrating. The reasons for this are rooted in persistent financial problems during the liberal era. The economic and social differences between northern and southern Italy, both before and after unification, also made it difficult for the government to extend a national prison system across the peninsula. Another problem was the government's continual vacillation between the suggestions of the neoclassical and the positive schools of criminology. As a consequence, everyone was interested in crime and punishment, but no one could agree on the best criminal justice system for Italy.