Overview

"During a period dominated by the biological determinism of Cesare Lombroso, Italy constructed a new prison system that sought to reconcile criminology with nation building and new definitions of citizenship. Italian Prisons in the Age of Positivism, 1861-1914 examines this ""second wave"" of global prison reform between Italian Unification and World War I, providing fascinating insights into the relationship between changing modes of punishment and the development of the modern Italian state. Mary Gibson focuses on the correlation between the birth of the prison and the establishment of a liberal government, showing how rehabilitation through work in humanitarian conditions played a key role in the development of a new secular national identity. She also highlights the importance of age and gender for constructing a nuanced chronology of the birth of the prison, demonstrating that whilst imprisonment emerged first as a punishment for women and children, they were often denied ""negative"" rights, such as equality in penal law and the right to a secular form of punishment. Employing a wealth of hitherto neglected primary sources, such as yearly prison statistics, this cutting-edge study also provides glimpses into the everyday life of inmates in both the new capital of Rome and the nation as a whole. Italian Prisons in the Age of Positivism, 1861-1914 is a vital study for understanding the birth of the prison in modern Italy and beyond."

Full Product Details

9781350055322

Table of Contents

Reviews

A long-time specialist and leading scholar in both Italian and criminal justice history, Mary Gibson skilfully interweaves the story of Italian prisons with the country's politics and culture. Her long-term framework and global perspective enhance the appeal of this book. * Pieter Spierenburg, Emeritus Professor of History, Erasmus University, The Netherlands * Mary Gibson's new book offers a fascinating, wide-ranging examination of the evolution of prisons in Italy. Theoretically sophisticated, and in various ways challenging Foucault's widely embraced scheme, Italian Prisons offers a clear road map through the twists and turns of the many theories of prisons developed in Italy and the ways in which these theories were translated into practice. Unusual in examining not only the course of men's penal systems but also those for women and juveniles, Italian Prisons sheds important new light on the birth of the modern prison. * David I. Kertzer, Professor of Anthropology and Italian Studies, Brown University, USA *

A long-time specialist and leading scholar in both Italian and criminal justice history, Mary Gibson skilfully interweaves the story of Italian prisons with the country's politics and culture. Her long-term framework and global perspective enhance the appeal of this book. * Pieter Spierenburg, Emeritus Professor of History, Erasmus University, The Netherlands *

Author Information

Mary Gibson is Professor Emerita of History at John Jay College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA. She is the author of Born to Crime: Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology (2002) and Prostitution and the State in Italy, 1860-1915 (2nd Edition, 1999).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available