The new perspective challenges both the conception of the criminal as a person with psychological problems and the inhuman, degrading, and retributive model of punishment that prevailed prior to 1959. Emphasis is on the examination of society and the elimination of those social deficiencies that are the sources and motivation of crime by the individual. It has been necessary to eliminate some of the normative prescriptions that no longer represent the legitimate interests of the majority and to adapt the old penal code to the new historical realities. With the introduction of new laws based on socialist principles, Cuba has created broader protections for its citizens and institutionalized civil rights. With these reforms has come an emphasis on prevention and a restructuring of criminal sanctions, particularly the mobilization of new correctional, educational, and social programs to replace the penal deprivation of liberty.