The book presents historical outlooks on prison reform and criminology in the Latin American context. The essays in this volume examine the discourse and practice of prison reform, the interpretive shifts induced by the spread of criminological science, and the links between them and competing discourses about class, race, nation and gender. Topics discussed include: (1) the Lima Penitentiary and the modernization of criminal justice in 19th century Peru; (2) the female delinquent and the Santiago de Chile correctional house; (3) stories from Rio de Janeiro's prisons; (4) servile labor and penal servitude under colonialism in 19th century Puerto Rico; (5) capitalist development, prison reform and executive power in Mexico; (6) comparison of Brazil and Argentina with regard to penitentiaries, visions of class, and export economies; and (7) confinement, policing and the emergence of social policy in Costa Rica, 1880-1935. Notes, bibliography, index