U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Lima Penitentiary and the Modernization of Criminal Justice in Nineteenth-Century Peru (From Birth of the Penitentiary in Latin America: Essays on Criminology, Prison Reform, and Social Control, 1830-1940, P 44-77, 1996, Ricardo D. Salvatore and Carlos Aguirre, eds. - See NCJ-168123)

NCJ Number
168125
Author(s)
C Aguirre
Date Published
1996
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This essay explains how the imitation of Western models and existing social tensions led to the adoption of the penitentiary in Peru, while prevailing patterns of social control and traditional mentalities undercut the accomplishments of the reform.
Abstract
The search for order and stability after a period of social dislocation found in the penitentiary the apparent ideal solution. The failure of the penitentiary to control crime, to reform prisoners and turn them into useful and productive citizens, reflected persistent colonial social hierarchies and mental settings in Peru. The project had inherent contradictions and not even those in charge seemed convinced of its suitability. This essay also examines the close connection between the adoption of the penitentiary and the development of a modern state and renewed efforts at social control. It shows how the adoption of European and North American innovations resulted from the elite's general fascination with them, regardless of their feasibility; this is a topic that the essay concludes says more about the elite's obsessions and mental settings than about social realities. Notes