The Sustainability of the Portuguese Prison System: A Criminal Justice System in Masculine Form?

Abstract

Society has undergone an entire evolution in the field of criminal penalties, as people want to avoid, or ideally to extinguish, crime and consequent victimization. However, the human nature would hardly allow such utopian society to prevail. Hence, as individuals, we do have codes and bylaws that govern our society. The number of male prisoners is considerably higher in comparison to female prisoners. The aim of the present research is to analyze the sex inequality in the Portuguese criminal justice system, as well as to discuss the following questions: (i) Are men suffering from unjustifiable discrimination by the criminal system? Or, (ii) are there any physical and psychological differences between both sexes? A quantitative and qualitative approach was used. A legal framework was created regarding penalty enforcement, followed by a review of the literature approaching themes of criminology, victimization, and sex inequality. To enrich and empirically support this research, the statistics provided by the Directorate-General for Justice Policy of the Ministry of Portuguese Justice are presented, and a descriptive analysis on the evolution of the number of inmates in Portuguese prisons and juveniles detained in educational centers, between 2010 and 2019 was performed. Implications of this study are is discussed to highlight mediation in criminal cases as a neutral future.

The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention

“…The prisoner population is a highly vulnerable population, suffering from high rates of mental disorders, substance abuse disorders, poor medical conditions, old age, poorly hygienic dormitories, overcrowded facilities, high rate of infectious diseases, morbidity, and mortality [ 95 , 96 ]. Initially, the policy adopted to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 was to quarantine new inmates and the replenishment of PPE.…”

Health in Prison: Does Penitentiary Medicine in Italy Still Exist?

“…For example, the flow of services can be tracked within the prison environment, be they of an instrumental, physical, or pharmacological nature, and can therefore be analyzed with a view to ascertaining the prison population's welfare needs and determining the organization's response or remedial action in the event said flow corresponds to appropriate or self-serving ends. It also appears necessary to further study sex differences regarding health in prison, given the profound imbalance between the numbers of male and female inmates [29].…”

Female Crime and Delinquency: A Kaleidoscope of Changes at the Intersection of Gender and Age

“…In 2019, 11% of the juveniles detained in educational centers were girls (89% were boys) (Pereira & Correia, 2021), compared to 5.6% in 2005 (Gomes et al, 2018). Concerning the penitentiary system, in 2019 women represented 6.7% of the adult prison population (93.3% were men) (DGPJ, 2020;Pereira & Correia, 2021). However, the presence of female offenders in the penal system has been increasing in the last decade, with the numbers of female prisoners increasing from 613 prisoners in 2009 to 859 prisoners in 2019 (DGPJ 2020;Gomes et al, 2018).…”

“…As in other European countries, men over 20 years old are in the majority among the prison population in Portugal (Gomes et al, 2018). In terms of the representation of girls and women in the justice system, female offenders are therefore a minority (Gomes et al, 2018;Pereira & Correia, 2021) but their presence is increasing. In 2019, 11% of the juveniles detained in educational centers were girls (89% were boys) (Pereira & Correia, 2021), compared to 5.6% in 2005 (Gomes et al, 2018).…”

“…In terms of the representation of girls and women in the justice system, female offenders are therefore a minority (Gomes et al, 2018;Pereira & Correia, 2021) but their presence is increasing. In 2019, 11% of the juveniles detained in educational centers were girls (89% were boys) (Pereira & Correia, 2021), compared to 5.6% in 2005 (Gomes et al, 2018). Concerning the penitentiary system, in 2019 women represented 6.7% of the adult prison population (93.3% were men) (DGPJ, 2020;Pereira & Correia, 2021).…”