[Critical evaluation of penitentiary treatment in a comparison of normal and mentally ill prisoners].

Abstract

The literature on the treatment in regard of criminals, normal or mentally unbalanced, has been particularly abundant in recent years. The present work reviews some of it, with a view to establishing some evaluation criteria in respect of treatment, in its practical implementation and at the level of scientific research in the sector. In the first part of this work, starting from recent and drastic criticisms on treatment, that point out the inefficacy of it in respect of a decrease in the relapsation rate, an analysis is carried out, on the basis of the latest research work, of the methods of execution and of the results obtained by the various treatment methodologies applied; also highlighted are the weak spots that still exist, at the level of methodological approach, in the scientific research sector, as well as the poor integration existing between the latter and administrative structures of the criminal execution setup. The second part of the work chiefly deals with of the psychiatric features of the treatment vis-à-vis normal or mentally unbalanced convicts; as it is pointed out, psychiatric treatment is confronted with special difficulties in its intramural application, owing to the ever existing conflicting views between the experts and the administrative setup; the efficacy and the possibility of implementation are pinpointed, of some therapeutic treatment methodologies (individual psychotherapy--group psychotherapy--group counseling). A picture emerges therefrom that is by far less alarming than the initial assumption: the practical application of the treatment may be improved and made more effective, whilst the rôle psychiatry must acquire in the work towards the rehabilitation of the criminal, must be necessarily defined.