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This study of Latin America's prison crisis is for students and analysts of law, crime, sociology, and political science. Featuring the testimony of thousands of inmates interviewed across eight Latin American countries, it provides an understanding of how crime and the justice system operate in the region.
List of contents
1: Introduction; 2, The Prison Explosion in Latin America; 3. Explaining the Prison Growth; 4. Drugs and Prisons; 5. Women Imprisonment and Violence in Latin America; 6. Justice Institutions in Latin America; 7. Life in Prison; 8. Hobbes in Prison; 9. Prison and the Outside World: The Fallacy of Separation; 10. Conclusions; Corrections and Criminal Policy.
About the author
Marcelo Sergio Bergman is Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the National University of Tres de Febrero (UNTREF). He has conducted empirical research on crime for the last twenty years while working in the USA, Mexico, and Argentina. His book More Money More Crime (2018) won the 2019 most outstanding book award by the Comparative and International divisions of the American Society of Criminologists. He has directed many data collection projects and is the founding director of two research centers: PESED (CIDE-Mexico) and CELIV (Argentina).Gustavo Javier Fondevila is Professor of Law at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE). He is one of Latin America's foremost criminologists and is a leading expert on prisons in the region. Fondevila has published numerous books and papers in prestigious international criminology journals.
Summary
This study of Latin America's prison crisis is for students and analysts of law, crime, sociology, and political science. Featuring the testimony of thousands of inmates interviewed across eight Latin American countries, it provides an understanding of how crime and the justice system operate in the region.
Additional text
'The prison crisis is a problem present throughout Latin America. Often made invisible by policies that emphasize punishment and a citizenry that seeks protection from crime; in most countries prisons are places of violence. In this excellent work, Bergman and Fondevila describe the multiple dimensions of the crisis and confirm that waves of incarceration have been key factors in increasing crime and violence. An urgent and necessary book, based on unique and comparative evidence, that allows us to further discuss a key issue to reduce violence and crime in the region.' Lucía Dammert, Universidad de Santiago de Chile
