Imprisonment and internment: Comparing penal facilities North and South

Birkbeck, CH

Abstract

Recent references to the ‘warehouse prison’ in the United States and the prisión-depósito in Latin America seem to indicate that penal confinement in the western hemisphere
has converged on a similar model. However, this article suggests otherwise. It contrasts penal facilities in North America and Latin America in terms of six interrelated aspects: regimentation; surveillance; isolation; supervision; accountability; and formalization. Quantitatively, control in North American penal facilities is assiduous (unceasing, persistent and intrusive), while in Latin America it is perfunctory (sporadic, indifferent and cursory). Qualitatively, North American penal facilities produce imprisonment (which enacts penal intervention through confinement), while in Latin America they produce internment (which enacts penal intervention through release). Closely entwined with this qualitative difference are distinct practices of judicial involvement in sentencing and penal supervision. Those practices, and the cultural and political factors that underpin them, represent an interesting starting point for the explanation of the contrasting nature of imprisonment and internment.

Citation

Birkbeck, C. (2011). Imprisonment and internment: Comparing penal facilities North and South. Punishment and Society, 13(3), 307-332. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474511404320

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 12, 2011
• Journal: Punishment and Society
• Print ISSN: 1462-4745
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 307-332
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474511404320
• Keywords: imprisonment, internment, Latin America, North America, penal facilities
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1462474511404320
• Related Public URLs: http://pun.sagepub.com/
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