Research Handbook on Penal Policy
The “Research Handbook on Penal Policy” explores the processes through which penal policies are developed, contested, and transformed, examining how punitive strategies evolve and why national systems tend to converge in some areas while diverging in others.
‘I sit somewhere in that sort of sweet spot’: Liminal legitimacy in criminal justice practice
The article explores the role of lived experience professionals in building trust and legitimacy in criminal justice, introducing the concept of “liminal legitimacy”. It shows how lived experience operates as both a relational resource and a fragile position within disciplinary systems.
National Study Day “Punishing Young People”
Registrations are now open for the National Study Day “Punishing Young People”, taking place on Friday, May 22, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Padua Correctional Facility.
R. Cornelli et al. (2026), The influence of delegitimization on prison officers’ readiness to use force
The article “The influence of delegitimization on prison officers’ readiness to use force”, by Roberto Cornelli, Chiara Chisari, Fabio Ferretti, and Oriana Binik, examines the factors shaping prison officers’ readiness to use force.
“I Don’t Believe You Anymore”. The eighth report by Associazione Antigone on juvenile justice in Italy
The eighth report by Associazione Antigone on juvenile justice in Italy, titled “Io non ti credo più” (“I Don’t Believe You Anymore”), examines the current state of the juvenile criminal justice system and the transformations it has undergone in recent years. Through the analysis of official data, monitoring activities, and direct observation in Juvenile Detention Centers (IPM), the report reconstructs the evolution of the system, offering an updated overview of detention conditions, institutional practices, and the main critical issues that have emerged within these facilities.
Designing spaces and relationships for a possible prison
The conference “Designing spaces and relationships for a possible prison” promotes an interdisciplinary discussion on prison architecture, relational quality, and institutional transformation. It brings together research and design practices, with a focus on reform and the social openness of custodial institutions.
Jailization: Entering the lobby to the US criminal legal system
The article introduces the concept of jailization to explain how local jail detention operates as an entry point into the US criminal legal system. It shows how even short-term confinement can produce enduring structural effects in processes of criminalization.
The politics of rehabilitation within Chinese community corrections
The article, combining theoretical analysis with ethnographic research, examines the system of community-based sanctions in China as an expression of a transformation in punitive power, in which rehabilitation is intertwined with new forms of state control.
Performing Rehabilitation: Reentry, Art, and Identity
The study examines the role of a community-based theater program in the social reintegration of individuals recently released from prison in the United States
Prisons. Antigone: “2025 Leaves Us with Increasingly Dilapidated, Overcrowded and Inhumane Facilities”
Prison overcrowding continues to represent one of the most serious critical issues within the Italian penitentiary system; it is precisely within this context that the report by Professor Della Bella, presented at the Conference “Prison Overcrowding and Dignity”, held in Milan on 15 October 2025, is situated. The contribution offers an in-depth and systematic reflection on prison emergencies over the past fifteen years and on the possible tools for addressing the current phase of crisis.