The path towards a Basque prison model: a general overview

• In Event: The Basque prison model: achievements and pending challenges

Abstract

The devolution of penitentiary matters to the Basque Country has taken place in a context that presents significant challenges and great opportunities. The politically motivated violence during the years of ETA’s activity delayed the devolution, and once it had taken place, it influenced some of the challenges faced by the Basque Country in the management of the same. The presentation aims to explain the context of the Basque penitentiary model, focusing mainly on the situation of Basque prisons in terms of infrastructures, inmates’ profiles, and treatment-related challenges, emphasising the particular problem of women prisoners. This overview will also address the particularities concerning the civil servants working in Basque prisons. In the case of convicts and civil servants, the intervention will be accompanied by the provisional results obtained after administering the survey on the quality of prison life to both groups, all these aspects being subject to further development by the rest of the panel members.

Author

• Enara Garro Carrera, University of the Basque Country