Understanding the experience of home detention: the presentation of the first results of a qualitative investigation in Naples

• In Event: Technology and control in community sanctions

Abstract

The Italian legislator has intervened on multiple occasions since 2010 to expand the possibilities of access to probation and community measures in order to counteract the issue of prison overcrowding. What distinguishes this new phase of Italian probation is not only an increase in the quantitative terms of the beneficiaries but also a profound qualitative change. In fact, the number of beneficiaries of home detention has significantly increased (over 30% of the total probation). This strategy has had the merit, for political and decision-making actors, of protecting them from security judgments by a portion of the public opinion that would not have supported structural reforms of the system with a decarceration perspective.
In the Italian field of sociological and criminological studies on probation, the area of home detention is still relatively unexplored. The idea of this investigation, therefore, arises from the need to explore the needs of home detention beneficiaries, a hybrid measure between prison and probation, in order to provide reflections and empirical evidence that can contribute to the knowledge of professionals operating in this field. This exploratory research aims to analyze the perception of home detainees regarding certain challenging aspects of the measure through a series of in-depth interviews.
This contribution will present the initial results of an investigation conducted on a sample of home detainees monitored by the probation agency of Naples (10/15 subjects). The sample includes a certain heterogeneity concerning various socio-demographic variables (gender, education level, nationality, residence) and legal variables (coming from freedom or detention, use of electronic monitoring bracelet, type of offense, type of prescriptions).

Author

• Andrea Procaccini, University of Naples “Federico II"