Corrections and Crime in Spain and Portugal during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Impact, Prevention and Lessons for the Future

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on corrections and crime in the southern region of Europe formed by Spain and Portugal. The main mechanisms of transmission of Covid-19 are the physical proximity between people and the fact of sharing eventually infected targets. In prisons and other correctional contexts people live in close proximity and share the same facilities. As a result, the correctional context has proven to be a critical "hot spot" for the transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic in inmates and correctional staff. First, the magnitude of the infection and their associated health and psychosocial problems (prison incidents, social isolation. . .) are described. Second, the main sanitary, social, and correctional measures applied to prevent contagion and their related damages are presented (lockdown, use of communication technologies with families, etc.). Third, it is analyzed whether there has been a relationship between the confinement caused by the pandemic and the crime rates observed in Spain and Portugal during this same period. Finally, from the impact in corrections of pandemic and the actions taken to fight it, several important lessons are derived for the future improvement of correctional systems.

Did COVID-19 Affect News Media Representations of Prisons, Inmates, and Correctional Officers? A Look Prior and Postpandemic

“…The close quarters for residents in correctional facilities leaves them vulnerable to the transmission of viruses such as COVID-19 through airborne particles. Overcrowding, the inability to physically distance one's self from others, and poor ventilation make inmates particularly susceptible to infection (Redondo et al, 2020;WHO, 2020a).…”

“…Another issue linked to COVID-19 is that of the incarceration of individuals from low-income, disadvantaged social groups, often ethnic and racialized minorities. That is, their health is typically inferior to the general population in the community, and they are more susceptible to infection (Lyons, 2020;Redondo et al, 2020). COVID-19, in particular, made apparent the social inequities faced by the marginalized, both in prison and in the community (Nowonty & Piquero, 2020).…”

“…The study focus necessitated a timeline for the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) China officer in December 2019, as a "pneumonia of an unknown cause", and it took three months before the WHO officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March, 2020 (Redondo et al, 2020;Schneider, 2021;WHO, 2020a). Consequently, a two-year sampling frame was used to draw news articles from March 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021, which included a year prior to the pandemic onset, and a year after.…”