In search of the future of penology. Can we escape from the fatalistic vision of criminal law?

Abstract

Penology, like the criminal law to which it essentially refers, is seen as a science in crisis. This crisis is related to the unclear conceptual and problematic scope to which it is intended to refer. In this text, the author presents a proposal for the broadest deployment of penology and juxtaposes it with contrology, a science that also includes methods of influence and control over human behaviour other than criminal. The author notes that it is impossible to predict the development of penology without reference to three factors that determine the development of almost all modern fields of knowledge: technological progress, medicalisation and economisation. It seems a sad anachronism to think about punishment as the basic response to crime in future. Instead, we should be aiming to develop methods to help people avoid situations in which their behaviour must be corrected through suffering.