The Sentence of Damnatio Memoriae. The Historical Sardinian Prison System between Transformations and Disuse during the 20th Century

Abstract

The study proposes a synthesis of the articulated mosaic of information that emerged from the cognitive campaign on the historical Sardinian prison system conducted at the various archival institutions present in the regional and national context. In particular, some aspects related to the new educational orientations inspired by a greater humanisation of punishment and the consequent improvement in the treatment of prisoners, who began to be the object of care and re-education rather than repression and punishment, have been examined in depth. These ideas were put into practice in the first half of the 20th century when a series of circulars were issued prescribing the functional modernisation of the old prison structures, dictated by renewed requirements of liveability and more modern social and hygienic needs. The new model of prison life thus determined the need to provide for the improvement of the places and spaces of punishment through the preparation of an organic plan of works capable of providing for the complete reorganisation of prison buildings.