Profesionalizace a modernizace vězeňství v období tzv. normalizace a úskalí jejich uplatňování v praxi
Professionalization and modernization of the prison system during the period of so-called normalization and the pitfalls of their application in practice

Summary/Abstract: In communist Czechoslovakia, “governance expertise” became an important component of the post-Stalinist elites’ policy. The Communist Party’s policy in the 1960s was significantly influenced by the idea that socialism with targeted support for science and technology would develop better and the economy would be more efficient. During the period of so-called normalization, the reforms of the Prague Spring were condemned, but expert knowledge was still highly valued. Science played a special role in the prison system, where the decreasing importance of the class concept of punishment led to the re‑emergence of the demand for a solution to the issue of recidivism. The study points out that scientists from various disciplines came to work in the prison system during the 1960s, analysing statistical materials, carrying out new surveys and research, and proposing how to transform the prison environment and correctional means and organize post‑penitentiary care to prevent recidivism. The aim of the present paper is to answer the questions of how the requirements for the application of science in the prison system were implemented and who supported the changes, to what extent these proposals were (not) implemented in individual prison facilities and how they were adopted by ordinary prison staff, as well as how the technocratic narrative was transformed during the 1970s and 1980s, and how these changes impacted on convicts.

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