Dean of the Faculty of Social Wellbeing, Professor Andrew Azzopardi, called for the abolishing of solitary confinement as a punishment in prison, calling it “nothing less than a manifestation of barbarism and violence which is not respectful of today’s progressive communities”.
The statement comes in light of tougher measures being taken in Corradino Correctional Facility, particularly against drug use and distribution.
He said that he is against solitary confinement “in all its forms”, although he said that his position is that prisons in their current format are harmful to humans and detrimental to wellbeing.
This, he maintained, was due to the fact that “the need for vengeance is still pronounced in our public psyche”, and because “we still relish a prison system that is essentially retributive rather than rehabilitative”.
“Solitary confinement unjustly weighs against the perpetrator of the crime and does not respect the notion of proportionality.”
He called for academics, policy makers, practitioners, politicians need to sit around a table and find alternative ways of retaining order and stability within the prisons system.
“The Criminal Code, Prisons Regulations and the CCF Inmates Handbook that dictate the use of SC need to change.”
Azzopardi explained that solitary confinement is “ineffective” and impacts the human person on all possible levels, most of it permanently or long-lasting.