Comparison of international prison systems based on theories of punishment from a philosophical perspective: How the Ecuadorian prison system could be restored to avoid prison violence

Abstract

This article compares the international prison systems through a philosophical perspective, and thus evaluates their respective advantages and disadvantages to suggest the type of restoration that the Ecuadorian prison system needs to reduce prison violence. Various thinkers and philosophers, classical and contemporary, propose penological theories to determine the purpose and the features that characterize punishment. From the purpose of punishment proposed by Thomas Hobbes, related to his contractual theory, to the deterrent ideas of Jeremy Bentham, this article analyzes various theories that exemplify the manner in which various prison systems operate, emphasizing the penitentiary systems of Norway, the United States and Ecuador. Based on this analysis, different methods are mentioned to reform the prison system, facilitate the dignified rehabilitation of inmates, and reduce violence within prisons in Ecuador.