Final Project: A World Apart

Final Project: A World Apart

M. Agustina Barton

CJS 230

April 25, 2011

University of Phoenix

Final Project: A World Apart

In this paper I will compare the corrections system of Argentina vs. United States. The different types of systems and institutions, the levels of security, the management, and prison life itself will be discussed. Also, I will decide the most effective correctional system and if the United States should adopt any aspects of the Argentine system.

The first penal institutions in Argentina were houses of corrections. But in the 1870s there was little progress in prison reform. In 1877, Buenos Aires had the first penitentiary opened. According to Roth (2006), the prison system was “based on a combination of Pentoville construction and Auburn discipline, prisoners worked in congregate settings during the day and were confined in solitary cells at night.” (p.13).

 In 1880 provincial prisons became federal prisons and during the same year, Italian influence and the analyses of Cesare Lombroso, convinced the Association for Juridical Anthropology to collect crime statistics.

Buenos Aires went through modernization in 1904, when its penitentiary adopted the Antonio Balve’s model which was similar to John Haviland’s model; the facilities were 5 glowing wings comprising 704 cells with two levels.

Many penology experts believe Argentina has the best prison systems in South America. Argentina’s prison system consists of 15 federal and 60 provincial prisons. The federal system has better management; the provinces of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires have the best prisons in the country.

Argentina’s federal prisons offer farms and open minimum-security facilities. Juveniles and women have special “houses” to train them in several trades and agriculture. More than 100 facilities accommodate just juveniles. Argentina like United States suffers overcrowded jails and prisons, yet it uses a grade system to determine release upon behavior as well as rehabilitation of prisoners.

The type of institutions and system of Argentina is exactly the same because is influenced by the same European concept of corrections. Argentina and the United States have been influenced by the Italian criminologist, Cesare Lombroso and adopted the Auburn system style.

Argentina’s correctional system has the bureaucratic style to run the prisons. The bureaucratic warden manages the internal and external environments. Internal environments are inmate social culture, prison's physical environment, and staff's culture. The external environments of corrections are the media, governor's office, and other officials; the civil department, rehabilitation advocates.  United States’ prisons are also managed under the bureaucratic management style. In addition, prison managers usually hold a college degree in criminal justice and sociology.

Population in Argentina’s prisons is a main issue for the correctional system. According to Aparicio and Ortenzi ( n.d) “The prison population rose from 29,690 (pre‐trial detainees and convicts) in 1997 to 54,000 in 2006. If one adds those who are detained in police facilities or in facilities of security forces, the total number is 60,621. The total present prison capacity is 46,494 places. There is a shortage of prison capacity of almost 25%.” (Aparicio, Ortenzi, p.188).

However the statistics do not explain that detention of pre-trial detainees can last months and even years; it is mainly due to failure in justice administration. Almost all prisoners are Argentine, Less than half are single and only 12% is married. A recent study demonstrated that drug offenses are committed mostly by women and foreigners. According to Alejandro Corda’s report and written by Kersten (2011) “Currently, the most common type of crime for which women are imprisoned within the Federal Penitentiary Service is drug offenses, and the prisons of the Province of Buenos Aires are starting to show a similar trend.” (Kersten 2011, pg.4).

Similar issues such as overpopulation in American prisons are a concern in the United Sates. For this reason, privatization is starting to be a solution and to alleviate the state financially. In Argentina most prisons are from the state, though correctional experts are considering privatizing some of the federal prisons in this country.

Argentina’s prisons do not have the same security level in all prisons. This South American country has special sections for:

·         Pre-trial detainees (federal level);

·         Closed facility with maximum security level;

·         Medium security level facilities;

·         Penal colonies or semi-open institutions;

·         Open institutions;

·         Half-way houses;

·         Medical institutions.

The same type of security levels are found in the United States corrections; both countries have maximum-security, medium, and low-security prisons and jails as well as semi-open institutions and half-way houses.

According to Ortenzi and Aparicio (n.d ), “94% of the prison population is of Argentine nationality, 73% is single and 12% is married, 70% of the prisoners is aged between 18 and 34, 94% is male and 91% came from urban area. 49% was employed prior to the detention, 77% has a low educational level, 49% finished primary school, 4% secondary school and 6% finished other studies.” (Aparicio and Ortenzi n.d, p.187-204). Inmates in Argentina’s prisons have the right to receive intimate visits from their permanent spouses or partners, and these visits should be discreet and respect decency.

Comparable to the Argentine prison life and sociological aspect, prisons in North America have social groups, language, gangs, and diverse demographic.

The prison policy in Argentina states that it is necessary to offer programs for inmates for a social re-insertion into society.  In fact, a new treatment called Socializing Pedagogical Methodology has been in used for over a decade with juveniles and adults in Federal Prison System. On of the programs for prisoners occur ninety days before they are to be released; the program prepares the prisoner intensely to return to society. Prisoners in the United States beneficiate from programs and rehabilitation before and after they are released from prison.

The Enforcement of custodial sentence Act is applicable to all inmates and consists in transferring him or her into semi open institutions. Parole days allow inmates to go home for 12, 24, or 72 hours. Work release allows the prisoner to leave prison and go to work. Parole days have to be authorized by a judge.

The United States has a very similar probation system. Prisoners can be released before they finish their time in prison and can be put on probation; half-way houses are available for those inmates who qualify and can go to work.

The first reformation-type amendment is called the First Triumvirate and it states “each citizen has a sacred right to the protection of his life, honor, freedom, and property; the possession of such right, center of civil liberty and foundation of all social institutions, is what is called individual security”. (Aparicio, Ortenzi, n.d). This clause also stated that no citizen could be sentenced without previous trial, or arrested without believable proof.

The United States of America has similar constitutional rights that protect the inmates from unnecessary punishment, a right to clean clothes, food and decent housing. In addition, all citizens are protected from unlawful search and seizures and arrest without consistent evidence.

The Argentine legal system is combination of U. S and European legal systems. The laws of Argentina are very clear and protect the human rights of the prisoners. However, from my living experience in this country, I can assure the laws are not practiced and the living conditions of the prisoners are not even close to the ones living in the United States prisons.

As mentioned before, the prisoners have their human rights guaranteed in United States more than any South American country. Nevertheless there is one thing the United States should adopt into its correctional system , is the right all inmates have, to have frequent visits from their long-term and permanent spouse or partner.    

Argentina and United States have been influenced by the same European criminologists.  With that said, their constant progress in corrections have been similar and happened at around the same time. Both countries have same type of institutions and system; same bureaucratic management; similar population and privatization issues and concerns; several prison security levels; same view on rehabilitation and programs, and constitutional rights that protect the prisoners. However, due to Argentina’s constant political and economic uncertainty, the law is not always, if not ever, applied.

References

·         Roth, M. P. (2006). Prisons and Prison Systems (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

·         kersten, T. (2011). Drug Law Reform in Latin America. TNI. Retrieved from http://www.druglawreform.info/en/country-information

·         Aparicio,Ortenzi, J. E. R. P. (n.d). Prison policy, prison regime and prisoners’ rights in Argentina. International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.internationalpenalandpenitentiaryfoundation.org/Site/documents/Stavern/11_Stavern_Report%20Argentina.pdf

Painting Styles Art 101

Painting Styles

M. Agustina Barton

ART 101

June 3, 2011

University of Phoenix

Painting Styles

Neoclassicism was an art movement that developed in the beginning of the 17^th century through the 18^th century. The neoclassicism replaced the rococo style and it was a combination of the last half of the Baroque art to the growing attention in traditional Greek and Roman relic. For this reason, neoclassicism art was interested in the collection of antiques.

In addition, neoclassic artists came across and unexpected problem because they were not sure whether a portrait of a hero or a famous person, should be represented like the traditional costume.

Moreover, neoclassical artists did not incorporate emotions and gestures in their artwork. For example, the lack of facial expressions in The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries is clearly seen in this paint; this neoclassical artwork was painted by artist Jacques Louis David in 1812. According to the National Gallery of Art (n.d 2011), “the painting is an artful contrivance to convey three aspects of his public image: soldier, emperor, and administrator.” ( n.d, 2011).

In The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, virtue has been emphasized with perfect proportions and colors that make Napoleon look like a high moral person; his posture also reinforces Napoleon’s perfection.

Impressionism developed in the late 19^th century to early 20^th century and it was influenced by the neoclassicists’ artists. In the late 1860s, Claude Monet began to employ a new technique invented by Edouard Manet. When other artists followed Monet’s lead, they opened their first exhibition, on April 1874. The name of this group was the impressionists because of Monet’s painting Impression-Sunrise.

Impressionists were much less interested in public criticism and it is characterized by the   brief effects of light; these are created by applying quick and small hits of color. The images of the impressionist art are typically leisure images.

An example of impressionist artwork is Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s The Luncheon of the Boating Party. In this painting Renoir’s friends are the characters of the artwork, as he shows them eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company. According to The Phillips Collection, “The painting also reflects the changing character of French society in the mid- to late 19th century. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes, including businessmen, society women, artists, actresses, writers, critics, seamstresses, and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society.” (The Phillips Collection, 2011).

Abstract Expressionism developed in the beginning of the 20^th century, around the 1940s. The Abstract Expressionist artists found their mentors from other artists who came to America during the World War II. These paintings are characterized by shapes, lines, colors, and forms that are not meant to represent reality but the immediate emotions the artist is experiencing. The Abstract Expressionists in America came together in New York’s Greenwich Village. Among the most famous ones, Jackson Pollock represented in his artwork the mood of the times.

According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2011), “The artist also used sticks, trowels, knives—in short, anything but the traditional painter's implements—to build up dense, lyrical compositions comprised of intricate skeins of line. There's no central point of focus, hierarchy of elements in this allover composition in which every bit of the surface is equally significant.

The Neoclassicism represented a very much “unemotional” society were conventional was the only way to express themselves. Impressionism represents a freer society; impressionist artists felt the need to paint “normal scenes”. Moreover, Abstract expressionism represents a suffering society that goes through the crisis of war.

 

References

·          Jackson Pollock: Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) (57.92) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Artfrom http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/57.92

·         Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748 – 1825). (1812). The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries[18th- and 19th-Century France — Neoclassicism]. Retrieved May 5, 2011 from http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg56/gg56-45831.0.html

·         Pierre Auguste Renoir (Impressionist). (1880-81). Luncheon of the Boating Party. Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/boating/index.aspx

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Film and Popular Cinema

Film and Popular Cinema

As soon as photography was invented, people, worked toward new ways of capturing the motion of images. Film and popular cinema were the result of the new photographs in motion.

Film is an art form, evaluated based on acting and special effects that create a story with an underlying message. A documentary is a type of film that reflects a specific culture or society. For example, The Gold Rush is an 80-minute film made in 1925 that represented the hard living conditions in which the miners lived in 1898.

Popular cinema is most interested in gaining an audience that to deliver an underlying message. Popular cinema is intended to entertain the audience when the pubic watches an enjoyable movie. For example the musical movie Grease does not intend to send a message to the public, but to entertain them with songs and dance.

On the other hand, the difference between film and popular cinema has begun to be indistinct. For example, the movie Titanic in 1999 was recognized for its perfect presentation of the era and the documentary part of the film.

Formal Analysis of Art art 101

Formal Analysis of Art

M. Agustina Barton

ART 101

May 20, 2011

University of Phoenix

Formal Analysis of Art

One of the most fundamental tools of art is line. Lines can divide objects in the picture and they can connect together to create an object. Lines also reflect movement and express the artist’s feelings and point of view of his or her environment.

Van Gogh’s paintings are considered very expressive works of art, by many people. Van Gogh’s use of line is free and loose, and almost out of control. Nonetheless, his work is consistent enough to recognize objects in the painting. The use of line Van Gog used in his work is autographic; the free and loose lines are his signature in every work. Van Gogh’s paintings show us how anguished and tormented he was. On the other hand, Sol Lewitt’s work shows us a different personality from Van Gogh’s. Lewitt’s lines are controlled, logical, and rationally organized, while Van Gogh’s are imprecise and chaotic.  Lewitt does not produce his work himself, but writes instructions for the museum staff to execute them. The lines in Lewitt’s paintings are mathematically précised and geometrical; the lines in Lewitt’s paintings are his signature because they always consist on vertical and horizontal lines that create squares. The geometrical lines represent a sense of order in Lewitt’s work.

In “Las Meninas” from Diego, Velazquez, the space is used to draw the viewer’s eyes to more than one place in the painting. It seems that Velazquez wanted to first draw the viewer’s attention to the princess, the infanta Margarita because she is in the middle of the painting and forward. Additionally, there is light in her face and several people seem to be looking at her. However, not all people in the painting are looking at the princess Margarita, but at the viewer so their attention "lies outside the picture plane" (Sayre, 2010). In the very back of the painting, there is a reflection of a couple, in the mirror; the viewer can assume that these people are looking at the couple who is having their portrait painted. Because of the interesting use of space in Diego Velazquez’s painting, the viewer makes him or herself questions of why some people are faced in certain directions, what they are looking at, or what they seem to be doing at the moment. This use of space is what makes the painting very vivid real.

In the Edward Hopper painting, “Nighthawks”, the artists is trying to portray the isolation of the average American; the colors are the way Hopper represents these emotions. First of all, the color inside the restaurant is very bright and clearly artificial. The main colors are yellow, beige, and orange, and together give the sensation plain and unwelcoming feeling. In the painting, the people seem to be isolated from one another and could suggest that humans are alone even though they have family and friends. It also tells me that people is alone when they face several problems in life. The colors outside the restaurant are dark and there is no sign of activity. The street is very dark except to the part where the streetlamp is and the man is just facing the dark side. I get a feeling of sadness and loneliness; it makes me think that the man drinking alone is depressed and sees the world as dark and sad.

Organizational space, lines and the use of colors have the power to show and reflect emotions of the artists and the way he or she sees it. The use of all space, colors, and lines can create either a very realistic scenario or unreal.

References

·         Sayre, H. M. (2010). A World of Art (6th ed.). : Pearson Education Inc..

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