El Instituto de Criminología y la "mala vida" (1907 - 1913)

Abstract

El objetivo de este trabajo es describir la noción de la "mala vida" a partir de historias clínicas producidas desde el Instituto de Criminología de la Penitenciaría Nacional de Buenos Aires entre 1907 y 1913. Por "mala vida" entendemos aquellos comportamientos considerados peligrosos que se ubicaron entre la locura y el delito. Esta noción fue vinculada con categorías de la corriente psicopatológica criminal iniciada en Argentina por José Ingenieros. Para ese propósito nos referiremos a las funciones del instituto y a tres historias clínicas: el caso de los detenidos Castruccio, Godino y Puglia.

The aim of this paper is to describe three medical records of the detainees Luis Castruccio, Cayetano Santos Godino and Alejandro Puglia that were produced in the Institute of Criminology at the National Penitentiary in Buenos Aires between 1907 and 1913 and published in the journal Archivos de Psiquiatría, Criminología, Medicina Legal y Ciencias Afines. In those records some aspects can be related with the notion of “mala vida” that included behaviors considered dangerous between the crime and the madness and was linked with categories of the criminal psychopathological discipline that was initiated in Argentina by José Ingenieros. For that purpose we will describe the historical context of the emergence of the notion of “mala vida” in this period, aspects of prison and theoretical models that converged on the subject. In addition, we will refer to the journal Archives, the National Penitentiary, the functions of the Institute of Criminology, and, finally, the medical records.