Prison as a Mirror of Society: The Unequal Battle between Politics Science and Humanity Czechoslovakia 1965-1992

Socialist prisons have always been associated with repression, violence and bullying of political prisoners. However, our book shows something very surprising. The Czechoslovak prison system had been undergoing radical changes since the 1950s. New tendencies were promoted in various periods that aligned with the social and political situation. The prison system as a whole was not an institution that would evolve separately, regardless of changes in the society. The way it was managed was clearly shaped by people who were making decisions about where Czechoslovakia was headed, as penal and penitentiary policy was created at the highest levels.