Criminal Sociology

Today, the overcrowding of prison populations has caused serious problems in all societies so that in many ways undermined the correctional and educational achievements. In many countries of the world, the overcrowding population of prisoners has brought nothing except huge costs, an impediment to the public order of the prison, conflict, riot, strike, etc. It has made the authorities to take steps to reduce the prison population. The prison sentence for any form of criminal behavior that is determined arbitrarily neither based on scientific logic nor on the basis of the personality characteristics of individuals and entities of society, on the one hand, causes the increase of the prison population and represents an ugly face of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the world and, on the other hand, causes the family of prisoners to be wandered and overwhelmed by the effects and consequences of this punishment. It is impossible to deny the prison functions because it has punitive and corrective functions so that multiple objectives can be achieved by its implementation. Therefore, it cannot be ignored totally. Imprisonment is still considered as a solution, and if it turns to be a problem in some cases, it is due to other factors and conditions that need to be addressed and improved. If imprisonment is used logically, then it will be effective and will certainly not be problematic. In particular, it should be emphasized that non-criminal solutions and imprisonment alternatives will be effective when it is used in place. Accordingly, the penal policy in post-revolutionary penal law has contributed to the increased prison population by imposing ineffective and prison-based laws in the general section, and also by increasing the criminalization and determination imprisonment as the dominant type of punishment in the section of general laws defining punishment with increasing crime However, following the problems and corruptions as well as the need for resolving this challenge, the legislature took steps to change its legislative penal policy through the Islamic Penal Code of 2013 in accordance with the inspirations and solutions of international organizations. It resulted in the reduction of imprisonment and consideration of prison as the last punishment.

The legislator has adopted a policy of repression and aggravation of punishment in drug offenses. Undoubtedly, the legislator has adopted such measures due to the obscenity and severity of these crimes, as well as their danger to society. However, it seems that this penal policy is not useful for many reasons and does not move the legislator toward its goal (prevention of crime, recidivism, and reform of the offenders); It is probably due to the fact that imposing heavy punishments is reasonable and correct regardless of the causes and factors of the crime, as well as the circumstances in which the person committed the crime. The thing that prevents offenders and people from committing or repeating offenses is the speed and precision of executing the punishment, not the heavy ones. Hence, with regard to the shortcomings of this policy and the weakness of the deterrent theory against social, economic, cultural, and political crime factors at some periods of time, and in particular recently, the legislator has tried to moderate its penal policy. In 2017, an article was added to the Counter-Drug Law to undergo a fundamental change, including the significant reduction in cases of execution and life imprisonment. The moderation of penal policy against drug and psychotropic crimes plays a major role in the elimination of death sentences from the Iranian criminal justice system and promotes human rights status of Iran in the international community. This moderation is originated from the post-revolutionary criminal sociological study as well as internal and external criticisms of strict penal policy; internal criticism was from jurisprudential, legal, human rights, criminology, and criminal sociology circles.