The Criminological Personality Assessment in the Resocialization Process in Angola: Between Legal Theory and the Angolan Penitentiary Reality

Abstract

The Angolan penitentiary system faces significant challenges such as overcrowding, prison subculture, and a lack of security equipment, which often leads to violations of inmates' rights during their sentences. The legislation establishes different prison regimes—closed, semi-open, and open—depending on the inmate’s progress in the reintegration process. However, the lack of specific training for many prison staff compromises the effectiveness of resocialization programs. One of the key instruments for this reintegration is the criminological personality assessment, which allows understanding the inmate beyond the criminal act, considering internal and external factors that influence their behavior. This assessment is conducted upon the individual's entry into the prison facility and serves as the basis for planning a rehabilitation path tailored to their personal characteristics. Based on this assessment, inmates can be directed to appropriate programs for work, productive occupation, and psychological support, contributing to sentence individualization and decision-making regarding progression or regression in the prison regime. Angola has around 40 penitentiary institutions, classified into different categories, which reinforces the need for technical and personalized criteria in sentence management. The criminological assessment, therefore, proves essential in ensuring a humane and effective approach to inmates' social reintegration through the work of interdisciplinary technical commissions responsible for guiding and monitoring penal execution processes.