Talking with Elena Larrauri, full professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at the UPF Department of Law and director of UPF's bachelor's degree programme in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies since it was first taught in the academic year 2009-2010. She was awarded a prestigious Visiting Fellowship at the University of Oxford's All Souls College in the academic year 2013-2104.

- What conclusions have you drawn on the basis of your time at the University of Oxford?

That we could all be at the forefront of research if we were given the necessary means. As far as students are concerned, Oxford's great virtue is that, thanks to its colleges, it has a tutorial system that allows them to discuss things with their lecturers in small groups every week. For that to be feasible in Catalonia's public universities, some thought would need to be given to the distribution of time between lectures - which can increasingly be delivered via online recordings - and talking directly with small groups of students and finding out what they're thinking.      

- What could Spain import from UK in terms of criminology?

In relation to my work, the UK could import the relevance we attribute to rehabilitation here in Spain. Ideas such as everyone having the right to rehabilitation and that everybody can change are widespread in Spain's legal and social culture. Also, stemming from our belief in rehabilitation, the protection we afford the privacy of all individuals, including convicted criminals. We could import the UK's rigorous, respectful approach to discussing ideas and the certainty that there's always room for improvement.

"Ideas such as everyone having the right to rehabilitation and that everybody can change are widespread in Spain's legal and social culture"

- Criminology is a very recent addition to UPF's range of bachelor's degrees. How do you rate the programme, as its director?

I'd rate it as good, in general. In terms of capability and commitment, the University's lecturers are excellent. I'd like their situation to be more stable, but things are very complicated in that respect at the moment because of the economic crisis and the difficulty involved in contracting lecturers who specialize in criminology.

- Could it be said that television series have painted an inaccurate picture of the profession of criminologist?

Yes. Television offers a distorted, glamorized concept of the profession, and that's particularly true of American series. I say distorted because there's a tendency to confuse criminologists with criminalists, who are experts in identifying and tracking down offenders; and glamorized because such series focus on the most exceptional cases, overlooking the fact that prisons are awash with poor people who are excluded from society and often have drug addiction and mental health problems.    

- What are the characteristics of a criminologist?

Intellectual curiosity; indignation at the things criminals do, as well as the things done to criminals; and the conviction that some aspects of modern society can be reformed and changed.

- Are there job opportunities for people with this "new" professional profile in Spain?

There are two problems in that regard at present. Firstly, we generally work for public institutions - as advisors to town and city councils, police forces, prisons, centres for minors or victims, courts, etc. - and jobs are hard to come by for recent graduates because the public sector is currently at a standstill. Secondly, there's a great reluctance in Spain to employ people on the basis of their knowledge. There's an inclination, which is partly driven by corporate interests, to recruit psychologists, educators, social workers or jurists rather than specialized graduates. One possible solution is to pressure the public authorities to act more coherently by giving graduates from new, recognized bachelor's degree programmes a chance to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Another option some graduates are exploring consists of offering private institutions their services, ranging from guidance for law practices on preparing informative reports for judges to advising companies on crime prevention programmes.        

- Part of your research revolves around criminal records. What limitations can they involve for someone who has served a sentence?

There are a lot of jobs you can't legally do if you have a criminal record. Spain has various laws that make people with previous convictions ineligible for many civil service positions related to security and justice. Police and prison officers, firefighters, judges, public prosecutors and administration officials are examples. The absence of a criminal record is a requirement for other jobs too, such as taxi or lorry drivers and private security firm staff. Private sector employers don't have direct access to central criminal record information, but they can ask job applicants to provide a criminal record disclosure certificate. A criminal record is also a major obstacle to obtaining a residence permit and Spanish nationality. Even a minor offence committed many years ago and unrelated to your job can result in you being refused a residence and work permit.

"The availability of criminal record information is practically a lifelong form of punishment"

- So, can criminal records be a barrier to reintegration into society?

Yes, in many cases. The availability of criminal record information is practically a lifelong form of punishment. It also perpetuates the stigma attached to an act committed in the past and the perception of the person involved as an ex-offender. I believe we should form opinions about people based on everything they do rather than the worst thing they've done. Criminal records also deprive people of other social, political and civil rights, over and above affecting their job prospects and their status as residents and citizens.    

- What should be done to prevent that from happening?

Spain ought to establish a flexible criminal record cancellation system. Once someone has served their sentence, the tendency should be to aid their integration. Secondly, the requirement that generally rules out the possibility of people with criminal records working in the public sector should be abolished. It's curious that the public authorities should fail to comply with Spain's prison law by discriminating against individuals who've served their sentence. As far as refusing someone a residence permit because they have a criminal record is concerned, it would simply be a matter of treating non-EU citizens in the same way as we treat Europeans, by which I mean clearly stating that a previous conviction in itself doesn't constitute grounds for expulsion. 

LIKES...

People who do difficult jobs to the best of their ability.

A musician

Van Morrison.

A book

Restless by William Boyd.

A principle

Sincerity.

DISLIKES...

People with no sense of humour.

Further information

- She has been a lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a visiting lecturer by invitation at the University of Hamburg's Institut für Kriminologische Sozialforschung.

- She has carried out research work in Jerusalem, in Oslo and at New York University.

- She has been awarded Fulbright-La Caixa (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Alexander von Humboldt (University of Frankfurt) scholarships.

- She has been UPF's vice-rector for International Relations (2010).

- She founded and is a member of the Criminology and Criminal Justice System Research Group.

- She has chaired the European Society of Criminology (2007-2010).

- Her research focuses on the effect that criminal records have on the exclusion of young people from the labour market (Recercaixa, 2013).

- She has begun a research project on quality of life in Catalonia's prisons.

Interview published at UPF.EDU magazine, number 9