Resumen

BRANDARIZ GARCIA, José Ángel. Great recesion and change of cycle of penal expansionism: Towards a revival of the critique of the penal system?. Delito soc. [online]. 2014, vol.23, n.38, pp.31-49. ISSN 0328-0101.

The penal expansionism witnessed by many countries, Spain among them, appears to have come to a halt since the onset of the Great Recession. The paper analyses this phenomenon through the Spanish case, attempting to examine its underlying causes. Moreover, the paper reviews the US case, thereby seeking to analyse whether the principle of scarce resources may contribute to open up a new period, leaving behind the penal expansionism of the recent past.

Palabras clave : Great Recession; Penal expansionism; Principle of scarce resources.