At the end of the 1980s, it was realized that the policy of punishment and institutions such as prisons were in a serious crisis, and that punishment did not achieve the proclaimed goals. The repressive concept of punishment has traditionally been resorted to, and it is still present in practice in most developed countries in the world. The application of a stricter concept of crime response did not significantly change the growth trend of crime; on the contrary, such an approach increased the number of prisoners to unsustainable limits for prison institutions. Starting from the effects of imprisonment, in particular long prison sentences and life sentences and the consequences of imprisonment, there are growing calls to limit or altogether avoid imprisonment, as its shortcomings are very serious and affect both the prisoner's personality and the society. As a result of more severe punishment, there was an increase in the imposition of life imprisonment. According to available data, about half a million people in the world are serving life sentences. Life imprisonment is imposed in 183 out of 216 countries and territories, and between 2004 and 2015 there was an increase in the imposition of this sentence by about 84%. It is certainly necessary, in the coming period, to find a balanced penal policy and, wherever possible, to impose alternative sanctions because of the negative impact and very visible negative consequences that imprisonment leaves.