Prison Reform

Prison is a really complicated system. We want to keep society safe, which is why I think prisons are necessary. But, I don't necessarily agree with a strictly punitive type of prison system. I think our prison system needs to add focus to the rehabilitation aspect. Not every person who goes to prison is necessarily evil. Sometimes people just fuck up. I've definitely made plenty of mistakes in my life. Think about it from the perspective of someone who was born into poverty and surrounded by crime. Crime might have been the only way to put food on the table. Imagine being a kid and trying to help provide for your family, when kids aren't legally allowed to work. Where are you supposed to source money from? Then imagine being caught for committing a crime as a child, when all you were trying to do was make ends meet at home. You'd be a child with a criminal record. Good luck finding a decent job when you're released back into society. So then what? You still need to make money...

It's a terrible cycle that happens to hundreds of thousands of people. 

Obviously this is just one circumstance of how someone could end up in the system, and there are thousands of more reasons I could add that don't point to them being inherently evil and unfixable. 

I do think it's possible to rehabilitate the majority of prisoners. Just like with anything else in the world, there's a majority and then there are outliers. For those within the majority, there should be hope for complete rehabilitation and reintegration into society. For the outliers, we should still try to rehabilitate, but I don't think it would be safe to allow them to reintegrate back into society. (examples: child predators, serial killers, rapists)

Now one thing I do know for certain about prison in America is that a lot of these prisoners don't need prison. They are sent to prison because our country doesn't have the mental health and drug rehabilitation resources to help them. Prison keeps them off the streets in the meantime, which means that society doesn't have to think about it. It's screwed up, but it's true. American prisons are overpopulated and undermanned and lacking resources. This leads to cramped spaces, hostile environments, and a lack of proper care. Proper care and livable conditions are certainly needed in order to rehabilitate. 

Suicide is so high in American prison systems because the American prison environment is not conducive to cultivating a mindset of hope and success. It cultivates a mindset of entrapment, violence, abuse, segregation, and self-preservation. When all you are focused on is surviving, why would you care about the laws? The reality is that American prisons are violent. In order to survive in that environment, you don't get the luxury of thinking about anything except your survival. 

With that being said, I want to talk about a couple of things in the documentary, Lock-up: The Prisoners of Riker's Island. I think this documentary offered a very intimate and uncomfortable insight into the American prison system. 

The inmate Miguel was caught with a shiv in his cell. Now, I know that this is obviously illegal contraband and is dangerous. However, I understand why he made the shiv. American prisons are not safe. They are violent. To get through that, you need to have a survival mindset. You never know when someone is going to walk up to you and stab you. That's the brutal truth. So you either go about, unprepared- get stabbed and die, or you make a weapon of your own for self-defense. I do not know his intentions with the shiv. I do not know if he is the aggressor or simply trying to protect himself. Regardless, it highlights the danger within our prison system. 

The next thing I want to talk about from the documentary is the inhumane treatment of prisoners. This specific instance really hurt to watch. A pregnant female inmate had to carry her baby to term even though it died in her womb 2 weeks prior to her actual delivery. After she gave birth to her stillborn child, the facility immediately moved the infant's body to the morgue and would not allow the mother to see her child's body or allow the mother to bury her child. She didn't get a chance to even have a funeral service for her baby. I couldn't even imagine the pain she must feel. That is the most inhumane treatment I have ever heard of. Even during wars, soldiers were allowed to collect their deceased and give them a proper burial. You're telling me that a mother doesn't have the right to bury her baby? That's screwed up.

The last thing I want to talk about is the incident where an inmate with aids bit another inmate. The guard basically told the inmate that got bit, that he's screwed and probably just contracted aids. Why wasn't the inmate with aids separated from other inmates that did not have the virus? Since they were put in the same holding cell, where were the guards at? Why were the inmates not taken to medical after the incident to treat their injuries? To me, that was absolutely crazy. The prison guard actually seemed amused about the situation. 

Now, after looking at the American prison system, I want to talk about the more progressive prison systems in Northern Europe, highlighted in the readings.

Northern European prison systems focus on reform, rehabilitation, and reintegration into society. 

They offer free health care to prisoners, which includes mental health care. There are vocational and educational programs for the inmates along with the option to work. The guards and inmates have positive/cooperative relationships. Violence is extremely rare. Reincarceration and recidivism are extremely low (less than 20%).  Compared to America, 2/3 of released prisoners end up back in prison within 3 years.  

The proof exists. We need to make reforms if we want a better and safer society.