Prisons in Crisis

“Building more prisons to address crime is like building more graveyards to address a fatal disease.”—ROBERT GANGI, CORRECTIONAL EXPERT.

IN A WORLD where political correctness often whitewashes the darker side of reality, we have soft alternatives for the bleak word “prison.” We prefer “penitentiary” or “correctional facility,” where “vocational training” and “social services” are provided. We even favor the term “inmate” over the dehumanizing word “prisoner.” Yet, look under the veneer, and you will find that prisons are facing serious problems today, such as the skyrocketing cost of keeping offenders behind bars and the ever-widening gulf between the aims of incarceration and the actual results.

Some people question the effectiveness of prisons. They note that while the number of prisoners worldwide has soared to over eight million, the crime rate in many lands has not significantly diminished. Moreover, while a large number of those in prison are there for crimes involving drugs, the availability of drugs on the street is still a grave concern.

Nevertheless, many consider imprisonment to be the punishment of choice. They feel that when the offender is jailed, justice is served. One journalist describes the zeal to put criminals behind bars as “lock-’em-up fever.”

There are four principal reasons why lawbreakers are put in prison: (1) to punish the offenders, (2) to protect society, (3) to prevent future crimes, and (4) to rehabilitate criminals, teaching them to be law-abiding and productive after their release. Let us see if prisons are accomplishing these objectives.

Is the Solution Part of the Problem?

“Demeaning and demoralizing prisoners is the worst way to prepare them for the world outside.”—AN EDITORIAL IN THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION.

IN MANY cases prisons simply act as a restraint—and a temporary one at that. When a prisoner is released, has he really paid for his crime?a What about the victims or their loved ones? “I am the mother of a murdered child,” pleaded Rita when the convicted killer of her 16-year-old son was released after serving only a three-year sentence. “Please stop for a moment. Think. Can you begin to imagine what this means?” As Rita’s case illustrates, tragedy often lingers long after the courts have finished their business and the headlines have faded.

This issue is of concern not only to those whose lives have been touched by crime but also to everyone else. After all, whether released prisoners have been rehabilitated or simply hardened by their experience behind bars has a direct bearing on your peace of mind if not on your very safety.

Schools for Criminals

The prison system does not always quell criminal behavior. “When money is poured into building another prison cell at the expense of rebuilding a prisoner’s self-image, it is often just a prelude to more—and worse—crime,” writes Jill Smolowe in Time magazine. Peter,b who has spent 14 years behind bars, would agree with that statement. “Most of my fellow inmates started off with petty crime, then they moved up to property crime, and finally they graduated to serious offenses against other humans,” he says. “For them, prisons are like trade schools. They’re going to come out worse.”

While prisons may take criminals off the streets for a while, it seems that they do little—if anything—to deter crime in the long term. Inner-city boys and young men often view imprisonment as an initiation rite. Very often they end up becoming hardened offenders. “Prison doesn’t rehabilitate you at all,” says Larry, who has spent much of his life in and out of jail. “These guys come out and do the same thing all over again.”

This ‘revolving door’ may explain why, according to one study in the United States, 50 percent of all serious crimes are committed by about 5 percent of the criminals. “When prisoners have no constructive way to spend their time,” remarks Time magazine, “they often fill the hours building a reservoir of resentment, not to mention a grab bag of criminal tricks, that . . . they will take back to the streets.”

The situation is not unique to the United States. John Vatis, a physician at a military prison in Greece, states: “Our prisons have become very good at producing people who are menacing, violent, and mean. When released, most inmates want to ‘square up’ with society.”

The Social Cost

The prison crisis reaches right into your wallet. It is estimated that in the United States, for example, each prisoner costs taxpayers about $21,000 annually. Inmates over the age of 60 can cost three times that amount. In many countries public confidence in the penal system is waning for additional reasons. There are concerns about prematurely released criminals as well as offenders who manage to avoid prison sentences altogether because of some legal technicality discovered by an astute lawyer. Usually, victims do not feel sufficiently protected against further violation, and they may have little voice in the legal process.

Public Concern Grows

Public confidence in the prison system is not helped by the inhumane conditions to which prisoners are exposed, as described in the accompanying box. Prisoners who have suffered unjust treatment while serving their sentences are hardly candidates for rehabilitation. Then, too, a number of human rights groups are concerned about the disproportionate numbers of members of minority groups who are found in prisons. They question whether this is a coincidence or the result of racial discrimination.

A 1998 Associated Press report drew attention to the plight of ex-prisoners of the Holmesburg Prison, in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., who sought compensation for having allegedly been used as human guinea pigs in chemical experiments while imprisoned. And what about the reintroduction of chain gangs in the United States? Amnesty International reports: “Work on the gang lasts for 10-12 hours often in hot sun, with very brief breaks for water, and an hour for lunch. . . . The only toilet facility available to chain gang inmates is a portable chamber pot behind a make-shift screen. Inmates remain chained together while using it. When the chamber pot is inaccessible, inmates are forced to squat down on the ground in public.” Of course, not all prisons operate that way. Nevertheless, inhumane treatment dehumanizes both the prisoners and those who mete it out.

Are Community Interests Served?

Naturally, most communities feel safer when dangerous criminals are behind bars. Other communities like prisons for different reasons. When a prison in the small Australian town of Cooma was to be closed, people protested. Why? Because the prison provided employment for the economically struggling community.

In recent times some governments have sold their prisons to private enterprise as a cost-saving measure. Unfortunately, more prisoners and longer sentences are good for business. Thus, justice can become mixed up with commercialism.

All told, the fundamental question remains: Do prisons rehabilitate criminals? While the answer is often negative, you may be surprised to learn that some inmates have been helped to change. Let us see how.

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A Brief Look Behind Bars

OVERCROWDING: Prisons in Britain have an acute overcrowding problem, and no wonder! That land has the second highest per capita prison population in all of Western Europe, with 125 prisoners for every 100,000 of the population. In Brazil, São Paulo’s largest prison is built to hold 500 inmates. Instead, it houses 6,000. In Russia, cells that should hold 28 inmates are housing between 90 and 110. The problem is so severe that prisoners must sleep in shifts. In an Asian country, 13 or 14 prisoners have been crowded into a 30-square-foot [3 sq m] cell. Meanwhile, in Western Australia, officials have coped with lack of space by using shipping containers to house prisoners.

VIOLENCE: The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reports that in German prisons brutal inmates kill and torture because of “the war of competing cliques for illegal business in alcohol and narcotics, sex, and usury.” Ethnic tensions often fan the flames of prison violence. “There are convicts from 72 nations,” notes Der Spiegel. “Friction and conflicts leading to violence are unavoidable.” In one South American jail, the officials said that on the average, 12 prisoners were killed every month. Inmates said that the number was twice as high, reported the Financial Times of London.

SEXUAL ABUSE: In the article “The Rape Crisis Behind Bars,” The New York Times states that a conservative estimate is that in the United States, “more than 290,000 males are sexually assaulted behind bars every year.” The report continues: “The catastrophic experience of sexual violence usually extends beyond a single incident, often becoming a daily assault.” One organization estimates that in U.S. prisons, some 60,000 unwanted sexual acts take place every day.

HEALTH AND HYGIENE: The spread of sexually transmitted diseases among the prison population is well documented. Tuberculosis among prisoners in Russia and some African countries attracts worldwide publicity, as does the neglect in the fields of medical treatment, hygiene, and nutrition in many prisons around the world.

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An overcrowded prison in São Paulo, Brazil

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AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

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The maximum-security prison La Santé in Paris, France

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AP Photo/Francois Mori

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Women in prison in Managua, Nicaragua

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AP Photo/Javier Galeano

Is Real Reform Possible?

“No one can force another human being to be rehabilitated. Change has to come from within the individual and to be willed.”—VIVIEN STERN, A SIN AGAINST THE FUTURE—IMPRISONMENT IN THE WORLD.

A VITAL key to real reform among prisoners centers on education and a change in values and outlook. Without a doubt, there are sincere individuals who are making efforts to educate and help prisoners. The fine and altruistic work of such people is indeed appreciated by many prisoners.

Some people will argue that the prison system as a whole is beyond reform and that it is barely possible for prisoners to change in such an environment. While it may be true that incarceration alone does not instill new values, Bible instruction has helped some to change their lives. This illustrates that reform is possible on an individual basis.

Today, with help from the Bible, some inmates are making the changes that produce right thinking and conduct. How? By heeding the Bible counsel: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2) How is this accomplished?

The Role of the Bible

Many people feel that religion can play a large role in helping prisoners to repent of their previous actions. Of course, a basic problem with this is that any change of character brought about behind bars may vanish once the prisoner has been released. One inmate put it this way: “A lot of people find Christ in this place—but when they leave here, they leave Christ behind!”

Experience has demonstrated that genuine change must occur within—in the criminal’s mind and heart—and that the basis must be sincere repentance for past wrongdoing. A program of Bible education can help an individual to learn how God feels about wickedness and why it is wrong. This can give him strong reasons for not wanting to continue in such a course.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are conducting such a Bible education program in numerous prisons around the world, with wonderful results. (See page 10.) “We have been helped to discover what the Bible says about the purpose of life and the blessings the future holds for mankind,” commented one prisoner, adding: “It’s an incredible education!” Another inmate remarked: “We’re making decisions based on God’s counsel. . . . We see changes in ourselves. We know what life’s priorities are.”

Of course, the need for reform extends beyond prison walls. The true solution to the prison crisis lies in eliminating the need for prisons. One of the glorious Bible truths that has touched the hearts of so many inmates is expressed in God’s promise: “Evildoers themselves will be cut off . . . The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”—Psalm 37:9, 29.

When that happens, God’s superior standards will be enforced by an incorruptible government that is both loving and firm, God’s heavenly Kingdom under Christ—the government for which Christians have been taught to pray. (Matthew 6:10) In that new world, every inhabitant will be reformed by learning God’s superior laws. Then it will be true as never before that “the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” (Isaiah 11:9) With what result? The law-abiding inhabitants of the new world “will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Psalm 37:11.

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Opening a Window of Hope

For more than 20 years, volunteer ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses have carried out a successful Bible-based educational program in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. During that time, more than 40 inmates have been helped to become baptized ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and more than 90 other inmates have also benefited from regular Bible studies.

Awake! recently spoke with several Bible teachers who have unselfishly worked in that prison.

◼ Why is Bible education so effective in motivating certain inmates to change their lives?

David: Many prisoners are people who haven’t been shown love, even in childhood. So when they come to know that God loves them and when they pour their hearts out to him in prayer and then he answers their prayers, he becomes real to them. Their hearts are motivated to love him in return.

Ray: One of the inmates I studied with was abused as a child. When I asked him what attracted him to Jehovah, he answered that when you learn Bible truth, you find out that Jehovah really understands you. This made him want to learn more about the personality of such a loving God.

◼ Some will say that prisoners cling to religion because of ulterior motives—to reduce their sentence or just to kill time. What has your experience shown you?

Fred: When the inmates come to our studies, we don’t appeal to their sentimentality. We simply study the Bible with them. In short order, they learn that they’re going to be taught about the Bible and that this is all we do. I’ve had them come to me and ask for help in dealing with their court cases. I’ll not discuss this with them. As a result, the ones who come into the study group and stay there over a period of time really want to learn what the Bible says.

Nick: One thing I notice is the changes that some inmates make while they are in the penitentiary. Some of them have become baptized ministers and have suffered a lot because of other inmates. That is very hard for them. If the Bible had not touched their hearts, they would not have been able to remain faithful under those circumstances.

Israel: Generally, they are people with a deep desire to learn about Jehovah, and they express it in a beautiful way. You can see that it comes from their heart.

Joe: The ones who become true Christians have come to understand why things went wrong in their lives. They also understand that there is hope for change—a window of hope opens up for them. Now they can sincerely anticipate the fulfillment of Jehovah’s promises for the future.

◼ Why cannot the prison system alone change criminals?

Joe: The purpose of the penal system is, not to rehabilitate, but to keep criminals away from the rest of society. That’s the core of the problem—the mind-set of the prison system toward these men.

Henry: The prison system is unable to change the offenders’ hearts. Most of these people are going to repeat their crimes when they get out.

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Scores of inmates have been helped to learn the truth of the Bible