jailing more people = epic fail

 Blogger Impudent Strumpet asked "What is the political motivation behind jailing more people?"

Oh boy. There's political motivation, ideological motivation, and greed motivation.

The political motivation is to appeal to people who think "tough on crime" policies will bring crime rates down and keep them safe. There's also the "fear factor", that if people are afraid of crime and believe the government will keep them safe they'll give the government a longer leash, perhaps even letting the government infringe on its citizens civil rights (ie. Patriot Act).

We have become a throwaway society.  I see it every day. If animals or people have problems, or are inconvenient, our society is more likely to put them down or away - out of sight, out of mind. Never mind that the factors that cause animal overpopulation, or criminal behaviour (poverty, disenfranchisement, racism), can be addressed but are not, so the cycle begins again.

Therein lies the ideological rub. People with conservative ideologies generally don't acknowledge that social factors contribute to criminal activity, whereas people with progressive ideologies are more likely to address these problems.

Then there's the profit motive. There's big money to be made in locking people up - if the institution housing them is privately or corporately owned. This was touched upon in Michael Moore's "Capitalism, a Love Story" but it is happening in Canada too. The secure detention/treatment facility I volunteer at is part of the private sector, not public sector, but all of the youths are there by court order.

The US model of "supermax" prisons is an epic fail.  It doesn't work. Locking people up for 23 hours a day is sure to contribute to mental/emotional disorders, and increase anxiety and aggression.  I consider myself a fairly level, compassionate person but if I had to spend 23 hours a day in a cage for years on end I might become a completely different person. 

Supermax prisons are inhumane.  I believe that most people are good.  Most people in the justice system are good, but have made really bad decisions.  I've made really bad decisions. Who hasn't?  As a society are we prepared to say that people who make bad decisions are no longer human? No longer thinking, feeling people and no longer entitled to dignity? A decent quality of life? An opportunity to overcome whatever social, mental, or emotional impediments led them to commit crimes?  I wouldn't keep a dog in a cage 23 hours a day.  I wouldn't do that to a human being either.

By contrast, there are some models in the US in which inmates with serious convictions, including murder, are detained in lower security facilities.  They have the freedom to come and go from their cells, to interact with other inmates, to participate in programs.  These are dangerous people.  So why aren't they shanking each other and rioting and attacking guards? Because they know they have a good thing and they don't want to blow it. These inmates are easier to manage than inmates in so-called "supermax" prisons.

It's time to re-think the way we view people who commit crimes, and the way they live while incarcerated.

My two cents.