(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Marc Morjé Howard's book Unusually Cruel provides a step by step analysis of the prison process, prison conditions, rehabilitation and reintegration into society, in the United States and Europe respectively. The book paints a shocking picture of the structural cruelty American prisoners are exposed to. It also reveals a system that is not designed to reduce crime.
The statistics say it all: There are more people behind the walls in the United States than in any other country in the world. While the United States population makes up five percent of the world's population, the country has nearly 25 percent of the world's inmates – seven to ten times more than European countries. The reason for this: Americans have replaced many of the lawsuits with "bargaining" on plea bargains, which in practice means that the defendant often admits criminal charges – with or without actual guilt – for fear of being sentenced yet harsher punishment in a courtroom. In addition, there are consistently longer prison sentences in the United States than is usual in Europe.
A racist hell
The Black Lives Matter movement has already shed light on the brutality of the heavily armed US police, who shoot far more people than in any other Western democracy. Howard's description of the detention conditions is similar to the images we have become accustomed to in American blockbusters: overcrowded and dirty prisons, ruled by brutal prisoners. To survive, one must be prepared to fight. The inmates are at constant risk of being exposed to rape and other sexual violence. Those who cannot defend themselves must ally with the strong – in exchange for sexual services.
"Plantation prisons" continue the racial exploitation of slavery.
Some of the inmates are allowed to work, with a salary of a few dollars a day. As the number of African-American inmates is six times higher than the number of whites, this raises ethical questions related to US history after slavery. Shortly after the abolition of slavery, it became common practice to hire out the labor of prisoners. Today's mass arrests thus continue the racial oppression and "plantation prisons" continue the racial exploitation of slavery. In other words, African Americans have never had the opportunity to heal their cultural traumas and carry as a consequence still the heavy burden of slavery on their shoulders.
"Tough on crime". Hard environments can create psychological trauma. When released and out of hell, former inmates still have a very limited scope for action: In most cases, they are excluded from municipal housing, neither landlords nor employers are interested in people with roller blades – especially if they have dark skin. American prisons rarely offer education or other rehabilitation measures, thus returning many prisoners to the community with few skills to offer in the open job market. The fact that the relapse rate is very high should therefore come as no surprise.
Why have Americans created such an inefficient system? The populist tough on crime movement started in the mid-70s, at a time when crime was growing. Although the situation has improved since the 90s, both Republicans and Democrats still support an eye for an eye-the line of criminal policy. Howard explains this with four factors: race, religion, politics and economic interests. The significance of the religious factor can be debated. While Christian fundamentalists – who many Americans, especially Republicans, like – may well exert some influence on the general attitude of criminals, this argument raises questions that only a more comprehensive analysis than the one found in the book can answer. In contrast, race, politics and economic interests are discussed thoroughly and with compelling arguments.
blood Fog
"If you want to know a society, go to its prisons," Dostoevsky wrote. Many decisions on the prison system – which in Europe are taken by the political elites and regulated by the European Convention on Human Rights – are left to the people in the United States. The majority of Americans still support both the death penalty and harsh punishment conditions. The prosecutors and judges in most states are elected people, and public election results show that the people thirst for blood. As the elections approach, the judges more often impose the death penalty than the juries.
The book reveals a system that is not designed to reduce crime.
If executions are popular, what does that say about society as a whole? The masses behave like strict parents who believe that beating their children will prevent bad behavior in the future. But what about those in power? Well, here's where the game gets even dirtier: In the US, the political process goes hand in hand with lobbying. It begins with the profit-driven private prisons, which huser around eight percent of all US inmates. In addition, there are a number of other companies that supply goods and services to both private and public prisons. The situation is paradoxical: Taxpayers pay huge sums to private companies to serve an unnecessarily high number of inmates.
Held prison
Danish director Michael Madsen made a short documentary (as part of Cathedrals of Culture in 2014) about Halden prison, which huser some of Norway's most dangerous criminals. The prison was nicknamed "the world's most humane prison" by Time Magazine in 2010. The architectural masterpiece in Halden recreates normal living conditions as much as possible to prepare the inmates for their return to society. And while it is naïve to believe that American prisons will come close to the standards of Halden Prison in the foreseeable future, Howard's Unusually Cruel It is clear that the systems that work best are those that concentrate on rehabilitating criminals. Unfortunately, the bone-hardening system in the United States does not appear to be rehabilitated soon. Not until academics, civil rights activists and those who shape humanist opinion do they become stronger than lobby groups.
