The Folly in Thinking Sending People to Prison Will Make Us Safe(r)
In 1972, the prison population in the United States was 200,000. That’s 2 million less than the prison population today.
Logically going by that figure, our cities should be safer. We should be able to leave our doors open knowing that nobody will steal from us.
We should be able to walk in any street or alley without the fear of being shot or robbed.
However, there is hardly a day a person will not get shot or robbed in the United States.
Let’s take the argument from another angle.
In 1972, the United States had a population of 209.9 million. This is according to figures provided by www.census.gov.
In 2020, the population stands at 330 million.
This means that since 1972, the United States has not seen 100% population growth.
Surprisingly, the same country has seen a prison population growth of 95.24% since 1972. How fantastic!
This situation is not only in the US, but it is also with every country that has been misguided to think that retributive justice reduces crime.
It is not uncommon to hear candidates for elective offices chant any of these statements:
Tough on Crime!
Hard on Crime!
Rid Our Society of Criminals!
Fight Crime!
The list is endless. And these folks don’t disappoint on this. They may fail in every other thing, but crime is cheap enough to add as an achievement.
The Irony
Nobody was born a criminal. The society makes us who we are.
A person who was born in an environment where crime is low is very unlikely to become a criminal. The opposite goes for someone who has known crime all their life.
We don’t get to decide where we’re born.
The autobiography of Iceberg Slim “Pimp” clearly shows this. He was sexually abused at the age of three by a babysitter. He never met his father. His mom dated some violent men. And when he was growing up, despite his good grades, he got involved with his agemates in living recklessly.
Before he was 20, he got into college but was expelled for bootlegging. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison for a sexual offense. He got out early for good behavior only to return within 6 months. He got out and fully became a pimp.
This story is reflective of many inmates’ personal stories.
Taking a Cue from Evolution
Many living organisms have gone into extinction. Those who haven’t have developed defense mechanisms to protect them from their immediate environments. Threats such as unfavorable habitats, predators, and terrible weather conditions have made these organisms become tough.
Rats, for example, have developed immunity against some poisons.
The correlation here is that when something becomes difficult to get, new ways will be invented to get it.
Because there are punitive measures to fight crime, criminals have gotten smarter. They study the environment and find new ways to commit crimes.
Just like plants and animals evolve, criminal tactics and strategies have also evolved. However, this does not mean that criminals are not being arrested. It is just that criminals are growing a tougher skin.
Prison is like a vacation from the life of crime. When they get out, they go back to work.
And yes, there are sentences that make one shiver. Capital punishments and life sentences are very scary.
It is expected that a jail term like 200 years in prison will send a note of warning to would-be criminals, but crime is not seeing a decline.
Terrible Instances: Drugs and Rape
The trade in narcotics has led to the death of many and should not be allowed. However, the effort since the fight started in 1971 hasn’t yielded much effort.
The drug cartels are getting richer and the supply chain has been steady.
It makes a good argument to say that the war on drugs has helped its price. With the war making it a controlled substance, the price has been quite high. There is hardly more supply than demand.
Perfect for business.
Rape is a terrible offense against a person. Nigeria is seeing a rise in rape cases. Sad, as it may seem, all the solutions at the moment are cosmetic.
Many organizations have advocated for the castration of rapists. Just like sending people to 200 years in prison, it doesn’t stop it from happening again.
Solving Crime
We see a lot of detective movies where a smart cop does a very intelligent and thorough job in ensuring that some bad folks go to prison. And the movie ends.
Well, a lot of these bad folks go to correctional facilities. Only that we aren’t sure that they get corrected and have become good people when they go back to the streets.
Why is it that the Netherlands is shutting down prisons? Are there no criminals there?
There are criminals, but they have been able to reduce crime rates by asking very important questions: why do people commit crimes? And, how do we ensure that convicts don’t return?
Understanding why people commit crimes and putting structures in place will greatly set crime on a decline
Understanding Crime
Some people need to be locked away for good. However, they don’t make up the majority of people in jail.
Some folks commit crimes because they are sick. They don’t need prison, they need psychiatric help. Even if the aim is to punish them by sending them to prison, they can’t feel guilt or remorse for what they’ve done.
If we plan to kill them, will it replace the loss that may have happened? Revenge is like cocaine. You feel good when you get it, but it wears off. And you can’t get a second sniff of revenge.
Some other folks need reorientation. Someone who grew up in an environment of crime and violence will reflect their background somehow.
If we can’t provide good jobs, schools, and a sense of security in that environment, we can reorientate offenders and place them in new environments.
Providing jobs to convicts and paying them well is a good place to start. When people see the profit of hard work and something to live for, they live more happily.
And some things should be decriminalized. The question should be asked: how has this action affected society? Or, how will this action affect society?
For rape; castration, imprisonment, and the capital punishment are cosmetic solutions.
Nigeria is seeing an uptick in rape cases. This is the same country where most parents don’t discuss sex with children. In most Nigerian homes, children can’t even talk about it.
It is that which should not be talked about.
Most Nigerian kids learn about sex from what their friends tell them, pornography, sex scenes in movies, and erotica novels. And some others who learned by peeping through the keyholes to their parents’ rooms.
Though porn videos are now being made to contain conversations to portray consent, they still don’t hit “consent” in essence.
The problem of rape can only be solved by teaching consent and letting young people know the psychological trauma rape victims go through.
Many will never understand that it goes beyond sex when it comes to rape.
And the same is for sexual assault and molestation. The people committing the crimes don’t know the effect. To them, it is just fun.
The Sad Thing
Not everybody who is in jail got there intentionally. Some were victims of circumstances. Some couldn’t get strong-enough defenses in their favor. And some couldn’t just help it. Now, these people will forever have something on their names.
Many won’t employ or do business with ex-convicts. And this forces them back into crime.
We’ve gotta give people an option.
Conclusion
We will never fully solve the problem of crime. We can only reduce the rate of crime. And to reduce it, we have to understand why people commit crimes. Then, we move to solve it.
