Introduction
Violence within prison complexes is common in almost all parts of the world. The violence can originate from staff or inmate. The correctional systems in several countries attempted newer approaches to incarceration in order to avoid violence on prison complexes. There are very few complexes in the world that have reduced rates of violence or can claim to be violence free. Instead of rehabilitation, prisoners face entrapment in a dangerous game. The level of accountability towards prisoners and their safety diminishes in regions such as Asia, Middle East, and South America. The United Nations established a set of international standards for all nations to follow and all subsequent inspections by the global body will have the standard as the official benchmark.
Reasons for prison violence
Violence in prison populations often occur due to poor infrastructure, incompetence of guards, lack of a complaint system, gang violence, and lack of facilities to provide mental health. Contrary to popular belief, much of the violence can originate from trivial issues. The lack of experience and lack of programs for rehabilitation often hinder the possibility of complying with international standards.
Overcrowding
Prison overcrowding is a problem in many countries at present. South American nations have large incarceration rates among under trials which contribute to almost 65% of the overall population. In the United States, an influx of drug related laws in the 1990s convicted repeat drug offenders to ten-year prison sentences based on the quantity of contraband involved. Asian prisons have a large number of convicts and under trials. The allocation of beds, cells, and space utilization often comes under a severe strain whenever the prison is subject to overcrowding. This scarcity of resources leads to acts of violence among the inmates (Abiven, 2014).
Gang allegiance
Gang allegiance does not end when a member leaves the street. Gang members in prison often take sides and indulge in feuding constantly. In addition, some gangs like the Mexican Mafia recruit their members from prison yards. The gang recruitments within prisons depend on the ruthlessness of the inmates. The Mexican Mafia for instance will look to recruit the most dangerous inmates to their ranks. Gang related violence account for over 75% of prison violence overall (Neustatter, 2014).
Budget cuts
The prison budgets for the last decade were minimal. As a result, there were not adequate resources to hire, and train staff. Prison staff predominantly is without proper training to handle difficult situations. Instead of diffusing retrievable situations, the inexperienced staff often imposes violence and solitary confinement to inmates. Studies indicate that these punishments will only result in the increase of the prisoners’ potential for violence. In certain prisons, certain areas of the prison cannot have regular patrols due to staff shortage. With the long hours and inadequate pay, the attrition rates for prison guards are extremely high (Chandler, 2015).
South American prison systems
The South American prisons systems have some of the worst living conditions in the world. The prison complexes are rat-infested and unhygienic. They are also small and inadequate to hold the number of prisoners. This region has the fastest growing prisoner population at present. In addition, the presence of gangs and political prisoners only complicate the issue further. Despite housing several dignitaries in the past, there does not seem to be any improvements. Without space to lie down or even sit down in certain prison complexes, the possibility of violence is high. The South American prisons are also among the most corrupted establishments in the region. Hence, it is relatively easy to smuggle any type of contraband and weapons inside the complex (Abiven, 2014).
International Standards
The United Nations released a set of standards for the treatment and care for inmates. Named in honor of Nelson Mandela, these standards are the minimum requirement for any prison complex. The three key standards for examination in this section pertain to accommodation, segregation, and complaint/feedback facility.
Accommodation
The primary requirement for the standard is accommodation. This standard covers the occupation space, work area, sanitary needs, lighting, health and environment-based amenities, supervision intervals, and ventilation of the spaces. The standard insists that these provisions are the minimum requirements. The space for accommodation reiterates the need to place only one person in a cell. In case of extreme overcrowding, the standard allows temporary occupation by others. The material made available has to the inmate have to meet the temperature, climate, and should remain sufficiently ventilated. Wherever possible, the complex should accommodate artificial lamps to allow inmates to read without difficulty. Inmates should have access to basic sanitary needs and adequate showering space. All cellblocks should have regular supervision by guards to ensure there are no fights. In a dormitory setup, the staff should segregate inmates according to their age, crime, and race to avoid fights (United Nations, 2016).
United States
Almost all the facilities in the United States, inmates have access to the amenities mentioned in the standard, except space. Prison populations are high and the US has the highest conviction rate of 712 per 100,000 people. It is difficult to build new correctional facilities when the economy is hard-pressed. Hence, in certain prisons, the accommodations exceed their capacity by almost forty percent (Couch, 2015).
European Union
Several countries in the European Union have constructed correctional facilities to meet the requirement of the UN standard. Their prisons have several amenities including extracurricular activities such as rock climbing and sun bathing. In countries like Germany and France, where the emphasis is on locking up more people for longer durations of time, the construction of new complexes is underway. Despite their economic problems, the European Union strives to meet the conditions of the standard (The Editorial Board, 2013).
Middle East
Prisons in the Middle East seldom look for approval from international bodies. In fact, many of these prison complexes are out of bounds to any foreign inspection team. Inside sources indicate overcrowding, poor ventilation, inadequate bedding, inadequate lighting, extended use of solitary confinement, disease, and torture as the regular features. Prison guards are both indifferent to the inhumane conditions and brutal when administering punishment (Human Rights Watch, N.d).
Asia
Prisons in this region are similar to those in the Middle East. However, access to several of the complexes is possible even for an inspection team. They are overcrowded, poor sanitary infrastructure, limited guard patrols, inadequate lighting, severe space scarcity, and brutal punishments (Foster, 2014). However, there are some prison complexes that defy the odds and make it as the best facilities in the region. The Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines is an exception. Hence, it is a region with a mixed agenda when it comes to prison facilities. The region’s meagre economy may also reflect in the poor maintenance of the facilities.
Separation of categories
The standard on segregation requires prison complexes to divide the population on the grounds of sex, age, nature of crime, and nature of imprisonment. The young prisoners kept away from the adult population. The men and women will have separate facilities. Under trials kept separately from convicted felons. White-collar criminals remain segregated from other criminals (United Nations, 2016).
United States
The concept of segregation in prisons is widely in use. All the technicalities in the standards will remain met in most facilities. However, it is not always possible to avoid interactions between white-collar criminals from the others due to space scarcities (Couch, 2015).
European Union
The conditions of the standard find large-scale compliance in this region. However, when 16 year-olds face charges as adults, they become part of the adult prison system. Moreover, segregation as per nature of detention might face concerns due to influx of refugees from the south (The Editorial Board, 2013).
Middle East
There is no concept of segregation in most countries. However, there are exceptions for women and juvenile offenders in select nations. Many of the prisoners are life sentence convicts since the younger inmates face corporal punishment in most establishments (Human Rights Watch, N.d).
Asia
Segregation of the prison population is applicable to this region as per sex, and age only. Prison authorities often overlook the other criteria required for the standard (Foster, 2014).
Information to and complaints by prisoners
The standard requires prison authorities to provide each prisoner with a handbook that contains the rights of inmates along with penalties and punishments applicable for misconduct. It also requires the prison authorities to disclose ways to solicit feedback and complaints from the prison population. All prisoners should have knowledge of the contents of the handbook. They should know how to represent themselves to the warden or prison director for complaints. They should not become a target for their complaints. If the prisoner is illiterate, the prison authorities will read out the manual to him/her. The complaining prisoner should receive safeguards and an independent team will investigate the charges (United Nations, 2016).
United States
There is no uniform compliance to this standard however, there are a large number of prisons that comply with certain aspects of the standard. There are no major investigations to investigate complaints against prison guards unless it is a juvenile detention center due to the short supply of experienced personnel (Couch, 2015).
European Union
The European Union nations have their individual compliance for this standard based on the type of prison operated. Countries have policies that make the standard seem plain; for example Switzerland and Netherlands. Others (like Turkey and Austria) have a more conservative approach to this standard (The Editorial Board, 2013).
Middle East
There is no scope of implementation of this standard anywhere in the region. There cannot be any complaints against authority figures according to their religion and culture (Human Rights Watch, N.d).
Asia
The compliance of this standard is sporadic at best. There are not many takers for such standards that bring additional accountability on the prison staff. Attempts to complain will have serious repercussions in several countries (Foster, 2014).
Plan to implement legal standards in South American prisons
The international standards will bring their value in improvement of prison complexes throughout South America. However, these are not prisons that have the infrastructure to handle such changes abruptly. Hence, the implementation of the plan will take place in four phases. The first phase involves segregating all under trials languishing in the prison complexes. These people will not find accommodation in prisons unless they feature in violent crimes. The rest of the under trials are freed from prisons. The action will reduce the prison population to near 100% capacity. At this stage, in phase two, a substantial number of minor or petty criminals will have their sentences commuted to community service and eventually released back into society.
The prison populations in the prisons will be at 70-80% capacity after enacting phase two. This reduced population will allow the chance to repair the facilities even by utilizing the inmates occupying the complexes. Once repaired, the facilities will have the amenities prescribed in the standards. As a final phase step, libraries along with computers with limited internet connections made available to prisons. These utilities will come in handy to raise anonymous complaints to the prison board and to help the prison population invest in education during their stay.
Recommendations to prevent prison violence
Prison violence finds its roots to gang affiliations. Hence, the primary goal is to weed out gang influence on the general population. This goal is achievable through segregation and counselling (Neustatter, 2014). The secondary objective is to remove all opportunities that provoke inmates to fight amongst each other. This step is achievable through provision of adequate supplies and ensuring proper accommodation. This will prevent inmates from quarrelling among each other for amenities or facilities such as sanitary installations and bedding materials. Finally, all services within the government machinery function efficiently due to feedback processes. The implementation of a feedback service every quarter will be a worthwhile activity. The feedback service should have ownership outside the prison administration; preferably, with an independent agency that has experience in working with prisoners (United Nations, 2016). Eventually, prisoners are not people who will never rejoin society. How will they learn to coexist in society peacefully and by keeping the law if they do not have the opportunity to experience that type of life behind bars? Only when steps are in place to diffuse prison violence will there be a real drop in recidivism among violent offenders.
References
Abiven, K. (2014). Latin America's Prisons Are A Violent Nightmare And Getting Worse. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/latin-americas-prisons-are-a-violent-nightmare-and-getting-worse-2014-9?IR=T
Chandler, K (2015). Budget cuts threaten prison reform effort. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/7/budget-cuts-threaten-prison-reform-effort/
Couch, R. (2015). These Programs are helping fix a Broken U.S. Prison System. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/recidivism-programs-prison_n_6655392.html
Foster, S. B. (2014). Inside a Chinese Prison: An American’s Perspective. Retrieved from: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2014/jun/22/inside-chinese-prison-americans-perspective/
Human Rights Watch Staff (N.d). Prisons in the Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved from: https://www.hrw.org/legacy/advocacy/prisons/mideast.htm
Neustatter, A. (2014). The jail that has reduced violence by helping inmates escape from the gang. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/19/gang-violence-young-offender-institutes-prisons
The Editorial Board Staff (2013). Lessons from European Prisons. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/opinion/lessons-from-european-prisons.html?_r=0
United Nations Staff (2016). United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). Retrieved from: http://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/1957/06/ENG.pdf
