Great article on American vs. Scandinavian prison

[Deacon923]

I think there's a lot of truth in this article.

I may post on the Pit too to get some non-rabid-partisan discussion going as it's pretty philosophical.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/why-scandinavian-prisons-are-superior/279949/

 

[dmcheatw]

I thought it was a very good read. the notion that people grow into what they are told they are makes a lot of sense actually. despite everything in our lives that is determined, people are still pretty malleable.

i knew a middle school teacher who said that students in a general sense will live up to whatever standard is set for them. "Academically Gifted" children disproportionately go to college as compared to student's in "normal" classes, but to me it seems as much as a self fulfilling prophecy/feedback loop as the kids originally being identified as "gifted."

the "Highly Academically Gifted" program had kids who went on field trips every two weeks. you'd think they were made to work harder, but they actually did a lot less school work, and got the benefits of nearly unlimited funding for their educations. not surprising that they then perform better.

I can see how prisons in the U.S. work in similar ways.

 

[avalon]

Thanks for posting. I thought this, in particular, was interesting:

But the most profound difference is that correctional officers fill both rehabilitative and security roles. Each prisoner has a “contact officer” who monitors and helps advance progress toward return to the world outside—a practice introduced to help officers avoid the damage experienced by performing purely punitive functions: stress, hypertension, alcoholism, suicide, and other job-related hazards that today plague American corrections officers, who have an average life expectancy of 59.

 

[dmcheatw]

maybe corrections officers (a lot like police officers) are a bit naive when they first join up thinking they're doing a public service and helping society and maybe not asking enough questions. then when they realize all the problems inherent in their career choice they become disenfranchised, and hence the poor job satisfaction among corrections officers?

some of them probably wonder at times what the difference is between them and the inmates (no doubt in the course of their jobs they do some of the same things the prisoners are there for). if you can't answer that to your own satisfaction, the cognitive dissonance could lead to some sort of tipping point. fortunately human beings are very good at rationalizing things. in political prisons (soviet gulags, N. Korea, nazi camps) the guards often come to see the inmates as sub-human. this is a coping mechanism.

 

[Deacon923]

maybe corrections officers (a lot like police officers) are a bit naive when they first join up thinking they're doing a public service and helping society and maybe not asking enough questions. then when they realize all the problems inherent in their career choice they become disenfranchised, and hence the poor job satisfaction among corrections officers?

some of them probably wonder at times what the difference is between them and the inmates (no doubt in the course of their jobs they do some of the same things the prisoners are there for). if you can't answer that to your own satisfaction, the cognitive dissonance could lead to some sort of tipping point. fortunately human beings are very good at rationalizing things. in political prisons (soviet gulags, N. Korea, nazi camps) the guards often come to see the inmates as sub-human. this is a coping mechanism.

in my experience, a lot of COs wanted to be cops but couldn't pass entry exams, etc. So there's some built in disappointment and disillusionment already.