Thoughts on the U.S. Prison System

Written By Autumn Harting

One of the more interesting essays in The Secret Life of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann was by Diego Sandoval Hernandez, supervising librarian for Jail and Prison Services at the Brooklyn Public Library in NY. The Brooklyn Library services Rikers Island, and while Rikers is a jail meant to temporarily house those awaiting trial, some end up staying at Rikers for years. Sandoval discussed how important he feels his work with the incarcerated is and how books can help fill some of the Six Needs for some of his patrons (though, of course, he didn’t use that—my—terminology).

Here is Sandoval’s description of life behind bars:

The housing areas—living spaces shared by around forty people—are almost always loud, chaotic, and tense [physiological, safety]. People there are anxious about upcoming trials [safety], about how their families are coping [safety, social]. They are bored and restless due to being confined for months—or years—with extremely limited access to meaningful activity [physiological, growth]. They face daily humiliations, like not having privacy when they use the toilet or being chained at the ankles when they walk through the hallways [esteem]. All these stresses gnaw at their mental health.

I (thankfully) only know of jail/prison what I’ve read in books or watched in movies or on T.V. One of my favorite books about prison is Anthony Ray Hinton’s memoir, The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row. Hinton was found wrongfully convicted of capital murder charges and finally released after serving 40 of his best years on Death Row. That anyone can emerge from such a situation with anything but an angry, bitter heart is a true testament to Hinton’s spirit. He outlines in detail how he and his Six Needs suffered, and how after years of self-work (growth) he was able to win a largely mental battle and make the most of his situation (which he did by intuiting the concept of the Six Needs and working on filling them himself). It is truly inspiring.

Hinton includes many examples of how his Six Needs suffered on Death Row, but to me the most poignant was this statement:

No one can understand what freedom [autonomy] means until they don’t have it. It’s like being wrapped in a straightjacket all day every day. You can’t make a choice about how to live. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a choice to make—any choice.

Incarceration is meant to serve as punishment, as a deterrent, and to keep unhealthy, dangerous individuals off the streets where they can wreak havoc on others’ Needs. Prison is never going to go away, nor do I think it should. There’s an entire class of individuals who are debatably beyond “fixing,” especially because they are so self-centered they don’t see any need to be “fixed” (see: the dark tetrad) (although, there is some indication that addressing dark personality traits in children can be effective).

As far as deterrent is concerned, one would think that if prison were effective as a deterrent, the recidivism rate would be almost zero. However, 3-year re-incarceration rates range from 18% to 58%, and those numbers appear to climb if you look at the data five and ten years on.

The way prison is described in the accounts above and elsewhere, prison life does negatively impact all Six Needs. This is what I’ve come to understand: when a person’s Six Needs are constantly under attack, that person can become desperate. Often times, that person will shut down with depression, but sometimes that person will lash out and become violent. Either way, if our goal is rehabilitation of individuals so that they eventually become productive members of society, infringing on as many of the Needs as possible (de-humanizing prisoners) is counterproductive because a person in the desperation of survival mode is not looking for growth.

In any case, this is not my area of expertise, and I know there has been a trend toward prison reform because others have arrived at the same conclusions with far more research and knowledge. A Department of Justice report discusses strategies mainly focused on boosting social, growth, and (through growth) esteem needs. Can you think of other ideas for how prison systems can be reformed to help with a prisoner’s needs while still serving the goals of incarceration?

Notes:

Autumn Harting
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