Blog#6-Brazilian Prisons-Incarceration

     According the “The Economist”, Most countries in the region have been consistently incarcerating people in the recent years without having the accommodations to house them. In our text, Sernau shared a Global Perceptive table indicating incarceration rates of the U.S. in 2006 at 2.2 million, which is 505% higher than Brazil. The overcrowding in prisons in not only an issue in Brazil but in the U.S. as well. Housing these prisoners ultimately induces a costly expense to society.

      Brazilian prisons are ruled by gangs, torture, and inhumane treatment by the guards. The article indicates that the majority of the inmates are in for property and drug crimes.Offenses such as murder are not investigated in the poor regions of the north and north-eastern states of Brazil, according to a father João Bosco do Nascimento. Victims are referred to as “marginais” or nobodies by authorities and a lot of the killings are committed by the police. These types of killings never lead to any pursuit of punishment.

     A 2008 opinion pole was conducted on Brazil's public opinion , which resulted in Brazilians being totally against the thought of prisoners even having human rights by 23%, while the thought of “the only good criminal is a dead criminal” resulted in agreement of 43%, and 73% stated that prisons conditions should be made tougher. According to a Catholic organization that visits, black people, ex-prisoners, and their families feel that the conditions should be harsher and they don’t realize that they are the victims of the policy that they support.

     There is really no effort by the public to push for better conditions in prison because the PCC doesn’t allow campaigning for prisoner rights. Inequality seems to be highly integrated in Brazil’s prison system. Brazil’s public-sector of workers such as politicians, judges, religious ministers, and anyone with a degree cannot be held in an ordinary prison while awaiting trail, according to the article. These individuals are allowed multiple appeals and are unusually represented by expensive lawyers thus never making it to prison.

     According to James Foreman of Yale Law School, crime would probably be reduced in Latin America if they would invest more in better schools, community policing, social services, better forensics and detective work.

     With research, I did learn that Brazil is coming up with interesting ways to reduce its prison population for prisoners with good behavior.  A prison near San Paulo allows prisoners the opportunity to reduce their sentence by pedaling stationary bikes that charge car batteries to be used to power street lights. This prison also is offering a reading program which is geared toward helping the inmate be more successful when re-entering society. There is also a “Redemption for Reading” program where the prisoners have to write a book report. Approximately 80% of the prison population wants to participate in the program. America could benefit from such programs to help reduce the prison population for minor offense prisoners thus, reducing the cost to our society.

J., H. "Prisoners in Brazil: Making them Pay." economist.com. N.p., 28 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Oct. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2012/09/prisoners-brazil>.

 Sernau, Scott. Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace, and Sustainablity. 2^nd, 3^rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc., 2012. 139. Print.

Hartney, Christopher. "U.S. Rates of Incarceration: A Global Perspective ." nccdglobal.org. N.p., Nov. 2006. Web. 4 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nccdglobal.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/factsheet-us-incarceration.pdf>.