Punishments, Politics, and Prisons in Western Countries

• In Event: Prisoners and Prisons (Panel 1 of 3)

Abstract

Imprisonment rates and the professionalism and decency of prison operations vary widely between countries and, within the United States, between states. Day-to-day life for prisoners is at best drab, monotonous, and uncomfortable; in the worst places it is squalid, unhealthy, and sometimes terrifying. Conditions in many countries are little better for guards and other staff. The big difference is that they can go home at shift’s end. They are often poorly paid, little respected, work in claustrophobic, stultifying environments, and deal daily with angry, depressed, mentally ill, and otherwise troubled people. They receive little applause. The best run, most humane prisons address those challenges as best they can—in some countries reasonably well. Many prisons—in some countries most— are terrible places. Sometimes that is because policy makers cannot or will not spend the money needed to run them decently, sometimes because they don’t much care what goes on inside, sometimes because they affirmatively want prisoners to suffer; staff miseries are collateral damage. The explanations for differences are deeply embedded in national or local histories and political cultures, which makes substantial improvements difficult to achieve unless dominant political elites support them.

Author

• Michael Tonry, University of Minnesota