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Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

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Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#21

Post by ATsch »

raman162 wrote: post #14
ATsch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The program is called "Redemption through Reading” and the officials statements are in similar vain. The implications are pretty clear. It's only made worse by how only select people can participate. That is on top of Brazil's history of using literacy tests for racial discriminatation. As well as their current, ineffective mass-incarceration policy (now 3rd largest in the world), which as in the US hits indigenous a…

That is part of the solution, two solutions can co-exist that take different angles. A quick Google search showed that Brazil's literacy rate is roughly 92% and I would like to believe it's something similar in the prison. This program sounds like it can help people make good use of their time while serving their sentence. They should expand this sort of incentive to other forms of education and technical programs.

I'd strongly dispute that this is "part of the solution" because the forces increasing prison population (Bolsenaro ran under "tough on crime" policies) and the ones instituting this program are one and the same. That is the context this has to be seen in, massive expansion of incarceration while making sure a select few get out more easily.

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#22

Post by sammalloy »

sealeck wrote: post #19

I am very confused at how it is expected that books are likely to reduce crime – we have a very well-read set of criminals operating in our world today; they are called white-collar criminals, they have gone to the top institutions, they have read plenty of books and it does not seemed to have improved the virtue of their moral character beyond making their plots more audacious.

Books are not likely to reduce crime. In this instance, they are highly likely to reduce recidivism. See my post elsewhere in this thread for the list of advocates and researchers who give well thought out, evidence-based arguments as to how this works. For most participants, it involves cultivating compassion, empathy, and understanding through storytelling and narratology that acts as a kind of simulation.

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#23

Post by johnchristopher »

sammalloy wrote: post #15

If anyone is interested in the wider topic, this subject is called bibliotherapy, and has a long history. This specific program was popularized in the early 1990s at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth as an alternative probation sentencing program, and it was so successful it later branched out around the world. Key advocates include Robert Waxler, Jean Trounstine, and Mary Stephenson, and researchers Roger Ja…

I feel like Bibliotherapy tried a stint in general public awareness two or three years ago but it didn't take off.

Are there any reviews of its effectiveness for mental health problems like depression, anxiety, etc. ?

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#24

Post by planet-and-halo »

sealeck wrote: post #19

I am very confused at how it is expected that books are likely to reduce crime – we have a very well-read set of criminals operating in our world today; they are called white-collar criminals, they have gone to the top institutions, they have read plenty of books and it does not seemed to have improved the virtue of their moral character beyond making their plots more audacious.

You counterexample would invalidate the idea that there is a direct causal mechanism between reading and pro-social behavior, but I don't think anyone is arguing that. Some anti-social behavior is a consequence of not being able to understand and to feel understood by other people. When you give people the tools to express themselves (and to understand others), it may make it easier for them to get what they want and need by talking instead of resorting to violence etc. The key here is that this obviously only works for SOME people. Not ALL crime can be explained by this idea, obviously.

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#25

Post by ATsch »

crubier wrote: post #18
ATsch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The program is called "Redemption through Reading” and the officials statements are in similar vain. The implications are pretty clear. It's only made worse by how only select people can participate. That is on top of Brazil's history of using literacy tests for racial discriminatation. As well as their current, ineffective mass-incarceration policy (now 3rd largest in the world), which as in the US hits indigenous a…

“Using literacy tests for racial discrimination”. Look, this is what bothers me with current “wokeism” trends. With this reasoning, literally any test/course/initiative/whatever will statistically have a slight racial/cultural/religious bias because the world and its population have such biases. So any positive initiative (like this one) which aims at improving lives of everyone (including people of color) will be ta…

These policies were introduced precisely so that people like you could defend them as "not racist" while still having the same net effect. We have more than ample documentation of it to the point that the only reason to disagree is deliberate ignorance or historical denialism.

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#27

Post by holografix »

raman162 wrote: post #14
ATsch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The program is called "Redemption through Reading” and the officials statements are in similar vain. The implications are pretty clear. It's only made worse by how only select people can participate. That is on top of Brazil's history of using literacy tests for racial discriminatation. As well as their current, ineffective mass-incarceration policy (now 3rd largest in the world), which as in the US hits indigenous a…

That is part of the solution, two solutions can co-exist that take different angles. A quick Google search showed that Brazil's literacy rate is roughly 92% and I would like to believe it's something similar in the prison. This program sounds like it can help people make good use of their time while serving their sentence. They should expand this sort of incentive to other forms of education and technical programs.

Don’t be fooled into believing the literacy rate statistics provided by the Brazilian government. For more than a decade there’s has been a program of food vouchers for the poor based on school attendance and improving literacy rates.

Guess what happens? No one is failed, everyone is fed.

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#28

Post by [deleted] »

ATsch wrote: post #25
crubier wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Using literacy tests for racial discrimination”. Look, this is what bothers me with current “wokeism” trends. With this reasoning, literally any test/course/initiative/whatever will statistically have a slight racial/cultural/religious bias because the world and its population have such biases. So any positive initiative (like this one) which aims at improving lives of everyone (including people of color) will be ta…

These policies were introduced precisely so that people like you could defend them as "not racist" while still having the same net effect. We have more than ample documentation of it to the point that the only reason to disagree is deliberate ignorance or historical denialism.

[deleted]

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#29

Post by ngcazz »

forinti wrote: post #8

Short tangencial bit of history: A Brazilian called Paulo Freire came up with a method which consists of coming up with a short list of words related to the pupils' day-to-day. These words have to cover all the phonemes in Portuguese and the pupils would discuss them. He managed to teach adults to read very quickly. But, as talking about your reality was integral to the method, he got into trouble with the then milit…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed

Re: Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

#30

Post by adflux »

planet-and-halo wrote: post #16
janmo wrote: post #5

At school we had a teacher who tried to make us read 10 books a year. You could choose whatever book you wanted, and you had to write a small summary. So every one headed to the school library and looked for the smallest books available. The most popular book that every one read was called something like: "Collection of letters from from my Grandfather" and had around 50 to 70 pages and was very boring. Many also che…

This exact phenomenon is discussed in "Punished by Rewards." It's probably one of the best possible ways to train kids that reading is no fun, of no benefit to them, and should only be done if promised some kind of prize.

A smart friend of mine proudly stated how little he read in high school, and that he has not read a single book since. He is 26.
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