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Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)

prison-off.com

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

#61

Post by marcosdumay »

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 imagine the rate is completely different on prison populations. But there are literacy programs aimed at them in Brazil, those aren't on the news because they aren't new. I'm not sure where the GP's revolt comes from.

By the way, there exist technical programs for prison populations in Brazil too, again those aren't in the news because they aren't new.

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

#62

Post by tgv »

johnchristopher wrote: post #23
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. ?

Relatively easy to find, given that the name is quite distinctive. E.g., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02727.... That article doesn't seem to be conclusive.

I, however, doubt the value of bibliotherapy. I don't see how it would work.

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

#64

Post by hahamrfunnyguy »

Back in my day, we read books for free pizza. I don't know if they accomplished what they wanted or exactly what it was that they were trying to accomplish. I read quite a bit of non-fiction but very little fiction, with the exception of when I am traveling.

Learning whether it's done through hands on experience, reading or watching/listening is a good thing.

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

#65

Post by dredmorbius »

martinpw wrote: post #6

Maybe it was deliberate word play, but 'their' here refers to the prisoners, not the books, in case anyone else misinterpreted this headline to imply they were actually editing the books.

I was hoping to hear of a new Prisoner's Digest condensed-story magazine launch.

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

#66

Post by HarryHirsch »

selcuka wrote: post #10
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…

> Many also cheated by watching movie adaptations of books. This sounds risky as movie adaptations sometimes wildly differ from the original material.

At least they got exposure to culture out of it, so it's not all bad.

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

#67

Post by thaumasiotes »

oscargrouch wrote: post #57
someperson wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> analphabetism I've never heard that word before. It's a synonym for illiteracy.

I was trained to understand that illiteracy in English means someone that cant read or write, but if it was translated as-is, illiteracy means "iletrado" -> someone "without letters" which in my mother language doesn't mean that someone cant read, but a broader category of people who cant read together with people who have very a poor language understanding and communication skills. Some illiterate 'iletrado'(for us)…

> a broader category of people who cant read together with people who have very a poor language understanding and communication skills.

We would be likely to call that second group "functionally illiterate".

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

#68

Post by thaumasiotes »

crubier wrote: post #34
ATsch wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ok so you’re saying: « Making prisoners read books is racist ». Don’t you realize that this statement is either completely delusional or some form of woke nonsensical Newspeak? Let me recap: This initiative only has upsides, no downsides. And it has no race distinction. And it benefits people across the board, from people of color to white people. And in absolute terms it will benefit to more people of color than whi…

> This initiative only has upsides, no downsides.

Theoretically, it might release someone who the rest of the world would have been better off keeping in jail.

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

#69

Post by randcraw »

tgv wrote: post #62
johnchristopher wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. ?

Relatively easy to find, given that the name is quite distinctive. E.g., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02727... . That article doesn't seem to be conclusive. I, however, doubt the value of bibliotherapy. I don't see how it would work.

I think a major takeaway from reading is to see inside the mind of another person. That's something that I suspect most criminals do badly, since crime, especially violent crime, requires the person to NOT understand the impact of their actions on others. Sociopaths don't care, but they commit the vast minority of crime. Getting the other criminals to appreciate more perspectives than just their own might be very helpful to diminish their willingness to harm others.

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

#70

Post by bigdict »

martinpw wrote: post #6

Maybe it was deliberate word play, but 'their' here refers to the prisoners, not the books, in case anyone else misinterpreted this headline to imply they were actually editing the books.

Ball and chain except with pencils and highlighters instead of picks and shovels.
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