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US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

america.aljazeera.com

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Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#51

Post by summerdown2 »

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row.

He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a leading advocate of capital punishment in America, only to be told it wasn't painful enough.

Like I say, I have no understanding of this attitude, but I suspect the prison rape issue in the US won't change until the majority of people get past the idea that the prime thing to do to criminals is punishment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YgWXKAwNY

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#52

Post by bayesianhorse »

tobiasu wrote: post #37
bayesianhorse wrote: post #28

Consent is a complicated issue. Inmates in a prison can fully consent, but to determine if they are consenting is beyond even a simple psychological evaluation, and certainly beyond the judgement of a horny guard. On the other hand, in Aljazeera's home country "sexual assault" is punishable for the victim, and if anything about conservative sharia based marriages holds true in Qatar, most sexual assailants are actual…

The author ( https://twitter.com/marisahtaylor ) looks as American as it gets. Your smoke screen in the form of Quatar criticism is pathetic. Look! The leader of the free world is better than North Korea. Everyone should shut up and be happy. Ridiculous.

Calling someone on hypocrisy does not imply asking him to shut up.

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#53

Post by ams6110 »

scarmig wrote: post #22
thaumasiotes wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To my knowledge, it is generally true that sexual contact between an inmate and a prison guard is legally rape no matter whether consensual or not. This is a kludge in the law; obviously, female guards falling in love with inmates and sleeping with them are not being "raped" in any conventional sense, and neither are the prisoners (who are the notional victims). However... we definitely do want to criminalize that co…

There's some small bit of gray area here, but I think most of those situations should still qualify as rape. Prison guards have immense power over inmates. Their decisions can give a prisoner a plush gig or a terrible one; can allow for the prisoner to receive medical care or not; can result in a prisoner being punished severely for an infraction or escape with just a slap on the wrist or even nothing at all. The dis…

Guards don't necessarily have the power you imagine. They are vastly outnumbered by the prisoners for one, and it's not uncommon for a guard to be intimidated into running drugs or other contraband for prison gangs. In many prisons housing violent offenders, its probably more accurate to say that the prisoners and the guards work in a tense sort of truce most of the time.

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#54

Post by genieyclo »

summerdown2 wrote: post #51

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row. He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a le…

If the point of prison for criminals isn't punishment, then what is it?

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#55

Post by coldpie »

genieyclo wrote: post #54
summerdown2 wrote: post #51

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row. He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a le…

If the point of prison for criminals isn't punishment, then what is it?

To keep them out of general society. Possibly to put them in a situation where they can be reformed to rejoin society. Setting aside ethics entirely, prisons cost resources and also take human resources out of society. It's in society's best interest to reform a prisoner and release them ASAP, provided the reform works and they are no longer a danger to society.

Obviously there's a lot of vague terms and wiggle room in that paragraph, but there's certainly a purpose to prisons aside from punishment.

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#56

Post by eonwe »

genieyclo wrote: post #54
summerdown2 wrote: post #51

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row. He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a le…

If the point of prison for criminals isn't punishment, then what is it?

One goal for prisons could be rehabilitation?

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#57

Post by sanityinc »

genieyclo wrote: post #54
summerdown2 wrote: post #51

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row. He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a le…

If the point of prison for criminals isn't punishment, then what is it?

Protecting the rest of the population from those incarcerated.

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#58

Post by minako »

genieyclo wrote: post #54
summerdown2 wrote: post #51

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row. He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a le…

If the point of prison for criminals isn't punishment, then what is it?

Rehabilitation, fighting injustice with injustice will just create an endless loop.

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#59

Post by scarmig »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #50
JulianMorrison wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, well, lets twist this around into a form you'll understand. Do you accept that there could be no valid consensual love between master and slave in the deep south in the height of the slave trade? Do you accept that if such a "love" happened, it would be so clearly tainted by unequal power, the fear of reprisals, the hope for respite and status, that it would be a mockery even if both parties honestly felt it? Now…

For some reason I can't quite put my finger on, it feels redundant to say this, but... Did you read the article I linked? It talks about a prisoner who impregnated four of his guards, who then bragged to each other about having his kids. How one of the guards went to the guy for moral support when she found the prison environment too disturbing to handle. How the prisoners passed around tips on seducing the guards. T…

There's some huge gap in perspective here, because I find your example an obvious case of rape on the prisoner that doesn't help your case at all.

Re: US Government: Guards may be responsible for half of prison sex assaults

#60

Post by hyperpape »

genieyclo wrote: post #54
summerdown2 wrote: post #51

Uk point of view here. I have no understanding what Americans want out of the prison system. This was brought home to me when I watched (ex UK minister) Micheal Portillo's programme on Death Row. He is a believer in the death penalty, but went through the programme appalled by the torment suffered by prisoners. During the programme he researched, and found, a humane way of killing a prisoner. Then, he took it to a le…

If the point of prison for criminals isn't punishment, then what is it?

I believe it is Norway or Sweden that has prisons dedicated to protecting society and rehabilitating the offender. As a result, the prison community looks remarkably like an ordinary society, the primary difference being that the prisoners are not allowed to leave. Reading about it was eye opening.
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