In the 1790s, penal reformers rebuilt America’s squalid jails as airy, hygienic places meant to keep residents – and by extension society – healthy. Now they’re hotbeds of COVID-19. What went wrong?
The Indonesian government plans to release at least 30,000 detainees to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country’s overcrowded jails.
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Releasing convicts amid the pandemic is not enough. The government should issue a law that provides alternatives to detention to avoid overcrowding.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela with former American world boxing champion Marvin Hagler. The undated photo was taken after Mandela’s release.
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Prison life is about routine: each day like the one before; each week like the one before it, so that the months and years blend into each other.
A ministry program student at a Texas prison. Some inmates cite religion to avoid gang recruitment.
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Gangs are still a significant reality in US prisons. But most inmates say that their power has been watered down, and they no longer rule facilities with an iron fist.
The effective response to crime has always been a matter of debate. But evidence is mounting in favour of treatment and support, rather than punishment.
A tipi at a federal prison in Edmonton. Prison systems have legal options to decrease their prison populations, including ways to return Indigenous people in prison to their communities.
(The Office of the Correctional Investigator)
Rapidly decreasing the prison population by letting people out is a public health imperative as governments for solutions to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The annual report from Canada’s prison watchdog paints a bleak picture of a prison system where violence between and against prisoners is concerning.
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Education for those behind bars is gaining more attention. In these four articles, scholars take an up-close look at efforts to provide – and restrict – higher education in prison.
Nearly two-thirds of incarcerated mothers have never received a visit from their children. A scholar who studies women in prison explains the barriers that families face and how they might be removed.
Students in an advanced bachelor’s degree seminar in the Bard Prison Initiative at Eastern New York Correctional Facility.
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A scholar who has taught in prison weighs in on ‘College Behind Bars,’ which airs Nov. 25 and 26 on PBS. The documentary prompts viewers to consider the importance of higher education in prison.
As of Dec. 1, inmates in Canada’s federal prisons can no longer be legally held in solitary confinement. But is it truly just an exercise in rebranding?
Research offers an insight into the experiences of pregnant women left to give birth in their cells without midwives
Is it ethical to use former prisons, with long histories of death, suffering and wrongful incarcerations, as entertainment venues?
Rockin' the Big House