Top 5 Facts about Prisons
Hard gangs, hard time, and shives. Actually, we're not really covering any of those today– so let's go with "pirates, puritans, and slavery. Welcome to WatchMojo's Top 5 Facts. On today's installment, we're counting down the 5 most surprising things you probably didn't know about Prisons. Since most of the information we found during our research on the topic is centered around the American prison system, most of these facts are as well.
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Hard gangs, hard time, and shives. Actually, we’re not really covering any of those today– so let’s go with “pirates, puritans, and slavery.” Welcome to WatchMojo’s Top 5 Facts. On today’s installment, we’re counting down the 5 most surprising things you probably didn’t know about Prisons. Since most of the information we found during our research on the topic is centered around the American prison system, most of these facts are as well.
#5: Prison Sentences Are as American as Apple Pie
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Before the 19th century, in the West punishment was torture, humiliation, or death. Prisons existed, but they were just places to keep criminals before the punishment happened. It was American Quakers and Puritans who came up with the penitentiary. The idea was to leave convicts alone to quietly think about their crimes and become penitent. It was meant to be a humane alternative to corporal punishment, but the years spent alone drove many of the criminals mad. These penitentiaries developed into the modern prison system and later became the inspiration for solitary confinement.
#4 America has the second highest prison rate
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Given that last fact, it might not be surprising that America is the country with the largest prison population. It has more than 2 million prisoners and about 5 million people in other areas of the justice system like parole and juvenile detention... But the tiny island of Seychelles has the highest prison rate: almost 800 prisoners per 100,000 citizens. America only has a rate of 698! But Seychelles isn’t some kind of mad police state. The abnormally high level of incarceration is due in large part to a U.N prison that houses Somali pirates.
#3 Those Hilarious Dancing Prisoners Might Be Hilariously Abused
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Former inmates of this Filipino penitentiary have accused the prison of beating those who didn't participate, and Amnesty International has concerns about the country’s prisons’ sanitation and overcrowding. Officials insist the dance program is an effective rehabilitation tool, but other experts disagree and call it exploitative The Philippines is not the only place that exploit inmates. In American prisons people can be forced to work for as little as 23 cents an hour. This is because of a clause that was left in the 13th Amendment to keep slavery in prisons legal. By convicting recently freed slaves of minor crimes, this clause was used to keep some plantations open for decades after the Civil war.
#2 Scandinavian prisons work better
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While American prisons focus on punishment, Scandinavian prisons focus more on rehabilitation. Their prisons are designed to mimic villages to remind prisoners that they are still a part of society. They have access to many of the same rights and privileges as regular citizens and they have a max sentence of 21 years. The prisons try to help convicts develop life and work skills, because even the worst offenders will one day live around regular civilians. It may sound strange to an American audience, but there are at least some indications that the system works: Norwegian recidivism is around 40% whereas American recidivism is closer to 70%.
#1 Lots of Americans in Jail Are Innocent
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Until we develop some kind of criminal precog technology that sees into the past we’ll never know for sure how many convicts are actually innocent. Experts estimate that between 2.3% and 5% of American prisoners are innocent. That's up 110,000 people who are in prison without committing the crime they were convicted of. As “Last Week Tonight” reported recently, it’s probable that many of them used severely overworked public defenders. [ These public defenders often encourage defendants to take plea bargains. Which leads to the terrible reality that 90%-95% of convicts never actually have a trial. So, what do you think the best kind of prison is? For more rehabilitated Top 10s and no chance of parole Top 5s, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com
