The prison dilemma

Jun 28, 2011 Editorial

One of the four men who escaped from the New Amsterdam jail was picked up walking casually as he was entitled to his liberty. This is not the first time that an escaped prisoner was caught going about his business of living among the society.
Still fresh in some memories is the breakout of twelve from the Camp Street jail. One was caught by the Georgetown Public Hospital. Another was caught walking in the city in broad daylight.
One may argue that the men who break out for the greater part simply refuse to be confined and have no other reason but to continue to live aimlessly. Perhaps it is this aimlessness that got them into trouble in the first instance. They might have been sauntering along, bored as ever, when they would have spotted something that would have brought some brief excitement to their lives.
The society is aware that these people live among us and need to be separated because of the grief they can cause people who merely want to live a normal life, one in which they can enjoy whatever they do. These days, the people who want to enjoy dressing up are advised against doing so because they may attract unwanted attention.
It is here that we need institutions in the society that could help the deviants. It is clear that prison is only a stopgap measure, largely because the sentences are trifling. Many of the deviants go to jail and head back as soon as they are released. The reason is that they have a mental problem which allows them to act under certain conditions and forget past experiences.
This would explain why there are so many repeat offenders. Their conditioning was such that they are conditioned to taking what belongs to others and not consider the outcome. Some are badly beaten when caught but this is not a deterrent because we have seen such people commit the same crime.
The reality is that we cannot offer the level of psychiatric service that would limit incidence of repeat crimes. Indeed, no country has been able to rid itself of crimes. Some try to make the criminal feel comfortable with the hope that he would recognize that society is not this evil thing that persecutes him.
Some have situations where the prisoner is exposed to psychiatric help. Those who are not incorrigible often are able to turn a new leaf. In Guyana there are those who turn a new leaf without prodding because the period of incarceration was deterrent enough.
But there are those who must be made to understand their actions and this is part of the programme of rehabilitation. Guyana, sadly enough, cannot focus on rehabilitation because it simply does not have the resources. There was a time when it offered convicted criminals a change to acquire an education, learn skills and adopt postures that would see them re-entering society as better persons.
These skills have disappeared and those who once volunteered their time no longer do so. The result is that prisoners are left to plan almost continuously to escape their surroundings. They then leave with anger in their hearts and on escaping, they unleash that anger on the society.
That being the case, one cannot understand why the prison system has not adopted to the new situation. The authorities spent millions of dollars building even more dormitories, securing fences and installing security cameras to monitor the prisoners. There have not been similar investments in the human aspect of the prison system.
Some say that people are simply not responding while others say that only those who cannot gain employment in other sectors of the economy would apply to become custodians of prisoners, and only custodians.
The older ones in the system try to ensure some rehabilitation but then again, there is the mental quality of the prisoners. We are certain that the vast majority have some mental defect and this would demand psychiatric help. However, there are no psychiatrists to go around.
Perhaps the government should concentrate on building bigger and more secure prisons.

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The prison dilemma

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