Beyond Reform: Abolishing Prisons | Maya Schenwar | TEDxBaltimore
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2024
- The United States has the highest imprisonment rate in the world. But is the problem simply that too many people are incarcerated--or is incarceration a problem, in and of itself?The US prison system, which is grounded in racism and economic injustice, is inherently destructive and must be abolished. Recorded at TEDxBaltimore January 2016.
Maya is Truthout's editor-in-chief and the author of "Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better." Maya serves on the Board of Advisors at Waging Nonviolence.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx
"Correctional facilities have not yet corrected themselves out of existence."
They're not there to correct people, they're there to correct society!
I've been working in criminal defense for 15 years. I talk about CJ reform in social situations because even when I'm not working, it's what I'm thinking about. I've heard a lot of people tell me their opinion on approaching crime but never have I come across someone who came so close in alignment with my views and sentiments on incarceration as this speaker just did. What a relief!
@@mmohon93 the justice system isnt about punishment as you put it. It's about justice, yet you seem more interested in vengeance and protecting American traditionalism then the wellbeing of fellow human beings.
@@sydlawson3181 _then the wellbeing of fellow human beings_ And anyone who is against locking up murderers doesn't care about the 'well being' of fellow human beings as in the on average 15,000 a year who are murdered in the US
@@jeffbridges5312
15,000/y are murdered, and you call prison a success at preventing murder?
@@bobdobbz9334 considering the crime rate has dropped since "mass" incarceration, yea
@@centerrightpunk
No it hasn't. If it had they wouldn't be constantly building new prisons to house an ever growing population.
Kropotkine said almost 150 years ago : "The reforms [of prison] are impossible [because] the system is bad from the foundation to the roof"
don’t understand why reforms matter, criminal didn’t give their victim a second chance therefore they don’t deserve a second chance. you break the law, you hurt people, you deserve to get whatever punishment necessary. A eye for a eye, a life for a life. That’s only fair
@@kim-pd9ok A lot of people who commit crimes haven't hurt anyone. Legality is independent from morality. The law doesn't exist to protect people. It exists to protect property.
@@kim-pd9ok Most crimes people are locked up for, are either victimless or out of necessity (shoplifting because of serious poverty). Those who've committed serious crimes should be kept away from their victims and should in some way be held responsible for reparation, that's what's necessary.
Based bread-Santa!
@@kim-pd9ok I'm responding to this a year late, but ignoring the fact that our retributive urges are likely evolutionary adaptations with no connection to any moral realm-
The very possibility of hurting someone who doesn't deserve it, is enough reason to reject punishment from the get-go, and there are -many- non-violent criminals, many of which committed victimless crimes.
This is why prison reform is better than prison abolition. Prison reform like the kind of prisons Norway has answers everyone's questions, prison abolition only has an asnwer for nonviolent drug offenders.
There is no one solution, I never thought about it like that. Makes so much sense, thank you.
It's like saying that your cancer treatment may fail so we should stop all form of treatment and give palliative care to all of them.
Prison should be reserved for the most hardened and obviously unrepentant people. Gacy's, Bundy's, Manson's... those are the only types of people who should be in prison. No non-violent offender should ever see the inside of a jail cell.
I appreciate your sentiments, but I just want to add that I don't think that anyone is unable to rehabilitate. Even the most seemingly stagnant person deserves that vote of confidence. :)
I bet you want to rob a bunch of banks, huh.
@Spit-Shine Philly buddy I hate to break it to you but you're seeking vengeance rather than justice.
Wrong. No one, no matter what they have done, should be put into a cage, even if you cannot rehabilitate them.
@@sydlawson3181 Some forms of vengeance is justice. I don't agree with putting non-violent offenders in jail with violent predators, but some sick bastards out there don't belong in our society. Problem is, when innocent people are put to death. Thing is, sometimes that's even less worse then people sitting in jail for 20 years who were innocent, thats an even bigger torture. Life's hard, and requires hard decissions, ain't no way around it.
So what replaces prison? Legalizing drugs and having grandmothers stand outside at night And what do we do with people like serial killers? I don’t know figure it out later and get rid of prisons now
They belong in proper place which is psych ward. We have scientific way of dealing with this.
And yes legalizing drugs can help deal with such people including using some drugs for rehab purposes.
Let doctors deal with it.
What about human breeders? They too are murders. The first support of a human's death is his own parents. By procreating, the parent is guaranteeing death to its child. Creating someone to die is also a form of murder, but accepted by the conditioned society and people like you.
Very good talk and very brave speaker, for promoting the discussion of these important topics.
I don't know where the idea that the purpose of prison was supposed to be to rehabilitate criminals. Prison is for the protection of the non criminals. It's self defense on a societal level. It's also punishment.
Look at Norway. They re-integrate criminals very effectively and not severly: and yet criminality is lower than in the US. Also, this country has low inequality and good democracy. Maybe a good exemple for the US?
you realize inequality doesn't only mean economic inequality right?
did you watch the video?
@PANTSMONSTER Maybe we SHOULD copy their example then, haha!
@@ericanogallo4245 nah they have a criminal rewards system not a justice system
maybe we should discover obscene amounts of oil that will fund societal safety nets
Thank you for speaking up about "CAGING" humans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And what would you recommend they do instead? Slap on the wrist?
If someone murdered one of your family members or stole everything you owned after breaking into your house, you want them to go free?
@@asynchronousaven8823 3 months later: Crickets
@@asynchronousaven8823 lol exactly
@@asynchronousaven8823
Perhaps you should see that a large amount of criminals commit non violent crimes for financial reasons and problems
Perhaps you should see that a large majority of prisoners were wrongfully convicted for something small like smoking weed
What about the felons who commit violent crimes then how should we punish them with no prisons?
Feb 2. 2016. Maya Schenwar: "Just recently, over the past few years, incarceration has been making the headlines. This is partially due to a state budget crunch and a new conservative enthusiasm for reform. Suddenly a number of politicians are wondering whether we should really be spending $80 billion a year on prisons." ~2:30
Answer: End the uselessness of the War on drugs.
powerful closing to a powerful talk. this needs millions of views
Presenter: we should abolish prisons. Me: okay, what do we do with psychopaths? Presenter: you figure it out. Me: So you have an idea, and I/society has to figure out how to implement it? Presenter: Yes. Me: Compelling.
love that but my misophonia is acting up with all the mouth noises
ok i thought it was just me
I can totally relate. I was listening to it on lower volume and then psychically cringed when I turned it up louder.
Private prisons are awful and need to be abolished but... all prisons? I can’t get behind that.
The ex prisoners could live in the spare rooms at liberals houses
In France, if you've been incarcerated twice, you have a 91% chance to go back to prison a third time.
"Les prisons en feu, les matons au milieu" = "The orisons on fire, the guards in the middle"
I think we should keep prisons but only send murderers, serial killers, and actual dangers to society to prison. Not drug addicts and homeless people and the mentally ill.
Drug addicts are only 3.8% of the prison population.
Where are people doing things better. You mentioned that there are some.
Any other country on earth.
Norway.
Norway. Well, almost everywhere if you want to measure all the factors, but Norway has recently facilitated use of the first rehabilitation-focused prison. The statistics have shown remarkable results on its success (in reducing recidivism).
I've been inside one of those facilities for a couple days and if my head were not glued on tightly all being inside a cage for 4 days or so would have done is made me new friends who were released relatively shortly after I was from the same facility, one of them was a boy who lived at the house just after my neighbors, so two doors down.
I pried his mind for tips on shoplifting without getting caught- Anyone who thinks this system is reforming people is naive, they've never seen the inside, they've never seen interactions between prisoners, if anything Going to Prison will teach you to be a better criminal.
16 minutes and no discussion of what restorative justice is, whether it’s fair to victims, and what to do about crimes for which there can be no restoration.
Here’s an example: somebody sprays acid in your face to steal your scooter. You are now permanently disfigured, require medical care, and are likely in pain. What can the assailant possibly do besides repay you for the medical care and return the bike? How will we prevent the assailant from just moving on while the victim has to live with the consequences forever?
And that’s to say nothing about serial murderers and the like. For all of the good ideas presented in this video, the speaker had no solution to the dispensation of justice for violent crime
Ok. So how does putting that person in a prison make a victim any better off than if you put them through a restorative justice system? I'd say the biggest difference is that in a restorative system, you actually have a possibility of closure.
@@gray5817 It might not help the victim but it can prevent others from becoming victims to the same criminal by taking him off the streets and giving other offenders something to lose. Further, prison prevents the victim's friends and families from seeking their own justice through equally violent means, or worse.
What about Norwegian style prisons?
She’s amazing!! I’m on board 100% even if someone needs selfish reasons. There is still no reason for our current system.
the applause after 5:05 is making me lose my mind 😭
Jesus this is scary
She mentions other ways to hold violent criminals accountable. Didn't actually say how. So... let's say your neighbor shoots your mother. No prison. So now what? Make him say he's sorry and now he's living next door again? She obviously lives in a very safe neighborhood or she would realize how unrealistic this is.
Very cool thank you
"What should we do with real criminals that really must be away from their victims?" and her answer goes: "This is something that we are going to have to figure out together." What an amazing answer! Just put all those killers out of jail and let´s see what happens! It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic
.
Majority of people in prison aren’t actually violent though. The U.S has approximately 1 million inmates and that’s a lot of people who aren’t violent and don’t have access to the proper help. Not to mention prison sentences end so wouldn’t it be better to find a solution for the issues that cause people to commit crime instead of throwing them in cages? The solution to resolving crime is also obvious if u do research Bc the majority of inmates have mental health issues or are in poverty. That means if we fund schools in lower income communities and do things like decriminalize drugs for proper regulation, make access and research into mental health more widespread, and we as a society focus on collaboration and education instead of punishment then we won’t use prisons as a solution and we can target the issue from the root. American potential is being wasted behind those cells because people didn’t have access to what they need and the money can be re invested from prisons to provide more opportunities for people. Just a thought good luck!
@@Iambunny-ry2os most of them are....even the one thrown in for drug are thrown in for traffiking , and gang involvement .
Dismantle the Prison System Past Present Future
Excellent message
Yes, Excellent for the mentally insane.
How's that prison abolishment campaign looking in 2020
I completely agree with all the problems about prison but managing violent criminals is so problematic. Maybe a halfway house for violent criminals (I.e. like Norway) could work. Removing all non-violent criminals from prisons and giving them an alternative punishment (not a fine) would be a great start and would probably free up a lot of money.
People seem to be scared of ex prisoners and most don’t feel comfortable hiring them or working with them.
Vic M Ruiz why should they , once a shitbag , always a shitbag . You’ll feel a lot differently when you’re the victim of an armed robbery.
@@kettlebellkyle311 I've been mugged twice and I entirely disagree. Your problem is you hold resentment for these people. You want vengeance rather than justice because you dont wanna face how nuanced this issue really is. The fact is most theft is motivated by desperation not malevolence.
Gavin Otto what’s so bad about vengeance?
@@kettlebellkyle311 ethics comes to mind. Its inherent lack of objectivity, take your pick honestly.
Gavin Otto people like gang bangers , rapists and people who steal at gun point can’t be changed only punished . We must make criminals afraid ,they are enemies of our Republic . Most of them won’t be caught so the ones that do must pay a heavy price . If they are children yeah don’t put them away forever . Non violent crimes like drug use are a health problem and a drug addict shouldn’t face one day behind bars for simply having meth or coke on him .
Great speech and ideas but at this point, do we really have the money, resources, and people to reintegrate all of these people back in society? You have to teach people young how to be a decent person. I'm sure most of them have been given chance after chance in school. There is no easy solution but staying out of jail starts with the family teaching children how to act and providing support along the way.
Spoken like a person who has never been the victim of a violent crime.
The answer to your question about what to do with those dangerous repeat offenders without remorse is prison. You basically admitted yourself that there was no other solution. Tho of course more serious reform and community support will work for many offenders.
prison doesn't work, not convinced state funded art does either though
Prisons are not about reform, they're about public protection. A criminal cannot commit crimes while trapped in prison, except against the staff and inmates. Let one criminal suffer so that the rest of us can live in peace.
CountBifford Prisons are not about public protection.
Yeah mentally torturing people by locking them in dungeons for decades is totally for the protection of the public.
And they totally aren't going to come out of prison way more crazy than when they went in (making them more dangerous to the public than they were before). Yeah, that's just completely an insane idea.
Comfy Situations prisons have been around since the beginning of time and will last until the end of times dangerous people need to be locked up
@@comfysituations3566 who said lock them up in dungeon? you can lock them in their house or lock them in hotels. there are prisons that look no different from normal places, except you cant leave or leave without supervision .you are an insane anarchist
@Adam K the violent crime recidivism rate of Norway and the United States is actually pretty similar: 20% and 25% respectively. It's the recidivism rate of non violent offenders which is huge.
Greatest country in the world 👌
I'd say the best was Rojava, but okay
I was being sarcastic.
I know. I was being edgy
If open AI teamed up with open bionics, we wouldn’t need presents anymore
The purpose of prison is not vindictive punishment, nor is it rehabilitation. It is self defense for the public from people who want to do them harm. I see no way in which this problem can be solved without prisons. How do you stop someone intent on harming you from harming you if you can’t put physical barriers between you? Societies have two choices, put walls around the perpetrators or put walls around the victims. Victim’s should not be consigned to prisons of fear out of an abundance for compassion for monsters.
This is like saying "We cut this guys hands off to stop him from stealing, not as a punishment."
@@comfysituations3566 well he won't steal again if he can't grab it . And also do bad things you get punished . Be happy they don't actually cut your hand off
@@comfysituations3566 Do you need to have their hands cut off to be restrained?
He just gave you the solution: Prison ...which put them in designated area for monitoring before they are released .
There are also stuff like house arrest, ankle monitoring, etc but all serve the purpose of RESTRAINT.
You can turn prison into a nice hotel room with games and other allowed like Norway . But you cant release those people without supervision
@@alterego8496 The original poster wasn't talking about the Norwegian prison system (which, I agree, is probably a much more humane solution). He was pretending that the prisons we have in America aren't dungeons specifically designed to inflict suffering (they're most definitely not "monitoring areas"). That's what I gathered from his post. I could be wrong.
What we have now in America is absolutely vindictive punishment.
I don't think insane people should have to be forced to stay in psychiatric hospitals either. Because why not.
The mad pride/disability rights movements are actually very real, very serious, and very good, and they do in fact advocate for the abolition of involuntary hospitalisation
Yes, we all know prisons don't work that well and cause a lot of harm with the 'negative reinforcement'. However, she didn't really offer any solutions, so 'abolishing prisons' is just 'stage 1 thinking'.
Furthermore, the people who end up in prison are just symptoms of a whole society that practices these negative reinforcement strategies.
Question: How do we implement positive reinforcement strategies in society as a whole? The tough part is that a lot of kids are subconsciously taught from a young age to avoid getting caught. (Negative reinforcement strategies force the kids to not learn to do 'good' but instead learn how to not get caught)
Imaginary is the key word here
Prison owners need to see how they could make money by healing and releasing those people. How are they going to train their guards or other staff? THEN something will get done. It has to be INCENTIVIZED. Everyone everywhere wants to know "what's in it for me?" Answering that question can get things done very quickly.
What do you mean by prison “owners?” Prisons are publicly owned.
@@roxarecool it's pretty privatized, actually
I dont believe in abolishing prisons but we should improve other things that lead to imprisonment
Less than 5% of the world's population,
25% of the world's prison population
Ok...what percentage of the world criminals do we have?
(Including only countries that actually have functioning legal systems)
Considering all the unsolved violent crime in the US, I would say more than 25%
Prisoners are potential assets.
Cranni van Vessem exactly
They are the bread and butter of Private Prison Corporations that could not exist without them. That's why the police must fill quotas to keep them stocked up.
Democrat voters
someone please get her a glass of water
Jails are for dangerous people you just don’t get a fee pass from your crimes
Dangerous people should be put to death, not imprisoned.
No prison=The WORST country to go to
I know this is an insane concept but I just found out that if don't commit a crime you won't go to jail!
What crime is worth 15-20? and how does this Fix the behavior? we have evidence that prisons as they are do not fix the individual and instead makes them worse. Now if we had the system Norway, Sweden and Denmark has that may be a different matter.
Plenty of people go to jail without committing a crime.
Yes, in fact, most prisoners never went to trial for the crimes of which they were accused. Over 95 percent of them took a plea bargain to serve less time than they would if they insisted on waiting for a trial to try to prove their innocence if they could not afford the bail/ransom or a good lawyer.
And I just found out that cuz I'm white I can commit crimes constantly and not go to jail! Just kidding--I found this out DECADES ago
I have comitted plenty of crime and have not gone to jail, yet.
She can have all the criminals stay at her house since she wants to abolish prisons. I seriously doubt she would be okay with that. If you aren't willing to do that then you shouldn't let them loose on the rest of society.
Controversial opinion here but criminals should go to jail and not be put on a pedestal
amazing talk. she needs a drink though.
James Fleming No she doesn't, her voice is creaking because she is deliberately using vocal fry.
Feminists do this in an attempt to make their voices sound more like a man's (deeper) because their ideology teaches them that acting like men will make people take them more seriously, it also serves to broadcast her beliefs to other progressives.
Needless to say, this entire talk is predicated on the absolute refusal to acknowledge reality.
Non-Whites are more often jailed because they are more often criminals.
The greatest factor in the delinquency of young Black men is the destruction of the Black nuclear family by feminism.
Talk about creating job security.
I'm glad this will never come to fruition and this woman will bare shame for it.
What mad man thought of caging a human??????
Seems like she's forgetting the fact that those people in prison were not just thrown in there, they were CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED. It doesn't matter if a person hurt someone because they were hurt, or if they committed the crime to "survive". The point is that they BROKE THE LAW. The point is they are deemed UNFIT to be living in society for what they've done. Society has RULES. Justice isn't always about healing, it's not just about correcting the criminal's behavior, some criminals CAN NOT AND DO NOT HEAL & NEED to be kept from society. It''s about keeping them from society because they don't follow society's rules. Pretty simple.
& she makes humans in cages out to be inhumane, which it is, but the reason that person is in a cage is because they were convicted of a crime for doing something inhumane. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You missed the point, prison doesn't work. Prison creates more prison. It's a cycle. Most prisoners will be released at some point, and they're even worse when they get out, more likely to commit crimes, not LESS. Not to mention the effect of prison on prisoner's children, who are more likely to be incarcerated themselves. Prison replenishes itself as it creates a whole new generation of prisoners. Prison is in itself a form of violence, and violence only begets more violence.
@@bobdobbz9334 hey Bobby. Why are US prisons 93% male and 7% female? How are women escaping the trap?
@@pehenry
Whataboutism? Don't know how accurate those numbers are, but there are more men than women in the system. Has nothing to do with anything I was saying though.
They deserve to be away from society
Abolish prisons? Are you crazy? OMG.
Criminals are "targeted" by police. This woman never witnessed crime in her life.
This is nuts, don’t commit crime, don’t steal, don’t break the law.... like it’s really simple,
It’s not simple. There’s a lot of crazy people who do it for fun. Or they do it for revenge. That’s how sick it is.
We're gonna make jaywalking punishable with 5 years in prison, just don't break the law. "like it's really simple,"
@@WorldGovernmentGeoInstitut the law it's self has nothing to do with prison existing. the judges decide the sentencing, the police pick you up.
@@selfishbeats Exactly, the fact that judges can interpret the law the way they want makes it a tyranny. Judges need to be given double or triple the sentence if they screw up, and court rulings need to be put on a referendum so they're democratized, the people should be able to say whether a ruling is good to go or should be discarded.
@@WorldGovernmentGeoInstitut no it's still the judges choice at sentencing nothing needs to be standardized besides the minimum and max sentences.
Sooooo all that talking and she still didnt have an answer for how to deal with repeatedly violent criminals, but thinks we should abolish prisons then figure it out lol
They never have an alternative solution.
Correct, try to improve things, but if they still committed a crime, go to jail.
For real
This chicks knitting a sweater for Jeffrey dahmer
Dont´t worry! The answer is going to be figured out by us collectively hahahahahahaha let´s just laugh of such dellusional thought
If you go to prison you can be cool, or maybe you should study something to improve your life when you get out.
technically, the us im imaginary.
Left: we have to do something
she needs some water aye
Meth
I think caining would reduce crime, and cost less.
Or hanging
:)
The problem there is no investor. She came up with solutions, but she will not practice it herself.😂
This woman doesn't have a clue about what it's like in prison!
Bro what is with that lip smacking
We definitely need prison reform, but I cannot support prison abolition.
Clueless
Quit committing crimes
We'll make jaywalking punishable with five years in prison and an USD$800,000 fine. So "Quit committing crimes"
These "marginalized" people are criminals.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be in prison, yeah prison should reform you, BUT, it is to keep dangerous people away from society, reforming them is an extra, not the objective.
And if they are reincarcerated, well, it is obvious why...
I just farted.
Did it smell? Badly?
Same
@@maliahjoy2959 Did it smell? Badly?
Is this a joke ?