Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Ram Subramanian, leaders at the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, are advocating for a transformative approach to incarceration, emphasizing humanity and constructiveness.
Key Principles of a Dignity-First Incarceration Approach
The new initiative centers around normalization and rehabilitation, aiming to make prison life resemble the outside world as closely as possible. This includes providing access to education, recreation, and treatment, encouraging family and friend interactions, and granting autonomy in daily activities. Presently, American prisons are defined by stringent control over the lives of inmates, dictating everything from activities to movement within the facility.
Rehabilitation is seen as essential for enabling individuals to reintegrate responsibly into society post-release, recognizing their potential for change. Offering meaningful activities, fair compensation work, and social engagement are pivotal. Comparatively, in northern Europe, prisoners often live in private rooms and maintain keys to their living areas. Interaction and shared meals with corrections staff are encouraged, promoting a humanized environment.
Challenges to Adoption in the U.S.
The U.S. faces significant hurdles, with over 1.2 million people incarcerated and an additional half-million in local jails, compared to the more reserved use of prisons in northern Europe. Each state and federal entity manages its own facilities, complicating widespread reform efforts.
Institutional culture in American prisons, heavily rooted in security and discipline, presents another barrier. Strict anti-fraternization policies limit staff-inmate interactions. In contrast, northern European countries provide extensive training for corrections staff, focusing on social and behavioral management, which includes topics like psychology and human rights.
Innovative Programs and Observations
Visiting various programs has highlighted innovative reforms in the U.S. Washington State and Oregon, through the non-profit Amend, are adopting public health perspectives to reform prison culture. Indiana’s Last Mile offers coding and web development courses to inmates. In Connecticut and North Dakota, the Restoring Promise initiative supports young adults with coaching in financial literacy and conflict resolution.
Pennsylvania’s Little Scandinavia unit, inspired by Norwegian prisons, allows residents to live in single rooms, access communal kitchens and outdoor spaces, and engage in work and education. Officers serve more as counselors, fostering positive interactions. Such initiatives demonstrate productive partnerships among corrections leaders, researchers, and technical experts, despite political challenges.
Aspirations for the Upcoming Report
Eisen and Subramanian aim to challenge the belief that U.S. prison reform is impossible. Their forthcoming report will showcase diverse reform strategies, applicable within specific units or entire facilities. They hope to inspire investment and public understanding of how improved prison conditions can reduce violence in both prisons and the broader community.
