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Summary

While this book seeks to move past anecdotes and rhetoric by relying, whenever possible, on data and large-scale statistical analysis, it is important not to lose sight of the awesome deprivation of liberty suffered by the people reflected in that data. People incarcerated in prisons and jails are subject to a host of harms, including physical injuries inflicted by guards and other inmates. Many facilities offer poor access to medical care, and the cramped setting creates fertile ground for the spread of illness. One study of the health impacts of New York prisons found “a 2-year decline in life expectancy for each year served in prison.”1

This article assesses the causes of the crisis of detention in Latin America. It is argued that this crisis, which manifests itself in overpopulation of the region's prison systems, deficient infrastructure, prison informality and violence propelled ultimately by political processes, is mostly related to, on the one hand, disastrous human rights conditions inside Latin American prisons, and on other, the political denial of these conditions. This denial produces a state of institutional abandonment that is preserved by the interests of politicians and bureaucrats, who are engaged in denying prison violence and human rights abuses while simultaneously calling for more punishment and imprisonment.

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2 - The Deprivation of Incarceration

Summary

The crisis of detention and the politics of denial in Latin America

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2 results

2 - The Deprivation of Incarceration

Summary

The crisis of detention and the politics of denial in Latin America