As a matter of fact, this policy of negative reinforcement and repressive control is more and more the direction that the criminal justice system (on the federal, state, and country levels) is heading. If there was some evidence that this direction was working to deter crime and rehabilitate the prisoner, perhaps it might make sense. But anyone who has taken a basic psychology class knows that punishment just doesn't work in changing behavior, and sometimes even brings on more of the behavior it was meant to prevent. What works is rewarding positive behavior, and more importantly, providing individual attention and affirmation. But even before that, what works is creating conditions where crime doesn't have to be an option.

On a deeper level, these repressive policies are part of a larger trend which is assaulting the poor throughout our nation on every level. The continuing decrease of the average wage, coupled with the tearing of the welfare safety net has forced more and more people to the underground as their only source of making a living. This reality, along with longer sentences brought as a result of the "war on drugs," has wrought serious pain in the lives of many.

There is much bad news on this front. But there is also some good news, in that this grave situation is calling forth some very creative solutions.

The Bad News

Rising Rates of Incarceration: The rates of incarceration have quadrupled since 1970. The United States recently topped the one million mark in number of prisoners. Another half million fill the nation's jails, 600,000 are on parole and three million are on probation. The total cost to taxpayers is a whopping $16 billion a year and growing.

Supermax prisons: Twenty three hours a day lockdown, sensory deprivation and brutal retaliation by administration for the slightest infraction are the hallmarks of these super high maximum security prisons. In 1972 there was one such prison (Marion, in Illinois). Today, there are an estimated 40, and the number is growing.

The Death Penalty: The death penalty has increasingly become the "solution" to violent crime. More people were executed in 1995 than during any other year in the last 30 years. In some states, executions have become "routine" (i.e. they are no longer front page news). As usual, African Americans, while composing 12 percent of the general U.S. population, represent 40 percent of the people on death row.

Industrialization of Prisons: Governments are contracting out more and more prison construction and operation to private contractors. These contractors realize major profits so long as the prisons are filled. Thus, the incentive to criminalize more and more of the population becomes primary, in order to keep the prisions full. The easiest and most convenient people to convict and imprison are the most vulnerable -- those who have the least resources and who are least educated.

Women in Prison: Women represent the fastest growing population in prisons. Between 1980 and 1993, the population of women in prison increased 313 percent. The problems of poor medical care and lack of visitation with children and loved ones continue to aggravate women in prison.

Increasing Criminalization of People of Color: Nearly one in three African American men in his 20's is in jail, prison, or on parole. An Hispancic person is four times more likely to go to jail or prison in his or her lifetime than a white person.

"If one in three white men were under criminal justice supervision, the nation would declare a national emergency," said Mark Mauer, director of the Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C.

African Americans represent 12 percent of the U.S. population and 13 percent of its drug users. Yet, African Americans comprise 35 percent of all those arrested for drug possession and 55 percent of those convicted for drug possession. This strongly suggests that racial discrimination prevails at all levels of the criminal justice system, including the arrest level, the prosecution level, and the sentencing level.

Currently, five grams of crack, which has a street value of $225 gets a mandatory five year sentence. By comparison, 500 grams of powder cocaine, which has a street value of $50,000 gets a maximum of five years in prison or as low as probation. The great majority of those who go to prison for crack are Black and Latino, the majority of those sentenced for powder cocaine are white.

Even though the prison population has quadrupled in the past 24 years, the rate of violent crime has remained virtually unchanged. Clearly, imposing harsher prison sentences and the death penalty has not deterred crime. Example: In her book, Dead Man Walking Sister Helen Prejean notes that in states that have reinstated the death penalty, there is no change in the murder rate. If anything, the murder rate increases slightly.

In the face of what seems to be intractible policy by politicians and the criminal justice system to rely on ineffective negative reinforcement programs to solve the crime problem, it is sometimes hard to find hope. But hopelessness is not a luxury we can afford. Besides, the news isn't all bad.

The Good News

There is strong evidence that positive, rather than negative reinforcement is bringing about real change. For example, in Fulton County, Georgia the Washington Cluster, a pilot program, recruits volunteers to serve as companions (volunteer probation officers) for youthful offenders. The recidivism rate is down to 5 percent from the normal rate of 25 percent.

Example: The Rand Corporation and others have documented that treatment programs are seven times more cost effective than supply control programs (i.e. war on drugs) in reducing cocaine consumption.

Example: Federal legislation was recently passed that gives money to states who establish programs which reunite women prisoners with their child(ren). In these programs, the women are still responsible to the correction system, but they undergo intensive programming with their child(ren) in the community, not in a prison. Such programs boast a recidivism rate that is three times lower than that of people who were in "general population" while incarcerated. ln addition, such programs are very cost effective, because they don't bear the high costs of keeping the child(ren) in foster care and the women in prison.

Example: Sister Helen Prejean's award winning book and movie, Dead Man Walking, has caused many to rethink their stance on the death penalty. Both the book and movie stress that neither the victim nor the offender benefits.

What We Can Do

Visit prisoners. When I asked Fr. George Clements, founder of "One Church, One Inmate" program in Washington, D.C., what we can do about these grave trends, he simply says, "All I can tell you is keep building community with prisoners." Of course, the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of prisons, but the first step is building alliances and friendships with those who are already locked up. Most dioceses have prison ministry programs that are in great need of people to visit and/or correspond with prisoners. Here are some prisoners who have asked for correspondence:

Akono Olatunji             Khalfani Salim
 #862113                   #875553
P.O. Box 41                WVCI-SHU P.O. Box 1111 
Michigan City, IN 46360    Carlisle, IN 47838

Educate People Including Your Legislators: We need jobs not jails. We need to put our energy and resources towards the front end of the problem--after-school programs, Head Start, Job Creation programs, Youth Mentoring programs, Parent Education programs, and other preventive measures. So many people blame the breakdown of the family for high imprisonment rates. We need to address some of the causes of the breakdown of the family: erosion of the living wage, corporate downsizing, and general lack of support for families in today's national policies. Contact your legislator and let him or her know you won't settle for less.

Become a mentor for at-risk youth such as Big Brother and Big Sister programs. Become a mentor/get your Church or community to "accompany" persons released from prison looking to challge their options.

8th Day center For Justice, 205 W. Monroe, Chicago IL 60606-5033 (312) 641-5151 FAX: (312) 641-1250 Email the 8th Day Center: eighthday@igc.apc.org.org