Prison: Problems and challenges for the Americas

Lucía DammertSecurity and Citizenship Program

FLACSO-Chile

Insecurity

• Rise in crime• Increase in use of violence• Stiffer criminal laws • Public support for punishment• Limited use of alternative measures• Police arrest and justice is slow• Officials ¨prisoners¨

Source: FLACSO-Chile, 2008, ECLAC population database

0100200300400500

pris oners per 100,000 inhabs .

Prison populations in Latin America and the Caribbean

Prison systems

• Cross-cutting crisis – Overpopulation – Abysmal living conditions – Limited budget for rehabilitation– Rise in prison population at police jails and

other facilities – Criminal contagion (shared spaces)

Overpopulation and remand prisoners

0%20%40%60%

80%100%120%140%

reclusos sin condena sobrepoblación

Source: FLACSO, 2008, with data supplied by respective prison administrations and statistical yearbooks.

Institutions

• Dependence on diverse agencies not always connected with Justice

• In many countries the police guard and provide security at prisons

• Prison system-specific institutions– Limited budget – Weak social protection

Challenges

1. BUDGETS

• Low levels of investment, budgets large but insufficient

• Limited social pressure for better conditions

• Different perceptions of rights• Limited health coverage

Gasto penitenciario por programa

010

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

% d

e ga

sto

gasto en personal

gasto insumos

gasto en salud

gasto en reinserción

Source: FLACSO, 2008, with data supplied by respective prison administrations and statistical yearbooks.

Health of inmates

Source: Prepared by the author, 2008, with data supplied by respective prison administrations in the countries mentioned. Data current to June 2008, except for Chile where data corresponds to December 2007.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Belice Chile Costa Rica México Panamá Paraguay

ETS % Enfermos mentales Otras.

2. NEW ISSUES• Increase in the female population • Globalization of prison populations• Prison violence

– Impunity– Violence – Suicide

Female prison population

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

Foreign prisoners

0,0%2,0%4,0%6,0%8,0%

10,0%12,0%14,0%16,0%18,0%

Prison violence: Deaths and injuries in Venezuela

0

200

400

600

800

1.000

1.200

1.400

1.600

1.800

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Muertos Heridos

Source: FLACSO, 2008, with data from the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, 2008.

Comparative perspective

• Success stories still the exception • Need for regional collaboration mechanisms • Strengthening of officials (role and

coverage)• Human Rights are essential not only to

protect the prison but also for rehabilitation • Recognize the drug abuse crisis