Universities of Crime

Universities of Crime

By: Erreh Svaia

Caprine Dispersion

“We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such. The entire prison populace, that means each and every one of us here, have set forth to change forever the ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisoners here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We’ve called upon all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an end to this situation that threatens the lives of not only us, but of each and every one of you, as well.”

Elliott James "L.D." Barkley

I just finished watching season 5 of Orange is the New Black, a Netflix series I've watching enthusiastically for a couple of years, witnessing its gracious evolution from the obvious women in prison exploitation drama nature into an almost incisive critic of society as a whole, having some parallels with the controversial brutality of the legendary painful to see Oz, and the intense razor sharp noir of Spanish Vis a Vis series, but hell, OITNB is definitely something else and way beyond and above its predecessors or competitors, and what shocked with me the most after the impressive finale of season 5, is the often touched but this time masterly crafted critic of the human conditions in prison, I even went to rehearse a bit about Attica, an issue continuously mentioned during the season, the human nature that gets lost behind the bars, the exploitative and discriminating nature of prisons and their lack of resources towards the reformation or redemption of prisoners.

In season 5 we were able to witness a riot-mutiny within the Litchfield Penitentiary after the unjustified killing of an Afro-American inmate, various groups of prisoners formed within the place, there's a negotiating "team" that look for the idealistic goal of not only improve the conditions inside the penitentiary but also the punishment of the guard responsible for the murdering, after the lack of funds derived in less skilled guards, an austerity program and an exploitative policy by the private owners of the prison degenerated in the general bad mood within the walls of the place, but there are also groups of antagonistic nature that gather together (Skin Heads and Latins for example) for convince reasons, and the keeping of hostages, who are one of the principal catalysts of the struggle between humanity and depravity within the inmates, making them question themselves if they as inmates will be able of treating their hostages (prison guards) better than how they treated them in an interesting clash of authority, power, rebellion and morals.

In Mexico, living conditions within prisons is at constant trouble, organized crime operating within the walls of detention centers is a regular practice, authorities colluded or forced by the mafia to be a part of the criminal system and the constant bloody fights between criminal fractions are commonly ending in brutal massacres happening with shocking regularity, authorities unable to control detention centers are clear evidence of the impotence of the state to contain violence in a closed environment, a warning and a scary reflection of what is happening outside and why criminal levels are quickly rising in the country, the lost hope of regeneration for small time criminals who when detained and sent to these centers are in reality becoming worst subjects than the ones they were in the beginning of their processes, the fact that the penitentiary system is quickly becoming a time bomb that has showed that even in places exclusively dedicated to help human beings once society offenders to adapt once again to society are not adequate at their principal goal is really a situation that has to be thoroughly analyzed and given a fast track solution, as these “universities of crime” can no longer be seen as the best way to low levels of criminality, and examples of how humans should be treated with dignity whether they are criminals or common civilians.

The government of Nuevo Leon, Mexico is slowly showing signs of its lack of ability to handle these matters, as constant riots are happening in the penitentiaries supposedly under control of the state, executions between fighting rival factions are becoming a regular situations and witnessing how civil society prefers to let the criminal “kill themselves” is a clear sign of a society in constant state of degradation, preferring to get rid in the most brutal ways of their criminals, rather than taking care of the human aspect and trying to find a better way to rehabilitate, those who have been judicially processed.