On the Western Cape Linux Users Group mailing lists, the subject of providing support to potential Linux users in prison was brought up. Someone expressed that they had little sympathy for criminals, and this was my attempt to explain why it's a good idea to care about the skills prisoners learn while in jail.
Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 12:04:29 +0200
From: Neil Blakey-Milner
Subject: Re: [CLUG-chat] Prison Linux Users
On Mon 2005-05-09 (21:31), WWW YYY wrote:
> >Concerning the Prison:
> >I just received a call from someone in prison, who have been fiddling
> >with ubuntu, but what limits them is the fact that they're not allowed
> >to access the internet/e-mail. That means communication is limited to
> >letters and the occasional phone call. A lot of them have done various
> >computer courses, one is completing his information technology diploma,
> >and they're quite competent when it comes to Windows, but are having
> >difficulty teaching themselves the Linux commands, etc.
>
> I'm sorry but I have little sympathy with criminals. They had no
> concern for the victims of their crimes so why should we be concerned
> with them? They should be happy to even have computers!
Why should we care about criminals? Well, perhaps we should start by
trying to understand how all criminals are alike so that we can treat
them as if they were all alike. It's only that they've committed a
crime. We can't know their motivation or the type of crime simply
because they're in prison. Murderers and rapists go to jail, but so do
people who renege on contracts, or those who deliver some pot to the
rich kids (who would just pay a fine instead of going to jail).
Prison is part punishment, part rehabilitation. The punishment is
mostly being unable to freely associate or partake in the community.
The rehabilitation is time and access to resources to learn from the
mistakes, how to live a life without committing crimes, and so forth.
One of the major reasons people in South Africa turn to crime is their
inability to get a decent living with the skills they have. It's not
like magically in 1994 every single non-white person received the
education and experience that many of us were able to receive, and the
effects of our parents having the same, and so on. So, if in prison the
person is able to learn skills that can lead to employment and some
measure of monetary security, they're a lot less likely to repeat their
crime with the risks of going to jail and being separated form their
family and community.
But, since they've been to prison and have a record, they're going to
have a harder time finding work.
So, as people who want to improve society, our job is clear. We already
aim to improve access to resources in schools for the schoolchildren.
Similarly, we aim to improve access to resources in community centres
for the community member. Why? So they can get better jobs and better
salaries, and so they can start their own business and employ more
people, to pull them out of the circle of poverty which unfortunately
way too often leads to crime of some sort.
How is it a big jump to deal with those who've already made the mistake
so that when they have served their time, they're able to be productive
members of society? That they can get good jobs, good salaries, and
avoid crime. That they can start their own businesses and employ more
people so that this virtuous cycle can counter the cycle of poverty?
On other good point was mentioned in the thread - not all those in jail are convicted criminals. They may just be awaiting trial.