Design Thinking and Mass Incarceration

https://casetext.com/posts/design-thinking-and-mass-incarceration

by minapurna • 11 years ago

15 14 11 years ago

calibraxis• 11 years ago

We don’t have an end design in mind. At the same time, however, the costs of continuing along our historically unprecedented levels of incarceration remain obscure to all but the most determined news hounds.

Two sides of the coin: a) conspiracy theory and b) unintended consequences. You use unintended consequences when pretending your ruling class (you know, the ones who literally make the many rules we live under) is just bumbling, perhaps selfish but more or less benevolent overall.

Conspiracy theory typically has the same overall systematic benevolence, except some evil schemers perverted everything.

Imagine a politician stumbling across Wikipedia: "Hmm that's odd, we imprison ourselves way more than anyone else. And somehow, we keep funding all the infrastructure needed for that. Ehh, you learn a random weird thing everyday."

Someone with the least bit of institutional awareness can — hold on to your hats — entertain the thought that the system is running as expected and intended. Just like if any other nation had these results. Not a bug, but a feature.

prisons have failed to deliver on the promises of rural economic development so often touted.

An illustration of how "unintended consequences" perverts our minds. What strange person writes, "Russia's prisons failed to economically develop rural areas, as so often touted" with a straight face? (Or China, or Iran?) No, some claims are such an insult to intelligence that no one would write them with a straight face. And yet, here it is.

(Such a sentence is so disturbing that I hope I just missed the part where he admitted to satire. It's just intellectual self-defense not to read this article too closely.)

happyscrappy2• 11 years ago

While it is easy to pretend that some secret cabal is pulling all the strings the reality is the majority of the population wants to be tough on crime. This leads to politicians competing to be seen as tough on crime.

noir_lord• 11 years ago

Except the majority of the people want to be tough on crime because they have a grossly distorted view of how much crime there is and how severe it is because of the large news corporations 24/7 coverage of every violent incident.

Which re-enforces the "tough on crime" mechanism, the whole system is rigged towards incarcerating people.

throwaway19673• 11 years ago

First of all, the US is an Oligarchy, not a Democracy:

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

So whatever the "majority of the population wants" doesn't count, period.

Second of all, if you really believe the US isn't ruled by a secret cabal, like so many US Presidents and other important US politicians have warned us about since before Andrew Jackson, I'm sorry to say but it just makes you come across as ahistorical.

leppr• 11 years ago

https://archive.is/BsKoF

tajen• 11 years ago

What I find very nice since about one year on HN: We are witnessing a massive documentation effort on the prison system and criminal law enforcement effect, with many good quality articles about effects, facts, downsides and proposals.

I'm not located in US and I don't know what is the mood over there. I assume HN is generally a very selected minority. I also witness Trump's ascent. However I'm deeply happy that America is reflecting upon their judicial system. As many articles appear, more people become interested and think about solutions. We may be seeing the beginning of a popular trend and if you keep going, you may have a huge impact.

DennisP3• 11 years ago

There's Trump but there's also Bernie Sanders, who recently called for eliminating private prisons. He's within 10 points of Clinton in the latest national poll.

throwaway19673• 11 years ago

Please. There are no private prisons.

A private enterprise receives 100% of its income from its clients.

No prisoner is paying to be incarcerated.

What you mean to say is that the Government gives taxpayer money to some prisons, and some private persons end up pocketing this taxpayer money.

There is no private business going on in prisons.

Design Thinking and Mass Incarceration

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