[HN Gopher] Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sent...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Brazil prisoners reading books to shorten their sentences (2020)
        
       Author : newonebig123
       Score  : 117 points
       Date   : 2021-08-28 09:01 UTC (14 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (prison-off.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (prison-off.com)
        
       | Borrible wrote:
       | And some used to knit themself to freedom:
       | 
       | https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/prison-knitters
       | 
       | In India, there is a prison that has somewhat of a tradition of
       | experimenting with unusual methods of behavioural change. Last
       | time in 2015 it was Yoga:
       | 
       | https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/shorter-terms-for-priso...
       | 
       | An even more traditional way is known in Thailand, prison fights.
       | Officially:
       | 
       | https://muaythai-world.com/muay-thai-thailand-prison-fights-...
        
       | sammalloy wrote:
       | If anyone is interested in the wider topic, this subject is
       | called bibliotherapy, and has a long history. This specific
       | program was popularized in the early 1990s at the University of
       | Massachusetts Dartmouth as an alternative probation sentencing
       | program, and it was so successful it later branched out around
       | the world. Key advocates include Robert Waxler, Jean Trounstine,
       | and Mary Stephenson, and researchers Roger Jarjoura and Susan T.
       | Krumholz.
        
         | johnchristopher wrote:
         | I feel like Bibliotherapy tried a stint in general public
         | awareness two or three years ago but it didn't take off.
         | 
         | Are there any reviews of its effectiveness for mental health
         | problems like depression, anxiety, etc. ?
        
           | tgv wrote:
           | Relatively easy to find, given that the name is quite
           | distinctive. E.g., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti
           | cle/abs/pii/S02727.... That article doesn't seem to be
           | conclusive.
           | 
           | I, however, doubt the value of bibliotherapy. I don't see
           | _how_ it would work.
        
             | randcraw wrote:
             | I think a major takeaway from reading is to see inside the
             | mind of another person. That's something that I suspect
             | most criminals do badly, since crime, especially violent
             | crime, requires the person to NOT understand the impact of
             | their actions on others. Sociopaths don't care, but they
             | commit the vast minority of crime. Getting the other
             | criminals to appreciate more perspectives than just their
             | own might be very helpful to diminish their willingness to
             | harm others.
        
               | tgv wrote:
               | But that doesn't relate to e.g. depression.
        
             | johnchristopher wrote:
             | I am aware of that meta study, it's from 2017 though. I
             | also didn't dig enough to get the list of books used in the
             | various studies (I am interested self-help vs fiction/non-
             | fiction).
        
       | jack_riminton wrote:
       | I expect it'll create an illicit trade of essay plans and verbal
       | story tellers
        
         | erikig wrote:
         | If there were ever a least neferious illicit prison trade, this
         | would be it.
        
           | jack_riminton wrote:
           | Exactly. Might even spawn some good debates
        
       | nzach wrote:
       | If you are interested in the Brazilian prison system you should
       | take a look into this:
       | 
       | [1] - Retratos do Carcere: https://vimeo.com/383384532,
       | https://www.pandafilmes.com.br/portfolio/retratos-do-carcere This
       | is a series about inmates life's. It start giving a brief
       | overview of the current state of Brazilian prison system,
       | including some history to explain why it is this way. Then it go
       | on to show what really means to be an inmate in Brazil. It shows
       | the conditions inmates have to endure, the treatment inmate's
       | family receives, the role religion has inside Brazilian prisons,
       | etc.
       | 
       | [2] - Central: O Poder das Faccoes no Maior Presidio do Brasil:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lbSBVpo9JA This is a documentary
       | about the "Presidio Central"
       | (https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pres%C3%ADdio_Central_de_Porto...)
       | which is the largest prison in the state of Rio Grande Do Sul.
       | The prison is overcrowded and falling apart. It is considered one
       | of the worsts active prisons in Brazil.
       | 
       | [3] - Deus e o Diabo em Cima da Muralha:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbTMV1-0BTk This one follows
       | Drauzio Varella, a famous physician, while he gives the last
       | goodbye to the most infamous prison in
       | Brazil(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carandiru_Penitentiary).
       | 
       | Unfortunately I don't know if these are available in languages
       | other than Portuguese.
        
       | languagehacker wrote:
       | Pizza hut
        
       | cirowrc wrote:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvFa63DZGOs
        
       | yawaworht1978 wrote:
       | This could be a bit discriminatory, Brazil has a high
       | analphabetism rate, it will be worst in prison, I suppose. The
       | ones who can't read should be offered courses and maybe start
       | with easy comics.
        
         | someperson wrote:
         | > analphabetism
         | 
         | I've never heard that word before. It's a synonym for
         | illiteracy.
        
           | caenn wrote:
           | It's more commonly used in rummage languages, illiteracy is
           | not really used (in the same way that analfabetismo is not
           | used in English)(my swipe keyboard even used the Portuguese
           | version!).
        
           | 10000truths wrote:
           | It's used in many languages, particularly the Romance
           | languages:
           | 
           | Spanish - analfabeto
           | 
           | Portuguese - analfabeto
           | 
           | French - analphabete
           | 
           | Italian - analfabeta
           | 
           | German - Analphabet
           | 
           | Romanian - analfabet
           | 
           | Polish - analfabeta
        
           | beardyw wrote:
           | Me too - which is ironic in this discussion. Not sure I am
           | too convinced by it, it seems to derive from unfamiliarity
           | with the alphabet. In small children at least familiarity
           | with the alphabet is not the same as being able to read.
        
             | lbebber wrote:
             | The word "literacy" also derives from familiarity with
             | letters, but from latin instead of greek.
        
           | oscargrouch wrote:
           | I was trained to understand that illiteracy in English means
           | someone that cant read or write, but if it was translated as-
           | is, illiteracy means "iletrado" -> someone "without letters"
           | which in my mother language doesn't mean that someone cant
           | read, but a broader category of people who cant read together
           | with people who have very a poor language understanding and
           | communication skills.
           | 
           | Some illiterate 'iletrado'(for us) in some cases can read,
           | but might not understand it very well.
           | 
           | That might explain why the OP used the given word because in
           | some languages its the definition that defines people who
           | cant read.
        
             | thaumasiotes wrote:
             | > a broader category of people who cant read together with
             | people who have very a poor language understanding and
             | communication skills.
             | 
             | We would be likely to call that second group "functionally
             | illiterate".
        
       | ATsch wrote:
       | This is such a condescending understanding of why most crime
       | happens. Especially in a country with as much wealth disparity as
       | Brazil.
        
         | yawaworht1978 wrote:
         | I think it came across wrong, I have lived in LATAM (not the
         | safe tourism trips, lived and engaged in society). The reasons
         | for the crimes are economic desperation for the most part.
         | Wasn't discriminating, just saying that prisoners are more
         | likely to be analphabetic.
        
         | nelsonic wrote:
         | It's not even attempting to describe why crimes happen. It's
         | just offering people an incentive to read because literacy is
         | strongly correlated with job prospects. I can't see a downside
         | to this pilot program. I hope they expand it to include
         | technical/practical training.
        
           | ATsch wrote:
           | The program is called "Redemption through Reading" and the
           | officials statements are in similar vain. The implications
           | are pretty clear.
           | 
           | It's only made worse by how only select people can
           | participate. That is on top of Brazil's history of using
           | literacy tests for racial discriminatation. As well as their
           | current, ineffective mass-incarceration policy (now 3rd
           | largest in the world), which as in the US hits indigenous and
           | black south americans harder. I don't expect they'll have a
           | rich corpus of indigenous literature either.
           | 
           | This is why I am very critical, despite reading a book
           | generally hurting nobody. If they truly wanted to keep people
           | out of prison they should end their mass incarceration and
           | improve inequality, not allow select people (who will be
           | almost definitely be disproportionately white) to get out
           | easier.
           | 
           | But then again the head of state is an outspoken fan of the
           | military dictatorship so that does not seem likely.
        
             | raman162 wrote:
             | That is part of the solution, two solutions can co-exist
             | that take different angles. A quick Google search showed
             | that Brazil's literacy rate is roughly 92% and I would like
             | to believe it's something similar in the prison. This
             | program sounds like it can help people make good use of
             | their time while serving their sentence. They should expand
             | this sort of incentive to other forms of education and
             | technical programs.
        
               | marcosdumay wrote:
               | I imagine the rate is completely different on prison
               | populations. But there are literacy programs aimed at
               | them in Brazil, those aren't on the news because they
               | aren't new. I'm not sure where the GP's revolt comes
               | from.
               | 
               | By the way, there exist technical programs for prison
               | populations in Brazil too, again those aren't in the news
               | because they aren't new.
        
               | ATsch wrote:
               | I'd strongly dispute that this is "part of the solution"
               | because the forces increasing prison population
               | (Bolsenaro ran under "tough on crime" policies) and the
               | ones instituting this program are one and the same. That
               | is the context this has to be seen in, massive expansion
               | of incarceration while making sure a select few get out
               | more easily.
        
               | holografix wrote:
               | Don't be fooled into believing the literacy rate
               | statistics provided by the Brazilian government. For more
               | than a decade there's has been a program of food vouchers
               | for the poor based on school attendance and improving
               | literacy rates.
               | 
               | Guess what happens? No one is failed, everyone is fed.
        
             | crubier wrote:
             | "Using literacy tests for racial discrimination".
             | 
             | Look, this is what bothers me with current "wokeism"
             | trends. With this reasoning, literally any
             | test/course/initiative/whatever will statistically have a
             | slight racial/cultural/religious bias because the world and
             | its population have such biases. So any positive initiative
             | (like this one) which aims at improving lives of everyone
             | (including people of color) will be taken down by a
             | community or another because it's statistical implication,
             | interpreted in a certain way, will mean it will have a
             | bias.
             | 
             | But the measure itself is NOT racist! It's discrimination
             | based on literacy, not based on race! I understand race and
             | literacy have some amount of correlation, but unless this
             | correlation is 100%, it means that there are people of
             | color which are literate, and white people which are
             | illiterate. This measure will benefit people of color in a
             | massive way, so why oppose it ?? This makes no sense.
        
               | ATsch wrote:
               | These policies were introduced precisely so that people
               | like you could defend them as "not racist" while still
               | having the same net effect. We have more than ample
               | documentation of it to the point that the only reason to
               | disagree is deliberate ignorance or historical denialism.
        
               | crubier wrote:
               | Ok so you're saying: << Making prisoners read books is
               | racist >>.
               | 
               | Don't you realize that this statement is either
               | completely delusional or some form of woke nonsensical
               | Newspeak?
               | 
               | Let me recap: This initiative only has upsides, no
               | downsides. And it has no race distinction. And it
               | benefits people across the board, from people of color to
               | white people. And in absolute terms it will benefit to
               | more people of color than white people (due to the
               | demographics of Brazilian prisons). But you think that
               | statistically it might benefit proportionally slightly
               | more to white people than to people of color, so we
               | should stop this initiative (which again, has no downside
               | for anyone)?
               | 
               | Man I still think of myself as left wing and progressist,
               | but this recent trend of the left, away from
               | universalism, and deep into communautarism makes me feel
               | more and more estranged...
               | 
               | I don't disagree with your point that reducing mass
               | incarceration should also be pursued though, and is more
               | impactful.
        
               | thaumasiotes wrote:
               | > This initiative only has upsides, no downsides.
               | 
               | Theoretically, it might release someone who the rest of
               | the world would have been better off keeping in jail.
        
               | inglor_cz wrote:
               | This guy got out of Austrian prison because he could
               | write readably, up to the point of being published and
               | gaining a lot of support from the usual literary luvvies.
               | (I read the book, it was way too self-pitying. Written
               | well, but the stench of "everyone was so mean to me and I
               | am such a victim" was unbearable.)
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Unterweger
               | 
               | He went on to murder a few more women before being caught
               | and sentenced to life. (Hanged himself the same evening.)
        
               | crubier wrote:
               | Situation is different here. We talk about reading books
               | not writing them. And of a maximum of reducing by 48days
               | per year, so a 13% reduction of the sentence of people
               | read books continuously, not about releasing people that
               | wouldn't have been released anyway.
        
               | crubier wrote:
               | They can only gain 48 days per year, so a 13% reduction
               | in their sentence if they chain-read books. It might
               | release someone slightly earlier, not release someone
               | which wouldn't have been released anyway.
        
               | depressedpanda wrote:
               | > Ok so you're saying: << Making prisoners read books is
               | racist >>.
               | 
               | > Don't you realize that this statement is either
               | completely delusional or some form of woke nonsensical
               | Newspeak?
               | 
               | Even worse, the whole argument seems based on the premise
               | that some races can only learn to read to a lesser
               | extent.
               | 
               | I honestly don't understand. You cannot combat racism by
               | being a racist.
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | rmsaksida wrote:
             | Just to clear up some misconceptions:
             | 
             | > now 3rd largest in the world
             | 
             | It is large and ineffective but it is not the 3rd largest
             | in the world if you look at the incarceration rate per
             | 100k, which is a more reasonable metric. It is the _19th_
             | largest [1].
             | 
             | It bugs me somewhat how people often overlook that Brazil
             | is the world's 6th most populous country. Most of Brazil's
             | demographics, no matter what they refer to, will rank near
             | the top when it comes to absolute numbers.
             | 
             | > hits indigenous and black south americans harder. I don't
             | expect they'll have a rich corpus of indigenous literature
             | either
             | 
             | 66.7% of the Brazilian prison population are black
             | (includes pardos / mixed race), while 32.3% are white. 54%
             | of the Brazilian population are black, so the incarceration
             | rate is disproportionate for the black population. That is,
             | of course, very unfortunate. However, I don't think the
             | indigenous are particularly affected - only 1390 indigenous
             | Brazilians are in prison in the entire country [4].
             | 
             | A lot of people seem to assume that a significant
             | proportion of the Brazilian population is indigenous. That
             | is not the case. The number of indigenous Brazilians is
             | very small, around 0.47% of the total population. [5]
             | 
             | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inca
             | rcera...
             | 
             | [2] https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-
             | paulo/noticia/2020/10/19/em-15-a...
             | 
             | [3] https://jornal.usp.br/radio-usp/dados-do-ibge-mostram-
             | que-54...
             | 
             | [4] http://antigo.depen.gov.br/DEPEN/depen-publica-
             | levantamento-...
             | 
             | [5] https://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/Quantos_s%C3%A3o%3F
        
       | sealeck wrote:
       | I am very confused at how it is expected that books are likely to
       | reduce crime - we have a very well-read set of criminals
       | operating in our world today; they are called white-collar
       | criminals, they have gone to the top institutions, they have read
       | plenty of books and it does not seemed to have improved the
       | virtue of their moral character beyond making their plots more
       | audacious.
        
         | friendly_chap wrote:
         | Why it might not prevent white collar crimes, I have personally
         | seen first hand that people from the lowest classes can easily
         | break out of the mold and make a good living if they
         | communicate and behave well (at least in my country in Eastern
         | Europe).
         | 
         | People are much more likely to trust you with any kind of work.
        
         | sammalloy wrote:
         | Books are not likely to reduce crime. In this instance, they
         | are highly likely to reduce recidivism. See my post elsewhere
         | in this thread for the list of advocates and researchers who
         | give well thought out, evidence-based arguments as to how this
         | works. For most participants, it involves cultivating
         | compassion, empathy, and understanding through storytelling and
         | narratology that acts as a kind of simulation.
        
         | planet-and-halo wrote:
         | You counterexample would invalidate the idea that there is a
         | direct causal mechanism between reading and pro-social
         | behavior, but I don't think anyone is arguing that. Some anti-
         | social behavior is a consequence of not being able to
         | understand and to feel understood by other people. When you
         | give people the tools to express themselves (and to understand
         | others), it may make it easier for them to get what they want
         | and need by talking instead of resorting to violence etc. The
         | key here is that this obviously only works for SOME people. Not
         | ALL crime can be explained by this idea, obviously.
        
       | guerby wrote:
       | French philosopher Bernard Stiegler "an important thinker on the
       | effects of digital technology" became a philosopher while
       | studying in prison (for robbery):
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Stiegler
       | 
       | He wrote a book about it:
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting_Out_(book)
        
       | janmo wrote:
       | At school we had a teacher who tried to make us read 10 books a
       | year. You could choose whatever book you wanted, and you had to
       | write a small summary. So every one headed to the school library
       | and looked for the smallest books available. The most popular
       | book that every one read was called something like: "Collection
       | of letters from from my Grandfather" and had around 50 to 70
       | pages and was very boring. Many also cheated by watching movie
       | adaptations of books.
       | 
       | Edit: This was back in the time when you could not go online and
       | find dozens of book summaries within minutes.
        
         | planet-and-halo wrote:
         | This exact phenomenon is discussed in "Punished by Rewards."
         | It's probably one of the best possible ways to train kids that
         | reading is no fun, of no benefit to them, and should only be
         | done if promised some kind of prize.
        
           | gbrown wrote:
           | In elementary school we had something like this - we had to
           | read a book from a different genre every month in order to
           | earn a food item for the end of year picnic. I was constantly
           | reading just science fiction, and ended up with only pickle
           | relish, despite reading more than most of the other students.
           | I don't think the exercise convinced anyone who wasn't
           | already into it that reading is good and fun.
        
             | 908B64B197 wrote:
             | That's just... strange.
             | 
             | The correct approach would have been to either leave a
             | student reading a lot alone, or to steer him toward other
             | genres that are similar to Sci-Fi ("Hey gbrown, this other
             | author has a similar style to X I see you enjoy, but it's
             | not true sci-fi... you'll see").
        
               | gbrown wrote:
               | It was long enough ago that I honestly don't recall
               | whether or not the teacher tried that. I may have just
               | been stubborn lol.
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | adflux wrote:
           | A smart friend of mine proudly stated how little he read in
           | high school, and that he has not read a single book since. He
           | is 26.
        
             | planet-and-halo wrote:
             | Whenever people say that, I feel a little bad because I
             | suspect their education failed them. But I also think of
             | this Otto von Bismarck quote:
             | 
             | "Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the
             | experience of others."
        
             | SlowAndCalm wrote:
             | I read a lot of novels in school and not many after.
             | Reading is a vital skill but reading novels is not; a
             | separation that was never conveyed to me to in school. For
             | every great novel I have read, I've read countless more
             | terrible novels and there is no greater waste of time than
             | reading something terrible. Not reading artfully
             | constructed prose has definitely taken a toll on my own
             | writing though, as evidenced by this comment!
        
               | hobs wrote:
               | Throw a bad book in the trash.
               | 
               | Don't read books you hate, just like you shouldn't
               | converse with people that frustrate and anger you.
               | 
               | That being said, a novel is one of the most intimate
               | conversations you can have, so don't give up on them
               | because you have had bad experiences in the past, find a
               | new partner to talk to!
        
               | mastersummoner wrote:
               | I find that pretty interesting. I've read a decent number
               | of books of being lengths in my life; I'm no great
               | reader, but I'm not a particular slouch either. And
               | almost every book I've read I found very enjoyable; if I
               | didn't, I usually put it down and not pick it up again.
               | 
               | But then, I tend to read stories by authors I already
               | know I like, or those that are recommended or otherwise
               | considered to be worthwhile reads.
        
               | planet-and-halo wrote:
               | The emphasis on literature is definitely part of the
               | problem. I was lucky enough to take an AP English
               | Language class my senior year of high school, where the
               | focus was on short essays and other nonfiction. That's
               | what really ignited my love of reading. Before that I did
               | enjoy my sci-fi novels, but I was much more of a
               | TV/movies/video games person.
        
         | lvxferre wrote:
         | Same deal with me, starting from my second year (8yo): write a
         | short summary of a book of your choice every school month. On
         | my third year however they tweaked the rules slightly, so the
         | books must be from different series.
         | 
         | More than a decade later, chatting with one of my former
         | teachers, I discovered why they tweaked the rules: because some
         | lazy jerkass would pick a book from The Bored Witch illustrated
         | series, read it in five minutes, write down the summary, then
         | spend the rest of the day reading stuff he wasn't "supposed" to
         | read on his own, like Heart of a Dog and The Metamorphosis.
         | Because he knew that he wouldn't be able to summary those
         | books.
         | 
         | ...in my own defence I really enjoyed The Bored Witch.
        
         | selcuka wrote:
         | > Many also cheated by watching movie adaptations of books.
         | 
         | This sounds risky as movie adaptations sometimes wildly differ
         | from the original material.
        
           | HarryHirsch wrote:
           | At least they got exposure to culture out of it, so it's not
           | all bad.
        
           | chongli wrote:
           | Now you can search online for the differences between the
           | movie adaptation and the book.
        
           | elliekelly wrote:
           | When I was in high school in the early 2000s Wikipedia was
           | entirely off limits and "unreliable". When we had to read a
           | book that had been translated the teacher quickly caught half
           | the class cheating because the Wikipedia article spelled the
           | main character's name _slightly_ differently than the
           | translation we had been assigned to read.
           | 
           | I remember sitting in the library later that day telling a
           | friend what had happened in class. I pulled up the Wikipedia
           | article only to see it had been updated to say something
           | along the lines of "John Doe (or Joe Doe in some
           | translations)" and I knew immediately it must have been
           | someone from my class who'd made the edit in an effort to
           | save other kids from the same fate they had suffered.
        
       | martinpw wrote:
       | Maybe it was deliberate word play, but 'their' here refers to the
       | prisoners, not the books, in case anyone else misinterpreted this
       | headline to imply they were actually editing the books.
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | I was hoping to hear of a new _Prisoner 's Digest_ condensed-
         | story magazine launch.
        
         | doovd wrote:
         | On balance of probability, how likely do you think that the
         | their was referring to the prisoners rather than the books? >
         | 50% presumably?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | bigdict wrote:
         | Ball and chain except with pencils and highlighters instead of
         | picks and shovels.
        
         | sandworm101 wrote:
         | Good catch. I didnt read it that way myself but i can see how
         | some might.
        
       | superflit wrote:
       | As a Brazilian this why we have the largest number of homicides
       | and one of highest rate of homicides ->
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention...
       | 
       | What boils down is the Narco and crime sponsor policies that
       | looks good on paper but on reality is made to free more
       | prisoners.
       | 
       | The govt likes it because "feels good" and reduce prisoner
       | spending and looks good on UN stats.
       | 
       | Lets by example say that I had a discussion with someone here and
       | I killed him.
       | 
       | If I am on the 10% solved murdered case I will be brought to
       | justice.
       | 
       | Then criminal justice will come:
       | 
       | 1. Was I caught in "flagrante" (up to 24h after crime)? No? Wait
       | for judgment outside or wait for preventive prison;
       | 
       | 2. Do I have a job or a clean record? If yes wait for trial at
       | home;
       | 
       | 3. Did I intent to kill? Yes go to trial, Then you may pay some
       | damages (very low fees) and community service.
       | 
       | Then comes trial. I am consider Guilty IF ONLY, IF ONLY when ALL
       | resources and recurses of law were finished.
       | 
       | It is normal to crimes prescribes after 20 year abusing courts
       | but it is the law.
       | 
       | So I lost all recurses and now I am in Jail. The maximum sentence
       | is 30 years (Even if I kill 10 people).
       | 
       | I have the right to intimate visit (I can have sex with my
       | girlfriend/friend/wife).
       | 
       | If I am studying I can leave to study.
       | 
       | If I work each worked day another one is removed from my
       | sentence.
       | 
       | If I read a book too.
       | 
       | Then If I have good "behavior" my sentence is reduced to 1/6.
       | 
       | DO the math -> max 30 /6 -> 5 years - bonus points (book,
       | studying) I am free in 2-3 years.
       | 
       | Now check the link I posted above ->
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention...
       | (click count, rate) Brazil is very humane with criminals but not
       | with its victims.
       | 
       | My lower middle class condo has electrified fences, armed guards,
       | CCTV, patrols, bullet proof glasses it is like a prison. The
       | higher classes have more features.
       | 
       | People with good meaning soul and big heart cannot comprehend
       | that some people for whatever reasons feel pleasure in being evil
       | and don't care about others life. Then they project their good
       | meaning in laws and thus give more power to evil people do more
       | evil until they die.
       | 
       | Welcome to "modern laws" for just evolved homo sapiens.
        
         | Kaze404 wrote:
         | It's unbelievable that to some, the solution to the high crime
         | rate in Brazil is putting more people in jail when a
         | significant part of our prison population hasn't even been
         | tried for their crimes yet. It's always shocking to read such a
         | take, but I am then immediately reminded of the fact that we
         | tend to gravitate towards easy answers to complicated problems.
         | Hopefully one day you can move past that.
        
         | lvass wrote:
         | Could've been phrased better but there's so much truth in this.
         | Murder solving rate is actually more like 6%. And indeed
         | sentences are normally reduced to 1/6, but not because of good
         | behavior, but "regime progression" which technically allows you
         | to work outside prison during the day but there's not ever
         | enough room in prison for spending the night so you just become
         | free.
         | 
         | Take a relatively harsh 12-year sentence for murder. Multiply
         | by 6% for the chance you get caught and divide by 6 for regime
         | progression. You spend 43.8 days in prison in average. The 6%
         | figure includes people who murder in public and don't even try
         | to run away. Be a little smarter about it and your sentence is
         | effectively zero.
         | 
         | It's pure impunity for criminals. And a harsh life for honest
         | people. Not hard to predict the outcome.
        
         | motoboi wrote:
         | As a brazilian I can say that you must keep thinking about
         | those things and someday you'll understand why your arguments
         | are full of prejudice and ignorance.
        
           | superflit wrote:
           | Personal attacks are not arguments.
        
           | guiraldelli wrote:
           | Would you mind to make a clear counter-argument, so it
           | informs all of us what "arguments are full of prejudice and
           | ignorance" and why?
           | 
           | I found the arguments very well rounded, with good
           | references, sound math, and a window to personal experience
           | that reflects the lives of many back in Brazil.
           | 
           | I am not going to pour more anecdotal evidences to reinforce
           | the original argument, but there is a widespread problem of
           | impunity in Brazil: the low-hanging fruits (known "chicken
           | burglars") are severely punished, in my opinion, while the
           | extreme cases (both assassins and politicians) are "roaming
           | free".
           | 
           | As many things in Brazil, I have the impression that justice
           | is only "para ingles ver" (just for the show).
           | 
           | At last, I suspect you might be biased by your own prejudices
           | when reading and reasoning on the arguments of superflit.
           | 
           | Thus, I think it is important to neutrally reason and point
           | out the flaws of the argumentation, as well as show new
           | perspectives, instead of an empty, straw-man attack, full of
           | personal sentiment behind it.
        
       | forinti wrote:
       | Short tangencial bit of history:
       | 
       | A Brazilian called Paulo Freire came up with a method which
       | consists of coming up with a short list of words related to the
       | pupils' day-to-day. These words have to cover all the phonemes in
       | Portuguese and the pupils would discuss them.
       | 
       | He managed to teach adults to read very quickly. But, as talking
       | about your reality was integral to the method, he got into
       | trouble with the then military regime.
       | 
       | They threw him into a military jail.
       | 
       | One fine day an officer asked for his help because many of the
       | recruits couldn't read.
       | 
       | But that was precisely why he had been thrown into jail!
        
         | ngcazz wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed
        
         | emersonrsantos wrote:
         | Paulo Freire plagiarized the Laubach method, created by the
         | protestant missionary Frank Charles Laubach. The method was
         | copied by marxists ideologists in Brazil's Pernambuco,
         | emphasizing the class struggle. The author of these other
         | primers was Paulo Freire, who lent his name to the "new
         | methodology" as if it were his own.
        
           | felipeqq2 wrote:
           | It is important to notice that this claim is highly disputed.
           | Paulo Freire and his methods are frequently attacked by far-
           | right politicians and activists in Brazil, and this
           | information is definitely politically biased.
        
             | [deleted]
        
       | efleurine wrote:
       | Reading is good but asking the writing to be free of corrections
       | sounds like a scam
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | dukeofdoom wrote:
       | I read "The 48 Laws of Power", after reading that its very
       | popular in prisons. I liked the book, can recommend. Would be
       | interesting to know what else they're reading. I imagine
       | prisoners are much more well read then the average population,
       | and live with violence. Would be interesting to know their taste
       | in books.
        
       | bob229 wrote:
       | Abolish prisons. Let all the paedos out
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | whoaisme wrote:
       | What a mockery of justice. Can't wait until the bleeding hearts
       | in the usa implement this policy stateside. Seeing as we are
       | getting rid of bail because reality is racist why not just
       | eliminate prisons entirely.
        
       | hahamrfunnyguy wrote:
       | Back in my day, we read books for free pizza. I don't know if
       | they accomplished what they wanted or exactly what it was that
       | they were trying to accomplish. I read quite a bit of non-fiction
       | but very little fiction, with the exception of when I am
       | traveling.
       | 
       | Learning whether it's done through hands on experience, reading
       | or watching/listening is a good thing.
        
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       (page generated 2021-08-28 23:01 UTC)