From 2004 to 2014, the number of detainees in Brazilian prisons increased by 67.5 percent, which is around 564,000 people. If you count the citizens that are under house arrest, the total soars to around 711,000 people, making it the third largest in the world (“The Barbarism of Brazilian”). While the population of Brazil has increased by a little over 30 percent, “that of its prisons and police cells has almost quintupled,” causing a severe overcrowding problem (“Welcome to the Middle”). These numbers continue to grow rapidly every day, causing a series of issues that result in unsanitary and inhumane conditions within the prisons. In fact, Patrick Caicedo, a public defender in Sao Paulo, says that the severely overcrowded prisons have become
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This growing problem goes unaddressed. Because the government does not see the relevance of fixing this problem, they are incapable of imagining the inhumane conditions within the cells. For example, Pernambuco, one of the most overcrowded facilities in Brazil, hold around 32,000 prisoners yet is only designed to hold 10,500. This results in the creation of cells that have two toilets for 170 men to share ("The State Let Evil"). According to a Human Rights Watch article, two prison directors explained that “authorities acknowledge fewer than one available sleeping space for every seven men,” including the makeshift bunks crafted by the detainees (“The State Let Evil”). This leads to prisoners having to pay close to $500 for a plot on the prison floor in order to sleep. Not only does this show how cramped these prisons are, but it can also be inferred that it causes more intense problems beyond having to share a toilet or sleep on the …show more content…
This is because the amount of money that it takes to build a prison is far more expensive than that to build a new school. More specifically, “building a spot for a prisoner in Sao Paulo costs three times as much as opening a spot for a kid in the public nursery” (Caramante). Because of this, the community collectively agrees that their money is better spent on building schools and focusing on education. But the problem with this is that the majority of inmates in Brazil do not have a basic education. Jacqueline Quaresemin questions this decision, saying that “[it’s] a mistake made by the state, [because] it creates a chain reaction” (Caramante). She believes that while pre-schools are being built abundantly, prisons continue to deteriorate and “enhance [the prisoners’] dark side,” only exposing them to a violent life inside of the prison, which will most likely lead to a violent one outside of the prison (Caramante). This means that by limiting the repair to only institutions, like pre-schools, the government is perpetrating a cycle of crime that continues once a prisoner is released. On the one hand, I agree with Quaresemin when she advocates for the importance of education. On the other hand, I differ from her opinion, because I think that putting federal money
This growing problem goes unaddressed. Because the government does not see the relevance of fixing this problem, they are incapable of imagining the inhumane conditions within the cells. For example, Pernambuco, one of the most overcrowded facilities in Brazil, hold around 32,000 prisoners yet is only designed to hold 10,500. This results in the creation of cells that have two toilets for 170 men to share ("The State Let Evil"). According to a Human Rights Watch article, two prison directors explained that “authorities acknowledge fewer than one available sleeping space for every seven men,” including the makeshift bunks crafted by the detainees (“The State Let Evil”). This leads to prisoners having to pay close to $500 for a plot on the prison floor in order to sleep. Not only does this show how cramped these prisons are, but it can also be inferred that it causes more intense problems beyond having to share a toilet or sleep on the …show more content…
This is because the amount of money that it takes to build a prison is far more expensive than that to build a new school. More specifically, “building a spot for a prisoner in Sao Paulo costs three times as much as opening a spot for a kid in the public nursery” (Caramante). Because of this, the community collectively agrees that their money is better spent on building schools and focusing on education. But the problem with this is that the majority of inmates in Brazil do not have a basic education. Jacqueline Quaresemin questions this decision, saying that “[it’s] a mistake made by the state, [because] it creates a chain reaction” (Caramante). She believes that while pre-schools are being built abundantly, prisons continue to deteriorate and “enhance [the prisoners’] dark side,” only exposing them to a violent life inside of the prison, which will most likely lead to a violent one outside of the prison (Caramante). This means that by limiting the repair to only institutions, like pre-schools, the government is perpetrating a cycle of crime that continues once a prisoner is released. On the one hand, I agree with Quaresemin when she advocates for the importance of education. On the other hand, I differ from her opinion, because I think that putting federal money