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Published: July 20th 2007
Yesterday, my class took a field trip to Goodwood Prison, a "Centre of Excellence" in the Correctional System here. Goodwood is what would be classified a medium-security prison in the States, and in my Criminal Justice class, we've been reading all about how poor the conditions are in prison in S.A., so I was certainly expecting rats, wire-framed cots, and general dreadfulness. I was certainly surprised by what I saw.
First of all, the prisoners here are kept in dormitories. When I saw Starke, the maximum security prison in Florida, they were all in their own cells, let out only one hour per day. Of course that will be different in a medium-security prison, but the prisoners at Goodwood were quite free to roam around in the yard (which had a card table, garden, and laundry clotheslines), be in their dormitories, or wander in the hallways. There were also common rooms that had pool tables. My friend Yasmin commented that it looked nicer than the hostel they stayed in the week before. There was also no separation between the prisoners and us visitors...they were free to come up to us, and insisted on shaking our hands! I felt visually violated...they don't see women too often over there.
Also in South Africa, there is no separation between sentenced and unsentenced criminals in the prison system. In the US, before you are actually convicted of your crime, if you are unable to make bail, you are generally kept in a "jail" in the county or in the police station that arrested you. Then after you are sentenced you are sent to a correctional institute, or prison that we normally think of when we hear that word. Here, if you can't make bail, you still go to the same prison with all the other criminals doing serious time. The only distinction is that you get to wear your street clothes.
We got to listen to the prison band play some music for us. First they played a gospel song for us, which nobody knew, then they switched over to Wham!'s great hit "Careless Whisper", and then Blackeyed Peas "Where is the Love." A little bit ironic, to be certain. The band was pretty interesting; the guitarist was a little wonky-eyed and he definitely did too many drugs, but told us he used to be in a rock band.
There also seemed to be a lack of formality and professionalism between the guards and the prisoners. A couple of prisoners had their arms around guards as though they were friends, and guards don't carry weapons in the prison (not even batons). They actually keep no guns on the premises of the prison, and they have a riot unit that is situated about 13 miles away. It seemed like a terrible situation to me, actually.
So...if I were a prisoner, I'd probably rather be in prison in South Africa, but I don't think I'd necessarily want to work in a prison down here.
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mommy
non-member comment
well, almost through
this is one of those blogs where there isn'/t alot to say regarding what you wrote. I guess if I was an affecionado of prisons I could make some pithy remark about the differences or similarities, and it would be cogent, but I am not and cannot. It hopefully was interesting to you. I hope all is going good as you wind down this portion of your trip and get ready to move on with a trunk full of memories and good positive experiences. 'We have totally enjoyed your five weeks as much as you, and will love hearing more details as you are home to tell them. Keep your pretty face smiling and have a safe trip back to Israel.