It's not like prisons in Europe don't punish inmates if they don't respect the rules, it's more like this. If your initial approach is to treat any inmate like an animal, they'll never cooperate.
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For some reason that statement reminded me of the movie dogma. Where it would be better if they could at least jerk off then angels wouldn't have so much pent up aggression.
OT: that would probably lower the rates some. But it's more about establishing control I think. And since nobody on the outside really gives a shit.... Well there you go.
One prison kinda near where I live we help them out with major it projects. The superintendent is always sure to Brag how they bring in so much money especially on certain federal prisoners they hold (one is apparently some major drug lord) that they don't have to take donations, get subsidized, etc. Then you see the shithole conditions people are put in and it's no wonder they turn into animals.
I remember the first time going there to help setup their booking cameras. The smell of the place.... That will stick with me forever.
I don't know a good solution though. I mean, how well do you want your tax dollars to take care of some guy that raped a preteen girl? Do you really give a damn if he is raped in the shower one day? I sure don't. I'm sure most people don't care. I'm sure the parents of that child could care less that he gets raped in jail. And if people don't care or want to spend the money where is the incentive to improve the situation? Throw that on top of the fact that these prisons are raking in a ton of money for housing the scum of society and you have a situation that breeds this type of behavior.
Not saying it's wrong or right. Just that is how it is. As with most negative things, out of sight, out of mind.
There is an old saying that you can judge a society on how they treat their old people, their prisoners and their pets.
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What holidays have you been on that consist of sitting in a small room with people you never met before watching TV and shitting in front of them? Butlins?
The answer is pretty obvious. US prisons are filled with lots of blacks and there are a lot more gay black people than white in the US, also black people have the highest rape rate and pretty much it's cause of black people. I know that's "racist" of me to say but its the truth.
The question is not: "Why do men rape one another in prison?" The question is: "Why does prison security allow it to continue happening?"
For this you have to look at the bigger picture. And that's controversial, but species with strong females actually show this:
Just look at any species that has strong females, it all revolves around sex and the availability of sex.
Any species/group that has strong females revolves around sex as sex is the simplest commodity for females. (see feminists bending their head over all the women trying to sex up everything they do: the women with the boobs and many children from many men dominate the women a degree and no children or just a few children).
In the US feminism has been longer present than in the EU. The EU was longer more restrictive towards females, it valued men and structure and took longer to embrace feminism. That's why the EU is lagging behind in the feminism movement and, as a byproduct, its focus on sex. Sweden is the most feminist country in the EU but has huge problems with rape and sex. Prevalence of sex, rape and feminism are intervened. In short, the men in the US are more conditioned to hunt for sex as a means to counter stress.
I read an article which suggested that prison rape might be under-reported in the EU.
My brother has been in and out of prisons most of his adult life. The last time he got on parole, other inmates who were lifers ganged up on him and beat him up because they knew it was his last day. He probably couldn't fight back because he didn't want to get in trouble and mess up his chance to get out. Maybe they tried to rape him too. I didn't want to ask him such a thing. That's the caliber of criminals you would have deal with if you had to go to prison.
Also keep in mind sometimes statistics on sex topics like this can be pretty inaccurate. Rape in prison is pretty common in jails globally, it's not anything specific to the US. It might just be that culture is more resistant towards people admitting they were raped in the EU. It's like if you look at LGBT statistics per state, and they show a lower % of LGBT people in the southeastern "bible belt" states. It's not really that there are any less LGBT people there, it's just that the more conservative culture makes them less willing to admit it on a survey. There are males that have probably been raped in prisons in the EU that wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, even on an anonymous survey.