This article was initially published on the Inter-American Development Bank’s blog – Ideas que Cuentan, on April 25, 2024.

Recent uprisings, escapes, and murders in Latin American prisons are daily occurrences in a region with an incarceration rate that doubles that of the European Union and some of the highest homicide rates in the world. A New York Times article, describing the mass takeover of prison systems by illegal groups, has drawn attention to a regional crisis where prisons “have become key recruiting centers for Latin America’s biggest and most violent cartels and gangs

The article, citing IDB research, reveals that the prison population in Latin America increased by 76% between 2010 and 2020 and reflects the concern that we, along with other research colleagues, have expressed in the past about policies that lead to excessively high incarceration rates and the violence and disruptions that this phenomenon can bring. These include the widespread use of pre-trial detention, the languishing of detainees for months and even years awaiting trial, and the harsh sentences imposed on people for minor drug-related offenses, a phenomenon that exposes non-violent individuals to repeat offenders.

We have also emphasized the overly limited opportunities prisoners have for education, work, and rehabilitation. These deficiencies, along with extremely poor living conditions in penitentiary centers, create a breeding ground for the emergence of organized crime groups.

Información para mejorar la situación en las cárceles

Información para mejorar la situación en las cárceles

The IDB’s commitment to improving prison management aims to support efforts that uphold the main purpose of the prison system: to achieve the rehabilitation and social reintegration of individuals. Currently, 13 projects out of the 31 operations financed through the IDB Group’s Security and Justice Sector focus on the use of evidence to strengthen the institutional capacities of prison systems.

These efforts aim to prevent and reduce crime and violence within prisons, as well as reduce recidivism for greater overall citizen security. This is all part of a strategy that includes a human rights approach in line with international standards to guarantee the integrity of all prisoners. It includes initiatives to respond to health and humanitarian crises; develop results-based information systems aimed at strengthening prison management; and create innovative prison infrastructure that is sustainable, safe, and promotes rehabilitation. It also involves the promotion of alternatives to detention; the professionalization of prison guards; the adoption of new technologies for better prison management; and the definition of results-based prison budget management.  

Distorted Information

Another crucial aspect is the role of information in the emergence of public clamor for longer sentences, especially when politicians, journalists, and social media exaggerate crime news and misrepresent statistics. For example, in the United States, where crime rates in 2019 were almost half what they were 20 years earlier, Gallup polls consistently showed that most people believed there was more crime each year than the previous year. This may have discouraged efforts to reduce the prison population.

In an experiment conducted in Panama, we exposed people to a message about the increase in crime in the period 2000-2013, accompanied by the image of a crime scene. These people were willing to dedicate 30% more resources to punishment than another group that received a message about the decrease in crime rates in the more recent period of 2009-2013, accompanied by the peaceful image of a mother with her child. This group was willing to spend more on preventive measures.

In other words, information can be manipulated and can lead to severe sentences. It can lead people to ignore measures with great potential for crime reduction, such as increased investments in early childhood education, parenting programs, vocational training, rehabilitation, and anti-poverty initiatives. These and other measures, compiled by the IDB’s Evidence Platform, help governments design and implement citizen security policies.

The lack of faith in institutions is also a problem in Latin America where, on average, according to the 2021 Latinobarómetro, a public opinion survey of the region, less than half of the population trusts their national police, and in many countries less than a third. This lack of trust, as described in an IDB monograph, affects not only citizens’ willingness to fund the police and the type of security policies they demand, but also their willingness to cooperate with law enforcement. It not only hinders the police’s ability to deal with illegality but, by extension, can also lead to great impunity and, consequently, to the demand for harsher penalties and increased incarceration, even if those measures are costly and fail to curb crime in the long term.

Information to Improve the Situation in Prisons

In 2021, nearly 1.4 million people were held in prison institutions in Latin America. Overcrowding and poor living conditions are common, and organized crime organizations, which use prisons as recruitment grounds, have become more powerful. This precarious and unsustainable situation is more likely to turn non-violent offenders into violent ones and increase the incidence of recidivism than to serve the interests of rehabilitation and greater security. Faced with disinformation from social media, politicians, and other sources of inaccuracy, better information on crime and prisoners can only help enforce the law, impose sentences, and reform the criminal system for the benefit of all society.