For years now, I have been incarcerated for a crime I didn't commit. As a Muslim Indian man, one of the toughest aspects to deal with has been living with a 95% population of Black men. The cultural differences mean that I have to constantly deal with noise and a general lack of manners. The morals and values are worlds apart. It has made me appreciate my upbringing and religion tremendously. It is a part of my faith to not consider myself better than others and indeed I do not, rather I try to gain an understanding of others.
Infinitely more worrying to me as a man who loves his country; is the blase or even non-existent attitude towards the crimes men perpetrated. It is common knowledge that South Africa is plagued by crime and sadly by violent crime. For years, I have used my unique position of living among them, to try and get a first hand understanding of the men behind some of the horrendous and heinous crimes you find out about through the media. I even studied criminology for a couple of semesters to try and understand what motivates men to commit violent crimes. Whilst many theories exist, they fall terribly short.
As a general observation from my countless interactions, it is evident that remorse does not exist. On the contrary, inmates spend much of their time planning how they will get away with it the next time. Statistics concur that over 50% of the men in here have been in prison for previous offences and the recidivism rate is only increasing.
I led a sheltered, privileged life before prison and it has only been in prison that I have been exposed to the gravity of crime. As a prisoner myself, I believe that prisons are the breeding grounds for crime.
Everyday, the average prisoner spends most of his day by chatting to fellow prisoners. The conversations regularly revolve around crime. Listening to stories, I am shocked by the pride with which they are told and dumbstruck at how listeners are quick to offer advice on what should have been done or how it could have been done better. The narratives put Hollywood scripts to shame.
Another of the regular daily topics in prison regards smuggling or other illegal activity. I have yet to meet an inmate that is not part of something illegal. The vast majority of inmates smoke marijuana. Marijuana is a lucrative business in prison, enriching both prisoners and wardens alike. On a daily basis, users or traders refine their skill of being able to smoke or smuggle the substance without being caught.
Prisoners also learn or enhance their ability to deceive, lie, cheat, smuggle and hide other contraband. Cellular phones, for example, are so rife in prison that the ones without them are the odd ones out. They are illegal as per regulations but corruption means that they are the norm. Prisoners go to great lengths on a daily basis to ensure that they can "safely" have a phone. A prisoner in possession of a phone has to hide the phone every single day and find new ways to outwit wardens.
Similarly, other criminal activity is perpetrated by prisoners on a daily basis. Crime, if it was not already, becomes a lifestyle. The basis for prison is that it is supposed to be a means whereby criminal behavior is corrected and a prisoner should be released back into society as a rehabilitated individual. The reality is the opposite, prisoners are released having honed their skills and having had time to plan their future endeavors.
As a nation ravaged by crime, the whole concept of prison needs to be addressed as the system simply does not work. Prisons as a place of punishment and rehabilitation is a theory that is constantly proven false; instead they are nothing but universities of crime.
