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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2011)
lune 29.2011____________________________ ®i» ^Jortlani» (Observer Page 9 Q pinion Our Prison System is Bankrupting Us Need smarter and more compassionate approach by S arah van G elder If there was any doubt about the broken state of our prison system, recent news should put it to rest. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, made up of fonner presidents and other luminaries from the United States and abroad, just concluded that the Drug War is an expensive failure. The California prison system— which the U.S. Supreme Court declared to be in violation of the 8th Amendment due to overcrowding and neglect— has yet to develop a plan to bring it into compliance with the court order. Less well publicized, but also disturb ing, is a letter from Tom Lutz in which he resigns from his post as department chair at the University of California Riverside. Lutz warns that the state is dismantling in just a few years a world-class system of higher education. Funding has shifted dra matically from educating California’s young to imprisoning them— not a way to build a strong country. Meanwhile, massive state budget defi cits are worsened by the expense of lock ing up more of our own citizens than any other country in the world. Perhaps we’re finally ready for a reas sessment. What might a more effective and rational system look like? As we researched the summer issue of YES!, “Beyond Prisons,” we found a blossoming of creative alternatives to the punitive drug war and to the criminal justice system’s expensive punishment ethic. People behind bars for drug possession make up the greatest share of the massive uptick in the prison population. The ex perts we talked to, including a former police chief and a medical doctor who specializes in addiction, called for an end to the war on drugs. Instead of punishing drug addicts— many of whom are victims of trauma— treatment, needle exchanges, and safe housing lessen addiction, dis ease, and the crimes caused by drug use. Most of the 2.3 million now in prison will eventually be released. Education and job training are proven ways to reduce the number who reoffend and return to prison. Ex-offenders and ex-addicts can be the best mentors of those released from prison; the Delancey Street Project, for example, offers peer support and job-skills training in businesses run by ex-inmates and ad dicts, and their success record is impres sive. Traditional approaches to crime hold special promise. In New Zealand, instead of locking up young offenders, a council made up of family, community members, and crime victims holds them accountable for their crimes, and then gives them an opportunity to make restitution and be reintegrated into the community. This approach, which borrows from the Maori people, has become the norm in New Zealand, reducing to almost zero the num ber of young people locked up in expen sive and violent detention facilities. This “restorative justice” approach is spreading. Studies show crime victims who are involved in victim-offender me diation processes are less likely to experi ence long-term post-traumatic stress. The involvement of the broader com munity is key to the success of restorative approaches. A welding instructor who volunteers to instruct inmates, a Girl Scout leader who brings girls to visit their im prisoned mothers, or a garden club that helps inmates start prison gardens all do their part to create vital links to the out side. There are people we might agree should be locked up; psychopathic killers, rap ists, and others who endanger their fami lies or communities. But most of those in prison are people with few resources who have committed nonviolent offenses— especially poor people, people of color, drug users, alcoholics, and the mentally challenged. Imprisoning millions of these people does not make us safer. But imprisoning 2.3 million people does deplete govern ment coffers resulting in massive cuts in programs— like California’s system of higher education— that have proven track records for reducing crime. A smarter and more compassionate criminal justice system could not only save lives and restore communities espe cially hard hit by imprisonments, it could save us from fiscal meltdown. Sarah van Gelder is executive editor o f YES! Magazine. Inaccurate claim on Women, Beauty and Race ‘Psychology Today’ blog supported racism BY VlLMARYS PlCHARDO A lot of outrage was provoked when Psychology Today published a blog on race and beauty titled, “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive than Other Women, And Not Men.” The recent post was written by Satoshi Kanazawa, a Japanese journalist and pro fessor at the London School of Econom ics who uses evolutionary psychology to examine economic, social and anthropo logical issues. Kanazawa referred to a study con ducted by the University of North to make what he calls a “scientific” analysis on why “black women are objectively less physically attractive than other women.” He then faced an investigation by the London School and was fired. His article (Dbseruer was removed from Psychology Today’s website. The magazine’s editor- in- chief, Kaja Purina, delivered the following apology; “A blog post about race and appearance by Satoshi Kanazawa was published—and promptly rem oved-from this site. We deeply apologize for the pain and offense that this post caused. Psychology Today's mission is to inform the public, not to provide a platform for inflammatory and offensive material. Psychology Today does not tolerate racism or prejudice of any sort. The post was not approved by Psy chology Today, but we take full responsi bility for its publication on our site. We have taken measures to ensure that such an incident does not occur again. Again, we are deeply sorry for the hurt that this post caused.” Kanazawa’s article, to no surprise, of fended many. But because the claims he made contra dict the values in Psychology Today’s own mission statement, the question that Established 1970 USPS 959-680 __________________________________ 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 still prevails is how and why was the study could not draw the implication Kanazawa’s article published in the first that African-American women were per place? ceived as less attractive than other women. Did the publication’s editors miss the Instead of writing a piece on why the bizarre claims made in the article or was teenagers who participated in the study Kanazawa’s analysis viewed as an inter perceived black women as they did, esting and scientific approach to the psy Kanawaza decided to perceive their re chology of beauty in relationship to racial sults as “objective” data and preceded differences? with making what he claims were “scien The idea that beauty is in the eye of the tific” conclusions. He made the analysis beholder is a common phenomena. No that black women are perceived as less tions of beauty often differ among people attractive due to their testosterone levels. and communities and furthermore are The offensive and peculiar article brings likely to be influenced by popular culture, up multiple concerns, ranging from why power structures and social constructs. was Kanazawa’s article published, to When taking a close look at the data the who’s to say who is or isn’t beautiful, to “evolutionary psychologist” used for his the question of why “scientists” and pro article, it is obvious that he chose to focus fessionals such as Kanazawa feel com on a specific part of the study. The study fortable with making such inaccurate, and was composed of two groups, adolescent poorly researched claims to promote rac aged participants and adults. ism? The adolescents, between the ages of Vilmarys Pichardo is a freelance writer 12 and 17, were said to perceive black working with the Portland Observer this women as less attractive than other women. summer. She is also a student at Mills Meanwhile the adults who participated in College in Oakland, Calif. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill he returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. O 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. A L L RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITHO UT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. 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