Translation of Krus, D.J. (1999) Die Harte des Strafvollzugs: Entbindung in Ketten. Zeitschrift fur Sozialpsychologie und Gruppendynamik in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 24Jg/Heft 4, S.12-16.

Trends Toward Reinstitution of Torture
David J. Krus
Arizona State University

Abstract.-Ethical issues associated with severity of punishments were considered within the context of reactions of 74 subjects to a picture of a black female in chains, delivering baby while in the United States prison. Marked positive skewness of the obtained results suggests that there is a social pressure toward reinstitution of torture.

Recent publications such as those by Arpaio and Sherman (1996) and by Block (1997) advocate “policy initiatives aimed at increasing the unpleasantness of prison life would likely be a cost-effective method of fighting crime” (Bock, 1997, p. 12). Arpaio’s initiative was instrumental in reinstatement of chain gangs in Arizona and in construction of desert tent prison camps. Mauer (1999, pp. 92-93) documents some of the measures recently used to implement the “increasing the unpleasantness of prison life” policies that include shooting around prisoners to keep them moving, forced consumption of milk of magnesia, placing naked inmates in “strip cells,” and handcuffing for a long periods of time. Of these methods we selected handcuffing applied to women prisoners delivering a child (Atwood, 1998, pp. 66-67, Siegal, 1998, p.71) as a focus of our study.

Subjects and Method

Our sample consisted of 74 students, 47 females and 27 males, enrolled in the course on methodology of social sciences at Arizona State University. The mean age of the subjects was 33 years (SD =9.27). A picture of a black female in chains (Atwood, 1998, pp. 66-67) delivering baby while in the United States prison was shown to the subjects. The caption was “they wheeled her into a hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, handcuffs on her wrists and shackles on her ankles. In this condition the woman agonized through labor.” Subjects read the caption and wrote down their reactions to this picture.

Results

Inspection of the main themes employed by the subject showed that the most frequently occurring responses were opinions that treating a woman during the delivery of a child in such a manner was either justified, or excessive, inhuman, and barbaric and that these categories captured most of the main points made by the respondents. These categories encompass a continuum shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Distribution of punitiveness as measured by subjects' responses to a picture of a chained black female giving birth while in the United States prison.

The above categories are further described by using the characteristic statements made by the respondents as follows.

A. Justified
The 39% of subjects agreed with the woman being chained. Representative statements from this group are as follows.

“The woman is in prison. More than likely she was put there for a reason. She is a criminal, one who has deviated from our mores, therefore, if she acted uncivilized in our world she should not expect to be treated civilized in their world.” (Male, 30 years old).

“The authorities who ‘arrested’ her, if that is indeed the case, felt that this was their only recourse. I believe that criminals have a lot of rights in this country, much to my disapproval. It should be victims who have rights” (Female, 26 years old).

“The woman has made choices and is now reaping the consequences.” (Female, 50 years old).

“She committed a crime – she must face the consequences.” (Female, 27 years old).

“If a person is being restrained, it is for a reason.” (Female, 27 years old).

“She undoubtedly did something wrong.” (Male, 25 years old).

“She gets what she deserves.” (Female, 24 years old).

B. Excessive
The 26% of subjects expressed an opinion that treating a woman during the delivery of a child in such a manner was excessive and unnecessary. Their statements are excerpted as follows.

“I think that handcuffs are unnecessary during childbirth.” (Female, 27 years old).

“I feel a little bit uncomfortable to see this picture.” (Female, 28 years old).

“It seems overkill to have her chained when she is obviously not going to go anywhere.” (Female, 37 years old).

“There are other ways to assure safety in this setting.” (Female, 30 years old).

“They should shackle her one wrist to side of bed.” (Female, 37 years old).

“Other options could have been employed.” (Female, 43 years old).

“I don’t see how keeping the woman in handcuffs accomplishes anything.” (Female, 22 years old).

C. Inhumane
The 22% of subjects considered this treatment of a female during the labor as inhumane. Representative statements of this group are excerpted as follows.

“This is very inhumane treatment.” (Male, 32 years old).

“Even if she committed a crime, she still needs to be treated as a human being.” (Male, 31 years old).

“I feel this is a sad state of humanity when a woman can not bring a child into this world with some human dignity.” (Female, 26 years old).

“Shackling this woman during delivery is an inhumane act.” (Male, 32 years old). 

D. Barbaric
The 13% of subjects expressed a strong disapproval. Their opinions are excerpted as follows.

“There is not enough time or space on this piece of paper to convey my total shock with the barbaric treatment of this individual. How can the US accuse other countries of human right violations when we so violently punish our own?” (Male, 30 years old).

“This is totally inhuman and insane – not only for the people who did it, but also for the whole nation in which it took place.” (Male, 24 years old).

“This picture depicts an act of cruelty.” (Male, 25 years old).

“This picture sickens me.” (Female, 37 years old).

“The notion of a woman in labor presenting a safety hazard to others and needing to be shackled and bound is barbarous. The image shown in the photo upsets my dignity as it strips hers.” (Female, 45 years old).

Discussion

Numerous studies of the punitiveness indicate that this personality trait is associated with religious fundamentalism and right-wing political attitudes (Adorno, Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford, 1950, Wilson, 1973). Inspection of the distribution of punitiveness as measured by subjects' responses to a picture of a chained black female giving birth while in the United States prison (Fig. 1) shows that it is markedly skewed. Markedly skewed distributions that are expected to distribute normally indicate presence of forces, acting against the direction of skewness, and encountering a barrier. This barrier was removed following the destruction of two New York buildings by aircraft piloted by Saudi Arabian pilots. The previously unthinkable - the open advocacy of torture - happened. Among its proponents the best known is Alan M. Dershowitz, Harvard law professor, who recommended the use of torture by inserting sterilized needles under prisoner's nails. At this point a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche seems appropriate: When you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

Foreign observers of the United States often report this lack of humanistic perspective accentuated by realities of the U.S. criminal justice system. (Dykstra, 1987, Melossi, 1993). These observations are supported by many facts. The death penalty is legal in the United States but prohibited in most industrialized nations and many developing nations as well. The time served in prison, tripled during the recent years (Mauer, 1999, p.87), is well above the length of the time served for similar offences in many other countries. The exponentially increasing U.S. rate of incarceration (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997, Krus and Hoehl, 1994) is clearly aberrant when compared with other nations. The American justice system permits to try children as young as 8-years-old as adults and allows the execution of 16- and 17-year-old offenders despite the fact that the execution of persons younger than 18-years is against the International Law. Presently, the USA is the only state in the world that applies the death penalties to child offenders-- prisoners convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18--and carries them out (Amnesty International, 1999).

Severe punishments such as beatings, prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, chaining, have been often inflicted on prisoners. Although abolished throughout the Roman Empire around the 240 AD, torture was legalized during the Middle Ages. A movement to abolish torture began during the Age of Enlightenment and continued throughout the 19th century. During the 20th century, however, cruel treatment of prisoners has been resurgent throughout the world and, although not legal, it is reappearing in the United States. As most social events are recurrent throughout the ages, the classical book on criminal justice by Cesare Beccaria’s (1764/1809) Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (Crimes and Punishments), documenting the relationship between brutalization of society and its support of severe punishments and advocating that both the scope of police activity and the length of imprisonment should not exceed what is necessary to maintain public order, remains relevant today as ever.

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