TREATMENT OF PRISONERS IN THE U.S. AND RUSSIA How Does the United States Compare to Russia in Following the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners?

There are nearly 9 million people under certain forms of incarceration or supervision across the globe. The United States has the highest number of prisoners or individuals under some of supervision since approximately 25% of the world's prisoners are held in the country (U.S. Department of State, 2012). Prisoners across the globe are subjected to varying treatment because of differences in circumstances, nature of incarceration facilities, cultures, and available resources. Nonetheless, prisoners are a vulnerable population regardless where they are being held. As the government is mandated with the responsibility of catering for prisoners' needs and welfare, the treatment of prisoners has attracted considerable attention over the years.

Following a special congress in 1955, the United Nations adopted Standard Minimum Rules (SMRs) for the treatment of prisoners (U.S. Department of State, 2012). These rules are one of the most significant international agreements on how prisoners should be treated across the globe. Recent studies have indicated that most of prison systems worldwide do not treat prisoners based on standards recommended by this agreement. Many nations blatantly disregard international agreements on the treatment of prisoners and this research studies this issue with a special focus on the American and Russian prison systems.

According to the Standard Minimum Rules, prison authorities have to treat prisoners with human dignity and respect. The authorities should subject inmates to any form of treatment that could be classified as inhuman, cruel or degrading. Research has indicated that public authorities in-charge of maximum security prisons are operating them in ways that basically violate human rights (Human Rights Watch, 2000). The confinement conditions are unnecessarily severe and are not proportionate to actual security concerns. Given that the conditions impose undue suffering and humiliation on the prisoners, maximum security prisoners are treated with the least respect and in an inhumane way (Human Rights Watch, 2000).

Literature Review

Prison Systems in the United States and Russia

The United States has the highest population of prisoners across the globe, which has contributed to the establishment of a prison system that focuses on enforcing rules, punishing or rehabilitating offenders, and maintaining public safety. Incarceration facilities are regarded as institutions for detaining criminals against their will (Barnes, 2011, p.35). The American prison system is structured in a way in which prisoners are incarcerated in different facilities depending on the severity and impact of their offense. The highest type of prisons in the United States is special super-maximum facilities that currently house approximately 2% of the country's prison population (U.S. Department of State, 2012). The American prison system is based on the technique of solitary confinement, which has been utilized as a means of prison management and rehabilitation for a long period of time (Vasiliades, 2005, p.73). This technique is currently known as segregation that is adopted as a standard operating procedure, punitive measure, protective measure, and as a means of ensuring mental stability of prisoners. Through this technique, prison systems in the United States comprise some segregation units like specific prison areas or secure housing facilities for different kinds of offenses.

Bobrik et al. (2005) state that Russia has one of the highest imprisonment rates worldwide regardless of the recent legal reforms that have been carried out (p.1). Similar to the United States, Russia prison authorities have started using segregation or differentiation as a technique for incarcerating offenders. Inmates in Russia are no longer housed in communal barracks but through differentiation depending on the severity of the offense. In essence, the Russian prison system differentiates incarceration facilities depending on the severity of the offense through which prisoners are grouped in different facilities in order to cater for the whole spectrum of prisoners. Given this difference, prisoners in Russia negotiate and engage with surveilled penal spaces differently (Moran, Pallot & Piacentini, 2013, p.138).

UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

The nature of prison facilities and conditions of prisoners vary throughout the world just like cultural differences and variations in the resources available to every nation (U.S. Department of State, 2012). However, prisoners continue to be a vulnerable population that has to depend on the government to meet their needs and ensure their welfare. Governments across the globe are required to comply with standards and obligations that promote the establishment of safe, humane, transparent, and secure prison environments. The UN Standard Minimum Rules (SMRs) is one of the international agreements that governments should comply with in creation of such environments. The rules,...

The rules require prison authorities to treat prisoners with human dignity and respect as well as avoiding degrading or cruel treatment.
Treatment of Prisoners in the U.S. Prison System

Prison systems in the United States are based on solitary confinement technique, which was adopted after prison authorities abandoned penitentiaries, which were created by the Quakers to promote self-reflection and repentance of offenders (Vasiliades, 2005, p.73). Through this technique, prisoners, especially those in maximum security prisons, have been subjected to harsh treatment. The prevalent practice of solitary confinement not only shows disregard for imprisoned offenders but also acts as a feasible way for torturing foreign nationals in the American prison system. Moreover, this technique that is commonly used in the U.S. prison system is associated with several psychological problems or consequences. Some of these problems include emotional damage, near permanent mental damage, increased violent tendencies, and extraordinary malaise (Vasiliades, 2005, p.77).

Listwan et al. (2013) argue that the U.S. prison system needs reform because of the seemingly inhumane treatment of offenders (p.144). Prisons across the United States usually results in increased subsequent levels of offending because of antagonistic relationships with prison officers and direct victimization. Actually, prisoners are subjected to harsh treatment in the United States in attempts to reduce recidivism though the end result is increased levels of crime. Moreover, prisoners in the United States are housed in overcrowded facilities given the country's huge incarceration rate per capita. This is a major problem for correctional officers, especially among the aging population whose imprisonment has increased significantly in recent years (Maschi & Aday, 2014, p.16). The increased overcrowding makes it difficult for prison authorities to provide necessary care, especially healthcare services to the aging population.

In his analysis of California's Pelican Bay Hunger Strike, Reiter (2014) states that the American prison system can subject prisoners to conditions of severe sensory deprivation because of solitary confinement (p.579). The solitary confinement technique generated torturous conditions because of the prolonged isolation of inmates in this prison. During the isolation, some inmates were denied adequate and nutritious food as well as constructive privileges. Inmates in this prison responded to the constraints through a sustained hunger strike to advocate for better treatment. Preferential treatment of prisoners is also evident in the American prison system, especially among adult inmates. Incarcerated African America young adults are excluded from national estimates of the prevalence of cigarette smoking despite accounting for a huge proportion of smokers in this population (Kennedy et al., 2015, p.S73). This exclusion shows how prisoners in the U.S. are discriminated against with regards to health and stress.

Treatment of Prisoners in the Russian Prison System

The Russian prison system is faced with the problem of overcrowding just like the United States prison system. However, the Russian prison system subject inmates to poor conditions that generate several health concerns. For instance, Russian prisons have acted as a source to tuberculosis because of poor prevention, treatment, and management of the disease (Sarang et al., 2016, p.45). Apart from poor management of tuberculosis infection, the Russian prison system poorly manages HIV infection. Prisoners in the Russian prison system experience poor living conditions, malnutrition, chaotic lifestyles, and insufficient access to healthcare services (Bobrik et al., 2005, p.2).

Inmates in the Russian prison system are subjected to strictest protocols, which results in harsh treatment such as total lack of privacy, lack of exercise, poor food quality, and lack of outdoor time (Moran, Piacentini & Pallot, 2011, p.448). These conditions emerge from the concept of disciplined mobility in which inmates are subjected to punitive power. According to Moran, Pallot & Piacentini (2013), prisons in Russia, especially those housing female inmates, generate ineffective Foucauldian disciplinary measures (p.138). Piacentini & Slade (2015) concur by stating that the concept of carceral collectivism, which is used in the Russian prison system, is punitive, especially when applied during prisoner transportation. Public places in prisons in Russia do not promote or encourage the docility of inmates.

The Russian prison system does not provide adequate resources and support to prisoners after they are released in order to promote reintegration. Even though there is stigma, prisoners released from incarceration in Russia do not receive support and experience increased stigmatization as compared to the U.S. (Moran, 2012, p.564). This demonstrates the need for a universal expression in which everyone is treated in the same…