Everybody needs a hug

December 22, 2017 11:07 PM

The Dark Origins of Conjugal Visits "The origin story of conjugal visits in America, however, is a chapter of American racism. In 1904, Parchman Penitentiary was a 19th century plantation recreated, with its black, convict labor force working in the prison’s cotton fields like slaves. Conjugal visits were a paternalistic, ad-hoc reward system. If black convicts worked hard, they got to have sex on Sunday."

Conjugal visits originated as a "reward" system for black convicts meant to increase productivity and control - if they worked hard six days a week, they were able to have sex on Sundays. At first only with prostitutes trucked in from town but eventually with their own wives.

“Give ‘em pork, some greens, some cornbread, and some poontang every now and then and they would work for you.”

Today, the four states in the US that still allow conjugal visits refer to them as extended family visits.

"Thompson cites reports showing that extended family visits justify their costs by cutting recidivism and improving inmate behavior. A study of the family reunion program in New York State published in 1982 by Corrections Today showed that prisoners who participated had a 67 percent lower rate of recidivism than those who did not."

"All visits are helpful, but family visits are particularly effective in reforming people with antisocial behaviors. Family – the kinship that many young men seek when joining gangs – is a potent behavioral transformer. "Those people are out there and available when you get out," Leonardo explained. "To have someone who loves you and will help you, and in the case of children, people who depend on you," is, for most people, a more powerful incentive than threats and orders from authority figures with whom they have no emotional connection, Leonardo explained."

Conjugal visits around the world

"In September of 2013, Qatar’s Central Prison announced the opening of villas in which spouses and children could visit inmates — a feature it shares with Turkish prisons."

"Saudi Arabia, not exactly a bastion of human rights, and Iran (not much of an exemplar, either) have long allowed conjugal visits for married prisoners."

“We get to cook together, play cards and bingo, and be a family…The children get to know their father,” a female relative of a prisoner in Ontario told the Economist.

"In the eastern hemisphere, in 2015 Indian high courts ruled that sex with a spouse or artificial insemination for the sake of having a child were fundamental prisoners’ rights."

A Corrections Office on What Really Happens During Conjugal Visits.

"There are lots of benefits to maintaining a family unit even when one of its members is behind bars; and studies show that conjugal visits reduce incidences of sexual assault inside prisons. But there are also a lot of risks associated with the FRP, namely, potential for a rise in prison contraband, and the potential for escape attempts, transmission of HIV/AIDS (and other STDs), and, of course, pregnancy.

The conclusion most often arrived at, therefore, is that the negatives of the FRP outweigh the positives."

posted by bendy (6 comments total)

They're still used as a sort of reward system in NYS, or at least were as of 2013. To participate, you have to pass the Alternatives to Violence advanced nonviolent communication course, or the cognate course offered by the prison system. I helped teach the course as a volunteer for a while, until I understood that and worked through the implications.
posted by Coventry at 12:07 AM on December 23, 2017

Yet more dark, racist history in America. I am appalled but sadly unsurprised. Thank you for posting.
posted by stillmoving at 5:38 AM on December 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

A slightly more in-depth history of the practice and Parchman Penitentiary is at this pdf.
posted by jpe at 6:28 AM on December 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm reading Foner's history of Reconstruction right now and seeing in the forward direction how bullshit like this was set up. A huge problem in the South post Civil War was getting enough cheap manual labor to maintain its cotton economy. So as soon as possible, really within a year of the war ending, various systems of slavery-in-all-but-name were established. Like prisons. The idea that the cotton plantation / slave prisons would also control the sexual behavior of their forced labor is hideous. The only progress is they didn't officially own the children produced, at least not directly.
posted by Nelson at 8:12 AM on December 23, 2017 [5 favorites]

That was a very interesting read, jpe. I liked what the author wrote here (article from 1989):

The privilege had begun to spread around the country just when the negative attitude of "nothing works" started. Prison officials and legislators now believe it is useless to try to do anything except punish prisoners, and so conjugal visiting and other good programs are somewhat stymied.

Robert Martinson (1974), whose analysis began the notion that most programs do no good, is stretched too far. He concluded that about 30 percent of rehabilitative efforts were effective. The eagerness with which Martinson's negative appraisal was accepted revealed official bias. He said punishment did not work either, but practitioners paid no attention to that part of his report.

Mississippi officials ... are not so pretentious as to require the program to be subjected to empirical tests. They believe it is worthwhile to attempt to retain inmates' families whether or not one can demonstrate that the program lowers the rate of recidivism. The staff members feel good in allowing conjugal visits, and the inmates are grateful for them.
posted by Transl3y at 1:50 PM on December 24, 2017

They should talk about the benefits for those of us trapped on the outside. Visits are important for maintaining our sanity, too
posted by eustatic at 11:33 AM on December 25, 2017 [2 favorites]