An Anonymous Coward suggests the following story: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/asa-rns081616.php
Ramen noodles are supplanting the once popular cigarettes as a form of currency among state prisoners, but not in response to bans on tobacco products within prison systems, finds a new study.
Instead, study author Michael Gibson-Light, a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona School of Sociology, found that inmates are trying to figure out ways to better feed themselves as certain prison services are being defunded.
[...] "Prison staff members as well as members of the inmate population provided narratives of the history of changes in prison food -- the past few decades have seen steady decreases in the quality and quantity of inmate food," Gibson-Light said.
"Prisoners are so unhappy with the quality and quantity of prison food that they receive that they have begun relying on ramen noodles -- a cheap, durable food product -- as a form of money in the underground economy," he said. "Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods."
Those other goods include other food items, clothing, hygiene products, and even services, such as laundry and bunk cleaning, Gibson-Light said. Others use ramen noodles as bargaining chips in gambling when playing card games or participating in football pools, he said.
[...] "Throughout the nation, we can observe prison cost-cutting and cost-shifting as well as changes in the informal economic practices of inmates," he said. "Services are cut back and many costs are passed on to inmates in an effort to respond to calls to remain both tough on crime and cost effective."
The US authorities and most citizens prefer a punitive instead of a rehabilitative approach, despite the fact that most prisoners are eventually let out of prison alive.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:27PM
In California smoking in jail/prison has been outlawed for a good 15-20 years. Money is illegal in jail/prison. Ramen is cheap and readily available in the prison 7/11, however the hell that works. It doesn't surprise me a haircut would cost 1 ramen, a tattoo 2 ramen, shiving a dude in the shower 10 ramens.
It boggles my mind all the news outlets seem to think this is a big surprise, to me it's common sense.
Any former (or current) inmates wanna chime in?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:33PM
Prison conditions are now so bad that legal things (necessities of life) are being traded as currency in prison.
Traditionally, illegal things are more lucrative due to the higher mark-up.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:42PM
Maybe it's not necessity, but desire. What are prisoners eating?
Food As Punishment: Giving U.S. Inmates 'The Loaf' Persists [npr.org]
Watch People Try Nutraloaf, The Controversial Prison Food That’s Been Called ‘Cruel’ [huffingtonpost.com]
Dining Critic Tries Nutraloaf, the Prison Food for Misbehaving Inmates [chicagomag.com]
Goodbye, Prison Loaf: Reporter’s Notebook [nytimes.com]
‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ Takes Meat off Jail Menu [time.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:45PM
Expands on the Time link:
Maricopa inmates learn to live vegetarian [arizonasonoranewsservice.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:20PM
Fascinating! (Especially to someone like me who routinely eats Soylent and Soylent knockoffs.)
This whole thread has been one of the most interesting discussions here in awhile - been a long time since I blew all my daily mod points on one thread.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 3, Interesting) by butthurt on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:19AM
If ramen is valued in the way this press release says, it implies to me that prisoners are hungry. That suggests that the food provided to them may be inadequate in its amount, kind, quality or timing. A Guardian op-ed [theguardian.com] says that prisoners aren't wasting away, but are given "high calorie and low satiety" foods.
Is hunger commonly perceived as concomitant to imprisonment? If prisoners routinely go hungry, the public--at any rate, those who perform jury duty--should know about it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Thursday August 25 2016, @03:10AM
No, it implies they need a currency. They can't get tobacco, the old currency. They can't get money. Ramen is cheap, is worth a small enough amount of $$$ to make it worth trading for, and easy to get, as long as you have money from an outside source or a prison job making maybe $0.10/hr. If they're hungry they'll eat the Ramen. If they have enough currency to buy the Ramen to trade with, others get to eat in return for favors.
Ever since I was a kid some 50 years ago I've been told that the only good thing about prison food is there isn't enough of it. As in, it's so bad nobody wants to eat it.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:08AM
If you have any cash on you when arrested it goes on your "money account". People outside can put money on your money account by paying cash; it can be mailed in as mail to an inmate is inspected. If there is any cash in the envelope then it is removed and the amount added to the account.
If you don't carry actual cash when arrested, you're SOL.
Once per week or so you get a price list and a Scan-Tron form. You fill in the little ovals with a pencil for each product you want to buy.
If you don't have a pencil you're SOL.
You can't even complain about unlawful treatment if you don't have a pencil as you have to "exhaust administrative remedies" before petitioning the court for relief. To request an administrative remedy must be done in writing.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Capt. Obvious on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:07AM
It's not just common sense. Pretty much every fictionalized jail show (e.g. Orange is the New Black) or "realistic" jail show (e.g. Sixty Days In) has Ramen as currency.
I feel like it's like news outlets going gaga over the fact that shanks exist. Duh. I know that, because I was minimally exposed to culture.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:49AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Capt. Obvious on Thursday August 25 2016, @09:15AM
The fictionalized shows are supposed to be contemporary. Some cases (e.g. Orange is the New Black) are worse than the real source materials they are based on, but not dramatically so.
But, yeah, realistic, not distopian.
By the way, I have no problem with treats being the currency in prison. Oreos or whatnot. It's just sad that it has to be something based on its filling/nutritional value, not taste.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:17PM
By the way, I have no problem with treats being the currency in prison. Oreos or whatnot. It's just sad that it has to be something based on its filling/nutritional value, not taste.
I've always thought ramen was very tasty! But then again, I enjoy drinking Soylent, so maybe I'm not the one to judge...
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:12PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:35PM
I was under the impression that ramen has been used this way in prison for a while now. Maybe 1 pack = $1? I guess the news here is that someone is studying it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:43PM
Why are we warehousing humans instead of helping them develop acceptable-to-the-outside-world practices?
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by takyon on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:49PM
1. Legalize it.
2. All remaining inmates receive training in farming fruits, vegetables, grains, and of course, cannabis.
3. The government starts handing out partial subsidies for hydroponic equipment.
4. See what happens to the cartels, and see how many billions of dollars are saved.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Username on Thursday August 25 2016, @07:27AM
Seems very grower oriented, what about the manufacture of methamphetamines? They could get Uncle Fester to teach some classes.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:03AM
A lot of things HAVE been tried to improve them and nothing seems to work or doesn't work consistently or does work but is too expensive on a wider scale. A lot of charities doing good work in this area have religious affiliation or motivation https://www.prisonfellowship.org [prisonfellowship.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:09AM
Why are we warehousing humans instead of helping them develop acceptable-to-the-outside-world practices?
This is the US way: many developed countries have understood that society as a whole, in the long run, benefits from investing in things like a rehabilitative penal system and education. In the US, those things are seen not as long-term societal investment but as a short-term drag on the economy.
The problem is, no US politician can get elected to office on a pledge to raise taxes to improve things 20 years down the line: their horizon is limited to the next election. This is the case in many other countries as well, but it's especially true in the US, where the population just can't seem to think far in the future and only see the taxes they pay right now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:38AM
Because it is repugnant to offer services that aren't available to the population at large. As it is, nearly $80,000 in services are available just warehousing prisoners. Exactly how much more should be spent to help further "develop" them?
Not to mention for a large segment of prisoners, it's not like they are some Oliver Twist character who only broke the law out of necessity. Many had options, but pissed them away or flat out don't care who they hurt to get ahead.
Take Bernie Ebbers for example. Exactly how much more should be spent to rehabilitate him?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by pTamok on Thursday August 25 2016, @06:57AM
As much a necessary.
It is cheaper to rehabilitate than not. You can ignore the moral arguments, but rehabilitation decreases the recidivism rate so that once they leave prison, people are less likely to commit further crime (or alternatively, have learned how not to get caught, if you are cynical). It is by not having a rehabilitation programme that you waste tax dollars. Recidivism has the cost to society of the additional crime, plus the cost of incarceration again.
If you are concerned about tax dollars, you should support rehabilitation. Really.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:30PM
It is cheaper to rehabilitate than not.
What an absolutely empty statement. You've already assumed the conclusion before we began. If you spend infinity dollars towards rehabilitation compared to $80,000/yr towards incarceration, you haven't saved any money at all.
So "rehabilitation" is nebulous. Exactly what are you proposing?
Education? Counseling? Job training?
Except all of those things were available prior to prison, so exactly how will spending more in a prison setting improve outcomes? Not to mention those things are available now in prison, so exactly what changes should be made to current programs?
Again, take Bernie Ebbers as an example. Exactly what changes to the current system would you make to reform him?
What a hand-wavy response.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @02:57PM
You're not going to spend 'infinite dollars'. You're just spewing idiocy.
You're also forgetting that once rehabilitated, the individual's contributions to society now also have a cascading/multiplying effect. Not only do you no longer have to incarcerate them, but the individual starts producing, paying taxes, etc...
I don't think you actually know what is going on in prison or how many of the people in there end up there. I'm not saying they're all angels, not at all. But I *am* saying that many people who get processed by that system would be better off by being guided to becoming a productive citizen again and are very much willing to go that route. Society would also be better off and you wouldn't spend 80k over and over again for each of these prisoners going through the system over and over and over and over again.
Please *think* before you start saying unwise things
(Score: 2, Insightful) by ncc74656 on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:47AM
If they were capable of "develop[ing] acceptable-to-the-outside-world practices," they wouldn't have wound up in prison in the first place. Having already demonstrated their lack of fitness to live among civilized people, what would you propose that we do with them? Killing them would put them out of our misery permanently, but I suspect that you would also be against that approach...so where does that leave us?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:39AM
Put them to work. Let them (voluntarily) farm vegetables and cannabis on the prison grounds. A small portion of the weed or profits goes to the prisoners (which they might be spending at the canteen or on phone calls), and the rest gets sold in state-run dispensaries or wholesale to independent dispensaries. Teach prisoners the intricacies of farming, and make sure they have a chance to obtain some kind of agricultural degree/certification by the time they get out.
Prison farms [google.com] are not a new concept. Growing high-value cannabis at a prison would be, and would be a great way for the states to solidify the benefits of legalization.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Whoever on Thursday August 25 2016, @04:06AM
Because too many people with influence profit from the prison system.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @07:32PM
Can't believe I reached the bottom of this article's comments before finding this. At least someone fucking gets it...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Capt. Obvious on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:00AM
The number of prisoners is trending down. So, it's getting better!
And, far more importantly, private prisons are being phased out (at the federal level). That should take some powerful lobbyists in favor of long term sentences out of play.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @02:59PM
private prisons are being phased out (at the federal level)
INCORRECT!! A change in policy was announced. The implementation is still lacking. Similarly, state prisons continue to be run by private and unaccountable corporations and are filled to the brim!
You would do better if your attention span was a bit longer!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @03:53PM
Because we as a nation prefer retribution and punishment over compassion and rehabilitation.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Wednesday August 24 2016, @11:56PM
I was surprised to see this, as I was under the impression that pouches of mackerel [wsj.com] were the modicum of exchange:
It seems that's the way it is in *federal* rather than state prisons. I guess, depending on which (state or federal) laws you're breaking, you might wish to stock up on fish or pasta.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:53AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Thursday August 25 2016, @09:22AM
That seems very weird. I'm sure I could fashion a bladed weapon out of a tin like that. How do they get in to the facility?
Apparently, it's sold at prison commissaries. The WSJ article I linked discussed the weapon angle:
This whole "mack" economy thing is discussed elsewhere too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_commissary [wikipedia.org]
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/03/currency [economist.com]
However, the first time I heard about using pouches of mackerel as currency was from Charles Wheelan as he discussed his book Naked Money [c-span.org]. The book reading/Q&A is a little long, but well worth it IMHO. Then again, you could just buy the book I suppose.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 5, Informative) by mendax on Thursday August 25 2016, @12:06AM
I write to prisoners so I know something about how things work in those places, certainly more than most of you. In prisons there are three basic forms of currency: ramen noodle soups, instant coffee, and postage stamps. A soup; a "shot" of coffee, enough to make one large cup; and postage stamps are roughly the same in value. However, when there is a lock down, the prices of soups and coffee goes up because those things are not provided by the prison, and many prisons allow stamps to be mailed in.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by Capt. Obvious on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:02AM
A stemp = a Ramen?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:23AM
Thank you for your unsolicited and unsubstantiated opinion. Your eloquence and deliberative arguments have convinced me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @02:49AM
No inmate should have contact with any person who has committed a crime. All contact with others, guards and doctors included, should be supervised.
By "contact" I mean everything. Banging on the plumbing counts; there shall be no Morse code. Farting counts; you may only smell your own. No contact is important. Criminals must not influence each other.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @06:57AM
Nice idea to not let the criminals teach the criminals, but that would be like solitary confinement, a practice already considered inhumane.
Would they be cycled one at a time for exercise (alone) and sunlight outside of their cell? Would they all interact with an army of therapists to maintain human contact? Infeasible and expensive.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:33AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:10AM
How is that not cruel and unusual?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:41AM
If it's done on a big scale, it's obviously not unusual. Therefore it is not cruel and unusual.
(Score: 2) by Entropy on Thursday August 25 2016, @11:30AM
...is clearly the solution. Apparently we have the people.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @04:48PM
"The US authorities and most citizens prefer a punitive instead of a rehabilitative approach"
please do STFU. if you want to criticize america/americans then you could say we don't have control over our government. As if americans are ever asked direct, specific questions with the facts being fully presented. No, one hears about the "save the children act" for the first time, that passed last week. nothing to see there, i guess i'll get back to work before i lose my house or some pig comes knocking for money or my children.