Bootcamp (prison system)

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As Boot Camp colloquially certain facilities are to prison and order-education of juvenile offenders called. The name was taken from the slang term for basic military training in the United States ( Navy , Army and Marines ) or from the place where it takes place. Boot camps are run according to the basic disciplinary rules of US military units. The philosophy of these camps is similar to that of the Marines: break will, only to rebuild it later .

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Since around 1991, the term boot camp has become known as the name for a camp for the improvement and rehabilitation of offenders , especially in connection with juveniles who have committed criminal offenses. Bootcamps exist under this name only in the United States and are both state and privately run. As an alternative to a two to three year prison sentence in an ordinary prison , those who have committed criminal offenses can be released in a boot camp after 120 days of extreme physical and psychological stress.

In Florida, in 2006, after the death of Martin Lee Anderson, all five state youth bootcamps were closed and a different youth education system was introduced.

Glen Mills Schools are not a boot camp, but a youth justice-related, open re-education facility with a strictly structured group dynamic approach (“Guided Group Interaction”). In Germany and the Netherlands, however, this facility was and is repeatedly used as a model, because corresponding “Glen Mills” initiatives are active here.

In Germany there are few comparable facilities: It is known to youth welfare institution training camp Lothar Kannenberg in Hesse . The former boxer's camp is located in the former test and training facility for forest work and forest technology in Diemelstadt- Rhoden (Waldeck-Frankenberg district). The closed youth work yard Torgau in a former prison in the GDR aimed to break the youngsters.

In addition to the above-mentioned institutions for the execution of sentences, there are similar institutions for young people who are difficult to educate or have behavioral problems, which are used as educational measures solely at the instigation of the parents.

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The concept of boot camps is particularly favored by conservative politicians in the USA, mainly because it reduces the cost of penal execution for a delinquent . Only offenders who have not committed a crime such as murder or manslaughter are allowed in boot camps . A boot camp can be used, for example, in the event of theft , drug trafficking , assault or attempted murder .

The proponents of boot camps assume that this form of re-education shapes the character of the convicted according to a norm that the population of the USA in particular regards as desirable: that of a disciplined soldier. On the other hand, it is believed that a lawbreaker will no longer become a criminal after this ordeal.

The bootcamps are often reported to have been very successful, with the result that the relapse rate is lower compared to other institutions. However, according to recent studies, this differs from camp to camp. The municipality of Miami-Dade reports that only 6.6% of all inmates relapsed, while the camp of the municipality of Pinella County has a much higher relapse rate of almost 90%.

At least 30 young people have died in American boot camps since 1980. For 2005 there were more than 1,600 documented cases of child abuse in boot camps. In addition, there are countless cases of serious injuries such as broken bones during the extremely stressful daily activities that strain the prisoners to their limits. Such injuries mean the abortion of the boot camp and transfer to a normal detention center, where the originally imposed prison sentence is started, as one can no longer participate in the daily program of the boot camp. In another case, in which a 14-year-old was beaten to death by seven guards in front of the camera and the nurse present did not intervene, the relatives filed a lawsuit against the boot camps, but so far unsuccessfully because the public prosecutor came to the conclusion that the guards acted in self-defense .

Morton Rhue , author of Boot Camp and a noted critic

Many psychologists and social workers are extremely critical of boot camps because it is usually about breaking someone's will. It contradicts accepted treatment standards if such methods are used for a wide variety of problems, e.g. B. depression, conspicuous behavior, insubordination, overactivity, low self-esteem, etc. The young people would only be trained, which often leads to submission and inferiority complexes . The same methods would be used, for example, in training elite combat troops to train unconditional obedience; thus the result of such an education is more suitable for war than for civilian life.

Above all, bootcamps are rejected by human rights activists. In bootcamps, mental abuse is part of the program. Physical abuse has also been documented, although as a rule, according to the guidelines, the staff are not allowed to touch the inmates of their own accord. The constant insults, humiliations and the pressure to have to complete tasks in the shortest possible time, regardless of injuries, that can never be completed to satisfaction, violated generally recognized human rights

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Curtis D. Harstad: Guided group interaction: Positive peer culture , in: Child Youth Care Forum , June 1976, Volume 5, Issue 2, pp. 109-120, doi : 10.1007 / BF01555235
  2. ↑ Florian Gathmann: The failure of the drill machine. In: Spiegel Online. January 3, 2008, accessed December 2, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Annette Langer: Death in the Boot Camp - acquittals for overseers. In: Spiegel Online. October 12, 2007, accessed December 2, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Annette Langer: Death in the "American Gulag". In: Spiegel Online. September 24, 2001, accessed December 2, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Annette Langer: Death in the Boot Camp - acquittals for overseers. In: Spiegel Online. October 12, 2007, accessed August 27, 2008 .
  6. ↑ Clemens Wergin: Off to the boot camp with disrespectful children. In: Welt.de. May 26, 2015, accessed July 7, 2018 .