Beyond
Bars: Unveiling the Ineffectiveness of Prisons and Advocating for Anti-Prisons
as a Path to Rehabilitation
The
establishment of prison systems dates as
back as the establishment of civilization. They have risen to become a great institution in the society. It is as if
the society of today cannot survive without them. The main idea associated with
the establishment of the prison system is the prevention of violence and the
correction of violent people. The evolution of social economic and cultural
aspects of humanity led to the development
of conflicts within social systems. Social and economic inequalities also exist
and widen the conflict. As the need for better organization, there was a great need for the establishment of institution
mandated with creating social order. High levels of violence and conflict have been universal and the association of
prisons and civilization accepted by society across the world. Prisons have
thus become great institutions in the society because of the notion that they
reduce violence by separating the violent form the society. The article, however, focuses on the aspect of
whether or not prisons are effective in the reduction of violence in the
society. It explores how prisons can provoke violence. The article suggests the
use of a different system of preventing violence because the current use of
prisons has not been effective in reducing. The author suggests the use of
anti-prisons.
Native
cultures have demonstrated for many years’ effective ways of dealing with
violent offenses. There exist methods
other than the use of prisons. Some of these methods include organizing meetings between offenders and the victim, use
of forgiveness and apologies, and compensation. These are methods focused on
reconciliation and offer more effective ways of dealing with conflict. The societies of today found these native
cultures and organizations as primitive.
However, some of these measures are adopted in the world of
today but the norm of the society of today is the extensive use of policing and
prisons for the enforcement of laws and maintaining control. The system of prisons is very paramount for the
society of today that it is believed the society of today cannot exist without
it (Gilligan, & Lee, 2004).
The
prison system is based on a notion
associated with revenge and the infliction of pain. The word punishment itself is associated with pain infliction. Prison
system has therefore been established
based on the system of infliction of pain for the sake of revenge. The problem
of using such a notion is that revenge never ends. The person for whom the
revenge is intended gets motivated to return the favor and thus means it leads
to more violence rather than correction. The application of punishment seems to
lead to the stimulation of more violence. Research shows that harsh punishment
on children leads to the development of aggression. There are also emotional
aspects associated punishments that result to the development of violence. Some
of these emotions include humiliation and shame. These are emotions that are
said to cause narcissistic injuries to a person and result in the development of aggression. People become
violent and angry when the feelings of shame and humiliation overwhelm them.
The system of punishment used I the world of today cause the diminishing of the
feelings of guilt and increase shame. They can sometimes be coupled with other factors associated with comfort
to male gender aspects that make them highly
susceptible to engage in violent activities (Gilligan,
& Lee, 2004).
Punishment
is associated with a direct withdrawal of
esteem and love by other people. This withdrawal shows the power of the
punished is lower than that of the Punisher
and is meant to shame and humiliate them. This
is an aspect that causes the development of violence.
There
is a great need for a different system of punishment for violent people. The
aim of punishment is the ability to correct the behavior of people. They need to
change and become nonviolent so that they can get back to society. There is a
great need for a constructive system which needs to be dignified, homelike and
humane. Such a system needs to be nonviolent and promote the well-being of the people they have been developed for. The prison
system needs to be transformed because it can be said that it is a system established as an experiment and has
failed. It is a system that is flawed because it is based on the assumption that
is associated with a system of punishment
which promotes more violence. The system needs to promote nonviolence in the
community and protect the society at the same time (Gilligan, & Lee, 2004).
There
is a great belief that prisoners can be reformed.
They can also reform themselves once given adequate resources. But most people in the society also believe
that prisoners are irredeemable, and such
notions are what is keeping such systems of punishment in place instead of
adopting more effective ones. One suggestion is the development of locked,
residential settings that function as communities. Such a system would have to be established for the sole purpose of
correction of violent people. They could also be
taught the implications the violent activities have in the community and be taught how to resolve conflicts. The aim is
to ensure that they have been corrected
or they correct themselves so that they can return to the community as nonviolent
people.
The
goal is the rehabilitation of criminals. In most cases, young criminals do not
get socialized well enough by the prison system. As a result, they develop to become antisocial personalities and their
criminal activities continue. There is a
great need to learn and socialize criminals. This
is the only way to get them back on the right side of the law. The aspect of socialization and learning
are not present in the current prison system.
The
article, therefore, explores the need for
the establishment of anti-prisons. They
would completely differ from traditional prison because they will be more like
communities. They would have to be established
as locked residential colleges, and they
are expected to reduce crime. Such an anti-prisons system would be focused on the positive development of the
inmates by adding value to their lives. It may include the ability to go to
school and earn a degree. It would also ensure that they become sociable (Shaw, 2017).
The
article is, therefore, effective in
exploring the aspects of punishment and violence associated with the prison
system it is a system developed based on a flawed notion of punishment. The punishment
system used in prisons leads to humiliation and causing shame. It results in
the reduction of guilt and in most cases prisoners result to being more
violent. There is a great need to reduce violence in the society. The prison
system is associated with high levels of
recidivism whereby ass people leave prison they continue with their violent behaviors.
An anti-prison system is expected to
offer a correction, and learning
opportunity focused on improving the behavior of prisoners rather than
worsening it (CURRIE, 2017).
References
CURRIE, E. (2017). Crime and Punishment in
America. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/currie-crime.html
Gilligan, J., & Lee, B.
(2004). Beyond the Prison Paradigm. New Academy of Science.
Shaw, D. (2017). What is going
wrong with the prison system? Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38596034
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