Reading Journal-Shawshank

How should institutionalization be done?

The Shawshank Redemption depicts how institutionalization is wrongfully done, but I had a different question in mind. What are prisons, and how should it function? When is its efficiency best shown? What rules must be made not to turn into another Shawshank? Thus, I was interested on how prison should change in the Shawshank Redemption.

The concept of prison changed throughout time. In the past, prison was a place to confine the convicted temporarily before the punishment. The punishment was a social retaliation, and was the axis of the judicial system. As time passed on, the concept of prison changed. Instead of an aid for the punishment, it became the axis of the system itself. It was the change in discourse that led to such changes. Instead of unexpected, pretentious and temporary corporeal punishments, the society needed more minuscule, expectable system. Such discourse brought out the concept of rehabilitation, and the concept called for enhancement of confinement facilities.

Discussing how the concept of rehab is fraud and folly is interesting, but I’m not going to talk about that in this piece of writing. Instead, I’m going to talk about how the prison in Shawshank should change if it wants to function better than now. To do so, I will be asking few questions leading to the improvement of prisons.

(1) How did prisons become the core of our system?

Jails are very specific form of loss in freedom of transportation. But why did it become so stressed? We have to note the fact that jails were a great fad starting from the 18^th century France. 18^th century was the time when the discourse of rights, especially freedom of individuals was developing. Before, punishment was on a universal theme of body and pain, but as rights and freedom were perceived as a human condition, the punishments begin to shift towards in such way.

Confinement was better than corporeal punishment. It could be applied to every single individual who went against the social morals, and could be measured. Pain cannot be measured, but days in confinement can. Not only that, corporeal punishment is often subjective and unreliable. It is the human who takes a major role in the ritual, which makes it incomplete and subjected to criticism if something went wrong. For prisons, it is the system and the prison walls that do such roles. The punishment is rather mild and unrecognized, making it immune to criticisms.

Confinement is more efficient and economical. That is how it became core of our system. Especially when it targets a universally important component of individual called liberty, it definitely is.

à In such means, Shawshank is not an ideal form of prison. It is not economical and not efficient. It is playing an active role in the punishment of crime, which makes it inconsistent with other prisons. Prisons should be giving exactly what the judicial system has ordered them to do. Using sisters or solitary confinements as an extra punishment is not helpful for its existence. It is the human that makes decisions, which is not reliable. Also, the guards using violence is not preferable. It makes the system vulnerable to the social morals. Punishment is best done when justified. Justification is the most powerful tool of elongating the existence of judicial system.

(2) What are prisons?

Prisons are a concrete form of complete and powerful system. It is a system that surrounds the captivated in as many aspects as possible. It should be a system of physical training, correction by labor, daily life and personality. It is a school that produces obedient individuals. It is a factory that manufactures credible products for the community. It is an army for the community to use against the moral depravity.

Above all, prisons have greatest authority upon schools and workplaces. Its great authority and successive influence differentiates it from other facilities. For students, they have homes that represent the life-world. They have the potential of rejecting the influence from the system-world of schools. However, the convicted has no life-world to escape into. Its eating, sleeping, learning, working is all controlled by one entity: the government. Because the power controls its time and space, it can and should employ all methods available to accomplish its goals.

à The Shawshank shows once again on how the authorities are failing to take advantage of the system. It gives the prisoners too much free time to have life world of their own. It enables the prisoners to have gangs of their own. Prisoners should be abandoned from any form of life-world. The moment they have a life-world on their own, it would mean that the prison is not functioning properly.

(3) How should prison function?

Prison should be completely separated. Not only should they be separated from the outside world, the separation should occur in other various aspects as well. The motive of the crime, such as money, love, and drugs should be excluded in the prison society. The prisoners should not coexist with each other. This is the key point of an efficient prison. If we allow such a thing to happen, we are concentrating the criminal tendency in one space. Also, the exclusion should be done with a clear purpose of rehabilitation. The walls will serve as a mirror; it would make the convicted communicate with no one but himself.

àThis is the biggest point that Shawshank is failing to satisfy. The prison is allowing prisoners make a society. It is evident that a society is a necessary component of criminal activity. Red’s crime happens there, the sister’s crime occurs there. Prisoners should be separated even with themselves.