Its disturbing to find out that in private prisons the treatment that inmates receive is quite disappointing. (2021, May 7). Some people ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?" This solution will not only help reintegrate criminals to the society but also give them a healthier start. The number one cause of crimes in the country is poverty. The members of the prison population can range from petty thieves to cold hearted serial killers; so the conflict arises on how they can all be dealt with the most efficient way. Though the statistics outdate it (it's even worse now), the reasons why we should no longer have prisons are just as critical as when Angela Davis wrote this. No health benefits, unemployment insurance, or workers' compensation to pay. Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis Chapter 3 Summary: "Imprisonment and Reform" Davis opens Chapter 3 by pointing out that prison reform has existed for as long as prisons because the prison itself was once viewed as a reform of corporal punishment. when faced with the ugliness of humanity. 4.5 stars. In fact, some experts suggest that prisons have become obsolete and should be abolished. Unfortunately, this discriminatory pattern extended beyond Reconstruction. With such traumatic experiences or undiagnosed mental illnesses, inmates who are released from prison have an extremely hard time readjusting to society and often lash out and commit crimes as a result of their untreated problems. examines the genesis of the American correctional system, its gendered structure, and the relationship between prison reform and the expansion of the prison system. Disclaimer: Services provided by StudyCorgi are to be used for research purposes only. Incarceration serves as a punishment for criminals due to their actions against the law. In a country with a population being 13% African American, an increasing rate of prisoners are African American women, which makes one half of the population in prison African American. In this journal, Gross uses her historical research background and her research work to explain how history in the sense of race and gender help shape mass incarceration today. For your average person, you could see a therapist or get medication. Larger prison cells and more prisoners did not lead to the expected lesser crimes or safer communities. No union organizing. According to Davis, women make up the fastest-growing section of the prison population, most of them are black, Latina and poor. Moreover, the Americans with different disabilities were kept in the prison-like houses, but the reform sought to have the establishment of some asylums. Yet, as they represent an important source of labour and consumerism (Montreal's VitaFoods is mentioned as contracted in the 1990s to supply inmates in the state of Texas with its soy-based meat substitute, a contact worth $34 million a year. by Angela Y. Davis is a nonfiction book published in 2003 by Seven Stories Press that advocates for the abolition of the prison system. Next, Dorothea Dix addresses the responsibility many families take on my keeping insane family members at home to help them from being mistreated in jails. In fact, President Lincoln codified the prison incarceration system in the Emancipation Proclamation that indicated no slavery would take place in America unless a person was duly convicted of a crime (paraphrased) (White, 2015). Prison population just keeps growing without any direct positive impact to the society. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. And she does all this within a pretty small book, which is important to introduce these ideas to people who are increasingly used to receiving information in short, powerful doses. For instance, Mendieta assumes that readers will automatically be familiar with Angela Davis. Are Prisons Obsolete? It throws out a few suggestions, like better schooling, job training, better health care and recreation programs, but never gets into how these might work or how they fit into the argument, an argument that hasnt been made. By instituting a school system that could train and empower citizens and criminals, the government will be able to give more people a chance for better employment. "When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they were. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. She noted that prior to the civil war, prison population was mostly white but after the Reconstruction, it was overwhelmingly black. While serving as a punishment to criminals, incarceration can create, Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. The book pushes for a total reformation that includes the eradication of the system and institution of revolutionary ways of dealing with crime and punishment. It is a solution for keeping the public safe. In addition, some would be hanged especially if they continued with the habit. With prison becoming a new source of income for private corporations, prison corporations need more facilities and prisoners to increase profits. If you are the original creator of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, and the debate about its abolition is the largest point of the essay written by Steve Earle, titled "A Death in Texas. Billions of profits are being made from prisons by selling products like Dial soap, AT&T calling cards, and many more. From a historical perspective, they make an impression of a plausible tradeoff between the cruel and barbaric punishments of the past and the need to detain individuals that pose a danger to our society. Prisons are a seemingly inevitable part of contemporary life. If the prison is really what it claims to be, shouldnt prisoners be serving their time with regret and learning to be obedient? Analysis Of In Lieu Of Prison, Bring Back The Lash By Peter Moskos, In Peter Moskos essay In Lieu of Prison, Bring Back the Lash, he argues that whipping is preferable to prison. to further examine the impact of the prison industrial complex, rather than continuing with prison reform. Are Prisons Obsolete? Hence, he requested a dictionary, some tablets and pencils. In the colonial days, American prisons were utilized to brutally punish individuals, creating a gruesome experience for the prisoners in an attempt to make them rectify their behavior and fear a return to prison (encyclopedia.com, 2007). Instead of spending money in isolating and punishing people who had violated the laws, we should use the funds to train and educate them. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Understanding the nuts and bolts of the prison system is interesting and sometimes hard. Prison industrial complex is a term used to characterize the overlapping interests of government and industry that use policing, surveillance and imprisonment as a result to social, economic and political problems. He demonstrates that inmates are getting treated poorly than helping them learn from their actions. They are worked to death without benefits and legal protection, a fate even worse than slavery. You may use it as a guide or sample for Tightening the governments budget forces them to look for other ways to make up for the, In theory, there is no reason why prisons should work. Additionally, while some feminist women considered the crusade to implement separate prisons for women and men as progressive, this reform movement proved faulty as female convicts increasingly became sexually assaulted. Some corporations had found more subtle but nevertheless more profitable means of exploiting the system. Here, Davis suggests that prisons can be considered racial institutions, which automatically solves the question of whether they should be abolished. I find the latter idea particularly revealing. Yet, according to White (2015) unethical and immoral medical experiments were also conducted on inmates leading to health failures. Imprisonment is one of the primary ways in which social control may be achieved; the Sage Dictionary of Criminology defines social control as a concept used to describe all the ways in which conformity may be achieved. "Prison Reform or Prison Abolition?" Summary Davis believes that in order to understand the situation with the prisons, you should remember your history. now inhabit U.S. prisons, jails, youth facili As the United States incarceration rate continues to increase, more people are imprisoned behind prison walls. The abolition of slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment resulted to shortage in workers and increase in labor costs. It is clear that imprisonment has become the normative criminal justice response and that prison is an irrevocable assumption. ), they have been fast growing in recent decades and taken advantage of for their corporate profit value - or another form of slavery. This power is also maintained by earning political gains for the tough on crime politicians. This created a disproportionately black penal population in the South during that time leaving the easy acceptance of disproportionately black prison population today. I've discovered that I've developed an obsession with Angela Davis over the past few months. "Chapter 1-2 of Are Prisons Obsolete? by A. The US constitution protects the rights of the minority, making US the haven of freedom. We now have a black president, Latino CEOs, African American politicians, Asian business tycoons in our midst, yet our prison cells still show a different picture. However, it probably wont be abolished due to the cash flow that it brings to some of the largest corporations in the, First, there is a long list of negatives that the prison system in America brings. Few predicted its passing from the American penal landscape. writing your own paper, but remember to What kind of people might we be if we lived in a world where: addiction is treated instead of ignored; schools are regarded as genuine places of learning instead of holding facilities complete with armed guards; lawbreakers encounter conflict resolution strategies as punishment for their crime instead of solitary incarceration? We should change our stance from punishing criminals to transforming them into better citizens. While Mendieta discusses the pioneering abolitionist efforts of Angela Davis, the author begins to analyze Davis anti-prison narrative, ultimately agreeing with Davis polarizing stance. There was the starting of the prison libraries, literacy programs and effort towards lessening of the physical punishments like cruel whipping. Nineteen states have completely abolished it (States with and without The Death Penalty). (93-4) Where the Black Codes were created as a list of punishable crimes committed only by African Americans. Author, Angela Y. Davis, in her book, analyses facts imprisonment in our society as she contrast the history, ideology and mythology of imprisonment between today's time and the 1900's, as capital retribution has not been abolished yet. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Davis." Due to the fact Mendieta is so quick to begin analyzing Davis work, the articles author inadvertently makes several assumptions about readers of his piece. In chapter five of Are Prisons Obsolete? it starts the reader out with an excerpt from Linda Evans and Eve Goldberg, giving them a main idea of what she thinks the government is doing with our prisoners. As a result of their crimes, convicts lose their freedom and are place among others who suffer the same fate. Are Prisons Obsolete? The first chapter of the book is clearly intended to set the stage for the book. This concept supports the power of the people who get their power from racial and economic advantages. According to Walker et al. Before that time criminals were mainly punished by public shaming, which involved punishments such as being whipped, or branded (HL, 2015). Chapter 1-2 of Are Prisons Obsolete? by A. Davis. Michel Foucault is a very famous French intellectual who practiced the knowledge of sociology. Davis." Graduateway.com is owned and operated by Radioplus Experts Ltd Author's Credibility. Just a little over 30 years ago the entire prison . Although the things they have done werent right but they are still people who deserve to get treated right. She defines the PIC as biased for criminalizing communities of color and used to make profit for corporations from the prisoners suffering. Perhaps one of the most important, being that it could jeopardize our existence, is the debate of how to deal with what most everyone would consider unwanted. Davis makes a powerful case for choosing abolition over reform, and opened my eyes to the deeply racist structures inherent in the prison system. Think about it; the undertrained guards are vastly outnumbered by some of the most dangerous people in the world and in any second the fragile sense of order can burst into complete chaos. From a historical perspective, they make an impression of a plausible tradeoff between the cruel and barbaric punishments of the past and the need to detain individuals that pose a danger to our society. Similarly,the entrenched system of racial segregation seemed to last forever, and generations lived in the midst of the practice, with few predicting its passage from custom. in his article, The Prison Contract and Surplus Punishment: On Angela Y. Davis Abolitionism. In, The Caging of America, by Adam Gopnik explains the problems in the in the American criminal justice system focusing more on the prison system. But overall it 's a huge bureaucracy that consumes resources in order to incarcerate people. (2021) 'Chapter 1-2 of Are Prisons Obsolete? by A. Davis'. Women are more likely put in mental institutions receive psychiatric drugs and experience sexual assault. Moreover, because everyone was detained in the same prisons, adolescent offenders would have to share the same living space with adult felons, which became another serious problem in that adolescent were less mature and could not protect themselves in such environments. Author, Angela Y. Davis, in her book, analyses facts imprisonment in our society as she contrast the history, ideology and mythology of imprisonment between todays time and the 1900s, as capital retribution has not been abolished yet. Angela Davis argues in the book Are Prisons Obsolete? Reform movements truthfully only seek to slightly improve prison conditions, however, reform protocols are eventually placed unevenly between women and men. He spent most of his time reading in his bunk or library, even at night, depending on the glow of the corridor light. StudyCorgi. Instead of solving the crime problem, prison system introduced a social ill that needs to be addressed. Heterosexism, sexism, racism, classism, American exceptionalism: I could go on all day. by Angela Y. Davis is a nonfiction critical text, published in 2003, that advocates for prison abolition. Additionally, while some feminist women considered the crusade to implement separate prisons for women and men as progressive, this reform movement proved faulty as female convicts increasingly became sexually assaulted. Before reading this book I did know of the inequality towards people of color in the criminal justice. They are thrown in prisons with their biological sex and had to deal with discrimination and abuses both from the prison officials and their inmates. I've been watching/listening to her interviews, downloading cool looking pictures of her and essentially scouring through articles/speeches by and about her with the sole aim of stalking her intellectual development. An excellent read, but of course, its Angela Davis so I expected as much. The reformers believed that there was a way that better methods of rehabilitating the criminals could be applied (Anyon, 2014). Moskos demonstrates the problems with prison. Jacoby states that flogging is more beneficial than going to prison because It cost $30,000 to cage an inmate. Mendietas act of assuming that readers will already be familiar with Angela Davis and her work, as well as the specific methods of torture used by certain prisons, may cause readers to feel lost while reading the. To worsen everything, some criminals were through into big major cell where they were subjected to all sorts of punishments. These people sit in solitary confinement with mental disorders and insufficient help. Are Prisons Obsolete? She argues forthrightly for "decarceration", and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole. Angela Davis wrote Are Prisons Obsolete? as a tool for readers to take in her knowledge of what is actually going on in our government. But contrary to this, the use of the death penalty, Angela Davis in her book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, argues for the overall abolishment of prisons. It does not advocate for a future that ensures the restoration and rehabilitation of individuals and communities, which is what we need instead. Moskos demonstrates the problems with prison. It is for this particular reason that Davis says we must focus on rehabilitation and provide services for inmates while incarcerated and before they are released.