The Joke in Punishment: It's Not the Pun.
Why are people sent to prisons or executed after committing certain crimes? Some people might argue that the reason for these things is to help people learn a lesson. However, in the instance of execution, the guilty people have no chance to right their wrongs or learn from their mistakes. The prisons aren’t that beneficial for this case either since many people who are released from prison often return for committing the same crime again. While in prison, criminals are surrounded by other criminals. Most likely, these people aren't going to give them good advice, or at least what we might consider good advice. They're more likely to learn ways of avoiding getting caught than they are likely to learn ways to be better people.
If one compares a prison to a time-out chair for a child, the similarities are obvious. As someone who has spent a large portion of life at a daycare center, I can attest for the fact that children behave this way. For the sake of anonymity, I'll refer to the child as Jessica. Jessica stole candy from the other kids' cubbies, but since the teacher witnessed this, Jessica was sent to time-out. She huffed and whines and cried and said she wouldn't do it again, simply stating these things in order to get out of the chair and go play with her friends. However, she was eventually allowed to leave time out since the teachers believed she had learned her lesson. Later on, while the rest of the kids were outside on the playground, Jessica said she had to use the restroom. She went back inside and stole from the cubbies yet again. Clearly, she had not learned her lesson, and while most prisoners understand the lesson they're supposed to learn, they often don't make the decision to stop their criminal activities.
If prisons and executions aren't teaching criminals a lesson, what is the point of them? An episode of Black Mirror, called White Bear, seems to suggest that prisons and executions are not for the benefit of the criminal, but rather for the benefit of the victims and other observers. In the episode, a woman who filmed her boyfriend torturing a little girl has her memory wiped and placed into a sort of fake world where everyone watches while others are hunted and tortured. The point of this is supposedly so she can know how it felt to be on the victims side of what she did. However, everyone treats it like a form of entertainment, and one has to wonder if this is really the punishment she deserved. Executions are very similar to this in the real word since they are broadcast for everyone to watch. Is the real world all that different from that episode of Black Mirror then? Are we just imprisoning people and executing them for forms of entertainment or ways to feel better about ourselves? Perhaps we should look for new ways of punishing criminals, or at least some way to actually make criminals change their ways instead of just repeating crimes over and over again.
1 comment:
I think we punish others as a coping mechanism; it relieves us of any cognitive dissonance we have about hang them back on the streets, allowing us to feel safe and sound again. We don't like to take risks on rehabilitation, so we stigmatize criminals and, in turn, value their humanity less. I know that's a bold statement, but it is clear how little we value them when they are much more likely to go to prison than another citizen, can barely get jobs out of prison, and are socially exiled. When we don't value these people, we end up taking advantage of them and calling it justice. As long as everyone who is "good" feels safe from their (usually prejudiced) fears of criminals, our justice system can continue to make capitalistic investments and devalue the lives of millions.
Post a Comment